Teefury

A word from the curator:
If the hills were alive, would they really be listening to showtunes? That's the question this shirt poses, and I have to say it's a good one. Hills are solid, strong, and stoic- surely their sort of music is more akin to what you'd hear blazing from a boombox than what you'd hear on Broadway, right?

Tell us the background of this design.
A lot of my stuff is "mash-up" work, where I take two great tastes that don't normally go great together and make it work. I wanted to do a hip-hop shirt for all my light-skinned brosefs and hosefs. I am not exactly sure what that even means.

How did you get started designing t-shirts?
The first shirt I remember doing was for a fake skateboard company called "Good". My buddy Dave and I made them with a screen kit from the art store in order to bluff our way into (REDACTED) skateboard camp in the early 90's. I had a friend who was a guest pro there, so we made some shirts and stickers and claimed to be one of his "sponsors". The plan was to stay for one day; we ended up staying for 5 and showering in our clothes because we came ill-prepared.

As for turnin' legit, I just decided one day that I'd try to get some papers in this shirt hustlin' game, nosayin?

What advice would you offer to aspiring designers?
Do not temporarily assume the persona of a street thugsta for the purpose of an interview. On a more serious note, It sounds cliche but concentrate on the basics of your tools and composition. Also, like all art, make it fun/satisfying for you - it will come through in your work  Lastly, don't just do shirts. I do tons of freelance logo work, for instance (yes, please email me if you need logo work done). Lastly, there will be haters - you can safely ignore them, like you already ignore movie critics. Diversify!
        
What would be your dream job?
A real dream job is any job where you don't feel like it's a job. Right now, I am sort of there - I work at an ad/interactive agency drawing pretties for a living for clients all over the world. I suppose if my job allowed me to snowboard/skate all day that would be rad too. Oh yeah, and hella benjis foo'.

What are your feelings on superheroes?
I only like superheros that are superheros by force of will, not nature. I'll confess. I almost cried at Ironman. To explain, it's a well made film in which a scientist is portrayed as something other than a villain. He's cool, he's popular, and he's rich. When he realizes that his science was causing some problems, he used MORE SCIENCE to solve his problems, not some ancient mysticism or magic. We need more of that message in the world today. Tony Stark didn't waste his prison-cave time praying for Hanukkah Harry and Mecha-Zeus to fly down on a magic chariot and smite his enemies. Tony Stark makes his OWN solutions. Tony Stark knows it's all about 4000-inch screens, a house *in* a hill, exotic alloys, and straight bangin' dime-pieces.

Also, I think that we have to remember the many real-life superheros out there making a difference in so many fields. Next time you see a teacher, a scientist, or a physician - really anyone trying to do reality based, good work in the world - say thanks!

Do you prefer Disney or Pixar?
Pixar. That was easy!

One grizzly bear vs. five football players: who would win the battle?
That would be one full bear. The bear is an exquisitely evolved foraging and fighting machine. It's not even an issue; the ballers lack the requisite disembowelling equipment to ensure victory. Also, I'm unclear if you mean USA football or rest-of-the-world football. Either way, same result.

Describe your favorite shirt that you own, and why you like it so much.
It's a white undershirt that says "I'm one bad minton" on the front and "ask me about my (shuttle) cock" on the back in sharpie marker. I like it because I made it when I was asked to play badminton; 10 minutes later I was lookin sharp and out the door.

What was your favorite as a kid: comics, cartoons, or movies? Was there a specific title you liked most of all?
Actually, i was a bookworm. Of course, I loved Star Wars and Robotech. But I liked books (mostly nonfiction) and videogames.

What are a few of your favorite websites?
This one, of course - after that, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsmuP6mbCK4, newscientist.com, and any that I got paid to make!

Any shout outs?
My Six Foot homies past and present, my family, Yahweh, H Potter, Gandalf and the other fictional characters who are out there keepin it (not) real. Also, my best buddies - Jake, Viet, Dave, Alex, Chuck and Grayson. Most of all, I thank my beautiful wife and daughter.