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Design for The Chariot by Brandon Rike<br />
back to a good solid classic graphic (which has also always been in fashion).<br />
It’s nice to roll with the trends in order to push yourself to get out of your comfort<br />
zone, but it’s also nice to know what good design is, and to be able to<br />
implement solid principles amidst the trends.<br />
My Secret to Success<br />
Hard Work. Period. I go to bat for my clients, I work my butt off to make sure<br />
they are satisfied. This has enabled me to build great rapport with the people<br />
I work with, enabling me to remain around the top if their list. It’s much<br />
easier to get asked to do one project than it is to be someone’s go-to designer.<br />
Being a go-to guy happens when you never miss a <strong>dead</strong>line, and always<br />
go above and beyond expectations. Slackers and lazy designers will <strong>not</strong><br />
succeed in this industry.<br />
I love what I do. I adore what I do. When I am <strong>not</strong> designing stuff, I want to be<br />
designing stuff. I fall asleep thinking about what I’m working on the next day,<br />
and I wake up excited to create it. I have been extremely blessed to do, <strong>not</strong> only<br />
what I love for a living, but also what I am best at. I am also blessed to make a<br />
good income doing it. But it doesn’t come without hard work. It doesn’t come<br />
without an obsession for good design, and the desire to continue seeking out<br />
THREAD’S NOT DEAD • Jeff Finley<br />
good art that inspires and excites you. You have to love doing this. You have to<br />
find ways of always keeping it fresh, and always looking for where the industry<br />
trends are going next.<br />
With band graphics, you have to be able to know the visual connection to the<br />
music these bands create. You have to be able to see colors and images when<br />
you hear their music. You have to be able to create art that looks like the band<br />
sounds. The marriage of music and art is a sexy one, and I love constantly figuring<br />
out how the two work together.<br />
On a more practical side, you have to be able to work quickly. Many of these<br />
<strong>dead</strong>lines are 1-3 day turnarounds, and you have to be able to accommodate.<br />
I’ve been doing it for so long, that I really only allow myself 2-4 hours to do an<br />
entire batch of graphics.<br />
With the quick <strong>dead</strong>lines, comes mastering a<strong>not</strong>her skill. How good can you be<br />
under such restraints? You may only be able to give about 60% of yourself to a<br />
given project, so is your 60% good enough? I believe great design come from<br />
restraints, so working so quickly can only make me better.<br />
Overall, I often feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I get to make band t-shirt<br />
graphics for a living, and I have no intention of stopping any time soon.<br />
Case Studies & Interviews 114
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