Teefury

Tell us about this design.
Katamari Damacy is one of my favorite games of all time. One of the most distinctive things about it is the awesome soundtrack, so I had the idea of rolling up music instead of objects.

Where are you from?
I live in the midwest, which is mostly awesome. Except in the winter, because shoveling the driveway is pretty much the worst thing ever.

How did you get started designing t-shirts?
I graduated design school with a good sense of how to lay out a page, but absolutely no illustration skills. I tried a lot of things to try and gain some skill in that area (including making a fairly awful 24 hour comic) but once I discovered how quickly you could get feedback through t-shirt design contests (even though the feedback was often just saying how terrible my drawings admittedly were), I was hooked.

What advice would you offer to aspiring designers?
Experiment. If you just follow along and do what other people are doing, at best you'll be in second place. Trying new stuff and pushing the boundaries of what you think you are capable of is where the most growth lies.

What would be your dream job?
I feel like I have my dream job, corny as that sounds! I get to think about t-shirts and design every day, and I have plenty of time to create. It's amazing!

What are your feelings about history?
History is a great source of inspiration. I love watching documentaries about the important figures from past eras and wondering how they'd react to the world of today. I for one would love to see what Ben Franklin would do with the internet!

Describe your favorite shirt that you own, and why you like it so much.
I'm pretty fond of This is the Happy House by C86 at Owl Movement. I love how unusual it feels, like a blueprint from an alien culture. Plus the colors are great!

What was your favorite as a kid: comics, cartoons, or movies? Was there a specific title you liked most of all?
I was strictly a cartoon-watching kid- Thundercats was my favorite. I also watched stuff like Jem & the Holograms, Mysterious Cities of Gold, and of course GI Joe. I remember spending a lot of great summer afternoons playing games patterned after those characters.

Any shout outs?
Check out TeeMagnet.com if you need a quick way to keep track of new shirt releases, and Compete-tee-tion.com is full of reviews of shirt contest winners (plus new contest opportunities for artists).