Any FAILE or street art lovers have to check out this Q & A with FAILE over at Broke Ya Neck. I am loving the FAILE vibe for art and hope they come to the UK in 2008.

Ever wondered who was behind the amazing illustrations from the Lord of the Rings books? Well LCS has an excellent interview with the artist, John Howe. Learn more about the artist and see more of his amazing work.

Sam Flores is one of those artists whose work really stands out in the art crowd with his superb characters who you any Sam Flores fan will recognise. I may be a bit biased since I recently bought a awesome Sam Flores Sneaker Head T-shirt but there is no denying his incredible talent.

Fecal Face have a superb Sam Flores studio visit feature with some great shots including the above video. You might also want to keep track of what he is up to by checking the Sam Flores blog.

Recently I had the pleasure of being able to pick the brain of another design industry giant, whose company goes by the name of UNKL Brand. Their most recent and very successful contest was the Unipo-By-You, which I regrettably did not send my ideas for.. Of the founders Jason Bacon and Derek Welch, I was only able to track down Derek as his partner was busy at the time, but I am sure after all of these years they are probably pretty much on the same page for the most part with their company. I hope you will enjoy reading this interview as much as I did creating it

I’d like to start off by thanking you for taking the time out of what is probably a very busy schedule to answer these questions.

Can you tell me a little about yourselves and how you started in the design field?

Derek: Yes, things are busy, but I’m happy to take the time to share some of what we do. Thanks for the opportunity to do so. Now, how I got started…I went to college in Texas to be a “commercial artist”. At the time I didn’t really know what it meant. I just knew I wanted to create art and get a paycheck at the same time. I focused on illustration until I took a design class and the rest fell into place. After graduating I worked in Austin and Dallas for 3 years before moving to Oregon to work for Nike. I was there almost 6 years until JB and I started Big-Giant. I’ve been hooked on design for over 15 years now.

Do you have a long history of working together or was UNKL the first thing that you collaborated on?

Derek: Jason and I met while working for Nike in the Brand Design department. We used to kick projects back and forth between us just to see what the other would come up with. We also would write stories with characters and illustrate them for fun. The collaborations allowed us to expand our creative reach by leveraging each others talent. We’re a great team, because we have different approaches. We push each others ideas beyond what each of us would create individually.

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Erick Scarecrow is definitely a man to keep your eye on in today’s vinyl toy market. Without taking a breath from his recent profoundly successful release of his new Liberty vinyl toy at SDCC, in the past week he has not only announced the release of another plush toy series slated for June including a DIY version and a DIY artists’ show to kick it all off! I’ve just finished up an interview with the man himself and I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know him as I did.

Bio ———————————————————————————————–

My first question to you is, can you tell me a little about yourself?

ES: I am the founder of ESC-TOY LTD. I draw, write, and supervise my own and outside projects. I’m also in talks with several networks and a software developer/ publisher for another property called “Mash-Out!” I generally need 8 hours of sleep.

8 hours of sleep, as if that’s possible. LOL.

Okay besides the 8 hours of sleep, describe your typical day.

ES: My day starts with me thanking God! Then my assistant Tadone gets breakfast. We talk about TV shows, music, videogames, movies and toys then it goes down to business. Check my planner, confirm scheduled appointments, check emails and voicemails, review random post-its that are around my studio, go over designs and client projects, make sure shipments are on route or have been delivered, take time out to chat with fans in the forums, chill with my family, listen to some music, check out the vinyl and entertainment sites, check emails and voicemails, send Tadone to get lunch, make room for creative time, and then take some periodic time outs to breathe because I can’t believe I’m running Esc-Toy Ltd. LOL!

What does your office and/or studio look like? Obviously not full of cubes like I’m used to, LOL.

ES: My studio at times will look like a mad scientist’s lab. I’m constantly reviewing new merchandise, projects and big boxes are always coming in.

How did you end up in the designer toy scene?

ES: I ended up on the designer toy scene full time when I lost my job back in 2003 to an undisclosed toy company.

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