Interview by Charlie Festa

Hello there, and how are you doing today?

Fantastic, thanks for asking!

How did you get your start in design?

Well, I've been drawing almost my entire life so I started out in the direction of fine art. Then when I was in community college, I had to take a couple of graphic communication courses. I realized that I actually enjoyed doing this sort of work and that it would lead to consistent, full time work. I didn't want to become a starving artist so I switched majors.

What inspires your work?

I think just my surroundings in general inspire my work. Any designs that are nature related stemmed from the scenery around me. Some of my work is inspired by the people I know. Some ideas came from music and specific songs.

How does it feel to have a design selected by Threadless?

Oh man, it's so exciting! I remember the first time I won, I couldn't believe it. I was afraid that it was some sort of mistake, haha. It's a real honor and I swear that first time I won my heart was going to leap out of my chest. Basically, it's a good feeling.

What do you plan to spend your hard-earned cash on?

So far, I've spent it on trips to Chicago to satisfy my Threadless addiction and actually meet the people behind the icons. I've also used it to move which is slightly less exciting. Most recently, I've purchased a Wii. I still have some earnings left, and I plan on making trips to Portland and New York City in the next few months.

Priscilla's Process of Design

I'm going to attach a couple of sketches for my sub, Carousel. Most of my sketches look like a two-year-old drew them. Mostly they're just a quick rendering to get an idea for the layout and composition. This is one of the few subs where I have multiple views on what I had
in mind. The numbers on the first page are CMYK values. Sometimes I'll hunt for different color schemes as the idea is brewing, and I'll write them down. The second spread shows ideas for different animals in the carousel and texture ideas. Again, this is atypical of what I usually do. Normally it's just a very fast sketch and then I dive into drawing.

My design process is to first draw out the entire composition with Micron pens on marker paper. Then I scan it in. Once the artwork is digitized, I take it into Photoshop and color it there (I have a Photoshop Coloring Tutorial if anyone would like to refer to it http://www.threadless.com/profile/387417/valorandvellum/blog/181779/
Photoshop_Coloring_Tutorial). I would use Illustrator, but usually there's too much textural detail and Photoshop simply makes more sense for this sort of style.


What is your Favorite:

Cheese? Goat Cheese
Book? Animal Farm
Movie? Waiting For Guffman
Song? "Listen Now" by The Knife
Chef? The one on Southpark
Curse word? Dadnabbit (but only when the elderly say it)
Color? Green
Television show? Flight of The Conchords
Super hero? Wolverine
Drink? Grasshopper
Farm Animal Sound? Cluck cluck
Threadless shirt? Smokin Hot
Sport? Foosball
James Bond? Pierce Brosnan (?)
Smell? Food cooking
Website? Threadless, right?
Right or Left handed? South Paw
Political? Negative
Wine Cooler? Does Smirnoff Green Apple count?

Interview by Charlie Festa

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