Interview with Crews “Chillylofi”, Graphic and UI Designer
Yoann: Hey, hello everyone! Today I’m with Crews, graphic and UI designer creating memes on Valorant!
How would you introduce yourself?
Crews: Hey! I guess my job description would be a shitposter who puts in extra effort. It’s not anything complicated, this is a side hobby I started two months ago for fun, and I got a lot of positive feedback from it!
Yoann: Awesome! What gave you the idea to create Valorant content related to the UI?
Crews: I started out with a few ideas and concepts I had for Valorant, so I brought these ideas to my friends, and they were like “Crews, this is awful, these should never be implemented into the game.”, and I thought it would be funny to create concepts! Since I’m a graphic designer, I could bring these ideas to life pretty easily.
I also really appreciate the simplicity of Valorant’s UI, not only from an aesthetic standpoint, but it’s also really easy to recreate. Making the graphic isn’t hard at all, the hard part is getting the ideas!
Yoann: That’s interesting! When and how did you get into graphic design?
Crews: I started graphic design when I was 15 years old, by making graphics for Minecraft YouTubers, that’s how I got started. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to make a career out of it, so I went to college to study graphic design for 4 years, now I have a bachelor of arts in that field!
Yoann: Nice! How do you find inspiration to create new memes?
Crews: Inspiration is everywhere, but I mainly get it from other games. I’m always asking the question “What if this concept was actually in Valorant?”. Usually I take it to the extreme, where if it was actually in the game, it would definitely make the game substantially worse.
Yoann: Haha for sure! Which software do you use?
Crews: I mainly use Figma, which is the most popular design software for product design. I occasionally use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. For example, for one of my most recent posts, I had to design the AI microphone for that using Illustrator.
Yoann: Have you worked on other games in the past, other than Minecraft?
Crews: Yeah, I’ve worked on a couple of other games, Overwatch, a little bit of Destiny, mostly FPS games. But for the UI memes, I haven’t done anything like this before for any other game, I just started it with Valorant.
Yoann: Would you like to work in Riot’s actual UI team one day?
Crews: I would be humbled to even be able to visit Riot’s HQ! I’m a very modest person, I personally don’t think I have the qualifications to work for Riot yet, but that would be an absolute dream come true!
Yoann: Yeah for sure! Let’s now move on to the quick questions part, I’ll ask you 10 quick questions, and you’ll have to answer as fast as possible, ready?
Crews: Yeah, let’s go!
Yoann: Phantom or Vandal?
Crews: Vandal!
Yoann: What's your favorite map?
Crews: Ascent!
Yoann: What's your favorite agent?
Crews: Kay/O!
Yoann: What's your favorite skin collection?
Crews: Prime!
Yoann: Which meme are you the proudest of?
Crews: Oh, you’re making me choose between my children! Let’s say the stream-sniping one, a lot of people got mad at me for that!
Yoann: Who are your favorite teams in each region?
Crews: I don’t want to sound like a band waggoner, but I was a fan of EG even before they won Champions, I love their personalities!
I don’t really watch esports, I only pay attention to NA.
Yoann: Can you name the eight teams that won an international event?
Crews: No, I can’t, even the NA teams haha!
Yoann: All good haha! What's your favorite Photoshop tool?
Crews: I love the pen tool so much! Some designers hate it because it’s kind of tedious, but I find it relaxing!
Yoann: What will be your next meme about?
Crews: I don’t want to give the joke away!
Yoann: Makes sense! So how did you get the inspiration for your last one?
Crews: My last one is where you have a Twitch chat making fun of you every time you die.
The inspiration for that was watching S0m’s and Tarik’s streams, their chats are just hilarious!
Yoann: Can you quote a voice line from your favorite agent?
Crews: “No one walks away”!
Yoann: Haha great! Let’s now get back to the standard questions.
How often do you play Valorant in your free time?
Crews: Not as often as I would like to, I work a full-time job as a graphic designer. In my free time, I mainly play League Of Legends or Valorant, that’s how I mainly spend my evenings!
Yoann: Yeah, I understand. What are your hobbies or passions aside from graphic design and gaming?
Crews: I really enjoy biking! I figured that I needed something that gets me active outside, between gaming and graphic design, I don’t get that much physical movement, so having a hobby like that is important!
Yoann: That’s great! What would you change to Valorant if you were a developer?
Crews: Nerfing Killjoy.
Yoann: Oh okay haha! What are your short and long-term ambitions?
Crews: My short-term goal would be to get better at photography, I really enjoy photography as well!
For the long term, I would love to pivot more toward UI and UX design. Because in the graphic design industry, at a very high level, there are illustration and other technical art abilities that are usually required, and I can’t draw a stick figure! I think that UI and UX design fit my skills more, creating great user experiences!
Yoann: What would you say to someone aspiring to become a graphic designer?
Crews: I’d say the most important thing is empathy. Understanding the needs that people have, and solving the problems, is really what makes great designs!
Yoann: Okay, that’s cool! Is there anything else you would like to say?
Crews: Also, nerf Skye! Killjoy and Skye, get them out!
Yoann: Haha! Thank you so much for your time, and I wish you the best in the future!
Crews: Thank you!
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/chillylofi
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/chillylofi
