As a all around designer, I sometimes get stuck or uninspired while doing a job. It’s easy to get distracted with other worldly things, like soccer, barking dogs and my neighbor playing his flute. This mental block can sometimes last for days, but soon I discovered that browsing the websites of my idols and people I look up to can re-inspire and shed some light to my blankness-ness. One such person that I draw tons of inspiration and insight from is Michael Latimer, a professional apparel and graphic designer. Here we talk about everything from t-shirts to Jujitsu to Karl Marx.

Lowercase Industry site, designed by Michael Latimer

PERSONAL INFO:
Name: Michael Latimer

Age: 30
Country of Origin: England
Genre: Fashion, Doodles, Stencil Art
Forms of Art: painting, doodling, drawing
Mediums used: mainly canvas, wood panels and paper
Webbie: http://www.michael-latimer.com | http://www.lowercaseindustry.com

THE SERIOUS BIT:

FM: Your surname Latimer, was it originated from some lords and dukes of the past? What’s it like, the day in the life of you, Michael?

ML: Haha, everyone says that! It does sound a bit lordy doesn’t it? I’m not really a lord or knight, although I am rocking some chain mail trousers at the moment.
As for a normal day, well I should point out I don’t do my own thing full time, so from 9 to 5 I am at work at my day job as creative director of an entertainment company. So all the stuff I do that would be of interest to you and your readers is done in the evenings and weekends, it kind of means I don’t have much free time as I seem to be constantly at work. Hopefully though I will be able to do my own thing full time at some point. Its definitely hard work juggling both but the way I see it is if I never get to do my own thing full time, I’m not going to let it be because I didn’t work hard enough.

FM: Tell us a bit about yourself: where did you learn how to draw like that? Was it god’s given talent or did you have to take classes for it? When did you start drawing and when did you realize that you could make moolah from it?

ML: No, I’ve never had any real drawing lessons as such, I am not a brilliant drawer to be honest, I think the tightly interwoven bundles of monsters I do stems from the fact that I probably wouldn’t do a brilliant job of drawing one big detailed thing, so I am almost trying to make up for it by drawing lots of little things to make up one big piece, if that makes sense!
I’ve always drawn stuff for as long as I can remember really,I think the fact I haven’t been taught art except for at school has helped me a lot, because if you are not surrounded by other people’s art then you cant really try and ape other peoples styles, I’m not saying that art education is a bad thing, don’t get me wrong, I think developing styles in isolation works out better for me personally.

Jim Morrison, anyone?

My favorite piece called Floot, done with Acrylic & marker on wood panel.

FM: Looking at your stuff, especially aesthetically, I would think that you started off with a bit of stencilling. Then again, I see doodles all over the place as well. You’ve got a really great mixture of mediums and genre’s. What would be your main cuppa tea?

ML: You are right, I do do a lot of different styles yes, I think there are a few different artists in me fighting for attention!
The thing is, I would get bored doing the same style over and over again, it keeps me exited about art trying new techniques styles. Its kind of like a cycle really, I will work in one style for a few pieces, then I will be ready to move on to another style for the next few, it works well for me as when I come back to a style, I am really pumped for it, glad for a change, so I am always exited about what I’m working on.

FM: Again, I see a lot of depression/ anxiety/ doom in some of your designs, and yet there’s the total opposite in others… do you design based on mood, or is it all instinctive? Are your designs pre-planned? Do you have a platform which you build upon or is it all just that township in your head being let loose?

ML: I cant imagine trying to make art that is focused on one emotion really, no one is happy all the time, neither are they sad all the time. I suppose my stuff swings more towards the slightly dark and twisted side, sadness is a more romantic subject to me than happiness.
I do pre-plan things to a certain extent yes, but I can never really tell where something is going to go, a lot of the time I will plan out the main subject of a piece and then just fill in the rest with whatever comes to mind. That’s why I love doodling so much, its such a true creative process, drawing without judging what you are doing too much.

A sneak peak into some of his paintings in the making. Amazing work.

FM: You’ve done some tees for Lowercase Industry, which are really cool… Come to think about it, it looks like you may have more involvement in Lowercase other than just being a designer, is this true? [ This just came to me... call it insight, if you will!]

ML: Yeah I run Lowercase Industry, I set it up about two years ago and it’s gone really well so far. I decided to launch something like this because then I can design whatever I like, then try and sell it. It’s nice not working to anyones briefs. I’m not trying to run it like a brand or anything, it’s almost an anti-brand, I’m not interested in slapping logos on stuff and trying to sell it, it’s not what its about, it’s all about really low run tees and one off artwork. It gives me the chance to put out stuff by other artists and designers I admire as well, I just wish I could afford to put out more from guest artists.
As I stated earlier, I tend to work in a lot of different styles so this works well because it can appear the designs are by different artists but most are just done by me.

FM: Do you screen-print your tees or are they outsourced? What’s your advice for budding wannabe’s like me that are interested in the independent tee design/production scene?

ML: I don’t screen-print my own tees no, I outsource that job to someone else, someone who screens each tee by hand, I hate the idea of designs being fed into an automated system and just left to make themselves, I appreciate the craft and skill of old school screen printing and its defiantly something I want to get into in the future, I think people nowadays really appreciate prints made by a human hand rather than a soulless machine.

FM: That is true. I’m learning a thing or two about screen printing as well, and by golly, it is fun! All in all, you’ve got some pretty amazing designs on your personal site, but why do I get the feeling that there’s more to you than meets the eye?

ML:Thanks man, I don’t know why you get that feeling to be honest!

FM: What have you been up to lately? Working on any projects? What’s the next big thing happening in your ever evolving life?

ML: Well some board designs for Enjin Skateboards I did last year have just come out, so that’s exiting.
I’m working on a series of paintings on paper at the minute which use solvent transfers, quite a bit, its my new favorite technique, theres a useful link here. The main goal at the minute for me is get more exhibitions and to try and end up in a position where I can do my own thing full time. I’m not very good at self promotion though.

Decks for Enjin

 

THE POTSHOTS SECTION:

FM: I’m from Malaysia, have you ever been here or any other part of Asia before?

ML: Not really no, I stopped at Singapore airport on my way to Australia once, I would LOVE to go there. That part of the world fascinates me.

FM: Stopovers don’t count, sorry. You should get come here, we got some really awesome food and also some great sights to be seen. Babes included. What are the top 5 sites that you visit daily?

ML:

* www.fecalface.com
* http://wikipedia.org
* www.google.com

FM: How do you waste your time?
ML: I waste a lot of my life playing video games and I also go to JuJitsu classes once a week.

FM: Wow, Jujitsu. Knowing how to break limbs must be really cool. Beer n Nachos or Wine n Meat?
ML: Nachos & Wine.

FM: Confucius or Karl Marx?
ML: Confucius.

Reaper Doodle on Canvas

FM: What was the last movie that made you cry?
ML: I have honestly never cried at a film in my life, Grave of the fireflies by Studio Ghibli was probably the closest.

FM: What would the words on your tombstone say?
ML: Please leave me alone.

FM: Any Last Words?
ML: Just some links really, check out my shop and my personal site. Don’t forget to also check out Enjin Skateboards. Thanks for the interview!

FM: Most welcome Michael. It was mostly my pleasure… in a non-gay way.

*Highly recommended that you check out his stuff at the links above- ed.

*Updated: Michael’s got some really new great paintings in the works, which can be found here. Don’t forget to get a tee, painting or badge over at his online shop, Lowercase Industry.