Your name and team you belong to.

Kobi Michaeli, Templates Team.

Tell us about your work. What is your current position?

I’m a graphic designer and mentor in the templates team. My Team and I are designing and building all Wix templates for both platforms, Wix editor (Classic) and WixStudio. 

My role is to design templates that are best suited for our users. We learn their needs both visually and content-wise and interpret it to a website. Even though it’s a template, it still needs to feel real, personal and professional.y.

What’s the first thing you do when you get to work in the morning?

Nothing special I guess… greet my colleagues and have a cup of coffee.

What do you think is the most underrated characteristic in a good designer?

Perhaps my answer won’t speak to everyone, but for me it’s restraint. Not to be mixed with visual simplicity or calmness, restraint is about finding a balance and rhythm in your design.

What do you do when you feel stuck or frustrated in your creative process?

I usually move on to something else. Things don’t always work on the first go, sometimes you gotta step away and do some living. The solution is somewhere in the back of my mind, and once I get it I get back to it after a break it is more likely to present itself.

What was one failure in your creative path that you now appreciate? 

So many of them it’s hard to pick one….! I was self employed for 3 years, and it went well at the beginning. Business wasn’t booming, but I thought it was a good start. My clients were happy and I was enjoying the work I was doing, but in the end it just didn’t come through financially.

There were plenty of good things about that ‘failure’, but the ones I appreciate most are that I had to learn a lot by myself and it made me a better designer.

Share something that inspires you that has nothing to do with design? 

Books most definitely. They teach me how to think, how to see things from different perspectives, how to be a better partner to my girlfriend and so much more.

Who or what has been the biggest influence on the way you think about design?

There are so many great designers, I learn something from a lot of different people so it’s a mix of experiences and people all together.

What's the best advice you've received - design related or not?

Talent will only get you so far. You have to work hard to really excel. And also - to not let technical barriers stop you from achieving your design goals. 

Thank you Kobi!