Designer & Micro-Influencer Ariel Beninca

What I do centers around creating beautiful brands and digital experiences though I can’t sum it up in one title. I am a web designer, graphic designer, UX/UI designer and front end developer. I also do marketing for businesses. Outside of my work I love creating beautiful content for Instagram and I’m a bit of a micro influencer on Instagram.

I love living a healthy lifestyle. My interests often get changed-up though I enjoy things like playing chess, watching anime, history, science, stock trading, economics and world affairs. I am from the Sunshine Coast, I moved to the Gold Coast for uni and then Brisbane for work. I love Brisbane.

Was design and art always a big part of your life growing up?

No it wasn’t, my family was not well off and I grew up in the bush, sometimes living in caravans, sheds and even shipping containers. Though in school, I always wanted to make things look pretty and won many art contests. Even story book writing competitions for my creative stories and pretty pictures. Everything I did I put creativity into it.

When I finally got access to a computer, I loved playing Sims to design beautiful houses and people. I originally thought about being an artist but then my art teacher was like, “Don’t do it, you will be poor like me.” Later on in my life, I realized art was never my passion, or my biggest skill, it’s creating beautiful, organized, and easy to use things. It’s solving problems through design. When I decided on being a graphic designer, people told me “it’s a very competitive industry” and my response has always been, “I’ll be the competition”.

What is it like to be a graphic and web designer?

I saw a meme the other day that said, “I hate clients but love money”, and it resonated with me so much.

To be honest, being a web and graphic designer can be a nightmare when working for a bad client, or under bad management. Being passionate about what you do and caring about your work can turn against you in corporate politics. Micro management, bad design decisions by stubborn management, unrealistic expectations, frustrating conversations, justifying everything and even explaining to people why design should matter in the first place – a reality I did not expect when being a hopeful passionate design student.

But when you’re working on your own project or for a good client, there can be so much passion and creativity – it’s exciting to create something that goes out into the world, that people will see and use every day.

Which is the best compliment you have received?

“You were born to be a designer”

How is a typical day like for you?

I wake up around 6am, make my bed, sometimes go to the gym, come home and make myself a cup of coffee to start the day at my desk. I put my oil diffuser on and say, “Hey Google, play low fi hip hop beats.” Then, I’ll spend the next hour answering emails, realizing I have somehow ended up online shopping instead of doing work. I then try to get into focus mode and work on my client’s job.

Throughout the day I play live chess matches on break. By 4pm I am like, where the hell did my day go? Then before I can blink, it’s dinner time and I’ve only done 4-5 hours of billable client work as I only track time working on the project. On days like today, I try force myself to stay up late to try be more productive haha.

On a scale of 1-10, how much of a foodie are you?

10 – OMG I love food.

I love yummy vegan food, and love to cook.

If you could be a fictional character, who will you be?

I am vibing Beth Harmon from The Queen’s Gambit, without the drug issues though.

What turns you off on a date?

When I would go on a date with a non-vegan and they make remarks like, ‘I could never go vegan” or “I love meat too much” or “I need too much protein to go vegan” or “This is good, for vegan food”

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions Ariel. One question before we end, how do you define “sexy”?

A beautiful design.

Follow the brilliant Ariel Beninca on

Website: http://arielbeninca.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arielbeninca

Images courtesy of Ariel Beninca

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