Interview with the winner of Derby 30
IAmBusyEating is as n00b as you can get when it comes to the derbies -- this is his very first entry. Congratulations on winning on the first go 'round! To make it even sweeter, his shirt sold out in less than 2 hours.
Shirt.Woot Stats? (first derby / shirts bought / shirts printed)
#30 (Leap Year) / 2 / 1. This was the first derby I actually entered. I have been keeping track since about the Invention Derby and the first shirt I saw was "It Might Have Been a Giant" which I regret not getting to this day. Personally I've bought Fablefire's "Say no to Scurvy" which I think is probably the greatest shirt Woot has ever printed and Jack's "Tracking Survival Guide".
What are you tools of choice?
I have a copy of
Photoshop CS3 and for this design I used a trial version of
Illustrator. I've always wanted a
tablet (maybe I'll buy one with my winnings). Some times I use pen and ink just to get my ideas out there but my hand drawing skills are embarrassingly bad.
What is your typical process for going about a design?
I really just started this so I'm making up a process as I go. When I see the theme I don't usually think of something immediately, so I carry around a sketchbook and when an idea comes to me I'll just jot down a quick visualization of it. Then I either use the Photoshop brush or pen and export those paths to Illustrator or draw directly with the pen tool in Illustrator.
What design or art experience do you have outside the derby?
I have a little Photoshop experience and I recently started entering the Woot Photoshop contest. A lot of my practice comes from making random stuff for no reason. Other than that, not very much experience at all.
Would you like to do art/design full-time? If so, what is your dream job?
I would like to but I'm way below the necessary skill level. Right now I'm a freshman history major at college, but if I could choose any job in the art/design field I would probably go with something in the video game field.
Any plans to sell your designs outside Woot?
Nope.
What advice do you have for new derby artists?
If you have an idea just make it to the top of your ability and throw it out there. You have no idea what could strike a chord. I honestly didn't even think my shirt would be in the top half of entries. If you have any questions or problems don't hesitate to post on the forums, the people there are friendly and nice and will probably sort you out.
