Teefury

Ruby Red is a swell chap! He  sent us an assortment of teas, and Brighton Rock Candy! How awesome is that? Teefurian, send us tea and you might get printed too eh? Here's Soft Inside, a highly requested side art piece!

What's a day in the life of Roger like?
I’m a senior designer for an American owned events and publishing company. My day involves juggling many different design projects, and more often than not, it's a struggle to keep them all up in the air. My work is fairly varied, so I’m lucky my days are kept interesting. I commute on the train so I get a fair amount of time to work on tee ideas that get worked up in the studio at home, I just swop one Mac for another.

Do you own a lot of shirts? If so, what's your favorite?
I do own a lot of shirts, it’s almost a fetish. I’m lucky that everyday is ‘dress down for work day’ in my office so I get to exhibit many different designs. My current favourite is a skate tee ‘Bored? ... Board’ by Nick Ford, I’m a sucker for clean, crisp lines in tee designs.

What advice would you offer to aspiring designers? I saw you were on the top ten RedBubble sellers list. Got any advice on selling designs online with a on demand fulfillment company like RB?
You’ve gotta keep at it, especially on POD sites. Just because they handle all the production doesn’t mean sales will automatically come. You’ve got to promote very carefully. Blanket spamming just doesn’t work, you’ve got to be targeted and work hard to build relationships. If you’re prepared to put in the work, the good times will come. Thankfully, it’s not a dark art, common sense will take you a long way.

What inspired you to pursue art?
The same as a lot of us arty types I guess, hours spent drawing as a kid. I came from a family who weren't particularly creative, but fortunately, my parents really supported my artistic endeavours. I went to Saturday morning art clubs when others were at football, but I wouldn't have changed it for anything. I feel very fortunate to be employed in a creative industry.

Is there a subject matter you prefer when designing?
I'm a bit eclectic with my thinking and go through stages, sometimes I'll see political or social issues that strike a chord with me and I'll be compelled to create something relevant. Other times I like to indulge myself in something 'spoofalicious' or dabble with a bit of 'exploding bacteria'. ;)

Explain a little bit about your technique.
Like my thinking, my techniques can be quite varied. I'm spending a lot more time drawing and hand inking recently, and am enjoying the more hands on approach. I'll try most things and have created photography based designs, hand drawn and 100% digital works. On the Mac I work predominantly in Photoshop rather than Illustrator, just because it's what I use the most during my day job.

What are your current favorite design trends?
Oooh tricky. I'm not sure what trends I prefer, although I can say personally I'm not a fan of all over print tee designs, they're just something that I don't wear. I really appreciate quality linework, there are SO many uber talented designers who can cram so much detail into designs with really slick lines, I'm constantly blown away on a daily basis by what some people create. I appreciate most forms of art and design and try to visit as many shows and exhibitions as I can, and I'm a bit of an art book collector

Any shout outs?
I have to give a mention to my fellow collaborators in ‘The Game Of Kings’ over at RedBubble. There are some seriously talented and varied artists and writers working on a huge chess based art project. Each of them has inspired and pushed me in a direction I didn’t think I’d go in.