Teefury

It started as a "history of handguns" design.  I wanted to show the progression from a basic flintlock revolver through repeating pistols with clips all the way up to a blaster.  Someone made the humorous quip that the movie took place "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." which would mean that Han's blaster is actually older than all the rest.  This made for two funny jokes; both the history of guns including his blaster, and that his blaster is actually the oldest.

 

Originally I'm from Canton, OH, but now I live in Louisville, KY

 

It actually started almost 4 years ago.  A friend of mine and I were coming up with funny t-shirt ideas.  After thinking that some of our ideas weren't just funny, but would actually make neat t-shirts, we looked into it.  Unfortunately, most of our ideas had already been done in some fashion or another.  For example, a cassette tape with the words "old school" on it.  We were really big into nostalgic 80's and 90's ideas.  I started trying to design my own shirts in Photoshop and put them on Zazzle.  A co-worker saw what I was doing and told me about threadless, and that is where I started submitting and learning how to properly use Illustrator and Photoshop, and also how to become a better designer.  TeeFury is where I had my first two commercial prints (King Pong & A Boy's Imagination) which gave me hope that I could actually get some recognition as an artist.

 

My advice would be to design shirts that you would want to wear.  My biggest struggle early on was designing stuff that I thought would be popular and in turn be more likely to get printed.  The danger here is that my ability to critique my own work is stunted when I'm designing stuff I would probably never purchase myself.  It also places all the value on whether or not the design is liked or gets printed, rather than on my own enjoyment in creating something.  So, design stuff you would wear, it makes you more honest about the quality of your work and helps you enjoy the outcome regardless of what others think.

 

Probably running a t-shirt store, online or locally, where new and aspiring artists can be featured and helped with exposure.

 

I'm going to answer this as if you're talking about fictional space travel and say that I like all the various planets, species, and customs invented by the writers of shows like Star Trek and Dr. Who.  It is like the Sci-Fi version of J.R.R. Tolkien, creating vast worlds, peoples, and languages.

 

Efficient, not too large, and plenty of bookshelves.

 

Godzilla, because they seem equal in strength, but Godzilla could breathe his lightning fire stuff and I would think King Kong's hair would catch on fire, greatly hindering his ability to win.

 

Depends on what age.  As I got older, comics would win the vote, because I liked to go to a local comic shop, buy the cheapest comics I could find, and try to sketch my favorite pictures from them.  I actually found a great series from Image comics called "Team 7" that sadly, to my knowledge, didn't ever launch a second story arch.

 

It isn't a website, but the app Flipboard for iPad and iPhone keeps me plugged in to twitter, facebook, trending videos on youtube and vimeo, Tumblr, news, etc.  Sounds silly, but it is helpful and I enjoy staying "connected" to social, viral, and political goings on.

 

I'd like to give a shout out to my wife who always supports me and my designs.