Interview with Artist David Smith

Posted under Artists Interviews,Interviews,New Shirts on Sunday 28 November 2010

I had some time to interview the artist behind Liquid Courage, David Smith, to get an insight into the artist and his process. Every artist is unique and I hope these interviews provide you with a fun look into the college artists Rethink chooses. Although I have one word of advice for our hard working friend, get out and have some!

David was a blast to work with and is someone I will be getting more designs from for sure! Enjoy the read!

-Andy

How did you get started designing for t-shirts?

I’ve been designing and drawing since Kindergarten. But didn’t discover apparel design until around my Junior year in High School. A buddy and I decided to buy a small screen press and start a ‘brand’. It ended up not working out after School but it changed my life as a designer and made me fall in love with the process.

Care to share some of your process when designing pieces especially the newest piece for Rethink?

Well in the last couple of years I’ve really gained a new level of respect for the designing process. I try to do as much as possible by hand, especially type work. I normally start with just research and conceptualization. Then I’ll start thumb-nailing, and sketching. From there I’ll begin inking and finalizing a rough. I’ll go through pages and pages of different variations of type. Then when I have most things finalized I’ll scan everything and assemble it digitally and make any minor tweaks that need to be made. The eagle and the mustache man on the Liquid Courage piece were the only items not done by hand on that design. Those were created digitally.

Do you feel the way you design has been influenced by your college lifestyle?

I’d say my knowledge for design has definitely been influenced by college. I’ve always been the ‘artist’ out of the group but college really refined my abilities and let me discover the niche that I’ve grown to love, which is authenticity.

I think everyone has at least one crazy college story, care to share any?

To be honest I can’t think of a single one. My school is a design specific school. It’s geared directly for design and commercial use. We come there for design and that’s about it. We don’t have the same college atmosphere most universities have. I show up, absorb everything I can and get to work. Design is something I take very seriously and if you want to be successful you have to be committed. I’ve never been a party guy. I don’t have time for that scene in my priorities.

David, is there any strong influences from your life that you feel influence your art?

There are so many things that influence me as a designer. My biggest influence is American history. Americana design has something super appealing to me. The genuine hard work that went into vintage advertisement is amazing. Designers cared about the way they set type and how things were crafted back then. Typography from that time period is something that is sadly lost in the modern era. And of course things like the way I was raised and what not has a huge influence on me. I strongly believe the world (past,present,future) has so much it can teach us it would be a shame to ignore it and stay in our comfort bubble, you gotta explore.

ReThink Clothing

Interview with Artist David Smith

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