Miro Kirov: Crafting Design with Passion and Purpose
Founder and UX/UI Designer
by Elizabeth Lavis
|22 Jan 2025
If Miro Kirov, UX/UI Designer and Founder, had one piece of advice for aspiring designers, it would be to remember, first and foremost, that confidence is king. “Often it’s hard, or even impossible, to decide what is wrong or right in design,” he says. “Whatever you decide, keep it consistent throughout.”
Steadiness and follow-through are also the cornerstones of Kirov’s personal philosophy. “Whatever you do, do it consistently,” he says.
Bulgarian-born Kirov draws inspiration from his roots. “There is a traditional Bulgarian art form called Shevitza, which has brought a great deal of inspiration to my process. It’s what got me into pixel art, illustrations, and eventually UI/UX Design.” He’s also a second-generation designer, so his familial roots played a role in realizing his life’s work. “I always knew I might go down that path,” he says. “I discovered my love of design around the age of 14 when I published my first website, a video game fan site, one of the first of its kind.”
Kirov has a consistent, practical design approach that involves heavy research and client involvement. “The first phase of my process is discovery,” he says. “While I’m in this phase, I read and analyze all prior information. If it’s a working product, I usually take a few days to make an audit. The Jakob Nielsen’s principles of UI design are a great checklist to go through when auditing or even throughout the design process.” Following the discovery phase, Kirov launches into the design phase, increasing the fidelity and getting regular approvals to fine-tune the result.
"Fleetpal - Fleet Maintenance Software", Miro Kirov & Jivko Todorov
All of this requires a substantial amount of mutual trust and rapport. “Building trust is essential in every designer-client relationship,” Kirov says. “At the end of the day, the most important part is to understand the end-use of the product, but to reach them, you have to open up to the client first.”
When snags in the project or disagreements happen, Kirov tries to remember not to take it to heart. “Harsh criticism is never easy, especially for creatives,” he says. “What helps me is reminding myself of two quotes I learned from the years I lived in the United States; ‘it’s not a personal attack. It’s just business’, and ‘always assume good intention.”
Kirov is also not afraid to gently steer a client away from a poor choice if needed. “Diplomacy is key,” he says. “Sometimes the best decision is the one in the middle.”
While Kirov admits that his trick to staying creative under pressure is going into ‘panic mode,’ he also has several systems in place to keep burnout at bay. “I adhere to a strict schedule, and usually my days are planned from morning to evening,” he says. “Sunday is a do-what-you-want day where I intentionally don’t do any scheduling at all.”
He also draws support and inspiration from his family and sets aside weekends to spend time in nature. “My two boys are my biggest motivation nowadays,” Kirov says.
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