The Campus Socialite: Just to start things off, please let our readers know just how you got into the creative design field.
John Fitzpatrick: Well, I have been designing for as long as I can remember. As a child, I drew stick figures hurting each other and monsters with huge muscles. My grandmother did not approve and suggested a more moderate subject, so I began drawing from life influences and mimicked my favorite images. Skateboarding in 6th grade opened up a new realm of design that changed my artistic pursuits greatly. I used art to express myself to girlfriends, create gift for friends, and eventually to design apparel. This happened around the time I was doing henna tattoos at the boardwalk. Then I traveled to Florida to live with an artist friend and pursue a Bachelor’s degree in media arts and animation. I have been drawing since I was 10, or earlier, I am not sure how to remember the exact age. Everyday I create something new, to age with me.
CS: Your designs are so unique and unconventional, from where do you draw inspiration?
JF: I draw inspiration from everything; being inspired is a decision. Drawing and designing are very deliberate and based on form and function. I love illusions though, what you see may not be what is. Inspiration is the decision to identify importance in a “thing.” When you master the ability to apply importance, meaning, and purpose to any “thing,” you are free to run the creative playground forever. The key to art is to allow yourself to feel, not react with a feeling, but to choose a feeling and apply it to a “thing.” A great way to create inspiration is to combine objects, ideas, and emotion. There are an infinite amount of combinations. Just think of the options: spaceships, butterflies, rainbows, insects, the list goes on and the possibilities are endless.
CS: Is there one particular design that you take most pride in?
JF: I am proud of all ideas. I especially appreciate the attention “Stroller” has been getting. I have a new graphic titled “This is How Monsters Make Music,” being released by companypolicyapparel.com. This design will be setting the new standard for graphic t-shirts. Not only will the shirt be brilliant by design, color, and composition, but it will be animated for marketing purposes. Each character on the shirt will have a mini advertisement to promote the image’s entirety. I also plan on collaborating with music producers in Philadelphia to create different versions of the conceptual song, “This is How Monsters Make Music.” The idea is to take the graphic and really bring it to life and create relativity between action and art.
Stroller
CS: You are skilled in flash animation, graphic design, web animation, apparel design, concept development, body art and live canvas art. With all these crafts at your disposal, is there one in particular that you prefer to practice?
JF: I have no particular preference. Each skill has an endless amount of style variation and application. Designing on beautiful females is for sure a comfortable way to spend time. Performing art live on a canvas in front of an audience is wonderful and the influences of the crowd on the art make it all worthwhile. I enjoy using my talents to assist the visions of others. I know I can make anything and when that happens you get over yourself and begin to bring the ideas of others to fruition. Animating is probably the coolest form as it allows me the opportunity to move designs and emulate life in a very effective approach for visual communication. Web animation and websites are very current, therefore always interesting to have your hands in. Designing clothing and graphic designing easily take up most of my time. All of these categories are constantly evolving and I wish to continue to innovate them. They work together, you know, as buddies.
CS: After viewing your design gallery, one element that stood out most was your use of vivid, contrasting colors. Describe how you choose a color scheme for a specific design.
JF: Actually it’s freestyle. I tend to use very vibrant colors when I am going on visual intuition, deciding which colors stand out the most. Also, lack of color is very exciting to me. There is always a happy medium of black and white versus color. My homey Christos (companypolicyapparel.com) has a great sense of color palettes as well, so I appreciate his input. It’s pretty easy though, just look at the image and decide what feeling it is giving off or what feeling you want the design to give off. Then choose colors that represent that feeling or contrast it. Check out http://kuler.adobe.com for a tool that assists in choosing colors.
CS: How did you become involved with Finroo?
JF: I was at the beach swimming in the ocean of endless t-shirt designs and noticed something frighteningly familiar. A fin! This meant I was going to get eaten by a shark or happily greeted by a friendly local dolphin. This ROOsed my appreciation for the vast ocean of designers staying afloat. Finroo came to me just like how a skilled fisherman tackles their largest fish. Instead of cutting me up, gutting, and filleting a fine fish, the fisherman brought me to a location where I can swim closer to other designers and create the most influential school. Thank you for everything Finroo.com
Abstracter
CS: What is the most interesting piece of feedback you have received from a Finroo user?
JF: Funny you should ask, it has been suggested that I add color to my work. In reply, I would like to invite any artist to color my design. That would bring collaboration and a brilliant evolution of design and the cultivation of culture to my work. This is a great freedom to have when it comes to designing and at the same time it would allow my audience some influence in the creative process.
CS: You have contributed to galleries in San Francisco, a city recognized as the liberal capital of the nation. Has San Fran’s freethinking environment had any effect on your work?
JF: Yes, my experience has enlightened and empowered me. San Francisco’s freethinking lends to creating without boundaries. The locations we live in for sure have an impact on overall living and San Fran really contained a vast landscape of creativity and re-opened my artistic visions. I have much respect for the Lower Haighters, Upper Playground, Papalote, Element Lounge, 1111 Minna, Distractions, People’s Cafe, 58 Tehama, and D-Structure.
CS: You also work in Philadelphia, how does working in an urban atmosphere compare to being an artist in the Bay Area?
JF: Great question. Philadelphia is a community of art and the subtle essences of culture. When Philadelphia’s arts culture is doing something, you’re only a block away from being a part of it. It’s very subtle in Philadelphia. If you want to find the movers and shakers participating in the design culture, you will meet one person that knows another person, that knows another person, that knows another person that knows you. It is impossible to miss these connections when you’re all neighbors. This creates different groups all genuinely dedicated to the experience of thriving from design culture. In comparison, San Francisco breeds artists and there are no limits. Everyone knows an artist that is having a gallery opening that week. Philadelphia is a tight knit community where everyone knows everyone and San Francisco is a world of artists where there are millions of communities.
Tricycle
CS: Fill us in on your design process, how do you go about creating your artwork from blank canvas to finished product?
JF: Designing can be as creative as the artwork itself or as simple as requiring no thought. The design process is always pending the intent of the work. Often, if a blank canvas is in front of me, I decide to come up with a concept or just start laying lines. Laying down lines becomes the act of creating compositions by dividing up space. Always keeping the line qualities balanced and working with contrast are how the artwork is brought to completion. The idea a free-flow piece achieves is to always be in the state of completion. This is so each line added just extends the identity of what is already finished. This differs from the more strict designing that comes from seeing the completed piece before you begin. When you already have the idea laid out in a sketch or in mind, now you have to make that vision come to life. It is a bit more technical when you’re trying to solve how to achieve the image you already have in mind.
CS: The title Campus Socialite is synonymous with trend setting. How can today’s students follow your lead and manifest art into a movement that will grab people’s attention?
JF: Work with purpose. An artistic movement suggests there is something the art will be doing to grab attention. I feel as if the work that designers do should be brought into the light. There is the lack of understanding for the design process that creates a disconnect for those whom are not familiar with art in any facet. The artist’s job is to bridge this divide by translating his or her work to the viewer. A leader is someone who achieves greatness and gains trust of those who are inspired. Artists must become leaders and collective agreement and consciousness will manifest the purpose art has for us.
For a look at John Fitzpatrick’s complete Finroo design gallery, check out http://www.finroo.com/artist_profile.cfm?id=29
