Animation by Katrīna Sadovņikova

In parallel with his work in his own design studio, Reflect, graphic designer and design strategist Matīss Zvaigzne also heads the Graphic Design Department at the Art Academy of Latvia. Here, he imparts his extensive professional experience and comprehensive approach to design to aspiring professionals. As the new academic year begins, Matīss shares the advice that he always gives to his students.

Nice Touch Editorial September 8, 2023

«What colour space do you live in? This is one of the crucial questions I ask students at the beginning of their graphic design studies. In this context, most live across the ocean and use the U.S. Web coated colour profile in their daily work, which is the default setting in Adobe environments and is intended for printing devices with North American calibration.

By opening the colour settings (Edit/Colour settings), you can adjust the colour environment to be more suitable for Europe: choose Europe General Purpose with the Coated FOGRA39 ISO CMYK colour profile. With Adobe Bridge, you can simultaneously change the colour profiles for all Adobe applications. By doing this little trick, the image on your screen will be simulated precisely as it would be printed on devices calibrated to the ISO standard in Europe.»

The brand strategy and design studio Reflect, founded by Matīss Zvaigzne, characterises themselves as passionate co-creators who seek a holistic approach and eagerly engage in the early stages of brand and product creation.