I saw the t-shirt design you did called E-love for Threadless T-shirts.
Can you tell me more about this piece? How did you get involved with the contest,
and where did you get the idea?)
That piece was actually part of this vector download I had on my site. A designer took it, changed it a little and posted it as his own work. I wouldn’t have cared, but the changes were so minor that I contacted Threadless after it was posted and told them about the piece and also sent over the vector file. It was quite funny. The concept was something I though of a while back, and was humored by it. Just some cute girl talking to what she thinks is a hot guy when really it’s some old guy sitting there in his boxers. It’s amazing how faceless the Internet as become.
You seem to be involved in several online communities and blogs.
)
It was just something that when I was first starting out, used as a way to show my artwork, communicate with other designers and see what is going on. There are only a few that I actually post to these days. I find the busier you get, the less time you have to just chat with other designers.
I also want to ask about your layout and advertising design for Relevant Magazine with George Bush and Kerry. How did this piece come about?
I actually worked at Relevant for a few years as their creative
director. Thus this article was something that we were doing when the elections
were going on. I had my personal feelings on the article, where since it was
a “Christian-based” magazine, I didn’t want it to become
so Bush-slanted, and when I felt it was going that way, I pushed the design
to more of a comedic role rather than a serious one. I just thought having
them boxing with their socks, dress shoes, and sock suspenders just added
a light touch to the election’s intensity and what it was doing to people.
(Having people fight over who they felt was better, even if some of these
people were uneducated and just went off of what CNN, Fox, or whoever was
preaching at the time.))
Did anyone complain to you about it?
No. And if they did, I wouldn’t have cared. I just wanted to add humor, and make it interesting.
My editor stumbled across your review on the book Pictoplasma. What are some other books that you recommend?
Ha. Yeah, Amazon. Haven't gotten books there in a while. I get all my books from a company called YouWorkForThem.com. As far as books go, I really love old books -- books that are over fifty years old. Once in a while I'll pick up a Hemmingway or Steinbeck, but for the most part, I look for inspiration or things I can use in design work. For example, I picked up a book from the late 1800s on heraldry; there were some great illustrations in there. It's a great resource for finding elements to recreate in my style and use. Or I’ll find old typography books, fonts that were custom to that book and learn some stuff about the techniques.
I do enjoy current books, but I don't know many off the top of my head. My only suggestion is to go over to YouWorkForThem.com, check out the books –- they have photos -– and see what fits your styles.
Aside from design books, what are some novels you like? Movies?
I really don't have as much time to read. I do try to make time to read books on politics and religion because they’re both great topics. I'm just amazed by the idea that one's bias becomes “their word of god” or their “political motivation.” Take gay rights for example. We treat it as a perversion when it's pretty much proved itself as a human condition. To me this is just an evolution of civil rights, yet both sides get caught up in semantics and biases that they assume that anyone that is gay is this monster that will consume all the heteros. But then again, on both sides, it's whoever screams the loudest that gets the most attention, and with average Americans, we tend to believe whoever’s agenda we support without proper research or study. It’s the age of the TV, I guess -- where we like to be told what to think, yet call it freewill. [Laughs.]
Movies: The only two I can think of offhand that I can't get enough of are Basquait and Trainspotting. There are many others. I try not to watch much TV, except when Spongebob is on and I can watch it with my daughter Caitlyn.
What are some of your future goals?
Design:
I want to have my own studio with staff. Build Hydro74 into a small design
firm. Also, publish a book quarterly that focuses on practical design. I should
be starting the project in late June, early July. If I can make that successful,
then I’ll follow up with a magazine.
Life: Buy a house we want, rather than settling. Watch my girls grow up and
be successful, and hopefully -- and I mean hopefully -- have them be proud
of me as their father. Loving is the easy part, but having that deep-hearted
pride, knowing I did my best in both work and family, makes me so happy.
Kinda sappy, huh?
Guu Magazine at GuuPress.com
---------------
Related Links:
> Hydro74's official website
Page 1 | 2
| 3 | 4
Return to all articles