Can you tell us a little about yourself and your artistic background? My background is in graphic design but in recent years I've focused completely on illustration, working from a shared studio space called OPEN. I've recently been working on comics for Nokia and The Times, along with a load of editorial illustration for various magazines.
What is your relationship with sneakers and/or the sneaker industry?
Up until now I have had a one way relationship with sneakers; purchasing them to run in. It has been incredible to get a look behind the scenes with this project and hopefully that's what other people will take away from it too (that and a newfound love of laser pterodactyls).
Up until now I have had a one way relationship with sneakers; purchasing them to run in. It has been incredible to get a look behind the scenes with this project and hopefully that's what other people will take away from it too (that and a newfound love of laser pterodactyls).
What was your brief for the Primeknit project? Did you have any input in the story itself?
U-Dox came to me with the script at a point where they were almost finished putting the final touches to it. My job was to find the best way to translate that visually in a way that would work for the film. The robots and laser pterodactyls are entirely the invention of Nick Hearne at U-Dox, but he and adidas allowed me a lot of space to interpret how they would look.
U-Dox came to me with the script at a point where they were almost finished putting the final touches to it. My job was to find the best way to translate that visually in a way that would work for the film. The robots and laser pterodactyls are entirely the invention of Nick Hearne at U-Dox, but he and adidas allowed me a lot of space to interpret how they would look.
Obviously your imagery was to be knitted by the machine that makes the Primeknit shoes - were there special production processes involved (such as changing your illustrative style), and did you get to experiment with the machine at all?
We were working to a tight deadline for the project so the focus wasn't really on experimentation. The key was to get a level of detail that would work with the resolution of the knitting machine (too much detail and everything began to merge together into one knitted blob). For me it involved some intense time tweaking of individual pixels and looking at a very squashed version of my illustration (to compensate for the different height and width ratio created by the threads in the tapestry). U-Dox were always on hand to guide me through the process and to make the jump from sketchbook to final knitted image as smooth as possible.
We were working to a tight deadline for the project so the focus wasn't really on experimentation. The key was to get a level of detail that would work with the resolution of the knitting machine (too much detail and everything began to merge together into one knitted blob). For me it involved some intense time tweaking of individual pixels and looking at a very squashed version of my illustration (to compensate for the different height and width ratio created by the threads in the tapestry). U-Dox were always on hand to guide me through the process and to make the jump from sketchbook to final knitted image as smooth as possible.
Finally, which is your favourite part of the tapestry?
My favourite part is probably the tiny astronaut lovingly embracing the shoe. Mainly because it was the first glimpse I got of some of my artwork in tapestry form at the very first knitting test.
My favourite part is probably the tiny astronaut lovingly embracing the shoe. Mainly because it was the first glimpse I got of some of my artwork in tapestry form at the very first knitting test.
via Art&Sole
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