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Feedback is Your Friend<br />
Find peers you can communicate well with. I think that the most important thing<br />
that has happened to me artistically is getting over worrying about a wounded<br />
ego. My partner in art-crime and I are really good at seeing a new piece and critiquing<br />
the hell out of each-other. Even to the point where to someone else – it<br />
might sound vicious.<br />
Obviously, the point isn’t to figure out how to just tear someone down, but it’s<br />
important to have someone say, “I see what you’re going for, but this isn’t working”<br />
or even, “You’ve already done this before a million times. Bring something<br />
new to the table.” Sometimes, I’ll work for a day on an illustration only to come<br />
back the next day and realize it’s really awful. It’s even worse when someone<br />
knows what you’re capable of and doesn’t say something for fear of hurting<br />
your feelings. One night, I was up until 5 in the morning working on a drawing.<br />
I thought I was really making this awesome masterpiece and it took showing it<br />
to a<strong>not</strong>her artist and having them say, “Really? That is just awful” for me to realize<br />
that. Even though I was really into it, I needed to re-approach it altogether.<br />
When I went back and started over from a<strong>not</strong>her perspective, it came together<br />
a lot better. Art is subjective. You are <strong>not</strong> a delicate flower. You’re making a<br />
product that needs to be successful.<br />
My Secret to Success<br />
I’d like to be self-involved enough to think it’s my personal style, but the real<br />
answer is probably consistency, meeting <strong>dead</strong>lines, research, and versatility.<br />
Those get you regular jobs that expand your portfolio. Most of my work comes<br />
by request through my website.<br />
Research: Know Your History<br />
When it comes to the merchandising stuff, it’s important to research the band<br />
so you can figure out where they’re coming from and who their target audience<br />
is. It’s just as important to figure out how to make a shirt appeal to the hardcore<br />
Metallica fans who might get an obscure reference to a song lyric as it is to be<br />
able to successfully design something for Tina Turner’s audience. Sometimes<br />
you can have a LOT of fun with a project. Sometimes, it’s just a job. On both<br />
occasions, you can deliver something that has the right impact for the crowd<br />
you’re catering to.<br />
THREAD’S NOT DEAD • Jeff Finley<br />
As goofy as it might sound coming from someone who might be recognized for<br />
drawing a lot of skulls and birds for metal bands: research is really important<br />
to me. It’s important to understand the history of advertising from posters, to<br />
TV, to apparel.<br />
As a designer, I think it’s important to submerge yourself in pop-culture and<br />
the pop-culture from eras gone. Understanding what makes certain illustrations<br />
or typography represent an era and why is really valuable for having<br />
versatility in your portfolio. What makes those designs tick? What lettering<br />
styles made Soviet posters or French deco posters have that style only they<br />
have. Once you understand those, you can take them and pervert them for<br />
your own deviant needs.<br />
Case Studies & Interviews 111<br />
“Faun” by<br />
Angryblue
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