Interview with last year's 10K Winner CollisionTheory
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Competition in last year’s edition of the DBH 10K contest was fierce, and in the end one man walked away with that hefty prize. That man was CollisionTheory, and that big win helped to cement his status as one of the biggest names in the t-shirt design industry. Read on to find out what he’s been up to since his big win.
Winning the last 10K contest meant that you earned a huge payday, what did that mean for you and your family? Were there other, non-monetary benefits?
The money meant a lot to us given that the dollar exchange rate to our local currency was pretty good! It also became seed money for the baby clothing business my wife and I started called googoo&gaga. We had some products produced and sold them in time for Christmas shopping. It also gave us confidence to let my wife leave her day job and focus on the baby clothing business. So it’s life altering to say the least.
Like your winning design Black Hole Sun, much of your work explores geometry and nature. What is it about those elements and their interaction that intrigues you?
I am very much inspired by space related imagery and have recently seen them popping up more often on tees. I just love the textural quality and dimensionality that they bring into the t-shirt world. I am a little tired of the flat, ‘vectory’ feel that is so common on shirts.
I also like the contrast between a simple geometric shape like a circle or a triangle and how it ‘reacts’ to something as random and chaotic as a photo of a nebula, or galaxy. My designs are always non-static, and I love creating a little bit of organized chaos on shirts, so nature/space elements with a mix of geometry helps me achieve that.
You have a style that definitely stands out in a crowd, how did you get your start in design? What is your creative process like?
I’ve only recently realized that I have a bit of a style going on. I guess it’s something that you start to develop as you grow older in the field of design.
I normally browse a lot of websites and find inspiration in photography and nature. Since I don’t draw that much, a lot of my work is hinged on photography. My designs like Electric Sky and Chasing Star Trails below are based on photos of the sky. I just find it interesting to translate images of natural phenomena onto the t-shirt in my own style. A lot of my ideas stem from an interesting image I find. With Black Hole Sun, I kept an image in my computer of a solar eclipse I found online months before I did the design. I knew I wanted to do something interesting with it. I just keep a folder on my laptop with images of inspiration and a lot of my ideas stem from those.
Last year’s contest was ultimately decided by a public vote. What strategies did you use to recruit more voters? Has this kind of social networking been useful to you as a designer in other ways beyond that competition?
My family was highly supportive of last year’s endeavor and my dad became like a campaign manager. He has a huge network here in my country and I know hundreds of emails were forwarded and passed around. Well not sure if it’s been useful because since winning, so many people who voted for me have been asking for free shirts haha.
Are you planning to enter this year’s 10K contest? What sorts of designs are you hoping to see entered?
I probably will but not sure if people who know I won last year would vote for me again. I’d like to see more designs that use the shirt as a canvas for their art. Maybe more designs that use more of the different printing techniques. Anyway, I don’t want wanna give potential competitors too many ideas hehe.
Any advice or words of wisdom for designers who are planning to enter this year’s competition?
Yeah, don’t enter haha. Seriously though, just enjoy and even if it’s a popularity contest, always design for yourself and don’t bother about what you think people would vote for.
Do you have any projects that you’d like to promote?
Comments
Nice interview, Its cool to hear that winning helped him get a business up and running!
that’s probably the plan many of us have here…
10K definitely helps in starting a company…
it’s great to see that it’s worked out that way for CollisionTheory…and judging by that TOTALLY cute heart onsie (can’t believe I used that word, but my sister has kids) it looked like it went to a talented designer (and his talented wife).
Nice interview, inspirational.
“Seriously though, just enjoy and even if it’s a popularity contest, always design for yourself and don’t bother about what you think people would vote for.”
I’m glad to see someone successful like Collisiontheory say that, because that’s been my philosophy from the onset. I think we’d see lots of more interesting designs if people focused less on what’s in, and what’s inSIDE (see what I did there?).
Those baby onesies are cute. I think I’ll go make a baby just to buy one of those for it.
Wow… no mention of how the shirt that was made available for purchase looked nothing much like the really great design everyone voted for? I’m still hoping DBH prints the design that won at some point.
idiosigil said: Wow… no mention of how the shirt that was made available for purchase looked nothing much like the really great design everyone voted for? I’m still hoping DBH prints the design that won at some point.
The only difference is the color. Its still the same great design everyone voted for.
idiosigil said: Wow… no mention of how the shirt that was made available for purchase looked nothing much like the really great design everyone voted for? I’m still hoping DBH prints the design that won at some point.
Yeah, I’m still hoping they’ll print the original black design. I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
But wow. Congrats CollisionTheory! Awesome interview.
Oh its you! sabi kuna ikaw yung na featured sa Sweetlife with Lucy Torres. stig..I saw on local Television here in our country man… A.J. D. yeah!!
Awesome interview…
this is such a grt quote " always design for yourself and don’t bother about what you think people would vote for."
Cheers
IVE BEEN ALWAYS A FOLLOWER OF THIS GREAT GUY. Hes such a great inspiration not only to his fellow shirt design colleagues but most specifically to all of the Filipino aka PINOY artists out there.
THANKS SO MUCH SIR AJ!
if you just design for yourself, though, chances are you won’t be printed (or bought)…
there’s a line somewhere between the two..finding it is the key it seems…
of1000Kings said: if you just design for yourself, though, chances are you won’t be printed (or bought)…
there’s a line somewhere between the two..finding it is the key it seems…
Well, when people see “design for yourself” for some reason they think it must be something really inaccessible or weird, but I think you can do stuff just as popular as anything if you’re just designing for yourself.
If the person in question is in fact inaccessible and weird, though, then what they design will be inaccessible and weird, and they would still be adhering to this ‘wisdom’ but it would make them a complete failure…
Van Gogh is probably the most well known example; he painted for himself and he died without any satisfaction, completely poor and eating paint instead of food. Van Gogh was, in the modern sense, a complete failure and would have been even today.
For these types of people (the Van Gogh’s of the world) a line needs to be found between what they think people want/need to see and what people really do want to see if indeed some success is wanted.
Some of it may just be finding the right audience, but as Van Gogh found out the hard way the audience just might not be there, and your work will thus be considered a failure.
I’m sure there are a lot of people who design for themselves and it works out, and then there are probably just as many who design for themselves and it makes them a frustrated, poor, mess; this is why I have a problem with the statement itself.
Van Gogh lived in a different time than we did, so I can’t think of him as an analog for someone who would be posting here on DBH, or anywhere else. We have the opportunity to make our work and within minutes of finishing it find out if people accept or reject it. We get immediate feedback from people all over the world, from prospective consumers and fellow artists alike. You can even get the thoughts of your audience AS you make your work. We also even occasionally have the eyes, ears and thoughts of people like Jimiyo who would decide if we get the opportunity to see our work out in the world. So I don’t think anybody really has an excuse to not try doing their own thing. I mean… if you think people would like something, why would you not try it out?
I think people want things that are awesome, so I try to do things that I think are awesome. I guess I could try to take cues from what’s selling, but I think that’s an easy way to end up with derivative work that nobody is going to care about. Nowadays people get tired of things really quick, the moment you notice something is a trend it’s usually too late too jump on the bandwagon. I don’t know how many times I read comments on other people’s work that are like “Ugh, not another _” or “It’s great, but sadly it’s a ______, and I don’t buy ______ designs.”
I think, chances are though, if someone’s work is failing, it’s usually not because they’re some unappreciated Van Gogh, but because their stuff just needs some work. Most people I see not having any success is not because they’re doing something too different, but too the same. To me it seems like the people with the most success are the ones who’ve carved their own niche instead of trying to fit into one.
Nice interview… yes! 10k $ is certainly life changing. I wish him luck for his current and future projects!
NIce interview!
What is the person name of ‘collision theory’?
Is he the man in the picture? or is she the woman? Which woman – the one in the center or the one on the rightmost?
the artist should be recognized in his name. ‘collision theory’ must a term used in road accidents?
yup this guy did great! dollars are good news for the filipinos and printing business in the Philippines are booming…but i think his key here is networking..we found a lot of supporters…and i guess that really counts…anyway those two chics that he standing with are local Filipino celebrities…way to go man!!!astig ang pinoy!!!!
Lol the girl in the middle is a local TV/media personality. The one on the right wearing the white black hole sun is my wife Audrey.
Very good this collision theory man is winner.
Maybe he famous in his country as he also get beautiful tv person as wife and another tv person for friend
I envy, I think, so I got back school and study graphic design so I turn similar to collision theory.
I be happy even not DBH winner just to have beautiful wife.
You think, yes too?
Congrats AJ, well deserved. Great interview.
As for the comments about Van Gogh being a failure? Well I guess that would depend on what you judge success as, is it money? Is it where you are at in the end our your career? Even the great Rembrandt died starving on the streets.
lucky talented bastard :) awesome interview, there should be more like these :)