This month, we bring an interview with another of the English VP's many designers. Aria is a name most probably know due to his general activity on VP as well as his participation in multiple of the teams during the years. Even though DesignTeam is not on his resume, Aria has enriched the site with his stunning designs. We in NT want to get to know both him and his design process a bit better, so we are very happy that he allowed us to interview him.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

-My name is Yan (or Ian, however you’d like ). I’m 21 from Latvia. I’m a second year student at the university of Latvia. My program focuses on Linguistics and Business studies (ohh and I’m studying Spanish as well). During my free time I’m (obviously) designing for VP, I enjoy fashion sketching, drawing/painting anything that has to do with art, but my true passion would definitely be fashion!

How long have you been designing for vp and what initially sparked your interest in doing so?

-I think that I have been designing for just over 2 years now (somewhere from early 2020). The story to why I decided to take part in the whole designing journey is pretty "funny", I really wanted a pair of cow printed pants in game (don't blame me, it were the 2020 trends) so I just said, why not trying to make a pair?! I have nothing to loose, then I tried to make them and the rest is history.

Do you wish to be a badged designer in the future?

-I don't think so to be honest, it would be nice to have my own tag but I unfortunately will not have enough time to follow such schedule (+ skins are not my strong suit) but who knows, maybe my opinion will change!

Where do you get your design inspiration?

-I get inspired by different fashion brands and their collections, I enjoy looking around different fashion shows and collection and saving the outfits I like the most, as well as from people around (If I see someone in a cool outfit walking by I save it in my head, or take a pic, "not creepy" and or random instagram post with a cool outfit.

What program do you use for designing? And do you use a mouse or a drawing tablet? 

-I use my beloved Firealpaca (even tho it crashes sometimes), It is free to download however it was pretty confusing to use at first, now I call myself an expert (not really, lol). I am a true "mouse designer" but would like to get something a little bit more "designing friendly" in the future.

Approximately how long does it take you to design one set?

-It really depends on my mood of the day, there are some days where I can finish an entire set in one day and other days, I can finish a set in one to two months (I have some really old wips that i haven't touched for a while) but this days I try not to make any new designs and finish my old wips (if I won't see any new outfit on instagram I'd like to see in game, oops)

How much time do you spend designing on a weekly/monthly basis? 

-I can say that recently I (unfortunately) design less than when I started first designing but it (again) depends on my mood (and if I am bored) let's say that around 7-10 hours a week

Do you have a set that means something special to you or that had a special story behind it when you created it? Can you tell us why / what that story is? 

-I have many designs that I love but the one that "carries" many memories would be my really first complete set, the famous cow printed pants set (the set  I spammed the "Design chat" thread for around 3 weeks until I finished it, sorry guys) 

( even made a female version with improved pants )

Can you show us your very first and your most recent design?

-The first single item design that I have saved is a pair of jeans:

My last design that I am proud of will have to be: