Interview by Rachel Gottesman

Hello Daniel, congratulations on being chosen for the "Rob and Big" loves competition. How's it feel knowing that some famous people liked your design more than all the others?

Thanks so much! I am absolutely thrilled to have won this competition. When I first saw that Threadless was having a "Rob and Big" loves competition, I couldn't wait to get started with a design for it. It is such an hilarious show with so many visually interesting aspects that can be incorporated into a design.

You know, by being picked you snagged that Rock Band game. I hope you're musical.

Do you play any instruments, or are you now going to learn to play guitar on one of those little plastic ones with the colored buttons? (It's harder than it looks. But then again, I have like zero hand-eye coordination.)

When I was about seven or eight my mom sent me to recorder lessons (not the greatest instrument to get a young kid inspired about music). I learnt the basics, but eventually gave it up after realizing that the instrument was more like a spittoon for me than the embodiment of ethereal musical notes.



This was followed by a few piano lessons as well as dabbling with a bit of guitar, both with not much success. One positive has come out of my former years of musical mishaps, which is that I have a great appreciation for the skill involved in putting just a few notes together and making it sound amazing. I definitely think that the little plastic guitar with the colored buttons would suit my musical talent perfectly!

When did your interest in design begin? How long have you been in the business and what's your favorite part about it?

When I was young I was fascinated by the work of Hergé. I use to constantly go to the library and sit for hours reading Tintin and immerse myself in these fantastic and adventure filled stories. As an illustrator and story teller, Hergé always seemed to have the ability to illustrate human emotion so convincingly and simply, that you could not help but be completely involved in what was taking place in front of your eyes.



Then there was Mad magazine, skateboard graphics in the early 90's and doodling my way through school. I guess all of these influences shaped my interest in art and design, but it was only at the end of high school that I decided to take design seriously and try and make a career out of it, so I enrolled in a graphic design course at university after which I started freelancing.

So far, my favorite part about design is that I can constantly experiment with new ways of communicating an idea, and that the process is limitless.

From where do you draw your inspiration?

Family, friends, conversations, arguments, books, art, music, typography, screen printing, the weather, my pets (r.i.p), human behavior, human stupidity, history, words, surfing, nature, smiles, life in general.



What do you like to do besides design sweet shirts?

I really enjoy traveling and experiencing new cultures and I try and do something new every day to break my routine. I have also started silk screening recently which I find very exciting, the feel of the paper, the smell of the inks (only in a well ventilated room), the surprise results that you can achieve by overprinting different colors.

Give other designers out there some advice. What do you do to motivate yourself and get over creative blocks? (And don't tell me you've never had a dry spell, because we all do!)

I think that creative blocks should not be referred to as a 'block', but should rather be seen as a struggle. Every designer struggles with coming up with a 'new' and 'original' idea, but this doesn't mean that they have reached a stage where ideas are absent.

One of the best insights into creativity that I have heard so far comes from Paul Budnitz, founder of Kidrobot. He gave a presentation about the 'relationship between creativity and risk' where he explained that as children, we are fascinated by the world around us, we explore and play and in so doing we create freely, without judgment. The problem arises when we are told by our loved ones not to do specific things because it is not acceptable, i.e. playing with our food.



We respect their opinions and we want to please them, out of love, and out of fear because we depend on them for survival. Throughout our lives, other peoples opinions and reprimands shape the way we think and act and we build up a fear towards thinking freely and playing creatively without boundaries.

When we are adults, we have almost completely lost the ability to create spontaneously. The great thing about design is that it gives you a chance to reclaim the experience of playing freely, of experimenting and of looking at the world in a new and unexpected way.

I think that's the first serious answer I've ever gotten in an interview! Thanks!

Is there anything else you'd like to add? A shout out? A thanks to all of your adoring fans?

A big thanks to Threadless for starting such a wonderful site where people can express themselves, create and criticize/comment on one another's work. Special thanks to everyone who voted for my design!!

Thanks for chatting!

Thank you too Rachel!

Interview by Rachel Gottesman



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