Carbonmade

Interview: Rockie Nolan

2009-06-30T23:37:00-05:00

When did you start getting into photography?

My love affair with photography started when I was 15 or so. My mother had a whopping 3 megapixel camera that I would venture into her garden with. Soon I found online communities like DPChallenge.com, and I thought it was really fun to get a weekly challenge. I learned a lot about the basics through that website, but felt like a lot of the work that came from it was preditable and too "set up" so I continued to shoot and teach myself for the next few years and joined other sites like deviantART. I started out with self-portraits (since I did not have willing models at first) and photographing myself continues to be one of the easiest things for me. I didn't even take my first photography class until college and that was just months ago!

What is is about fashion photography that makes you love it so much?

I have really fallen in love with fashion over the past year or so. Perhaps it is just in an attempt to make up for my terrible fashion sense when I was younger, ha! Either way, I find it fascinating how such little differences in outfits can change the entire mood. I think merging these two passions of mine just seems natural. I've already got some projects lined up for a vintage company and I hope to work towards doing even more soon.

How would you describe your style?

That's a tough one. Some have said "dreamy" others have said "ethereal". I aim to incorporate both of those into my photography, so I do hope it comes off as such. I like narratives and stories and romanticism - maybe my style is something like a daydream from the 60s. Light and airy with a hint of vintage.

If you could shoot anything in the world, what would it be?

I think you could ask me this question everyday and my response would change, I'm constantly in a different mindset. At the moment I'd love to shoot editorials for the catalog of Urban Outfitters or something similar. Ask me again tomorrow and you might get a response like "street photographs of people in Paris." You can almost guarentee that you'll never hear "landscapes" from me, though! I find them boring to shoot.

What do you hope to do after art school?

Who knows, my goals could change. I still have three years to go! Right now I have my eyes set on fashion editorials. If nothing comes my way, I might work towards getting my masters and become a professor, that way I can just do fine art on the side. If all else fails, I'll just open up an antique store, become a cat lady and do nothing but photograph my kittens and trinkets all day.

Thanks for using Carbonmade! Has it been helpful?

Oh no, thank YOU for all that you have done! I've gotten so much more views on my works thanks to Carbonmade and have even gotten some great offers because of it. Everyone I've encountered on Carbonmade has been fantastic, it has been nothing but a pleasure.

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Rockie's work check out her Carbonmade portfolio: http://rockienolan.carbonmade.com/

Carbonmade Presenting at NY Tech Showcase

2009-05-27T22:12:00-05:00

Next week is Internet Week New York and on Tuesday, June 2nd, Dave and I (Spencer) will be presenting Carbonmade at the NY Tech Meetup Showcase. The event we are a part of is going on from 3:30 to 6:30 at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology’s Great Hall. The entrance is on 27th St between 7th & 8th, on the N side of the street.

We’d love it if you came by and chatted us up. I'm sure you’ll be able to twist our arm for a free Whoo! account here and there too. We're looking forward to meeting many of you in person. Shoot us an e-mail with any questions if you have 'em. The Showcase is entirely free and open to the public, so hopefully we'll see you there! We’ll be live tweeting from the event too.

Using Your Own Domain Explained

2009-05-21T22:32:00-05:00

I mentioned last month that you can use your own domain name for your portfolio on the Whoo! account and since then I've received a lot of emails. I thought I'd make it much easier for you all to set up your domain with us by explaining the process in a Frequently Asked Question. It's not the simplest procedure in the world -- the fault of domain registrars around the world -- but I think you'll find it easy enough to follow. Please e-mail us with any questions!

Using Carbonmade To Find a Job

2009-04-30T17:36:00-05:00

I thought I'd just take a minute to share with you a few simple things you can do to better market yourself on Carbonmade. It only takes a few minutes to do these things and it'll help you gain exposure. Keeping your portfolio up-to-date with new work is obviously the single most important thing, but there's other stuff you can do.

We're the first to admit that our portfolio search is a work in progress and doesn't always yield the most accurate results. But since it gets a lot of traffic from potential employers and others, it's helpful to fill out your About area. Specifically make sure to include your Location (e.g. New York, NY) and Areas of Expertise (Illustration, Photography, etc.). These terms are both used heavily in searches and easily clickable on the right-hand side of the search page. We get a lot of people searching for "New York illustrator" and other similar search pairs when hiring.

After finding your portfolio, potential employers and others will often read through your About area to learn more about you. You'll want to make sure you mark your portfolio as Available for Freelance or they may move on to the next person. It goes without saying that including a quick bio and a link to your e-mail are both important, especially the e-mail bit. A quick bio will help them learn more about the person behind the work. Remember you're "selling" yourself as a complete package, so filling out your entire portfolio will help when looking for a job.

I hope that helps!

Want Your Own Domain Name?

2009-04-08T18:56:00-05:00

A little unpublished secret here at Carbonmade is that you can use your own domain name if you're on the Whoo! account -- this removes the .carbonmade.com from your URL. You can see an example of that by checking out our very own Dave Gorum's portfolio. We don’t have the most elegant solution to setting you up on your own domain right now, but if you shoot an e-mail to us at support@carbonmade.com I'd be happy to help you. You'll need to register your own domain through GoDaddy or through one of the numerous domain providers out there. Enjoy!

100,000

2009-03-24T18:55:00-05:00

Carbonmade reached 100,000 members last week. I was sick, so I didn’t have a chance to thank you all. We just want to say thanks for supporting us throughout these years. You’ve all been great friends and your kind e-mails and tweets have not gone unnoticed. We really appreciate it more than we can put into words.

Thank You Bloggers

2009-02-09T06:33:00-06:00

We ran this little "share your Carbonmade story on your blog" contest a couple weeks back and we were overwhelmed with great entries. Your stories are always exciting for us to read. Reading stories like how Emily got a job in New York City with her Carbonmade portfolio and a phone interview -- because she couldn't afford to make the trip -- just brightens our day. Emily is great: she even praised us when we screwed up! She had written to the Consumerist a couple of weeks back about how "Carbonmade Quickly Responds To Error, Fixes It In Less Than 4 Hours." Too kind!

So thanks to all of you who wrote us with your stories. I want to specifically thank Emily, Jamie, Tim, and TracyLynn for their write-ups. All of you, and lots of others, have been upgraded to Wooh! free of charge! Thanks to everyone and please continue to share your stories with us via your blog, email, and/or Twitter. We're so happy to hear from you.

Calling All Bloggers

2009-01-23T17:23:00-06:00

Having been in a generous mood lately, I thought I'd give away a few Wooh! Accounts to current Carbonmade people. We're actually running a fairly active Twitter account (please follow us) and have given out free accounts in the past when we've simply asked you to tweet out your portfolio to your followers. I thought we'd do something along the same lines with bloggers.

So here's how it will work. Many of you have blogs, so we thought we'd ask you to share your thoughts about Carbonmade on your blog (please make sure to include a link to your portfolio). Specifically, we want to hear about how you use Carbonmade and what you've gotten out of using it. Tell us a story! We love hearing stories like Keane Angle's a few months back.

We're going to run this contest over the next two weeks. The number of winners is not determined yet because we want to make it a ratio of the number of people who actually do blog about their Carbonmade experiences, but we'll definitely be naming at least two winners. Please e-mail us directly at hello[at]carbonmade.com with a link to your post! The winners will be announced on this blog with a link to their post along with their portfolio.

75,000 Folks

2008-11-07T00:00:00-06:00

Just about five months ago we crossed 50,000 members, and as of earlier today Carbonmade has over 75,000 creative people who are active on our site. We also passed 1,000,000 images, which only a year ago was just inconceivable to us. While this blog post isn't as exciting as news to come, we want to take this chance to thank you all again for using Carbonmade. Please continue to e-mail us with any questions, to follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS feed for future announcements.

Interview: Dave Savage

2008-09-22T00:36:00-05:00

Good day! How are things going?

I've been busy. I just spent a week in NYC attending the Pictoplasma Conference and seeing friends. Now I'm back in LA at my job at American Greetings and working on a ton of personal projects.

How did you get your start in illustration?

I'm not sure there's an easy answer to that. I've always been compelled to draw and doodle. In high school, my art teachers either labeled me a trouble maker or just didn't like me. It was really a travesty. I was basically a good, creative kid who was into punk rock and liked art, but the art classes were horrible. So when I got to college (Truman State University in MO), I went in with an undeclared major. I ended up taking a drawing class and a design class and found out that art classes don't have to suck. And I graduated with a BFA in Visual Communication.

I spent 2 years after college as an Art Director. In essence, I was the entire art department for a small company that printed t-shirts for college fraternity and sorority parties. Seeing nothing better on the horizon, I went back to school to be an illustrator at Portfolio Center in Atlanta.

After graduating from Portfolio Center, I landed my first bona fide job as an illustrator at Funny Garbage in NYC.

What inspires your work?

Jeez...that'd be a really long list. Just about everything that I see or hear influences my work in some way...whether I respond to it positively or negatively. A short list of some of the stuff I like, in no particular order: punk rock art, bmx and skateboard magazines, street art, graffiti, comics, underground comix, cartoons, pop art, psychedelic art, vintage movie posters, candy packaging, detergent packaging and I'm sure there's a whole slew of things I'm forgetting at the moment. If you think you see a hint of some kind of art or artist in my work, it's most likely one of the things that's in the stew.

What the heck is the deal with monsters?

I'm still figuring that out. When I started Savage Monsters Industries, I was collecting a lot of vinyl kaiju toys from the Ultraman series. Villains are inherently much more interesting than the good guys. And I figured that monsters are something that I'd never get tired of drawing since they're all made up anyway. With Savage Monsters, I was (and I suppose I still am) trying to create an entertaining and engaging site that could also double as a portfolio site.

You're a flash guy. What do you think about Microsoft's Silverlight?

I may be a Flash guy, but I'm still a total Luddite. I had to look up Silverlight and I still don't know what it is. I pretty much just draw and animate in Flash. I've got VERY basic programming skills. I've learned that if I know too much about programming and technology, I'll be called upon for those skills, thus, less time doing what I love to do...create.

How would you describe your style?

I try not to describe what I do. Most people's eyes glaze over when I'm talking about my work. I get responses like "So...you're a lawyer?" (That actually DID happen) It's much easier to show someone a picture.

Boiled down, maybe my style is Basil Wolverton meets Dr. Seuss.

What's the goofiest monster you've ever drawn?

I wish I knew. I've been going through all my sketchbooks from the past 10 years (over 110 books) and I've been finding some good stuff.

What's in the future for you?

That's one of the great things. I have no idea. I never would have guessed that I've been the places and done the things that I have so far.

I'm currently working on self-publishing several books of my work, developing properties for tv and for licensing. And I've got lots of pet projects like t-shirts, stickers, trading cards, vending machine toys and other things in the works. Always too many ideas and too little time and finances to bring them all to fruition.

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Dave's work check out his Carbonmade portfolio: http://davesavage.carbonmade.com/

Interview: Genesis Prado

2008-09-15T11:08:00-05:00

Hello! How are you doing?

I am doing great! Just keeping my self busy most of the time but also trying to enjoy life at the same time.

How did you get your start in design? Was Art School helpful?

Well, art has been part of my life since I was a child. I started doing my professional works when I was 16 doing logos, self portraits, caricatures and other genres. Since then, I decided to go to art school and work for films, animations and games. Well, to answer your question, Yes, art schools and workshops are helpful. Although, dedication, respect and hard work is a big part of it.

What inspires your work?

Well, mostly anything that makes me stop what I'm doing. I am obsessed with nature, structures, life and it's textures. Mostly all films, television and games are also big influences, from concept art to the final product.

How would you describe your style?

I try to focus more on color, form, texture and composition. I like to to jump around from realistic, caricatured, illustrated or stylized but i tend to try other genres.

How would you distinguish between design composition and composition in painting?

Well, in my knowledge, design composition refers as the coordination and planning of shape, form, space, value, textures and colors in a two dimensional form. As for composition in painting refers almost the same as design composition although the main goal is to create a focal point, distance and a light source in a three dimensional form.

You've been freelancing since 2005. How's that going?

It's going well, I'm using it as my secondary job and also it keeps me busy at home.

What types of projects do you most like working on?

Well, anything challenging, creative and fun to do. Illustrations, portraits, caricatures, concept art, textures, 3D and even sculpture.

Would you be willing to explain what you mean by concept art in reference to your own work?

In my own work, I try to create a story, ambiance and feel in a painting. Showing composition, form, structure, design, color and value are also the main in ingredients on making concept art.

What's in the future for you?

Alot of things are going on right now so its hard to say. Right now, I am working for Naughty Dog as a Next-Gen Environment Texture/Shader artist working on a PS3 game. I will be still doing Illustrations and concepts as a freelancer. Also, I'm thinking of teaching for part-time in the near future.

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Genesis's work check out his Carbonmade portfolio: http://lazaruz.carbonmade.com/

Interview: Natalia Pierandrei

2008-09-08T19:31:00-05:00

How did you get your start in illustration?

Starting at my earliest memories, I have always had a passion for drawing. I remember that when I was a child I spent hours drawing characters from stories and fairy tales I made up for my friends or my little sister. Literally, I was a girl with a lively imagination: the idea of taking a blank piece of paper and knowing that anything is possible, well…it was and it is amazing to me!

That said, drawing has always been something very ‘spontaneous’ and I’ve never thought seriously to become an illustrator. As a matter of fact it’s totally by chance some years ago I accepted to work on my first commissioned piece and my illustrations have been featured in collective art-books.

What inspires your work?

My work is a collage of styles and influences. I don’t have a formal artistic training and the result is my way of drawing is a sort of collection of subjects I studied, places I visited, paintings I like, novels and comic books I read, all those things that I liked and I like without any particular connexion to art, sometimes. I mean for example music and reading have always played an important part in my artistic life.

About art, I think the most relevant influences you can find by looking at my work are a passion for Art Nouveau, Renaissance Italian Painting, European comic books, gothic and classical fantasy themes, popular fairy tales and it’s self-evident I like Japanese manga very much, too.

Nature elements, I mean plants for example, are something that also inspires my work. Drawing trees and foliage and flowers is more than a simple passion. I like so much having a walk in the woods and watching all the different kind of plants you can find around. I bought and I buy lot of books about gardens and plants! I think in a past life I was a botanist! Some years ago I made up a plot for a comic book when the main character was a young woman expert in botany. The story was set in the 19th century and it was full of travels and adventures and …plants of course! I should probably find the time to work on it…if only I had time for my own projects ^_^

Finally, being a very imaginative person, I'm literally with my head in the clouds the 90% of the day, I'm easily influenced by anything!

I can see the Art Nouveau you mention. What about the Pre-Raphaelites?

Of course, I think this art movement is very intriguing and my artwork has much in common with it. Basically because of its close connexion to Italian painting of 15/16th centuries, and the passion for subjects like myths and folklore, the visual imagery associated with the use of sepia and brown coloration, the richness of details and decoration.

You seem drawn to the erotic element in Victorian art. Which written and visual influences would you cite?

About the written one my first suggestion is “The Crimson Petal and the White" by Michel Faber. It's a postmodern novel, published in 2002 and set in Victorian-era England.

Basically, I always have had a weakness for Victorian period and 19th century in Europe and of course I read the most popular novels written in those years. I think my passion for this era was born when I started reading Jules Verne’s works at 9 years old! But it's after reading "The Crimson Petal and the White" that probably the erotic element has started to be present in my work. Although it can be said that Victorian ideology was sexually inhibiting, the Victorian era produced more inventive forms of eroticism visible in aestheticzised sexual symbols where the sexuality is permissible within the category of the aesthetic. This dichotomy has always attracted me. My visual references are the most popular artists like J.W. Waterhouse, Sir L. Alma Tadema, E. Dulac, G. Doré, A. Beardsley but basically I'm fascinated by the same themes, like classical myths and fairy tales, for example.

My style is very eclectic and the Victorian ages are known exactly for their heterogeneous revival and interpretation of historic styles and the introduction of influences from Eastern cultures and art. Finally, it's a sort of "elective affinity", you know?

What types of projects do you most like working on?

I like working on individual illustrations mostly. Images done for short stories, novels, fairy tales... those are the most stimulating projects to me. Recently, I’m attempting myself by working on different projects like illustrating tracks from music albums or graphic novels.

How would you describe your style?

Hmmm, something confusedly related to a wide range of ideas, styles, and suggestions, probably!

What's in the future for you?

I’m not a person who likes making plans of her life, in general ^_^ All I do as illustrator has done by chance, without planning anything. I literally live day by day: life is so unforeseeable! Maybe tomorrow a popular publisher will get in touch with me for illustrating a book, maybe not. Meantime I go on doing what I like, that is drawing!

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Nati's work check out her Carbonmade portfolio: http://nati.carbonmade.com/

Interview: Matt Brett

2008-09-01T00:00:00-05:00

Hi Matt! Thanks for using Carbonmade for over 2 years! How's life? How's your new home?

Yo! It's probably closer to 3 years now since I first signed up with Carbonmade. I jumped on pretty early.

Things are good on my end. My baby girl is getting so big, so quickly - she's now 7 months. The new home is great! We're in a cozy old house on a quiet, friendly street. It's a great fit for my little family. I've got some pretty sweet office space in the basement as well.

How did you get your start in design?

I got into design and web development at the same time back in 1997. I had just formed a band and we wanted a website, so I signed up for an Angelfire account and started poking around in the "advanced editor" (which was merely a text box with HTML) and learned HTML through trial and error. Since the web was mostly text and animated GIFs at the time, design didn't come until later. I had actually planned on getting into video production, but once I got online, it was game over. I knew that's what I wanted to do.

What inspires your work?

Everything, really. Someone recently asked where I came up with the colour scheme for my redesign, which was actually inspired by a set of luggage that my wife picked up a few months ago. Originally, I had gone with dark text on a lighter background, but when I saw this rich brown suitcase with pink lining, I just loved it!

How would you describe your style?

When my previous design attracted so much attention, I was afraid that I was be held to designing grunge websites for years to come. But thankfully that hasn't been the case. I try and cater to my clients' needs as much as possible. But when they really don't have a set direction they want to go, I usually fall back to the eroded, beat up look. While the whole "grunge" thing has definitely gained ground over the last few years, it's still not overly popular to the point that people are sick of seeing it. But more importantly, I haven't seen a whole lot of really good grunge designers out there, and I would definitely say it would be my strongest style.

What types of web design projects do you most like working on?

Blogs for individuals, definitely. I prefer working one-on-one with people, and that sort of project allows me to stretch both my design and development muscles.

Why do you choose to freelance rather than work at a big design firm?

Commuting sucks! I worked in Toronto for 5 years while living in a suburb about half an hour out. Problem is, when you add rush hour traffic to the mix, the commute doubles, which results in 2 extra hours added onto my work day spent sitting in a car. Not fun. And with having a family, I would leave early in the morning and return after dinner in the evening, which meant very little time to spend with them.

Freelancing gives me the flexibility to take on the type of projects that I'm interested in, and pass on the ones I'm not. Unless I was in a managerial role at a design firm, I wouldn't have that luxury. And if I were in a manager position, I likely wouldn't be doing much design or development work, which is what I love doing.

Freelancing does have its down sides, though. Not having a steady pay cheque is obviously the biggest one. And when things slow down, it can really take a toll on your nerves.

How has having a blog, using twitter, flickr, and social media helped you?

Despite all of their problems, Twitter is still the most valuable social networking tool out there, in my opinion. Not only is great for getting feedback, advice, or making announcements. It allows you to connect directly with people that you might not otherwise have the chance to. It's also changed the way I blog over the years. I now focus more on lengthy articles and use Twitter to get smaller topics I'd like to mention, but don't want to blog about out there. People reply and share their own thoughts, so it's just like having comments on a blog post.

I've been trying to make an effort to use other services like Facebook and LinkedIn a little better. I've never been overly active on either of them, and am trying to utilize their strengths a bit more. The problem is mostly in finding time for them.

How has gaming influenced you as a designer?

I'm not sure that it has, actually. There isn't really a lot I can take from UI elements used in games that would be appropriate for web. But sure, some things relating to style and aesthetics in games have inspired me. For the most part, I find menu systems and such to be quite ugly and cumbersome. The odd game stands out - Codemasters have been doing some amazing things with game UIs lately with DiRT and GRID. Now if only someone would show them where the caps lock key is. ;)

Nintendo, Super Nintendo, N64, GameCube, Playstation 1/2/3, or Xbox/Xbox 360?

Back in the day, I was a Nintendo fanboy all the way. These days, while I have a Wii (and a PlayStation 3), I spend most of my time with my Xbox 360. I just finished up my second play-through of Mass Effect and have already started my third, and I've been back and forth between GRID, Unreal Tournament 3, Battlefield Bad Company, and some of the latest Xbox Live Arcade titles, like Braid and Geometry Wars 2. Really looking forward to picking up Mercenaries 2, Viva Pinata 2, Spore, and The Force Unleashed over the next few weeks.

What's in the future for you?

It's really hard to say, given that I've changed gears quite a few times over the past 3 years. But I think I'll be freelancing for some time to come. I've been doing a lot of brainstorming on ways to earn some passive income, so you're likely to see some side-projects coming out of me over the next few months. I've also talked about releasing WordPress, and I plan to pursue that sooner than later now that my redesign is out of the way.

Thanks for chatting with us! And best to your wife and two daughters!

For more of Matt's work check out his Carbonmade portfolio: http://mattbrett.carbonmade.com/

Search is Abuzz

2008-08-26T12:13:43-05:00

We rolled out search back on July 23rd and then improved on it within a week on July 31st. I thought I'd share with you some neat tidbits on who's searching and what's being searched for.

» As of last night (August 25th), 7,877 unique keywords have been searched for.
» On July 31st, we had 490 unique search words, which was the highest number of unique keywords searched for in one day -- nearly 500!
» 5% of all the people who visit Carbonmade perform at least one search and those people spend an average of five minutes browsing after their search.
» The top search term is "Tel Aviv AND Illustrator".
» "Web Design AND Poland," "Fashion AND New York," "Ruby AND Design," and "redator" round out the rest of the Top Five search keywords.

So, we're not quite Google (yet), but we're getting there! If you have any suggestions for how we can make search even better, please drop us a note. We're always looking to incorporate your feedback as best we can.

Interview: Pierre-Yves Brun

2008-08-25T10:09:00-05:00

Good day! How are things going?

I am fine. I am at my desk answering to you and my English is not very good. (Editor's Note: We want to especially thank Pierre-Yves for taking the time to answer our questions since his first language is not English, but French.)

How did you get your start in design?

My graphic design started back with graffiti when I was young. After that, I went to an applied to art school and since this time, my best friend is my iMac!

What inspires your work?

My graffiti background influences my work, but I like to search for new ways -- new influences -- always with a "street touch". All things you can see outside, on the TV, around you, etc., are inspirations for me.

What types of projects do you most like working on?

I like working on projects with a bit of freedom; and working with typography and working with a funky theme.

In some of your work, I see the influence of the psychedelic poster art movement of the 60s. Does that work interest you?

I love the aesthetic of the old posters of the 50's and 60's. The colors and the graphics are so sensitive. There is a human side on these old stuff. When you associate that with a kaleidoscope, you have an amazing graphic result.

But there's also a strong element of graphic art and anime. Would you say that's your main inspiration?

I work mainly with Illustrator. For me, vector is graphism. My illustrations are influenced by my graffiti background. It is the same kind of work, just the media is not the same. I exchanged my spray can for a computer.

How would you describe your style?

My style is incredible! No, seriously I just try to realize funky graphics with vector.

What's in the future for you?

I am preparing a poster exhibition soon, but first I go to sleep because it is time!

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Pierre-Yves's work check out his Carbonmade portfolio: http://piksel.carbonmade.com/

Carbonmade Walkthrough at Appify

2008-08-19T10:36:54-05:00

Keane Angle –- Carbonmade user and creator of Appify -– put together a walkthrough of Carbonmade on Monday. Not only is the walkthrough well presented, but his story of Carbonmade coming to the rescue on a last minute job interview of his in New York is an exciting read. Little did Keane know that the lil' ol' web app he had recommended to his girlfriend a few months earlier would help him out of a jam. We appreciate Keane's score of 9.5 out 10, but are even happier that we were able to help land him a job.

Interview: Rick Leong

2008-08-18T00:00:00-05:00

Good day! How are things going?

Things are going really well, keeping busy.

How did you get your start in design?

I had a friend in the business and he occasionally threw work my way when he was swamped. I basically did the odd design gig while in art school to earn some extra bucks.

What inspires your work?

My Chinese heritage opened me up to eastern aesthetics early on and as I developed it became integrated into my work in different ways. I draw inspiration from classical Chinese and Japanese painting of course but also porcelain, lacquer, cloissonne, manga, anime, etc. and integrate them into a holistic visual language with various nuances.

What types of projects do you most like working on?

The kind where I have the most freedom to articulate my aesthetic and learn something new at the same time.

How would you describe your style?

Asian fusion tempered with a Western sensibility. Like a Chinatown restaurant.

Many of the organic forms you work with are broken into ribbons or bands. Are you thinking of the vascular system or is there another reason for this?

That's not a device that I consciously implemented but developed intuitively. The way that highways and roads can be likened to arteries and even rivers suggests a metaphor for the rhythm and flow of our environments in different contexts.

I am reminded of certain kinds of book illustration when I look at your work. Can you name any particular influences?

I was very interested in Chinese folk tales and myths in my early days of art school as way of investigating my heritage and that heavily informed my earlier work. I have also read countless books to my son throughout the last decade so I suppose visually expressed narratives has definitely had its influence. I also devour manga and anime and those are of course inherently narrative. When making a landscape painting I try to think of the verb or event in the work. There is always something happening in our environment and it can be subtle or extremely dynamic. It could be anything from different phenomena of light interacting with the landscape to a gentle breeze to pollination or even a combination of those elements. As for the characters that articulate these events I draw from early Taoist and Shinto beliefs that every living thing has a spirit. This is also perpetuated in a contemporary way in Disney movies, various cartoons, Japanese anime and children's books. I could certainly name a few obvious examples which are very inspiring such as Miyazaki's Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro, but it's really coming from hundreds if not thousands of sources great and small that are present at every stage of our lives that contributes to our tacit understanding of this kind of work.

What's in the future for you?

Well, design isn't really something that I still do now that my art career has taken off. I am preparing for a group show this fall in Toronto and I am involved in the Montreal Biennial in the spring and then I have a solo exhibition in the fall of 2009 at Parisian Laundry. I am open to exploring some crossover work though as it has some exciting possibilities, like the collaboration between Murakami and Louis Vuitton, or creating a children's book like Yoshitomo Nara.

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Rick's work check out his Carbonmade portfolio: http://rickleong.carbonmade.com/

Come Tweet With Us

2008-08-14T00:00:00-05:00

Twitter is a little web app for keepin' up-to-date with your friends, and more recently for finding freelance work. It’s in effect a micro-blog where you post a "tweet" (140 characters or less) and everyone following you will receive the message. It's as simple as that.

People all around are falling for it hard: we’re following over 100 Carbonmade fans! Total insanity (but we wish there were more of you)! Through Twitter we're announcing small tidbits of news -– maybe even some sneak previews –- and we get to chat openly with anyone who's around. We dig it and we hope you join us.

Creative people are using Twitter to promote themselves. A designer friend of ours, Tim Van Damme, told us only a few weeks ago that over 50% of his new clients have found him through Twitter. All Tim does to promote himself on Twitter is update us about his day, what he’s working on, and his thoughts and views about life and design.

Your tweets help paint a picture of what you're about and we think that’s cool. It’s a great marketing tool for getting work, as word-of-mouth is the best marketing tool, bar none. It's not just for web designers either; plenty of the people we follow are rabid users of Carbonmade and display all types of work.

Come tweet with us! Follow us -- and we'll follow you back.

» Carbonmade
» Spencer Fry (Business)
» Jason Nelson (Code)
» Dave Gorum (Design)
» And anyone else mentioning Carbonmade on Twitter.

If you can suggest any topics you’d like us to Tweet about, e-mail us.

Interview: Yuta Onoda

2008-08-11T00:00:00-05:00

Good day! How are things going?

I'm good thank you.

How did you get your start in design?

I have always been interested in art since I was little. I am happy that I am passionate about art today and hope not to lose this passion in the future.

What inspires your work?

I have always been interested in art and take inspiration from my daily life. And, of course, from other artists. I think every artist has a different point of view, and a distinct style and process that come from their own personal history and experiences.

What types of projects do you most like working on?

I really enjoy working on projects that I can do a lot of research and come up with creative ideas.

Your Personal Work (Carbonmade project) involves images of entrapment. Is this a theme you're consciously working through?

As mentioned, the most important theme for me is to express my feelings through my work. One of the reasons why my work tend to be dark is because I have constantly been struggled with themes and ideas. I want to be honest to my work, so my work will look different (like happier work?) depending on my feelings I guess.

You seem to be interested in the organic relationship between the human body and its surroundings. Would you care to comment on that?

I like to draw figures and work on narrative. I always try to create an image that has a story in it. The relationship between the figures and their surroundings really help me to create a scene in my work.

How would you describe your style?

I do not think I have a certain style yet. But I really enjoy experimenting with various forms of media, hoping to find new avenues to express myself in the future.

What's in the future for you?

I hope to keep trying on new things, not to be afraid of making mistakes, enjoy what I do in the future.

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Yuta's work check out her Carbonmade portfolio: http://yutajazz.carbonmade.com/

Interview: Rafi Adrian Zulkarnain

2008-08-04T00:00:00-05:00

Good day! How are things going?

Hello, it's still shiny and bright summer now here.

How did you get your start in design?

When I found that watercolor, crayons, marker and pencil could make my playful funtime in my childhood, then I was very interested with a catchy visual materials stuff, example like movies either from Asian and Western. Since then an inspiration, experience and experiment was become a part of my starting point for creating artworks till now.

What inspires your work?

Anything God's creation, world artists, cultures, colors, fantasy, sci-fi and real life was my main part of inspiration.

What types of projects do you most like working on?

It which can give me full chance for experiment some interesting new perspective. I like creative project which can have balance between artists ideas and the client preference guidance.

How would you describe your style?

It's kind of flow or moving moments, attractive, action and bright colors. And also variations of abstract, expressive loose brush and realistic. I like both traditional or digital way of making artworks.

What's in the future for you?

Have more good projects and can share my humble inspiration.

What is the inspiration of the image above?

The Pandora idea came from the philosophy of the battle between good will and evil will. I change the mood and idea with my point of view from commonly pandora myth to relations about the live path choices by fill the symbols of good or evil reflections, shine and dark, light and shadow also adding some new elements of sci-fi and retro. My conclusion here was pandora choose the better condition of life and goodness.

Are you interested in working on graphic novels?

Right now I'm much more prefer the book cover or little series illustration project rather than graphic novels.

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Rafi's work check out her Carbonmade portfolio: http://raz.carbonmade.com/

Search. Better than ever.

2008-07-31T00:00:00-05:00

A few days ago we introduced search to the Carbonmade portfolio listing. This first release was a bit limited, but we've fixed all that! We've updated it. You can now search through more facets of your portfolio. These include: your name, city, state, country, areas of expertise, skills, and title. You can also include "+" to group two search terms together (e.g., Fashion + New York).

Also, as an added benefit to our paying customers your portfolio will appear higher in the results than non-paying folks. So, if you want to up your chances of being seen now is a great time to upgrade!

Here are some interesting searches we've come across:
» Illustrators in Tel Aviv, Israel
» Web Designers in Poland
» Designers who know Ruby
» Copywriters in San Francisco
» Photographers in Detroit, MI

Interview: Taryn Gee

2008-07-28T00:00:00-05:00

Good day! How are things going?

Hello! The summer is long and hot. I can't wait till school starts again and to stop working with food.

How did you develop your interest in the figure as a form of artistic expression?

I suppose it's an interest I've always had. I enjoy how people show their emotions or try to hide them. I think the personalities of my friends really inspire me to see people in a different light. Actually, when I used to be a waiter, I was a people watcher. There was such an array of characters that would come in to eat; I suppose my interest in people relates to my interest in the figure.

What inspires your work?

The concept of religion really inspires me. I also like taking simple things and making them more beautiful and appealing. I have a thing for typography and I try to incorporate it into some pieces. As for history, I find that Art Nouveau inspires me design-wise and in their depiction of the human form.

How would you describe your style?

I think that my style is mainly figurative and full of emotion. I like to exaggerate body parts, particularly the neck, and depict some form of inner peace within my figures. I suppose my palette has become more vibrant, perhaps because I can't be bothered to mix my colours; on the other hand, I find that there's something thrilling about vibrant, bold colours. I also think that self portraits are one of the hardest things to master, so I like to do a lot of self portraits. Because of that, I guess that my figures resemble me.

What medium do you prefer to work in?

I love working traditionally, preferably in pencil, ink or watercolours. I find that usually I don't have the patience to sit in front of the computer to do digital work. I find that when you work traditionally, it's more of an organic, expressive experience, while digital media is more of a structured approach.

What do you consider your major influences to be?

When I started college I had never done any life drawing before and I found that drawing the nude figure really changed the way approached my work. My teacher, Stan Hughes taught me many different ways of seeing and depicting a figure and I've learned a lot of different techniques during my first year at Sheridan College. I also find that my boyfriend Jordan is a constant inspiration to my work.

What's in the future for you?

One day I hope to get a book published but for the time being, I want to focus on portraiture and caricature. I'd really like to be able to capture people's emotions and personalities based on a simple portrait.

Thanks for chatting with us!

For more of Taryn's work check out her Carbonmade portfolio: http://geetaryn.carbonmade.com/

Search? Help? It's About Time

2008-07-23T00:00:00-05:00

The two biggest requests we get are for search and for a detailed help area. Well, we've added both. With search you can look up people's names, locations, and other tidbits. And with the Help area of Carbonmade -- see the tab above -- you can get answers to the most frequently asked questions. It's divided into three sections (General, Billing, and Settings) and covers almost anything you're looking for. If you do have problems that aren't covered there, please do shoot us an e-mail. That's all for now, but more is on the way.

Interview: Dawid Tarkowski

2008-07-22T00:00:00-05:00

Good day! How are things going?

Quite well. Thank you.

How has photography changed your life?

It influences my life. That’s for sure. First of all I would classified it as a sort of an escapism form in my case.

How did you get your start in design?

I’ve been interested in photography since I remember. Composing pictures has been my passion for 2 years.

What inspires your work?

Ordinary life pushes me straight into the photography. Sometimes I’m inspired by other photographers.

What types of projects do you most like working on?

Definitely landscapes with emphasis on trees. I like taking photographs in the neighborhood and in the distant places as well.

How would you describe your style?

There is a symbolic flavour with a note of onirism in it. Let’s call it "THE SYMPHONY of my SYM-ONI". I’m just joking. Can you see any style in my works?

What's in the future for you? Are you interested in any other mediums?

I’m really into photography so, no.

Would you say that photography brings out elements of mystery in what we see?

Absolutely. I’m keen on creating mysterious trails of sentiments. The dawns of autumn help a lot.

Is there any symbolism in your emphasis on trails?

The Trail is something special. It contains the elements of holidays, free time & adventure. In my projects the trail is a path which goes across the unsettled regions of my mind. The trail helps you to discover the flavours & beauty which are deep in us.

Thanks for chatting with us.

For more of Dawid's work check out his Carbonmade portfolio: http://dawidtarkowski.carbonmade.com/

Interview: Carly Allen-Fletcher

2008-07-14T00:00:00-05:00

Alright! How are you doing today?

I'm good thanks! It's grey and gloomy in England but my little studio is full of colour!

How did you get your start in design?

Since I was little, art was always my favourite subject. I studied Illustration at Loughborough University and since I graduated last year I've been going for it as a Freelance Illustrator! I had some sucess in competitions at University, and my very first proper commission was a double page spread design about depression in the big city, which was really interesting to work on.

What inspires your work?

Oh, so many things! Mythology and religion as subjects, and I also love science and reading about what makes the world go round. I guess I would say I'm interested in the things hidden beneath the surface. Artists that inspire me range from the Japanese master printmakers like Hokusai and Hiroshige; to European artists like Da Vinci, Herge and John Piper, who has amazing colours and lots of beautiful textures! Primitive sculpture, ancient pottery, modern comic/manga stuff like Hellboy and Flight, designer vinyl, Miyazaki, old japanese toy robots. So much stuff! I enjoy people that do thier own thing.

What types of projects do you most like working on?

I don't think I've ever had a project I hated, there's always something new to be discovered in every topic I think. Saying that, I especially enjoy projects that I can really sink my teeth into; where I can do lots of research and really get to the heart of the matter whilst finding out lots of interesting things.

How would you describe your style?

Hopefully as unique! I love to see my 'thumbprint' on the page, see the lines that I scribbled or the paint drops I smudged. I like my work to feel vibrant and have an atmosphere, thats what I am always trying to achieve.

You've really taken the time to tailor your portfolio; do you think it helps?

I'd like to think so. We spend lots of time on our artwork, why not try to make your portfolio as unique as your art? And it's fun to play around on Carbonmade to experiment with different ways of showcasing it. I want people to enjoy flicking about my portfolio, and be able to find everything they want to see really easily. If they can, then everyone's happy!

Thanks!

For more of Carly's work check out her Carbonmade portfolio: http://carlydraws.carbonmade.com/