Interview by Rachel Gottesman

Welcome to the Alumni Club! How does it feel to be awesome? I'm sorry, I meant 'How does it feel to be even more awesome than before?'

Awesomerer, I guess. It's a great feeling to have a design picked.

It's become a bit of an obsession for about a month now to get something printed on Threadless. I thought finally achieving that goal would lessen that obsession but it seems only to have made me hungry for more. So expect many more submissions from me in the future.

Do you have any special plans for your newfound wealth? (Don't spend it all in one place!)

My plans for the money aren't very exciting, sorry. It's all going straight on the credit card.



Also I had my wisdom teeth out a few weeks ago (ouch!) and it cost me a lot of money (double ouch!). So winning this was pretty good timing.

Oh God, dental work. My face hurts just reading that.

Where do you come up with your design ideas? I mean... Let me be honest here...'Lunch Time' is terrifying.



I don't know where the ideas come from, really. I have a really boring day job at the moment so I tend to spend a lot of my time at work coming up with ideas and scribbling them down on bits of paper when no one is watching. All great art springs from boredom in my opinion.

I'm sorry to hear that! Who is your inspiration? Do you have a muse?

Is that who tells you to draw demon babies riding killer lions?

I don't have a muse. Note: besides boredom I tend to get inspiration from other artists, popular culture, nature, all the usual suspects.

As for demon babies riding on killer lions... the voices in my head told me to draw that.

I knew it. So I've noticed that out of your handful of submissions you have two very solid tennis designs. Do you play tennis, or are you dating Maria Sharapova?

Tennis is a sport I'm much better illustrating than playing. I couldn't hit a decent backhand if my life depended on it.



Needless to say I don't date Maria Sharapova, all that grunting would drive me mad I think.

Hahaha... Maria Sharapova... Grunting... Haha!

Sorry. My mind's in the gutter.

How long have you been playing the design game? Is that your favorite thing to do, or do you draw and paint too? I'm a huge fan of anyone who enjoys painting.

Design is something I'm relatively new at. I only recently completed a Graphic Design degree (hence the credit card debt) and It's something I definitely would like to start a career in.



Painting and drawing on the other hand are things I've been doing since I was a kid. It's always something I've loved to do and always will...When I can find the time that is.

Is there anything you'd like to add? Pretend this is your Oscar acceptance speech. (Remember to finish up before the music cues up.)

Nothing to add except thanks to all those who voted for my design and thanks to Threadless for picking it. I can't wait to see it printed. Oh, and I'd like to thank God and the academy and...

Interview by Rachel Gottesman

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