can't pimp this enough

exciting

ian's pretty

I like his choice of lipstick color.

perhaps a SMALLER version of that portrait eh
lol

yes!!!

there. sized for perfection.

wonderful!!! i am looking forward to this!!! as i always am with this stuff!! is there going to be any podcasting going on associated with this?

*shakes a bigger fist at tora* quit confusing me!

jared - no. sorry. not unless ian wants to create one for us to post.

i'm going to put lil life preservers on all these interviews so they don't drown at the bottom of the page(s)

one more for the evening crowd

bumped the wrong blog
here's the one i wanted

awesome! I'll try to make some time today to get all of these answered!

:D

don't forget to vote for ian's new sub

*watches blog*

*watches squinty watch blog*

I love when Chelly gets all up in MS Paint.

It makes me happy all over.

*bullshit...er, i mean, blushes*

Where is Ian w/ his awesome details?

*eggsellent

Thanks Chelly and Shirtflirt for the chance to be interviewed by such a well-respected journalistic team! I know I'm not the most vocal blogger, so this should be a chance for people to learn more than they ever wanted to know about me.

First I should set the record straight that I only have 3 prints, not 4 (unless you know something that I don't. C'mon... do you? Because that would make this even better, if possible.)

Also, let it be said that you haven't lived until you've been MS Painted by the great Chelly. Now I know how Mona whats-her-name must have felt.

So anyway, on to the questions!

----

if we take a look at your web page, it is obvious that a lot of your design work is centralized around music. how does this effect your subs at threadless?
It's been a strange cycle, actually. My first real "freelance" design work was doing album covers for some of my friends' bands that I did on the side while working as a video editor. From those few covers, I got work with a music label, doing CD covers and other packaging. That was the only real client that I had when I decided to make the jump and be a full-time freelancer. In between the (quite sparse) projects that first year, I started submitting designs to Threadless.

After about 18 months of submitting to Threadless (with no winning designs yet), I presented a portfolio of my Threadless designs to apply for a freelancing gig with a company that does rock band t-shirts. After adapting to a totally different design sense, I brought back some of the tricks and techniques that I learned designing band shirts to make "A Voyage of Discovery" , my first winning Threadless design. So as you can see, it's been a real back-and-forth between my personal work and client work.

i see that your second sub was a suggestion by your wife, how much inspiration comes from her?
I think that was the only of my Threadless designs that came directly from her, but she has had input on probably every one of my subs, either in the initial concept, or some insight into the execution. She's always good at adding a little twist, or seeing something I've overlooked.

several of your designs have been printed at other web sites. at what point do you completely retire a design?
NEVER! OK, well at least not until I decide that I can't squeeze any more money out of it, anyway. Alright, FINE, in all seriousness, it really depends on the design; I still have a few older ones that I'm hanging on to, and a couple newer ones that are already dead to me.

do you save the gallery photos of the ppl who bought your shirt?
No way, lest I be added to the National Database of "creepy internet stalkers". I *do* however, check in every once in awhile to see if any new images have been added. Even after three prints, I have YET to see someone in real life wearing one of my shirts, so it's a bit of a vicarious thrill, I guess.

what musician/band most heavily influences your art?
I can't really say that any particular band, or even style of music influences me that much artistically, but I do have a few that get heavy rotation when I'm working, including Sigur Ros, Aphex Twin, John Coltrane, Explosions in the Sky, and Peter Gabriel's "Passion" among lots of other. I also listen to a good bit of internet radio, mostly RadioParadise or DavidByrne.com, but occasionally some 50's / 60's lounge music, especially when I'm working on something with that retro kind of vibe.

please recommend one cartoon and one children's book.
I was just given a crop of Danger Mouse DVDs, and I have to say that I had totally forgotten how incredibly strange and fun that show was. As for children's books, I can't recommend highly enough "The Monster at the End of this Book". It's a cautionary tale of modern man's disconnect from his true self featuring an award-worthy performance by Grover, and a twist ending that will leave you reeling.

where did you grow up and where are you now?
I grew up in Gainesville, FL, and now live in Asheville, NC. Between the two, I was also stuck in Alabama for a number of years, though we won't talk about that.

what is your cult going to be called?
Given that so many religions and cults end in "-ians" (Raelians, Branch Dividians, and Canadians, to name a few) It's a little surprising that more people don't realize that they are already IN one of my cults. My next one will probably just be "The Ians", to simplify matters.

how much time do you find you generally spend on a design?
A number of my designs start with a research phase, which tacks on a good bit of time. For instance, in working on "In a Native Tongue", I researched the Lenape tribe (the first recorded inhabitants of Manhattan) to make sure that I was accurate in the clothing, hairstyles and accessories I used for the characters. And of course it varies a good deal.... "Ironic Slogan" was probably the fastest, but I don't even want to *think* of all the time I put into "A Voyage of Discovery".

what do you personally feel is your strongest tee design to date?
I wear Eclipse! and Chariots Retired waaaay more than my other designs, so I guess I'd say one of those two.

over or under?
Over? I think. Unless I misunderstand the question. In which case: Tuesday.

so, you are not a frequent blogger. how's that interaction effect your work as far as your art is concerned?
As much as I would like to, I don't often have time to hang around the blogs, but my occasional visits and posts do give me a connection with the community here, and I've made tons of friends whose input helps to shape my design submissions.

what music do you recommend the bloggers listen to in order to broaden their cool factor?
As a 30-year-old white male, I'm not sure if I can really claim to be the arbiter of cool, but here's a few things I really enjoy that most people probably haven't heard of: James Mathus (Songs for Rosetta) - sort of a 'O Brother Where Art Thou' meets Squirrel Nut Zippers sound; Kelly McRae (Never Be) - the sister of one of my childhood best friends, her track "Johnny Cash" may be one of the most beautiful songs I've heard; Grant Green (Idle Moments) - an indispensable jazz album, worth owning for the title track alone; RL Burnside - last of the Missisippi bluesmen, his songs have a grit and authenticity that's impossible to fake; Micheal Penn is also a perennial favorite of mine with highly literate lyrics and a McCartney-esque ear for melody - "Resigned" is my favorite of his

what is your time machine (made out of)? where are you headed in said machine and why?
My time machine is made of old VHS copies of "Big Trouble in Little China", and it takes me to a time when Jack Burton was the most awesome person on the planet. Which, I guess, would be anytime really.

do you have any weird body/face tricks (example: crossing your toes, curling your tongue)?
To my great dismay and frequent public ridicule, I have never been able to cross my eyes.

what makes you shake your head?
Wait, is this supposed to be a good thing, like I'm nodding "yes, yes" to something? Or bad, like I'm saying "no, no"? How about I just say: Tron, Information Society, and Penny Arcade, and you can decide which category?


most importantly, what makes you shake your rumpah?
I have to admit that I have all of the killer rumpshaking moves that you would expect from a straight white man, so anything that would incite bootyshaking is really a cause for alarm for anyone in visual range. That being said, I will sometimes cut a groove at a live concert, where I can be an anonymous part of a crowd. OK, and occasionally at home when no one is looking - usually to some latin or world music that doesn't allow you to NOT dance.


-------

So there you go! Long, wandering answers to questions most of you never cared about to begin with. If anyone is masochistic enough to want more, just post questions here, and I'll try to answer them when I can.

beeyouteeful

#'s updated!

damn ian!


that was great.


i love these things because the answers are never what i would expect (sorry about getting the numbers wrong btw). if you would, for any reason, want the real-sized ms paint for chuckling pleasure just let me know.

thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions that i'm sure hit you out of no where.

there will be some even harder-hitting in-depth inquiries coming your way in the future, so i hope this was a good warm-up.

that sentence had a lot of hyphens.

but really, you're awesome. thanks so much!!!!

i like to bump for lurkers

those were some great answers

Awesome interview and great insights!

:)

Awesome!! Also, that paint portrait at top adds 10 cool points to this blog.

Wow, I love these interviews, keep doing them please!

good. we shall keep the paint portraits as a regular thing then.

YES, you have to!! The portrait really adds something special to the interview. :-D

tell all your friends!

bump

haha noice

AWESOOME!!!

WITH TWO Os

that was a great read -

that was a great read

lol at canadian cults
and good choice on children's book too!

also lol at the portrait! awesome!

that was a great read! thanks ian, chelly and shirtflirt!!! great stuff!!

very cool!

This interview is a hoot.
HOOT!

i actually had the honor of meeting ian in chicago and not only was he surprisingly friendly and witty, but he could also do some amazing things when given whiskey










mad props to shimala for catching that on film

Hahahahahahaha!!!!

Yeah, I remember that.

i STILL don't know where he got those maracas

HEY! I thought it was "whatever happens in Chicago STAYS in Chicago"? Maybe I wanted to keep my mad flamenco super-powers a secret, didja ever think of that?

"look at me! look at me! i'm going to be FAMOUS!!!!" is pretty much all i remember about that

*lurks*

NEATO!