This month we bring you Armin Vit of UnderConsideration. Two of their blogs Brand New and Speak Up have been in our RSS reader for years. Armin’s point of view and passion for design is something that has inspired us here at unmatchedstyle and we think he’ll inspire you as well.

What is your company called and what do you do?
UnderConsideration. We are a design firm doing identity, editorial and web design, and we are also blog publishers, with three big (relatively speaking) design blogs active at the moment and various in our imagination.

What was the “big bang” that lead you to start your company?
I think almost everyone wants to run their own gig, steer their own ship, stir their own milkshake, etc. It usually takes an unexpected turn of events to get you started, like getting fired from your job or your freelance jobs ballooning. For me, it was my 4-month-old daughter. I had a full-time job and I didn’t think seeing her for 10 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night (if I was lucky to go home early) was a way to have a life. So I left, and me and my wife set up shop in our basement. We get to see our daughter quite a lot now, and it’s awesome. Plus, I wanted to frost my own cake. Okay, I’m done with bad allegories.

What makes your product or service stand out in the crowd?
I guess that’s for others to judge. We just try to bring our own point of view and sensibility to everything we do, and that just seems to come across positively whether we are doing a logo or writing a blog post.

What did you do before this came along?
I’ve always had full-time design jobs. Here’s a run-down. Atlanta: Hired by USWeb/CKS which then became marchFIRST, which then went bankrupt; taught typeface design at Portfolio Center. Chicago: Norman Design, great little design firm. New York: Decker Design, great medium design firm; Pentagram, amazing big design firm. Been doing print and web all this time.

What was the single biggest hurdle to getting your company launched?
Finding the right time to do it. I think people just put it off for fear or whatever, but you just have to get over it and do it. It’s amazing how things just work out.

What has been the best method or tactic for advertising your company?
Our own blogs. For example, through Brand New, which is our critique pen for logos, I have gotten many inquiries on the side about people looking to hire us for designing their own logos. So far we have yet to find the right match, but it’s amazing that we can leverage that platform.

What’s your prediction for the “future of the web”, what’s the next big thing?
All web sites will look like the Barack Obama ’08 campaign web site and like the new White House web site. You’ll see.

What advice can you give for new entrepreneurs who are gearing up to produce their big idea?
It’s corny and expected, but just do it. As long as you are not financially endangering your family, go for it, try. Succeed. Fail. It doesn’t matter as long as you are not just sitting on your ass wondering if you can do it.

What should they watch out for? Losing money.

What should they embrace? Pennies on the street.

What is your favorite book? Bird by Bird.

What is your favorite movie? At the moment: Idiocracy.

Who is your favorite musical artist (or What musical artist are you listening to the most right now?)
Always and forever: Café Tacuba.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Armin is a graphic designer and writer now living in Brooklyn, New York. He has written for AIGA’s VOICE, Emigre, Eye, Creative Review, HOW, and STEP magazines, among others. He is a former faculty member of Portfolio Center and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts. He has lectured on topics ranging from typography to branding in locations ranging from San Diego to Berlin. He is co-founder of UnderConsideration and its myriad sites. You can read his full bio here.