Interview with the winner of Derby 29
Shan24 has been here since derby #1. This is her 2nd print but really her first true derby win since her shirt, "See-Sawlitude" was one of the extra shirts printed from the first few derbies when Woot switched from printing one to three shirts per week.
Shirt.Woot Stats? (first derby / shirts bought / shirts printed)
#1 (One) / 11 / 2. I started with week #1. I've been there from the beginning, seen all the controversies, started a couple myself. The world was a different place then, innocent and naive. Now we are all derby zombies who stay up designing too late and throwing stuff up on the wall to see what will stick. Actually for the most part everyone has been very supportive of one another and it's a fun community.
What are you tools of choice?
I mostly use
Photoshop CS3. I tried
Inkscape but couldn't really get into it. I have a
Wacom tablet, I love it and I use it in place of my mouse a lot of the time even when not designing. I have used pen and ink before but usually I sketch things out in Photoshop with the paintbrush and then go back over it with the pen tool so it's in vector.
What is your typical process for going about a design?
I brainstorm with family and friends. Everyone always has a different take on the theme, and it helps me step away from my way of thinking and see the theme in a new light. The "Anatomy Test" shirt was actually my husband's idea so he should get most of the credit for that one! Then I head for Photoshop and plot it out with the brush tool.
What design or art experience do you have outside the derby?
I have designed some websites and really enjoy creating something from scratch. I submitted entries in Woot's Photoshop contest for a couple of years and that was a great creative outlet until I agreed to be one of the judges of that contest. So I was thankful that Shirt.Woot came along; learning about vector art and mastering the pen tool was a foreign thing.
Would you like to do art/design full-time? If so, what is your dream job?
Right now I'm loving what I do! I work from home and I have a 3 year old who stays home with me; it is so nice to be home with him and my 8 year old when he gets home from school. I design websites but mostly I do a lot of website updates as an independent contractor with a major online travel agency. I prepare many of their weekly email newsletters, one with a recipient list of almost 1 million, the other with a recipient list of over 200,000.
Any plans to sell your designs outside woot?
I would love to get a store set up somewhere but I have been waiting for the best design site to rise to the top. Every site has their pros and cons, I need to pick one and go with it! I have some older designs here on BestLosers, I need to update those and get to work on having some of them printed elsewhere. I have received some emails through BestLosers expressing interest in some of those designs which is always a nice compliment.
What advice do you have for new derby artists?
Keep trying, keep plugging along, you never know what will hit with the Woot voters. I almost didn't even do the sticky note shirt, I had talked myself out of it but the next day I said "oh well, let's just see how it would turn out" and I was more shocked than anyone that it took off and rose up the charts so fast. I had higher hopes for my "Robot Revealed" shirt, but you just never know. New derby artists should always go to that derby's forum for advice on their design and the people there will always give suggestions and tips. Good luck!
