99 Stories | Page 70

Adhocdaily descience Maja Dakic Mike Dicks Designer since: Designer since: Location: Location: I’m a very competitive person, so contests were perfect for me. I love the fact that you are simply judged on the quality and execution of your idea. You can do anything you put your mind to. Mike’s story is about life coming full circle. Well, at least Maja can. Before she was a Growing up, he wanted to be an artist and designer, she already proved herself to be designer, but then he got “distracted” and a hard worker, simultaneously earning a turned into a tech guru. Fast-forward a few degree in international marketing and years and Mike was looking for work he working as an administrator in the fashion could do at home while recovering from a industry. When it came to design, Maja serious illness. A Google search led Mike was no different. to 99designs and a return to his first love: 2012 Australia 2014 United Kingdom graphic design. Her secret-sauce is her approach — she looks at each project as if it were a puzzle. For Mike, 99designs was the right “[The] first thing I tell myself is, ‘Someone opportunity at the right time and it brought has undoubtedly already thought of this. him back to his passion for art. He’s now What can I do to set it apart?’“ She breaks creating prints, selling them in galleries in her concepts down to the fundamentals his hometown and loving every minute of and once there’s that first spark, all the it. pieces make sense and are ready to come together in a beautiful finished design.