D is for Design - But It's No Trap!

An Interview With Designer Brandon Peat

Part 1 of 2 (link to Part 2)
Click on any picture to enlargify

Brandon Peat always seems to be smiling. For example, looking for various images including a potential profile picture to use, I found him doing something fun or goofy like kneeling before Imperial Stormtroopers (‘these ARE the clever guys we’re looking for! Rebel scum...’) or smiling with friends or family. Heck, he even illustrates himself sporting a whimsical smile – as well as a killer beard and fluffy full head of hair (yes, I notice these things... more and more, sadly) – for his homepage or other self-promotional pictures.

And why shouldn’t he be smiling? Along with being a relatively new father (‘Three-Peat’!), Brandon is also having fun as a relatively new freelance graphic designer who is making in-roads in several areas. He’s got an exciting portfolio up to enjoy, he offers a wide range of skills and services, plus he has some ‘just for fun’ (+/-) projects going on with some pals that will keep him a mainstay of some of the more popular ‘cons’ for years to come!

You’ve probably heard of Brandon already without maybe quite knowing it. He – and his talented wife Emma – recently made a big splash on the Interweb scene with their ‘A is For Ackbar’ alphabet book designed for their son. Although not an official income-generating project by any stretch of the imagination, it certainly struck a cord with many folks who seem to drive a non-ending industry of Star Wars based memes and cross-over tee-shirt ideas. But having said that, it was / is obvious to us that Brandon’s talents go way beyond this ‘educational exercise’.

As such, we’re happy to present this young man’s work and stop and have a chat with him on his way ‘to the stars’... oops, we did it again, huh? Blast it, it must be a trap!! Aaarrgh... let’s force our way onward, OK? Groooaaannn...

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Welcome Brandon! Can you tell us a little bit about what you’re working on these days and your background please? What inspired you to become an artist-slash-designer?
Thanks Ziggy, good to be here!

As always, I’m working on a little bit of everything – a website design, a tattoo illustration, the GUI for an iPhone app, and of course updates to my own website and portfolio.

In terms of my background, I had always been interested in art, but it wasn’t until late high school that I decided to pursue a career in graphic design.

Design was the most interesting form of art, to me – you’re trying to make it aesthetically pleasing, yes, but you’re also trying to convey a certain message or work within a set medium. It’s art-based problem solving, which means it’s a far less subjective discipline than “fine” art. There are bad solutions, good solutions, and maybe even one best solution, which is a very appealing and motivating idea to me.

Jumping right into the Grade A, Parental Unit type questions: What prompted you to incorporate yourself as an independent ‘LLC’ agency and return to freelance work? You decided to do this relatively quickly after your experience as an Art Director and Interactive Developer at a local ad agency, didn’t you?
Yeah. I was hired a few months after graduating college at an ad agency in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I worked for them for two and a half years while doing a little freelance on the side from time to time.

I decided to go full-time freelance for several reasons. Greater creative freedom was definitely the driving motivator, as was greater upward mobility for both my career and salary. You see, I had been hired as a print designer, but during my tenure there I did a lot of on-the-job learning and moved into a multimedia designer/developer role – a far more valuable and marketable position. However, the agency didn’t seem to have long-term plans for a multimedia department and I didn’t foresee any opportunity for a raise or promotion. That was December 2009, when the American economy was at a pretty low ebb.

Conventional wisdom would seem to argue against quitting your job at such a time. But I perceived (correctly) that with the economic downturn, individuals and corporations would re-evaluate their established advertising and design strategies, and look to trim their budgets however possible. A poor economy is actually a great economy for freelancers, because we can operate at a much lower cost than larger agencies – a very attractive selling point for cash-strapped businesses.

So I went into business for myself on January 1st, 2010. I officially incorporated fairly quickly after that – though I hadn’t initially thought about doing so. The primary impetus was tax season. Self-employed individuals are required to file quarterly returns, so when I took my first freelance quarter income sheets to my accountant, we looked at my projected income/expenses for the year and he advised me to incorporate.

If you’re doing even halfway decent on income, incorporating as an LLC could save you several thousand dollars on your returns, plus you only have to file annually. I would definitely recommend that any self-employed individual meet with an accountant and see how best to hang onto your income!

I’m curious as well how you best promote yourself as a ‘jack of all trades’? Is there some trade-off in terms of being able to offer so many services vs. being seen as a ‘specialist’ in a given area?
That’s the stigma, yeah – the old adage is that “a jack of all trades is a master of none.” But I don’t think that holds true at all in the design world.

Graphic designers, by the nature of our job, have to be multitalented, able to work with different mediums, styles, and content. Our goal is to develop a unique look for each client, after all, so we don’t want to be good at just one thing. Every designer who went to college for print-based design is already skilled in a wide variety of disciplines such as layout, illustration, logo development, and photography. And though web and multimedia are different mediums, they operate on the same principles as any other area of design, and are in ever-increasing demand. In this day and age, a designer who doesn’t at least have some basic multimedia know-how risks being left behind.

As you mentioned, I do promote myself as a ‘one-stop shopping’ design destination. That’s because I have a very diverse skillset rivalling what you might find across a typical ad agency. I’m well-versed in traditional design disciplines such as illustration, logo and brand development, and print layout.
I also specialise in multimedia ventures such as website design and development, and even video/animation with such programs as Flash, After Effects, and Final Cut Pro. I am a skilled writer/proofreader and am completely comfortable meeting with clients or giving presentations, having been an award-winning member of my high school and college speech teams.

The reason I can successfully operate as a one-man operation is precisely because I do have such a wide skillset “in-house.” I don’t advertise a service that I don’t in turn specialise in.

When you have a client that may need more than your current skill-set allows you to offer, do you ‘shop out’ to other professionals in the area or within your networking base?
Absolutely, though this doesn’t happen often. Whenever possible, I will learn whatever is needed to win the work and make it shine.

This past Thanksgiving, your ‘career’ took a very special turn as you and your wife added ‘parenthood’ to your list of achievements! Congratulations! How has becoming a first-time father at least started to affect your creative process or work, if at all? Granted, I know the lad isn’t perhaps old enough to start using your pens to create wall murals (just wait!!), but still...
Since I work mostly from home, being a dad is both awesome and difficult. I love love love being around for so much of Tycho’s early development, helping to take care of him, etc., which is something that a lot of day-job dads can’t do.

On the flip side, that means I have to focus on my work with the distraction of a crying – or even worse, an adorably cooing baby – which can be very tough at times. You definitely get a lot more adept at multitasking and doing work with just one hand.

It was also during the ‘run up’ to Tycho Maximus’ birth (what a fantastic name!), that you and Emma developed together the project that has undoubtedly gained you the most exposure, namely, the ‘A is for Ackbar’ alphabet collection (fans, you MUST click on the image that starts Part 2 to see all the characters in their full fantastic glory)! Now I don’t wish to beat this well-documented project to death, but just humour me with a couple of questions, please:

I understand that you did the sketching for the project, with your talented artist wife doing the ‘conversion’ into Illustrator. How often have or do the two of you still collaborate on at least design projects together (noting that, yes, I understand the mechanics behind at least the parental collaboration bit...)?
Haha, yes. My wife, Emma, is also a graphic designer, and it’s great being married to someone in your discipline – they don’t just empathise with your stresses, but actually understand them. It’s also nice to have a knowledgeable expert under the same roof as a sounding board.

Of course, two opinionated artists won’t always see eye to eye, and we have very different design sensibilities. So there’s bound to be occasional head-butting. It’s also the reason Emma and I don’t directly collaborate together as much as we simply consult each other, like we did here as well on this ‘Cowboy Bebop’ picture.

We’ve discovered that art is the one thing we will argue about. In fact, we argued so much about how to execute the Ackbar project that it almost didn’t happen! But you learn how to overcome disagreements like that in marriage, or at least you should.


Continued in Part 2 ‘The Empire Strikes Brandon’...

No wait, that was Part V, wasn’t it? I never could follow that...

D is for Design - But It's No Trap!

An Interview With Designer Brandon Peat

Part 2 of 2 (link to Part 1)
Click on any picture to enlargify

Brandon, looking some more at your widely covered ‘A is For Ackbar’ project, some folks have included all of these pics, from Ackbar to Zuckuss, on their own sites or even in their Flickr catalogues, etc.. Is that cool with you or do you feel like that’s going a bit too far? Oh and despite temptations, I’m not going to do quite that much ‘borrowing’...
It’s all good. Once you put something online, it’s out of your hands. I expected the images would wind up on other sites, and as long as they left the disclaimers stating where the illustrations came from, people can find their way back to my site.

The good thing is that with all the publicity, our authorship of the images is pretty well documented, and people won’t be able to pass these off as their own work. Still, there’s a reason we didn’t release the hi-resolution source files!

Getting back then to other, perhaps non-Star Wars related issues:

I really enjoy your portfolio of illustrations, very nicely done! Again though, you offer a variety of pieces created in very different styles. Is this something you try to do to show your range of skills? Or does your selection have to do more with personal preferences? For example, I’ve been comparing your more digital works like those above to your various ‘Rad People’ portraits.
I guess it’s a little of both.

Working in a variety of styles and mediums keeps it interesting for me, and I do feel that certain styles work best with certain subject matter.

Brandon, now that you are running your own agency as an official LLC 'entity', do you ever find yourself getting bogged down with ‘management’ issues? I mean, do you ever find the project planning or even financial aspects to be frustrating?
Oh, most definitely. I’m the sole breadwinner for our household, supporting my wife and son with my career. So I definitely take the business aspects seriously, but they can be very time-consuming.

I’ve found that I have to allow an average of 10 hours per week for administrative stuff. That includes invoices, estimates, client meetings or correspondence, portfolio or website updates, researching potential clients, printing and mailing art orders from my online store, and more – all stuff that I don’t get paid for but still needs to happen in a timely and regular manner.

Additionally, I can’t control when projects arrive on my desk – or, often, when they’re due. So I might have almost nothing to do one week, followed by a crazy week where all my clients have new jobs with fast turnarounds. You learn to make good use of the downtime to deal with the managerial stuff, so that when the work hits you have time to take care of it.

Flexibility is key – freelancing has actually prepared me pretty well for being a father!

Considering this, you’ve also mentioned that you are ‘gearing up’ for a big business push in 2011. What do you have on tap to see this through?
So far I’ve been largely targeting my local market in Fort Wayne, which has treated me well and given me a solid first year of business. This year I’m looking to expand into nearby markets such as Indianapolis, which has a lot of great design agencies I’d love to work with.

What about the ‘Rad Project Discount’? What are your targets with this promotion?
Yeah, that’s the other half of my new business push. Most of my work is with agency clients and in the multimedia realm, so I’m looking for smaller clients with creative print design needs. You know, folks like bands that need album design, authors needing book cover illustrations, etc. The fun and creative stuff!

Historically, I’ve usually given these sorts of project a cheaper rate anyway – I’m simply making it official. You can learn more about the discount on my website at

http://www.brandonpeat.com/me/raddiscount.html .

You once stated in your blog that ‘the difficult thing about being a graphic designer is that a lot of your work never sees the light of day’. How has dealing with either the rejection or even lack of even an opportunity to show your work changed – if at all – working freelance compared to the company environment?
In an agency environment, several designers are usually generating ideas for the same job. These ideas are reviewed and refined within the art department, then with the account executives, and finally presented as options to the client. In an ideal situation, that means the client is only seeing the best ideas. In practical application, it doesn’t always work that way. It can also be difficult not getting to communicate with clients directly, but having to present concepts through the AE’s.

Personally, I much prefer working one-on-one with a client. It simplifies the working method immensely. Now, rejections do seem much more personal in this sort of client relationship, but so is the praise for a job well done.

The reality is that graphic design is a principle based on rejection – rejecting bad ideas at every step of the process, hopefully resulting in the best final idea and product. It’s easy to get an ego when you feel you’re on a hot streak, but it just takes one client to bring that all crashing down. Learning to deal with disappointment is a crucial skill for any designer, agency-employed or no.

Now, I’m going to put you on the spot: you’ve worked on some obviously fantastic illustrations, as well as logo and brand development, print layout, and multimedia projects, just to name a few. But if you had to choose, RIGHT NOW, one area you’d like to focus on, say, after you’ve just won the Megabucks lottery: which one would it be and why?
Ooh, good question.

I love the multimedia stuff and it definitely pays the bills, but I’d have to say that my first love is definitely illustration and print design. If money wasn’t a concern, I would totally be an eclectic illustrator.

Finally, looking at your current ‘to do’ list :

What’s the current status on your ‘War of Eternity’ project that you are – or at least were – working on with Christopher Arndt?
The War of Eternity is a sci-fi/fantasy universe that Chris and I have been working on for a very long time. We self-published the first novel in our series, which we were very proud of, but gradually realised that it wasn’t going to take the story in the most compelling direction for future instalments.

So the project is currently on hold as we further brainstorm the overall concept and storyline. It’s definitely happening, but it’s a back-burner project to our respective careers and lives.

Is that the same as ‘Black Rose’? Or is this another ‘not really fantasy but kind of, yeah’ project you’ve got going on?
Yeah, Black Rose is another reason that Eternity is on hold!

Black Rose is an independently-published comic book series. It depicts a fantasy world entering an industrial revolution, a world facing war between the magic-using nation of Ishtakar and the steampunk country of Athelica. The series follows a brother and sister through the tumultuous evolution of their world.

Though technically a fantasy story, Black Rose is not a high fantasy – there are no elves or dwarves here. Our goal is gritty realism and believability. To use some famous examples, it mixes the rich world-building of high fantasy such as Lord of the Rings (ooh, great segue to show Brandon’s illustration of JRR.Tolkien below!) with modern, character-driven storytelling like that of Battlestar Galactica.

The amazing art for Black Rose is done by our good friend Aaron Minier, who brought Chris and me onto the project to co-create and write. Chris is the primary writer, while I do the editing, lettering, and all the print and web design. The comic will really be shifting into high gear over the next couple of years and we’re very excited about where it’s heading.

You can learn more about the project and purchase issues and art direct from us at

http://www.blackrosecomic.com

or even via our Facebook fan page!

And finally finally (or ‘Finally: The Final Chapter’), where would you like to see your business or especially your art heading in the near and/or distant future?
You know, I’m very happy with where I am right now, both career-wise and artistically. I’ve always been very critical of my work, and feel like I’m only just now getting good at the subtle nuances of design.

I was recently offered a full-time in-house design position at a software company and went through several phone interviews with their staff. They asked me what my dream position would be, and I found myself having to think fast, because in truth I already had it. I politely declined the position.

The one thing I want to avoid is complacency. I always want to learn new skills, I always want to improve my work, I always want to meet new clients. I’m incredibly lucky to be able to do this for a living, let alone work from home, and I hope I can keep doing it for a very long time in the future.

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After two and a half years as an Art Director and Interactive Developer for a prominent Fort Wayne ad agency, Brandon Peat did the craziest thing you can think of in an economic downturn and decided to quit his job! However, this allowed him to return to his roots as a freelance designer eventually incorporating himself as an LLC. He already has an impressive client list and range of awards to his credit, not to mention that he’s a regular at comic ‘cons’ to plug at very least his on-going collaborative work with the title ‘Black Rose’!

Brandon brings a wide range of skills plus several years of on-the-job industry experience to the table, as well as knowledge of new and emerging technologies. Among his myriad of talents, he specialises in illustrative design and interactive Flash development, though he has experience in just about every imaginable area of design, enjoying being able to bounce between them as the job requires.

Please check out Brandon and his work at the following links, or drop him a line at brandonpeat@gmail.com. He’d love to hear from you and - if he’s not currently busy changing a diaper - have a chat!

Links

Home
Blog
Store

‘Black Rose’



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All pictures, videos and other media are used with written permission of Brandon Peat, including all current or previous business affiliations related to same, or are available in the public domain (noting copyright and other restrictions, accordingly). No further reproduction or duplication is permitted without contacting the artist directly.

Some pictures have been modified slightly or combined only for the purpose of space limitations. In all cases, we invite you to visit the artist’s site(s) for more!

You’re Going to Heart This Art!

An interview with Thomas Fuchs

Part 1 of 2 (link to Part 2)
Click on any picture to vergrössernize

I’ve been trying now for weeks and I just can’t do it. I don’t know, maybe it’s me, maybe it’s this di... I mean, food re-education thing I’m currently on, but I just can’t. I’ve done tons of on-line research; I’ve stared at it all for hours on end; still, I can’t. No, as hard as I try, I can NOT pick out my favourite aspect about Thomas Fuchs’ work! I like it all. There, I’ve said it. I’ve failed you all and for that I’m truly sorry... NOT! What am I, nuts? (Don’t answer that...)

Hi gang! Despite all the rampant jocularity, we are indeed very thrilled to have Thomas with us here at ZN HQ. Not only is this affable nearly 40-something year-old in very high demand, but he’s been a real pleasure to work with! As you’ll see in the coming paragraphs, Herr Fuchs’ styles range from the sharp yet extremely poignant digital pieces he produces to a flair for portraits that is simply fantastic! His quirky yet thoughtful editorial pieces are highly sought after and can be seen in just about every genre of publication out there. Even his ‘for fun only’ projects like ‘A Heart a Day’ are beginning to sell like extra-large pretzels fresh out of the oven at Oktoberfest!

His unique touch in the broad fields that he covers can be traced back to his education in Stuttgart, studying with the legendary Heinz Edelmann (see I-view with fellow alum Christoph Niemann). Still, despite his upbringing including an interest in all things amphibianistic (keep reading), Thomas has grown as an artist over the years and firmly established himself in the realms of graphic art-dom here, there and everywhere!!

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Greetings Thomas and welcome! Can you tell us a little bit about Thomas Fuchs please and how he became the interesting and über-talented man that he is today?
Hi Ziggy, thanks for having me!

About me: well, I grew up in Germany (the sticks, to be exact) and spent most of my childhood chasing frogs and the like. Great for a kid, but boring as hell for a teenager. I guess I did find a lot of time for drawing simply because there was not much else to do (once that obsession with amphibians had subsided). That may have definitely had something to do with my later choice of profession...and it seemed more practical...

I studied Graphic Design and Illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, under Professor Heinz Edelmann (of Yellow Submarine fame). I graduated in '97, packed my bags and moved to New York the same year.

What do you think was your strongest influence coming along in terms of you deciding to become a graphic designer/illustrator?
I guess that would have to be LP covers. You know, those ancient big, black music discs that came in big cardboard sleeves with all manner of cool art and design on them.

I mean, how can you look at the cover of Pink Floyd’s "Dark Side of the Moon" and not be floored? Or, in a different way, all those Frank Frazetta or Boris Vallejo illustrations of scantily clad maidens in distress with some sort of monster lurking in the shadows that would grace many a rock band's album covers? I mean, how do you beat that?

So, after I realised that people actually did this for a living I guess there wasn't much choice anymore as to what I was going to do professionally!

That’s an interesting ‘shield’ on the front page of your web-page, very Germanic! Is this family related or just something you put together for fun and profit?
Yeah, rather Teutonic, eh? I've always been into the whole medieval heraldic imagery, you know, crests and the like. As I said, I grew up in rural Germany in an area with medieval castles abound, and that just always struck a chord with me. Eventually, being an artist and all, there wasn't really any excuse anymore not to do one for myself.

I also expanded on this shield for the singer/songwriter Shelby Lynne. She saw it on my site and requested something roughly along those lines (of course personalised to her own person/work). That was quite a fun gig.

I quite enjoyed your selection of paintings and the different senses of vintage looks, coupled with both ultra-realistic and even dream-like imagery. However, these seem to have been done almost exclusively for specific clients. To this: how do you decide whether to use painting or another ‘media’ for a client? Is that usually your own choice or is it dictated more by the client’s brief?
There are different ways this happens:

One would be the client requesting an exact recreation of the look of one of my images they have seen either on my site or in some other publication. That right there narrows things down quite a bit.

It does happen very rarely though that a client will be that specific with their preferences. Instead, most will give me enough rope to try and come up with the best approach to the topic at hand, which I do prefer. I believe that the concept I come up with to solve a visual problem should dictate what style best transports said concept. I think for the most part the people who are crazy enough to work with me are rather aware of that (and cool with it), as I do think it comes through when you look at my portfolio.

Plus, working mostly in an editorial field, there are certain factors like deadlines which will put a clear restriction on how crazy/elaborate one can go with a piece. I mean, having a really tight deadline will not allow for an intricately rendered scene and it will therefore most likely done in a more graphic style.

And, of course, the simpler the better – meaning, if you have a good idea you do not have to render the life out of it, which is my preferred approach. I'd rather think a little longer about a concept and come up with an idea that works, which then saves me some time on the execution...and I really like strong, graphic solutions...maybe I'm just lazy though...

Comparing your painting to your work in digital: what is the biggest difference for you as an artist concerning either the preparation or even finishing a piece?
There’s really not a big difference at all. The approach is very similar : I usually decide what the idea needs and then do that.

How did your focus on portraits come about? Is this a particular favourite aspect of illustrating for you or did it arise more out of reputation?
Yeah, that's kind of a weird one, as I don't think I'm even all that good at it. I mean, there are people out there that are just insanely good at nailing a likeness, and it seems like they do it effortlessly as well. In my case, I'm always almost surprised if the picture looks like the person it's supposed to. Mostly, I think I just get lucky.

The thing though that's really tough about portraits is the immediate controllability. What I mean by this is that no matter how amazing a painting you may have just crafted, if it doesn't look like the subject, you’ve failed. There’s no way to cheat!

But yeah, ‘good work delivered, more ordered’ is how the whole business works. A strong reputation for reliability is a big factor, I think.

Continued in Part 2

You're Going to Heart This Art!

An interview with Thomas Fuchs

Part 2 of 2 (link to Part 1)
Click on any picture to agrandir'nate

Thomas, you’re now plying your trade in the teeming streets and concrete valleys of New York City. As I’ve asked other of your contemporaries from your home region, including Stefan Sagmeister and as mentioned Christoph Niemann – both of whom also eventually landed in the Big Apple :
What hints of your Deutsche Wurzeln (German roots) can one find in your works? For example, I found your illustrations for an article about ‘perceptions, influences and impacts of German(ness) in the world’ to be quite insightful! Do you think your background helps differentiate your work if at all from other "native" colleagues in New York?
I'm not sure if there is all that much difference in how German or American artists approach things.

I mean, sure, traditionally, since illustration does not have such a vivid history and as big a cache in Europe as it does in the States, and since most illustration students study Graphic Design as well, maybe the approach to illustration for a German-educated person is a tad more design-oriented. I don’t know, maybe there's not as much purely decorative stuff there.

Still, I think that difference – if it even really exists, now or in the past – has become kind of blurred with the advent of the Internet which has resulted in a much more heightened awareness of what people in other countries are doing.

On the other hand, do you think that being in New York affects your ability to get business with German or other European clients?
As far as working with clients in the ‘old country’, being here in New York has never really been a problem for me. Today, you can really work from anywhere as an illustrator. You don't have to be living around the corner from where the clients are anymore, since most of the work is, at least for me, commissioned per email and delivered digitally.

Looking at your ‘endurance art’ project ‘A Heart A Day’ : I’ve met several artists who have also attempted similar approaches, in large part to either train themselves or to increase their exposure. What was your motivation or even targets for undertaking this Herculean task?
I've actually never really planned for this project to go on for this long! It started out as a bunch of heart-based ideas for a job. But then I realised just how much one could probably manipulate this shape into, and I just kept going.

I've always approached it very loosely, and just for fun, just doing them as long as the ideas came easily... which I guess has been quite a while now.

With projects like this there's always fun things happening almost accidentally, like creating a series within the series. I keep coming up with little visual stories that develop, things like that. Most importantly: it hasn't gotten boring yet. And since there weren't really any specific goals or targets when I started out, I’ve definitely succeeded in doing whatever it is I’m doing with it! :)

It seems though that people respond to the dark/light nature of these images, and of course the heart shape helps. In addition, some of this is starting to get picked up for clothing, decals, skins and other licensing, which is nice.

What was the most valuable lesson you’ve learned so far from the ‘Hearts’ project?
Well, I've done several similar projects like this before. I knew that sticking with a rather limited topic for a while would force me to come up with rather interesting things, ideas that I might not have come up with otherwise. Overall, it's a good exercise, I guess.

Speaking of very interesting projects, how did you get involved with ‘GOP100-Deconstructing Dumbo’? I believe that you eventually self-published a book of this collection, correct?
Yeah, that was done in collaboration with my pal, designer/illustrator extraordinaire Felix Sockwell.

He's the most violently liberal Texan you'll ever meet, and I'm not exactly a right-winger either! Once we heard that the Republican National Convention would set up shop in New York City in 2004, we created this series as our little response to it.

Felix even sold copies of the book out of the back of his rikshaw for a few days!!

You offer so many fantastic ‘services’, from paintings, digital works, portraits, as well as logos, icons, tee-shirts and much more. Do you ever feel like you have too much on your plate because of so many different focal areas? And if you could work on particular area more than you do today, what would it be and why?
I actually love the varied nature of what I do, as I do get bored pathetically easily and have the attention span of a damsel fly. So yeah, the more different things I can work on, the better.

In terms of what I'd like to do more, hm... well, I haven't really done any fine art paintings for myself in a while, so it'd be nice to find a little more time for that. Other than that, the art licensing thing that's starting to happen is exciting. I do have a few ideas for products as well. I guess we'll see what happens.

Oh, and chain-saw sculpture.

I asked earlier if there were any aspects of your work that you felt make your work seem ‘Germanic’ in some way. Thinking along these same lines, what would you say makes your work distinctly ‘Thomas Fuchs’ in its style, delivery or other aspects?
I don't know if there actually is a distinct ‘Fuchsian’ style per se.

I try to keep my options open in terms of what my work should look like. But having said that, I do hope that since all of this comes from the same (however limited) mind that there is something that connects it all in some sort of quantum physical, vibrating-at-the-same-frequency kind of thing!!

And finally, what’s coming up in the next months for Thomas Fuchs?
It’s really all up in the air ... just how I like it!! :)

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Welcome to the end of the interview where we’re probably including some bits that you’ve already learned – if you’ve read this far (if you haven’t, that’s cheating! Shame on you!!).

Thomas Fuchs – as many Germans have done before him – was born and raised in Germany. After finishing his studies in Graphic Design and Illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart with an MfA in '97, he moved to New York in November of the same year, where he still lives and works today, plying his trade as a self-professed ‘freelance illustrator-slash-designer-slash-artist’. And with all this slashing going on, maybe we should all start to get worried about his chain-saw project...

Thomas’ work has received accolades and awards galore from professional societies and his peers alike. He’s been honoured, for example, by The Society of Illustrators (Gold Medal, Advertising and Institutional Category), American Illustration, Communication Arts, Print, SPD, The Art Directors Club NY and Germany (of which he is a member) and SND (Silver Medal). His list of clients and other forums for his unique brand of eclectic work is extensive, ranging from just about every magazine or other publication covering all aspects of life (e.g. Architectural Digest, ESPN, Chicago Tribune, Newsweek and Time, Rolling Stone and many more!).

Most recently he’s done a great piece and logo, too, for the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles and if you hurry, you can catch some of his paintings that are on display at ‘The 12th Annual Dog Show’ presented by Mascot Studio in New York! And naturally, you can check out his great heart-shaped images and more via his on-going bloggy thoughts and musings!! Hey, we did say his work is varied!!

Thanks again to Thomas and all the great support he provided in getting this interview up and running!

Links
Website http://www.thomasfuchs.com/
Blog and ’A Heart A Day’ site http://www.aheartaday.com/
Shop (see also main Website)
https://www.neatoshop.com/catg/Thomas-Fuchs
Drawger portfolio http://www.drawger.com/fuchsy/
Flickr portfolio http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfuchs/
Behance portfolio http://www.behance.net/thomasfuchs

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All pictures, videos and other media are used with written permission of Thomas Fuchs, including all current or previous business affiliations related to same, or are available in the public domain (noting copyright and other restrictions, accordingly). EXCEPTION: the final bio pic shown above was borrowed from this link (photograph by Ethan Hill from ‘How to Wear White Without Looking Like Colonel Sanders’).

No further reproduction or duplication is permitted without contacting the artist directly.

Some pictures have been modified slightly or combined only for the purpose of space limitations. In all cases, we invite you to visit the artist’s site(s) for more!

Pet Rats, Deaf Cat, Great Art and All of That

An Interview with Nichole Lillian

Part 1 of 2 (link to Part 2)
Click on any image to enlargenovize

Sometimes when you first see an artist’s work, your eye is drawn to not only what is present but also to what is not present.

In the case of Nichole Lillian, I was initially drawn to her art – especially within her work submitted for tee-shirts – because of it’s very ‘organic’ flavor. In addition, I really enjoyed how Nichole’s work employs a lot of natural imagery mixed in with an acute attention to detail and color reminiscent in many ways of any variety of block or etched printing techniques. However, it was also a refreshing departure to see that her submissions omit the traditional ‘meme’s’ you see so much of today in design (e.g. Star Wars characters combined with Super-Heroes, Super-Heroes combined with each other or anything under the sun, etc.).

Nichole also shows that she is very in tune with nature yet manages to maintain a playfully subtle sense of humor, not that either of those are mutually exclusive mind you. And whether you consider it necessarily a nod to nature or not, her artistic moniker ‘Ratkiss’ also instantly catches your attention!

Ziggy Nixon was pleased to catch up with Nichole to talk about her work, her collaborations with other artists, and her one-of-a-kind style.

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Hi Nichole, welcome! To start off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to become an illustrator? (*also, do you prefer Nichole Lillian Humphrey or just Nichole Lillian?)
Hi! Ziggy!

About me: well, I was born and raised in Michigan. I’m a vegetarian, but I’m not preachy about it. Just like anything else out there it’s just one of those things that people have to decide to do on their own. I have pet rats and a deaf cat. His name is Mr. Mystery.

As my main income, I’m a dog groomer. However, by night I try to take time to be artful, that is, between my other duties of fighting crime and saving kittens. OK, that last bit is a stretch but anyway... I love art, listening to music, road trips, nature, space, exploring, baking, taking pictures and cooking. Oh and I think pizza is the best food in the world. Just think of all of those toppings available. Mmmm. I’m tempted now to order one now, ha.

In terms of my art, well, I’m a self-taught artist. I pretty much grew up with a crayon / pencil / pen / paintbrush / you-name-it in my hand so it’s just something that I’ve always loved to do. I remember when I was young, my pops and I would draw a lot together. I still have those little doodle books of our drawings, too. It’s quite fun to look back at them, actually. One of the first things I remember drawing were bumble bees! It’s funny to think about that today because I now have huge fear of bees, eep!

I would note that I did go through a period of time without drawing much of anything. I can honestly say thanks to the great folks at Threadless for existing because they’re the reason that I started drawing again!

(*Nichole Lillian is fine as I’m getting married in September and my last name will change then, thanks!)

Also, before we get too far into this, may I simply ask: what is the source of your ID, namely, ‘Ratkiss’? I’m just hoping it has nothing to do with quality of said kisses...
Ha ha, nope! It has nothing to do with that!

When I was establishing a web-site, ‘ratkiss’ was the first thing that came to my mind, again with me having pet rats and all. The plus side is that it’s a short name that’s easy to remember and spell.

The down side I guess is that I hope it doesn’t scare people off from even looking. I know some people have a fear of rats.

What have been your influences in helping shape your style?
Threadless is full of some of the most inspiring artists around. I’ll name a few I noticed on there right from the start: Ben Foot, Joe Carr, and Terry Fan.

All in all, I just keep doing what I enjoy! And hopefully, it will all keep on slowly evolving as time goes by.

Do you work solely by hand or do you combine with elements from computer tools to bring such a unique flair to your artwork?
Well, honestly, I don’t know how or what makes my art unique. I just do what I love after all.

Inspiration can strike me at any time, so I do try to carry a little notepad for doodles with me to prevent ideas and things from getting lost easily. I think they like hanging out together in one little book anyway. Especially since on one of my last road trips I didn’t have anything to doodle on but the back of a take-out menu, ha ha.

If there is something that I want to take further than a doodle, I’ll get a sketch going and then from there I’ll ink the line work on some Bristol paper. Everything you see up to this year (2011) has been a combination of that along with coloring using traditional methods or scanning in my line work and coloring it digitally.

I’ve also done some experimenting using India ink this past year. I’d like to do more with that and perhaps more painting in general. I would love to do a ‘zine and one day even give some sculpting a try! I’m always up for exploration.

One thing though, I never liked pen tablets: they were always awkward to me since I couldn’t work with them in my lap. Having said that, I recently got a Cintiq 21 UX and it’s all I’ve been using lately. (ZN: sob, I want one, too!) It’s amazing and still allows me to work on my lap like I usually do (it’s a bit heavy but I’m used to it now). It also enables me to maintain that natural pen-to-paper feel that I’m comfortable with. Plus, I’m able to do everything I was doing before and even more. It’s a great investment.

As I mention in the introduction, one of the first things I noticed in my research is that your ‘submissions’ miss much of the trend of ‘meme’ designs that go on today. Granted both ‘Surfing the Stars’ or even ‘Nightmare on Pop Street’ shown here could be argued to hold a little bit of this aspect in them – though I think that’s stretching things – but do you normally intentionally ‘avoid’ this kind of approach? Or is it just something that holds no particular interest for you?
It’s just not something that interests me, really.

I draw what I love to draw and what makes me happy. If others love it as much as I do, it just makes it that much more special to me, in all honesty.

How much interest do you have in CURRENT pop culture? I ask specifically because I find your work very reminiscent of what we saw some 20 to even 40 years ago, including even Klaus Voormann’s ‘Revolver’ cover for the Beatles.
I’m quite flattered at your comparison, thanks.

However, I don’t even know what would be considered ‘current pop culture’ if that tells you anything, ha ha.

Do you consider yourself ‘in tune’ with nature and the environment around you, and if so, how has this influenced your work?
It’s probably just as influencing to me as the many other things in my life.

I do draw a lot of animals though, so I’m sure it takes up a big part of my subconscious.

Continued in Part 2