After graduating from university in Singapore with a major in IT, Indonesia based Laurentia Lisa Setiawan who goes by the moniker Lauren on DesignCrowd realised her real passion was graphic and web design.

Since making the switch, the self-taught web and mobile designer has developed her simple and elegant style to great effect. She is now one of DesignCrowd's Top 200 designers and has earned more than $22,000 through entering competitions.

Laurentia joined DesignCrowd in 2009 and is now ranked in the top 20 web designers in the world on the site. She has spent time developing her skills as a programmer and designers and can is also a games and mobile designer.

'Beyond the pen tool' invited the talented web design specialist to explain her main influences, and how she overcomes creative blocks. Enjoy!

Lauren's entry for TNC fashion design company's new web design project.

I live in...Indonesia and work from home and office.

The view out my window...Is a garden.

My passion for...Web design began when I graduated from university. Although my major is in Information Technology, I wanted to take design as my major after graduating from high school. For some reasons I changed my major to IT, but I learnt design software from tutorials that I found from Google or in books.

Lauren's workstation in Indonesia.

I have...Seven years experience working on web industry (programming and design). I learnt game design and mobile app too in my Masters degree.

To come up with a creative ideas...I browse the internet to find inspiration, then I analyse what makes those designs interesting. If I still can't come up with something good, then I will do something that I love doing like playing the piano or enjoy another hobby to refresh my mind. It does work to bring back the creativity.

My favourite designer is...Leonardo da Vinci, his artworks are really timeless masterpieces.

Lauren's winning design for Luxellery Manu Natum Website.

My design style can be described as...Simple and elegant.

What type of design work do you specialise in? Web design, app design.

I'm most creative when...I'm happy and I am in a good mood. A good mood produces good spirit.

The app I can't live without...Is Instagram because I love to socialise through that social media.

My favorite superhero is...Black Widow because she’s sexy yet strong.

Lauren's web design for John Radel ACS.

The craziest thing I've done recently...Is making a dubsmash video with silly face expressions.

When I'm working I like to listen to...Melancholic songs.

My favourite blog is...Smashingmagazine.com because there are so many useful articles and freebies that are really helpful for my job.

Lauren's winning app design for Social house sales.

What do you think of the new Google logo...? I love the new Google rebrand. It has remained simple yet is more modern.

Do you have a special project you're working on right now, and if so, What's it about...? Yes, I have lots on at the moment. I'm working on an animation studios website, some e-commerce websites, a manual book, and some logo designs.

Lauren's favourite DesignCrowd project, working with christinerosas.com.

I discovered DesignCrowd...Via twitter.

My top tip for designers to succeed is...Never stop being more creative..

My favourite contest on DesignCrowd...Was for www.christinerosas.com, because the contest holder is excited and friendly. We communicate really well.

Thanks for sharing some insights into how you work Lauren! If you want to hire Lauren to create beautiful designs for you, just head over to her portfolio page and hire Lauren now.

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Written by Kevin Bradford on Friday, October 9, 2015

Kevin Bradford is a content editor at DesignCrowd with a background in journalism and digital production. Experienced in both writing and videography, he loves combining his skills to create captivating content across all multimedia channels.