Inside the Customizer's Studio: Pecovam's Emile

I'm very excited about a change to the 'Inside the Customizer's Studio' series. In the past we've focused on longer interviews that debuted over a series of days. These have been fantastic opportunities and I enjoyed each and every one.

Since then, Ka.lego has launched his Ka-GO site and 'Behind the Build' interview series*. The concept is instead of finding inspirational builds and saying, 'Isn't this cool?' there's additional information provided through a discussion with the artist. I've blatantly stolen been greatly inspired by the concept and thought it would be a perfect way to bring more quality, original content to the site.

The first subject of the new format is a custom Emile minifigure that Andrew Pescovitz (Pecovam) had sent to me. The helmet and armor are produced by Hazel Tam and sold through United Armory. As you can see from the side-by-side picture above, Andrew has added Emile's signature skull design to the EVA helmet and a fantastic paint job. We start our interview here...

I remember on Flickr you mentioned that your hands were sore after working on several helmets. What technique did you use to create Emile's signature skull on the EVA helmet? 

The technique I used for creating the skull was very simple. I took a regular exacto knife, and then took a smaller exacto knife blade with an extremely small and sharp point, and I fixed the smaller blade inside the larger holder and secured it in place. The larger holder for the blade allowed for slightly more control over my carving in my opinion. None the less, after about nine of them, my hands were really sore.

What type of paint did you use on the figure? Do you tend to add layers of paint or just have one coat? 

I used two different types of paint on the figure. Mr. Color metallics and Citadel paints. On the majority of my figures, aside from ones I paint with camouflage, I try my best to keep the paint to three to four 'layers', I guess is what you would call it. Whenever I paint something, I am always thinking about the most efficient way to achieve the desired effect with the least amount of paint. This is also slightly money saving as well (lol). I always start with a base coat of a metallic color, and then go from there adding solids, weathering, battle damage etc. to make sure I can always achieve a realistic look to the best of my abilities.

There's an amazing amount of detail on the figure. How do you achieve such a clean look on such as small scale?

As for the cleanliness of the figure itself, I would chalk that up to two to three simple things. First, if you do something enough, you will eventually get better at it. I utilize paint on every single one of my customs in one way or another, practice makes perfect. Second would have to be my attention to detail, as well as my personal desire for everything I make to look as good as possible. If I paint something and it doesn't look as good as I can possibly do, I do it again, and again, until it's where I want it to be. Patience, a steady hand, and a knowledge of how your favorite brush and paints react to the surface of plastic and your strokes, eventually it will start to become second nature. Lastly, I would have to say the types of paints used make a big difference. I like to go with paints that dry extremely thin. This allows me to add a lot of color detail without filling in the detail on my parts.

It looked like you painted a pair of Space Police legs keeping the pockets and pads, or did you pant the legs and add decals?

I did actually just paint the space police legs around the pockets and left those in. This technique I actually got from a very good friend, Pedro. I saw him use this a few times in his photo stream and loved the way it looked. It adds a level of realism to the legs while maintaining the 'LEGO' look.

Did you use any 'new' techniques when developing the fig?

As for new techniques when developing this figure, I would have to say no. For a few reasons, when I make figures for myself to keep, I like to go all out. I like to go in all sorts of directions for modding in terms of how I like to make ball jointed arms for my figures, and such. When I make figures for other people, not to say I wouldn't try anything upon request, I try to keep a more 'LEGO' feel to the figure just because I know not everyone is all about the type of modding I do for my figures.

What was the most difficult part of the custom? What was the most fun?

The most difficult part of the custom and the most fun are actually one in the same. It was the skull. In terms of difficulty, making sure I did not scratch the raised portions of the skull for the mouth and eyes was a big challenge. But in the end, once you see the final product up close, it's very rewarding. As well as seeing how happy people were when I sent them out, including you.

A big thanks to Andrew for taking the time for the interview, and especially for the custom minifigure! I have more of these interviews planned for the future, so hopefully you enjoy the new format. In the meantime, you can see more of Andrew's work via his Flickr stream.

*If you've not been following the Ka-GO site/blog, I highly recommend it!

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Shobrick

Customizer ‘Shobrick’ has exploded onto the scene over the past year with a combination of detailed custom minifigures and fantastic photography. I only discovered Sho recently, but in that time he’s clearly demonstrated he has a unique style and approach to his work that made me want to get to know him better.

This interview was conducted over a period of weeks through an e-mail exchange. Shobrick was gracious enough to conduct the interview in English (he’s French), as if it were the other way around this wouldn’t have been possible.

As with most stories we start at the beginning and talk about Shobrick’s childhood LEGO experiences and emerging from his dark ages...

Shobrick: ‘Well I had a dark age starting from 12-13 years old until 21-22 years old. I did play a long time with LEGO and I remember taking pictures and using LEGO to recreate favorite scenes from movies I've just seen. My eye was the camera, my mind help me to imagine the story, and the LEGO figs were the actors... I had loved getting inspired by movies to start new adventures and new stories.

I think LEGO is the best material for kids, no other toy is that complete and enjoyable. I had played with other toys of course, but I remember playing mostly to LEGO. My parents as kids played outside, I've played to LEGO, nowadays kids play to video games.

I don't know exactly how I came back to LEGO, I guess I was searching a different way to create from drawings or writing or making short movies. I guess toys are great material to learn photography and lighting. About customization I don't know I guess I like to create things with my hands and I love details, so LEGO minifigs are the perfect medium!

Besides LEGO does have the greatest active toy community. That is not a surprise, the uses and combinations using LEGO are endless.’

Cygnet: What is your favorite customization tool in your kit and why?

Shobrick: ‘It should be e-tape, because it's easy, it's removable, it's available in lots of colors. That's my alternative to paint, because I don't want to have my hands dirty, and I think it looks cleaner in a way than paint. I mean paint is used mostly to replace tissue or fabric. LEGO is all about plastic so why don't stay into plastic.’

Cygnet: Many of your creations focus on military themes. Why does this particular area inspire your designs?

Shobrick: ‘I don't know I always loved military, maybe because the soldiers' gear are full of details, and you know my love for details. Besides most of the custom figs are military I don't know why, manufacturers are mostly making military products too, except from BrickForge.

Looks like humankind is well known for his war history. That's kind of strange but when you think to the Middle Ages, the first image that come in your mind is a knight on his horse (he's a soldier), when you think to Roman Civilization you think to Caesar and his legions, it's the same for every main period of our history. Looks like humans are made for war, and they will never stop to do so.’

Cygnet: You recently shared a couple of scenes focused on the ethnic cleansing happening in the Darfur region. What inspired you to develop these scenes? What was your goal in developing these?

Shobrick: ‘I can already tell you I made it in reaction to yoshix's work about extermination camps. Lots of people were shocked and reacted violently about his creation. I wanted to see if people will be shocked the same by a MOC on Darfur or Rwanda genocide happening nowadays, and obviously nobody was scandalized. It's kind of sad, people learned to be shocked by the shoah (holocaust) but not about Staline or African genocide. I just wanted to talk about something that people never talk about. I wanted to shock also, too make a disturbing creation but I think that's a failure.’

NOTE: If you’ve not seen yoshix’s concentration camp, it was posted a few months ago with little explanation, leaving the meaning and interpretation up to the viewer. The comments were varied, but yoshix never came out to provide his side (not that he needed to).

Shobrick’s depictions of ethnic cleansing didn’t appear to shock as many people, based on the comments, but should remind us that these acts are happening around the world even today...

Cygnet: You recently collaborated with Tiny Tactical on a diorama/scene using many of their custom parts. How did that collaboration come to happen?

Shobrick: ‘I contacted Tiny Tactical (TT) to make a commercial pic, which will help them to promote their work a bit more. I used only LEGO and TT and a bit of BrickArms that they had already shown in their stream. I believe they were pretty happy with the results. I hope to work on another set with the TT team, you know I'm a real fan of their products.

The best thing to do it's to combine the release of a commercial pic with the opening of a shop, an update, or the release of a new products, to give maximum visibility. If the pic is Explored it can even bring new customers.

Actually, I'm trying to start making commercial pictures for non-official LEGO companies. If anyone is interested don't hesitate to contact me via my Flickr mail.’

Cygnet: Is there an 'unsung hero' in the customization community today that you think more people need to know about?

Shobrick: ‘I really appreciate mcgregor.harry's customized figs. He’s made some really good decals. His work deserves more views.’

Cygnet: I believe I've read in conversations on Flickr that you have been a film school student. What draws you to the cinema?

Shobrick: ‘I've been a film school student, and I hope to win my life being a movie director one day, the beginnings are pretty hard in that line of job. Cinema is a very small world and it's hard to enter it.

My passion for cinema is quite old, I'm a creative person, at first I draw a lot then I discovered cinema. Nowadays it is the most effective way to tell a story and to make people dream a little. It affects in a very obvious way I believe, I try to be cinematic as possible.’

Cygnet: How have your film studies affected your LEGO design work?

Shobrick: ‘I use some movie filter CTB/CTO, for example my computer screen is light day 5400-5600K (color temperature). I prefer working without the day light cause I have better control on the light. So I put some filters on my halogen and on my desk lamp which usually are tungsten (3200K) and have the same temperature.

I don't really like to recreate a movie scene to be 100% accurate, I prefer to put it in my own way.’

Cygnet: On your Flickr stream you have a collection of illustrations under the set title of 'No Toys'. Many of them have the title 'El Didou' with the image. Are these your illustrations and can you tell me more?

Shobrick: ‘Well I made some illustrations that I have added in a file to find a producer for a short movie. These are in fact to show what the movie will look like. I have recently contacted several production companies. I wait and prey to have at list one positive answer. "El Didou" was the name of one of the main character, now he's called "Angelo" aka Alojzy Oljenik.

This short is made only to win rewards in festival and to convince a producer to make a movie.

I'm actually looking for a scriptwriter to rewrite completely the script, to make it more consensual and more "bankable". That's a long process, but the main ideas and the world of the movie are already well developed. We just need to find money to make it possible.’

Cygnet: In addition to being a fantastic minifig customizer, you are obviously quite skilled in photography, and you appear to be very active in the toy photography groups on Flickr. What are some of the differences between the customization and photography groups in your experience?

Shobrick: ‘Well actually, I never thought about a difference between customizers and toy photographers. I think that when you are in toy photography you have to make your figs the best as possible which means you customize them.

I would say the main difference between them are the age and the quality of the pics. It's true that customizers tend to be very young, they don't have a lot of experience about photography and they don't have the best camera (it's expensive). I think the presentation is almost as important as the figs. Toy photographers should customize a bit more of their figs (most of them do it actually), and customizers should improve a bit their presentation.’

Cygnet: Is there someone in the toy photography realm that you admire? If someone was new to the scene who's work would you recommend people take a look at?

Shobrick: ‘Of course, Bleau Aquino is a master. His pics are so detailed, the lighting, the composition, the effects are perfect. His sets are incredible (I'm thinking about his Batman and Iron Man vigs).

I recently discovered Neorillaz, another 6th scale photographer, and Dre Merc. They are really talented, and some pics are really stunning. They both deserve more views.’

Cygnet: What is your dream project, and what stands in your way from going after it?

Shobrick: ‘A dream would be to make a huge set using creation from great LEGO builders, mixed with customs minifigs mixed with various techniques (smoke, ashes, live explosions effects). I would love to be able to put in display some figs in a LEGO town for a post apoc diorama, or like Saving Private Ryan, and maybe to make a comic with the pics. That would be great, but I guess it would be expensive and time keeper.

The dream project would be to mix LEGO constructions, custom minifigs and real effects (snow, ashes....), and adding some light techniques and post prod.’

I want to extend my thanks to Shobrick for agreeing to participate in these discussions. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I am honored that he took the time and effort. Merci!

If you would like to see more of Shobrick’s work you can check out his Flickr stream. Sho has also opened a RedBubble store where he sells prints of his work. Check it out when you get a chance!

Interviews with Customizers on Custom Minifig

It would seem that customminifig.co.uk is on a interview kick as of late. In under a week they've put up some Q&As with The Knight, Hound Knight, Shmails, and the most recent Amadgunslinger. It's always nice to get behind the scenes with the people behind the creations!

If you get a chance, click through and check them out.

(via customminifig.co.uk)

Minifig Customization Hits the Mainstream

...sort of. Wired's Geek Dad blog currently has an interview with customizer Kris Buchan (AKA DocVenkman). I came across Kris earlier this week and saw the 'for the Geekdad.com' article under his pics. I couldn't find the pics via search...because the article was just published.

The article is a good giving 'shout outs' to Jared Burks (Kaminoan), Mark Parker (MMCB), Roaglaan, and Triump. Head on over to Wired.com to check it out.

Today Geek Dad, tomorrow...the World!

New Rocketeer by JasBrick

Remember those new Rocketeer accessories that debuted a couple of weeks back? We'll it looks like JasBrick ordered a couple and painted them beautifully.

I'm still uncertain as to if these were originally designed by Hazel Tam, because it's his old outfit that's selling them today. Nevertheless, I love what Jas has done with them! 

You can see more of JasBrick's work on his Flickr stream. Have you read our interview with Jas last year? You haven't! Well head on over to our interviews page and correct that immediately! I'm working to finalize another installment of our Inside the Customizer's Studio interview series. I'm hoping to have it available in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned...

Interview with The Knight on CustomMinifig

There's a nice interview with KJ (The Knight) on CustomMinifig today. KJ talks about many of his inspirations and views on the custom minifigure community.

If you would like to better understand the man behind the customs, take some time and give it a read.

You can find it on customminifig.co.uk.

Inside the Customizer's Studio: eclipseGRAFX Collected

Now that our interview series with Victor Fernandez (eclipseGRAFX) has concluded, I'm collecting all four parts of the interview here for easy viewing. If you missed the interview the first time around, then it's a great way to get caught up.

These will reside on the interview page along with our interviews with JasBrick, Morgan19, and Hazel Tam.A big thanks to Victor, and I hope everyone enjoyed the series.

• Day 1: Introduction to LEGO and Minifig Customization
• Day 2: Inspiration and the Clone Army Builder's Guild
• Day 3: Building a Custom Minifig Brand
• Day 4: State of Customization and Dream Project

Inside the Customizer's Studio: eclipseGRAFX, Part 4

Today is our last day of coverage for our interview with Victor Fernandez (AKA eclipseGRAFX). Before we start I wanted to say thanks to Victor for agreeing to the interview. It was a real pleasure, and I wish him all the best with the new product offerings, which can be seen at his BrickLink store.

Today we will be talking to Victor about his views on the current state of the customization community and what his dream project...

How do you feel about the current state of minifig customization? What needs to change in the community? What does the community need to keep doing into the future?

"I feel like there is a wave rising of more and more customizers or wanna be customizers. You have people like legtaylor who isn't known but by a small group of people for his customizing. HE has a great eye for it but because he d oesn't have the funds for the proper tools his skill level isn't able to grow.

I feel that customizers need more support from the community. I think it is sad that a person spends hours on a custom fig and when he asks how much would you buy it for, the response of $10 is given. Although it is a fun job, the under appreciation of these figs sucks out the joy of making them. Now I am not talking about personal experience but I have seen it happen to some aspiring customizers. Without the funds we can't make more customs.

The community needs to keep voicing their opinions regardless of it being good or bad. I love praise but I respect proper criticism. Without critique there is no way we can grow and improve. I also think customizers should help each other with tips on how they achieve their work. Shobrick is a customizer I have recently started following, and thanks to him I can now make gun and knife holsters."

Who do you look up to in the customization community and why?

"There are so many names to choose from. Morgan19 really helps to break through any creative blocks when I free form. His work is so outside the box that it has a realm of its own. When looking for painting ideas and tips I always turn to JasBrick. I started getting my modding inspiration from Pedro-79. I mean the list goes on and on. I think all customizers can at least help in giving ideas through there creations whether good or bad."

Is there an 'unsung hero' in the customization community today that you think more people need to know about?

"I have been thinking about this question over and over and what throws me off is the word 'hero'. I mean there are obviously many customizers out there, good and bad, but the good ones have mastered some trait that helps them hold on to the top.

'Unsung' though.... I recently came across some of Levork who created some figures for charity. These figures blew me away for thier quality and accuracy. They almost didn't look like decals to me.

Pecovam is starting to rise in his skill level too and making his own style as well. Breaking all the rules of what most customizers hold dear, but doing it in the right way to get the desired results. To clarify what I mean, a lot of people hate altering the main figure parts (head, legs and torso) including myself unless its the only way to get the results Iwant. Pescovam disregards the public's opinion and pushes through to create his figures. He currently is finishing his Reach project and in my opinion those figs are some of the best and most accurate Halo characters I have seen thus far."

What is your dream project, and what stands in your way from going after it?

"I have two dream projects. One is to get my custom business going. Offering high quality products manufactured like LEGO at an affordable price. What stands in my way is only having the funds to do it. I can learn the rest. In the mean time I am trying to raise money slowly but steadily through selling my figs.

The second dream project is Christian figs. The way I envision these figs requires a fabric/cloth designer like MMCB. I only like using high quality parts for my custom figs and MMCB is the best at fabrics that I know of. He is too swamped at the moment to take on new designs that I have in mind. So I am patiently waiting for the right time and person to work on this with. Though I may have found him I don't want to reveal that just yet.

Can you tell us a little more about this project?

"Well the bible says - Matthew 6:33-33 'But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.'

If I am being preachy I don't apologize, but I hope not to offend anyone.

I am a minister in training as well as a graphic designer. And when I started doing customization I wanted to put God first in what I was doing. You haven't seen any of my Christian figs yet mainly because in MY eyes these need more attention then the rest of my projects. I am looking for a good fabric designer like MMCB who has the time to work with me and do designs to my specs. I also want to get the perfect hair and decals for each figure. I am not happy with ANY of the Jesus figs I have seen out there and other biblical character, if any has ever been made. I also want to go into stop motion films with Biblical stories."

I wanted to say thank you once again to Victor, and I hope everyone enjoyed the interview. I've already started to work with another great customizer to keep this interview series going. By the way...does anyone speak fluent French?

Inside the Customizer's Studio: eclipseGRAFX, Part 3

Today is an exciting day for the eclipseGRAFX brand, as he is 'relaunching' his BrickLink store with new custom offerings. When I first discovered Victor online, he was offering amazing custom lightsaber hilts (still does as a matter of fact). Over the past year he has made a strong effort in getting his business off the ground. In fact, I think he has a lot of promise which is part of the reason I wanted to have him participate in this interview series. Today we'll be discussing some of his aspirations and what he has in store at his...um...new store...

You've started to sell some of your custom creations on BrickLink. Do you have aspirations to build up your own customs operation? What have been some of the challenges you've faced in selling your work?

"Opening my own 'brand' would be great. It has been on my mind and I have been trying to take it step by step to raise the money and product line to do so. The main challenge to get the business going is capital (i.e. money). I have many plans for the business and a few product lines that I want to get out all at the same time when I make my grand re-opening.

The main challenge I faced selling my work was pricing, because all the hilts are crafted by hand the price per hilt was too expensive. Not many people bought them. Now one of my projects is to finish 3D modeling and get them made by an ABS/3D printing company."

During the time of our correspondence, Victor has partnered with fellow community member Imagination Customs to bring new items to his store. Victor has been seeding Flickr with a sampling of the products he intends to sell (products that should be on his BrickLink store later today). We discussed the new venture and the dynamics of having a new partner...

"One of the benefits of having Imagination Customs on board is the accountability. Though it's me mainly doing the pushing, now that I have someone working with me I also feel obligated to do my fair share. One thing we discussed when we first started working together is trying to hit as many genres as we could. Each month having a major focus on one or two themes. Themes will be influenced by video games, movies, books, comic books... pretty much anything that has characters in it will be looked at to draw inspiration from.

We are currently working on some World War 2 figs and Star Wars figs (of course). Future lines that will be seen will include different military/armed forces type of figs. Star Wars will always be a main source of interest for me since there are so many different types of characters in the Star Wars universe - it just offers so many different challenges to tackle. We will also be hitting comic book heroes/villains and cartoon characters when possible. Really we intend to cover as many bases as possible.

We will also be offering the lightsaber hilts and eventually mass producing them. Some designs will be exclusive to the figure they were designed for. When mass production happens individual requests will still be taken to designs personal sabers. We are also getting glow in the dark blades soon to go with the hilts.

We are in contact with a printer to offer some high quality printed parts and this line will also grow as we get more funds. My vision for this is to eventually offer fully customized and printed figures. The cost for this is large so I have to settle for parts at the moment that can help us get to that step.

Another product line we are working on are decals to customize your own "unique" figure. We don't want to divulge too much on this project just yet but we hope to have it ready by opening day.

There are ideas that just get birthed from working on other figures. One such idea are my 'bullet' grenades that I recently posted. We decided to offer these seeing the interest that sprung from it.

And lastly, we will offer personal requests to make figures. Currently I am working on an Emile figure which should be showcased before the store opens.

We enjoy doing anything that has to do with minifigures and offering high-quality products that leave the customer wanting more. Which is the most important thing about this whole endeavor. Offering high-quality figures and customs for the customer."

Lots of exciting things to look forward to from Victor and Imagination Customs! Check out everything they have to offer on the eclipseGRAFX BrickLink store a little later today.

Tomorrow we will finish out our interview series by talking with Victor about the current state of the customization community and what his personal 'dream' project happens to be. Make sure you come back tomorrow, you may be surprised...

Inside the Customizer's Studio: eclipseGRAFX, Part 2

Welcome back to the second day of interviews with Victor Fernandez (eclipseGRAFX). In our first session we discussed with Victor about how he became involved with minifig customization. Today we discuss his areas of inspiration and involvement with the Clone Army Builder's Guild.

A lot of your creations look to Star Wars for inspiration? What are other areas you look to for customization ideas?

"I have always been a Star Wars fan. I don't want to say big because I learned a lot more after getting into LEGO then I knew before. I read a lot of the books in the past and was always interested in the Jedi.

Other than Star Wars, other areas would have to be comics and video games though I don't play a lot of games you can easily do Google searches and find a lot of screen shots. Other areas I look at are what's currently going on with the custom community. I spend time looking at JasBrick's library (the guy has a lot of figs), Geoshift, Morgan 19 has a lot of ideas, Pedro and I also browse through the minifig pools on Flickr.

What I noticed from these guys was that some of their creations were just free form. I knew I could create just about any Star Wars character with the right reference material but to create something from scratch was alot harder and to make it look awesome, was much harder. I started seeing the Gears of War (GOW) armor and other stuff that made me start buying them to paint in different styles. If you visit my minifig set you will see that most of my figs are just random characters that I came up with as I built the figs.

I guess you can say that my main source of inspiration is the public and what they want."

Why focus on custom lightsaber hilts for your store? You've also created custom minifigs of the Star Wars character Jarael. Why this particular character?

"The focus on lightsaber hilts was due to no one else being able to do the same. There was a huge interest in them and we made them so well that I thought we could sell them. When I say we, I am referring to 'Clashy' on Flickr, and I. He was the person who taught me how to make the hilts. And he also mentored me and helped me grow my customizing skills.

Jarael came to life only because of her shock staff. Clashy had sent me some digital comics and for some reason when I turned to this character I knew I had to make her and the staff. I have also created the imperial knights but not many people went crazy for them as they did for Jarael.

I have to also note that I met Clashy on Flickr. I don't know what made him take me under his wing but he showed me his secret little after our first conversations."

You've said in the past that you've learned a lot about customizing from the Clone Army Builders Guild. Tell us a little about this group and how they've helped you with customization.

"If you did a Google search for how to apply decals or something of that nature you will most likely find a link to the Clone Army Builder's Guild (CABG - thecabg.net). I usually use the CABG as one of my sources for marketing feedback and ideas. Also the diversity allows for a wider spectrum of opinions.

I first met 'Clashy' on the CABG, I first heard of Hazel (Tam) on the CABG, BrickArms and BrickForge were first introduced to me there as well. I guess I would have learned about all this on Flickr but it was through the CABG that I learned about Flickr and started utilizing it for LEGO.

On the CABG you will find several aspiring decal artists and it is also endorsed by Clone Army Customs (CAC). Where I learned about how profitable customizing can be.

I think the main thing the CABG did for me was keep me searching the LEGO community long enough to catch the custom bug."

So tomorrow is a big day for Victor as many of his new creations will be going up on his BrickLink store. We'll discuss the new venture with Imagination Customs and the ups and downs of starting a customs business in our session tomorrow.

Inside the Customizer's Studio: eclipseGRAFX

Today kicks off our fourth interview session in the 'Inside the Customizer's Studio' series. Today we'll be talking with Victor Fernandez (AKA eclipseGRAFX). Since becoming involved with the minifig customization community Victor has always caught my eye, both as a unique and skilled customizer and as someone in the community that was making a serious go at building his own custom brand. I knew when I started this series, that Victor was someone I wanted to have the privilege to interview.

The interview itself was conducted via correspondence, around the time Victor was ramping up for relaunching his store with Imagination Customs. We'll be talking about this most recent venture later in the week, but today we kick off the interview discussing how Victor emerged from his 'Dark Age' and became involved with the customization community.

Did you have a 'dark age'? If so, how long did it last and when did it end? What was the inspiration for you to get back into LEGO?

"I don't know if my 'dark ages' can be technically that. I believe that in order to have a dark age you need to have had been into LEGO at some point in your life. I grew up in a low income family of six total siblings and a single mom working her butt off to make ends meet. The only place I played with LEGO was in school and I only have a recollection of doing so in the 3rd grade. Other then that I never really played with LEGO until last year.

In September 2009 my wife and I renewed our vows and made our way to Disney World with our son. The last day there we went to Downtown Disney and found this awesome (and not so little) shop full of kids and excitement - The LEGO store. Well my son wanted me to buy some stuff for him and as I walked back and fourth determining what the best items would be for him. We bought a few sets (City) and I helped him build them in the hotel room. But since that day I started looking online for more LEGO at good prices.

My son and I had a couple of Star Wars sets that we bought before this trip, but it was during this trip that my eyes were really opened to LEGO. Wanting to make stop-motion videos made me buy parts versus sets and broke me out of the collectors mode quickly. I started building newbish sets and MOCs and at the CABG I was helped by 'troopa D' to get better at MOC-ing.

I think I came back into LEGO because I liked the ability to create. I am a creative person by nature, a graphic designer who loves colors and to problem solve. LEGO just seemed to be perfect for me since it has both colors and plenty of problem solving." 

How did you get started with the minifig customization community? 

"I first discovered minifig customization on eBay. I remember seeing clones of different qualities and styles. I saw a lot of stuff I knew I could do better as a graphic designer, and other stuff that left me wondering "how do you do that". Having my 3 year old (at the time) on my lap as we browsed through the web he asked me, "can you do that?". As a father you never want to lose that super hero spot light, so I did what any computer savvy person would do - I Googled it. 

I then found myself on YouTube looking at not only custom clones but stop motion videos and then my son says, "WOOOOOW, daddy can we do that?" I thought it should be simple. I knew the basics of animation I just needed to learn more about how to do it with minifigs. As we kept doing our research I realized I knew very little about the Clone Wars and the characters. I started doing more research on that and found myself at the Clone Army Builder's Guild (thecabg.net). This forum was dedicated to Clone Wars and clone characters so I thought it would be the best place to learn about the different characters. Little did I know that this forum would open up my eyes to sooooo much. It is where I learned about Flickr, BrickLink and best of all water slide decals.

CABG member 'Chaotic Good01' posted a detailed 'How to apply water slide decal' tutorial on the forum that started my journey into customization. His attention to detail on decals matched my own which allowed me to quickly respect his talents even more. From there on out I just kept trying to see what the rest of the customization community was doing in order to learn from them."

Join us tomorrow when we continue the conversation and talk to Victor about his inspiration and involvement with the Clone Army Builder's Guild.

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Hazel Tam Collected

Now that our interview series with Hazel Tam, founder and chief designer of Amazing Armory Ltd., has concluded, I'm collecting both parts of the interview here for easy viewing. If you missed the interview the first time around, then it's a great way to get caught up.

These will reside on the interview page along with our interviews with JasBrick and Morgan19.

A big thanks to everyone involved, and I hope you enjoyed the series.

• Hazel Tam Interview - Part 1
• Hazel Tam Interview - Part 2

Inside The Customizers Studio: Hazel Tam, Part 2

Welcome back to our second day of interviews with Hazel Tam, founder and chief designer of Amazing Armory Ltd. Yesterday we discussed many of the elements behind Hazel's design philosophy and views on the custom minifig accessory market. Today we take a look at the past to clear up some confusion, while turning turning our eye to the future.

Is there a story behind the Amazing Armory name (where did it come from)? Also, what is the story with the (old) 'bullet-head' mascot?

"Amazing Armory is a name that reflects my dream. An armory that wins  through amazing products! The bullet-head came to me while I was doodling. It was easy to recognize, and that was the reason we used it in the past. It was fun, but I believe I need something more serious than that now. Amazing Armory Ltd. is a production house for different kind of products, a new logo is needed. Therefore, from now on, our new logo will replace the current logo."

I must admit that in the past it was unclear as to who was involved in the old Amazing Armory. How did the people involved with the original Amazing Armory come together?

"It takes time and experiences to search for the right people to join the team, and I have to say, sometimes I pick the wrong people. Amazing Armory start by me, the original concept was to attract people who are interested in making and designing products to join us.

I am a designer, and I work as a designer because I have a passion and a dream. Money is not what my main focus on. Some people joined us about a year ago, yet turned out to be thieves who tried to steal Amazing Armory from me. It is a shame that it didn’t work out the way I expected. But now we are Amazing Armory Ltd, I would say that this is a brand new start. With new members and a new direction, I believe we can reach a higher goal."

I understand that 'Amazing Armory Ltd.' will have a whole new series of brands underneath this banner. How can customers ensure they are getting products made and designed by your new company and not the old one?

"After the unfortunate events of Amazing Armory, I rethought the focus of Amazing Armory. To me, Amazing Armory is just the company name. Amazing Armory Ltd. is a production house with several brand names underneath, HAZEL-Fantasy belongs to this category. Nightmare System, Orrangnade, United Armory will join Amazing Armory Ltd. and continue to produce high quality products for our customers. As such, our LEGO customers shall remember HAZEL-Fantasy as the brand name for custom parts. That’s the easiest way to find the products that they are looking for. With our new website coming, customer can have a better understanding of what those brand name stand for."

Can you share with us a little bit about the new brands that will be coming out soon (Nightmare System, Hazel Fantasy, etc.)? How will they be different from each other? How will they work together?

"As I said, HAZEL-Fantasy will focus on custom parts. All of them are still designed by me, and we will have over 80 new items in 2011.

As for Nightmare System; we are trying to something new, and therefore we still need more research and insight on these new ideas. We will keep everyone updated once we have any news.

I must talk about my Japanese friend who taught me everything. He is going to join Amazing Armory Ltd. in the near future with brand new directions of products. His skill shall bring marvelous products to Amazing Armory Ltd."

You've worked with other customizers/designers like Orrange in the past. How many other designers will you be working with under the new brands?

"With new brands and new Amazing Armory Ltd, we are excited to announce that a group of very talented designer has joined our team. Our chief concept designers will be HAZEL Tam, Nakamure and John. We have 2 3D designers, 8 animators and 2 graphic designers. We will still use Flickr as our communication channel with our customers and these designers will soon join our discussion.

Also, we are opening a new co-operation project for those who are interest to join the toy design industry. Our plan is to help them create new products with smaller quantity and provide a suitable environment for them to grow their business. This is the job of Amazing Armory Ltd."

A lot of exciting things to look forward to, but you won't have to wait long. In a little over 24 hours, the Amazing Armory Ltd. website will go live. Product will be available soon after on the website or through United Armory (US/CAN) and FireStar Toys (UK/International). These three outlets are the only ones to carry these new and exciting products. If other authorized resellers come on board, we will be certain to let you know.

I want to extend a big 'thanks' to Hazel and John for taking the time to set up this interview. I'm really looking forward to all that Amazing Armory Ltd. has in store for us, as I'm certain the rest of the community is too.

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Hazel Tam, Part 1

I am pleased to announce our third interview in the Inside the Customizer's Studio series today. We will be talking with none other than Hazel Tam, founder and chief designer of the new Amazing Armory Ltd. I'm certain many of you have been aware of Hazel's work over the past few years with his former company. I have personally been in awe of his designs and was greatly honored by his willingness to participate in this session. I must also thank JasBrick who served as the initial conduit between Hazel, John, and I. A big thanks to Jas for helping to make this happen.

I hope to communicate what the past, present and future hold for Hazel and Amazing Armory Ltd. At the end of these sessions, I'm certain you will be excited about what Hazel and company plan on bringing not only to the LEGO minifigure customs community, but also the toy industry in general.

The interview itself happened via correspondence during the time that Hazel was ramping up for the AMA re-launch. We begin the conversation talking about Hazel's design philosophy and minifig customization.

In piecing together your bio I understand that you are originally from Hong Kong but worked in Japan. Were you working in the toy business prior to getting into minifig customization or was it just a hobby?

"I was born in Hong Kong, but I studied in Japan a many years ago. I used to work with a Japanese friend, and he taught me all the skills to customize parts for different uses. We used to use these skills to make plastic models. I was a fashion designer once, about 6 years ago. I started with customize parts around 2007, for hobby at first. Back then, it was just for show.

At the beginning, I didn’t really take it serious, as it was just a hobby. When I thought about turning this into business, I had a vision that I must create a new style so people will remember my products, not just as custom parts for LEGO, but as designer toys. And that was the start of Amazing Armory, and the main concepts of Amazing Armory Ltd. 

We are not only doing custom parts for LEGO, but also have 3D design, Graphic Design and fashion Design. Amazing Armory Ltd. will become a production house with many different products and designs!"

Your designs are very different from other custom houses (i.e. BrickArms, BrickForge, etc.), you even take great care in designing the packaging for your products. How would you describe your design philosophy?

"It’s all about design concept. My job as the chief designer of Amazing Armory Ltd forces me to think about how to produce the best product for our customers. I believe we have to focus more on how a custom part can transform into other toys you buy from a local toystore. We wish to create an image for our standard packing, so our customers could instantly recognize our products. That’s one of the reasons we focus not just on the custom part, but also the packing of our products."

I've read in other interviews that video games have been one source of inspiration for your designs. What are other areas that inspire some of your work?

" I have to admit that video games are one of the major sources of my inspiration. After all, we live in a world surrounded by different kind of media and it seems impossible to escape from them. Movies are another major source of my inspiration.

Yet what I try to do is not only about making them 'LEGO' style, after all that’s not people expecting from us, but to re-create the image inside my mind."

You've mentioned in other interviews designs you've had in the works based on Final Fantasy and Lord of The Rings. Are you looking to do more in the 'fantasy' vs. 'sci-fi' area?

"Final Fantasy custom parts have been a dream of mine for over 6 years, it is a must for me to finish it someday in the future. This is something I have to do, and it is part of the reason I call myself HAZEL-Fantasy.

About Lord of the Rings, I already have some ideas in my mind. Yet, Fantasy area is not HAZEL-Fantasy focus for now; it belongs to Nightmare System. HAZEL-Fantasy is currently too busy working on sci-fi area."

Who do you see as your real competition? Other custom houses? Other toy companies?

"In terms of LEGO, I would say that the real competition is LEGO, LEGO is the ultimate winner in this, and no one can beat it. In terms of Amazing Armory, I would say that HOT TOYS is the focus of our company."

What is your dream project? What are the obstacles that stand in the way of going after it?

"My dream project? It’s hard to say. I believe it is 12” figs. I’ve been a fan of HOT TOYS for a long time and I am really interested to try out what they’ve done. Time has been my obstacle for a long time; I have lots of ideas, but each of them takes a lot of time to perfect."

There are a lot of up and coming customizers who would like to follow in your footsteps and make a career out of minifig customization. What do you believe the biggest challenge is in becoming a professional minifig customizer?

"I believe it is not about following in my footsteps. After all I am not the first one to come up with this idea of working in the customization field; however, I am glad that people see me as a pioneer in this, and I am really excited about all the new customizers. Their stuff is great! You see, the difficulty in customization is hard to understand until you pick up tools and try it by yourself.

Many new minifig customizers appear on the internet these days and it is interesting to look at how people choose their topics. You know, LEGO has been a famous brand for all these years, and it is hard to keep yourself up with that. I’ve been trying to maintain the fresh and modern image of our products, and hopefully to reach something different than the LEGO direction!

I usually think about the question like will the customers still choose to buy our products if LEGO already has something similar? As a customizer, design concept is very important. I believe if a customizer doesn’t have a clear artistic style, then he or she is no different than a designer for LEGO. There is nothing that original about them in that case."

Join us, tomorrow when we finish our interview session by taking about Hazel's previous company and what the future looks like for Amazing Armory Ltd.

Will Chapman Interview by Family Bricks

Customizer Family Bricks has a really nice interview with Will Chapman, founder of BrickArms, about his work and upcoming product releases hosting right now on the Toys N Bricks forums.

It would seem that this will be a recurring feature at TNB named 'Customizer's Corner'. FB already has interviews slated with Armothe (BrickForge) and Badger (BrickArms). I look forward to them all.

(Via Toys N Bricks)

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19 Collected

Now that our interview series with Morgan19 has concluded, I'm collecting each part into a single source for easy viewing.

These will reside on the interview page along with my interview series with JasBrick.

Again, big thanks to Morgan for taking the time. I hope everyone enjoyed the series!

Morgan19 Interviews

• Part 1: Historical and Halloween Series
  
• Part 2: Graphic Design Influence
• Part 3: Community Involvement
  
• Part 4: Creative Parts Usage

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19, Part 4

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of our interview series with minifig customizer Morgan19. Today we will be debating the merits of 'green stuff' over 'sculpey'...what's that? You'd rather hear us talk about creative re-purposing of found objects and their applications in the area of minfig design?! Ookaaay, but we had some really good material on 'green stuff'...

You are very inclusive of the parts you use to customize minifigures (action figure parts, Mega Bloks accessories, etc.), and you often receive negative feedback for doing so. When did you start utilizing parts outside of LEGO in your designs? Why do you think reactions are so strong against their use?

"I don’t recall specifically, but the first non-LEGO parts I used were probably for something in the Halloween set. Although I love LEGO to death and it will always be my main building toy brand, sometimes a third-party part or a random piece not intended for building just fits the bill when LEGO’s parts palette can’t do so. Keeping my overall options open and not limiting my parts selection really helps my general creativity in that I often find myself thinking of alternative uses ('NPU!'), piece combinations, or final figures that just aren’t possible with standard LEGO.

That being said, I can honestly say I’ve never bought a full-price MegaBloks set. But finding one on sale for 90% off and challenging myself to use its pieces on a LEGO figure can be a fun creative exercise. I won’t limit working with a part just because of its name.

Sometimes the resentment towards using non-LEGO parts baffles me, but overall I think the general stigma towards them is just that: they’re non-LEGO parts and people are displaying brand loyalty to LEGO in the best way they know how. I don’t mind that opinion so long as someone isn’t rude enough to tell me I shouldn’t be using non-LEGO parts because they don’t like it. It’s my creativity – let me do what I want and they can do the same."

What is a trip to the toy store like with you? Do you often find yourself seeing everyday objects as potential fodder for minifig design?

"Absolutely, I’m constantly on the lookout for anything minifig-scale that can be worked into a figure: action figures in general have been a gold mine, but I’ve also found uses for a bizarre range of other items...Little bells from a craft store to random vending machine toy parts have all been sacrificed for a figure, though sometimes the best satisfaction can be found just using a regular LEGO part in a non-regular way, like the reflective ball from a LEGO pen .

Right now I’m brewing ideas for some figures using a Chapstick cap and those little garbage bag twisty ties..." 

Based on my calculations, you likely spent a fair number of your formative years in the 80's and early 90's (in my opinion, the heyday of the action figure). If Doc Brown were to pull up in the Delorian right now and take you back, what action figure line would you most want to mine for parts from that period of time?

"Now that you mention it, I have ridiculously fond memories of the Battle Beasts toys. Their weapons in particular are sized perfectly for LEGO hands and could really add a nice bit of variety to a minifig’s arsenal. (Hmm, I know I’ve got a stash of them around here somewhere...) Beyond that, I’d probably go for the same type of stuff I look out for these days — GI Joe and Star Wars figures are usually good sources. Like the Battle Beasts’ weapons, those figures’ accessories are often proportioned perfectly for adaptation to LEGO."

Before we wrap this up, I want to extend a big thanks to Morgan for taking the time not only agree to participate in these shenanigans, but also to promote the site on Flickr all week. I'm really enjoying the opportunity to talk to great guys like Jas and Morgan, and hopefully you've enjoyed the series so far. I'd like to finish my session with Morgan by asking a question that is quickly becoming a favorite of mine...

What would be your dream LEGO project? What stands in your way from making this happen today?

"In all honesty, it’s the simple things... I’m looking forward to eventually having space for my entire brick collection, room to sort pieces, and a clear area to consistently work without having to pack it up each night."

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19, Part 3

Welcome back, citizens of Minifig Nation. Another day, another installment of our interview with customizer Morgan19. We pick up today discussing Morgan's involvement and thoughts on the minifig custom community...

You've mentioned being active on the KAM forums, entering several of the contests hosted by Jared. There are other 'hang outs' for the customization community. Aside from the KAM forums and Flickr, what are other places you haunt? Is there anywhere else you are an active community member?

"Outside of Flickr, these days I tend to limit myself to lurking and reading over posting, but in terms of community communication I try stop by Brickset, FBTB, and the BrickForge forums whenever I get a chance— but Flickr is usually a much quicker, more direct way to see what customizers are whipping up."

Describe your best experience within the customization community? What has been your worst experience?

"This is going to sound super-cheesy… There’ve been two instances that really stuck in my mind as heart-warming. Last year, a mother sent me a message through Flickr saying how she’d found some of my Star Wars figures while looking for birthday ideas for her five-year-old, who was a huge Star Wars and LEGO fan. It was a short message, just explaning how much her son liked them and if I minded her printing them out to use as party decorations. A second message was from an elementary school teacher who emailed me to say how she found’d my Historical figures and was using them (quite successfully) as teaching tools in her classroom.

I sent messages back to both women, replying enthusiastically about how great it was that they and their kids were appreciating the figures. Both quickly sent messages back along the lines of 'Wow, I didn’t even think you’d respond, thank you!' It was just really cool hearing from random people outside the LEGO community and how much something I created made their day a little bit better. That was the proverbial warm and fuzzy all over.

On the flipside, I actually had a hard time thinking of a 'worst' experience, which speaks volumes about the community itself. If anything, I’d say what stinks the most is to see kids swiping other peoples’ work and posting it as their own. The LEGO Universe website, where users can post 'their' creations, is notorious for that sort of property pilfering. Although to be fair, they do act quickly to remove stolen images once notified, thanks in large part to the Brick~Busters! Flickr group.

Deadly like a manticore?!

(I must admit, though, that the descriptions the swipers dream up can be wonderfully idiotic, at times— someone reposted my steampunk walker Dardenbahst as their own and somehow got it in their head that it was 'deadly like a leopard'. A leopard? Really?)" [EDITORIAL: Leopard? No. I think of it more like a lion. A lion with wings. Isn't that a manticore?!]

Where do you see the LEGO minifig customization community going from here? What needs to change? What needs to be nurtured for it to grow stronger?

"The number one goal I’d like to see accomplished is for custom minifigures to be granted the same respect as brick-built MOCs in the LEGO community. Too often I see comments like 'well anyone can do that, it’s only a few parts!', and I honestly feel it unfairly shortchanges the entire creative process that goes into creating a figure. I can speak from experience in that putting a really good figure together from conception to completion can sometimes take a couple weeks and go through just as many revisions as a MOC– having it brushed aside because it’s 'just' a figure is ridiculous."

Tune in tomorrow for our last installment with Morgan where we will discuss...What's that? We didn't talk about his creative use of non-LEGO parts today?! We do have one more installment you know; however, I'm not telling you the subject. Rest assured, citizen, we won't be talking about manticores...or will we?

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19, Part 2

Welcome back to day two of my interview with Morgan19. A graphic designer by trade, I was curious if and how his work influenced his designs...

How do you feel your graphic design training has influenced your minifigure work? How has LEGO influenced your work as a graphic designer?

"Ask my mom and she’d attest that I’ve always been an artist in one form or another, doodling and drawing whenever and wherever I could. I would say my design background has definitely influenced the LEGO creations I make but not so much the other way around, unfortunately. As a graphic designer professionally since 1999 or so, integrating digital elements into my LEGO creations has been a no-brainer and really helps me 'complete' the creative thought of each. Pairing LEGO with graphic work is also just a really fun, creative way to unwind and let my mind wander at the end of the day while having a nice end product to show for it, too."

If the opportunity to work with/for TLG were to present itself, would you be interested? If you were given the 'keys to the castle' what would you like to try your hand at?

"Ahh, what a delicious subject... TLG has actually posted a few graphic designer positions over the past couple years that I’ve drooled over, but unfortunately they all seem to be in Billund and thus are far outside my geographical comfort zone.

If that were ever an option, I’d love to work on those DK-style 'visual dictionary' books, with big, clear images of LEGO to play with. Box art for sets would be a treat to do, too, although I imagine the revision process could be as heartbreaking to a passionate LEGO designer as it is with corporate graphic design. Regardless, I’d be thrilled if that sort of opportunity ever came my way!"

DK and TLG must of thought his work was worthy of their books. Several of his custom minifigures can be found on pages 92 and 93 of Standing Small, the minifig companion to The LEGO Book.

If you've ever seen Morgan's brick work you can easily see how the DK guides would be appealing. Case in point. Morgan designed a steampunk mech called Dardenbahst. The Dardenbahst was a contest entry, but instead of slipping a piece of poster board behind the model, snapping a pic, and calling it a day, he photoshopped it as a schematic with context and back story. I personally refer to this as 'complete design', where several elements are brought to bear on a piece to enhance the total narrative.

Were are half-way through our series and we haven't even asked Morgan about those pesky action figure parts yet. I guess you'll just have to keep tuning in and wait a little longer...

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19

A few weeks ago I was privileged to be able to conduct a series of interviews with customizer JasBrick. Fortune has favored me once again, as I've had the honor to connect with another of my favorite custom designers, Morgan19. Over the past couple of weeks we've corresponded on a number of topics related to LEGO minifigures and customization. Those talks have culminated in the series I share with you now.

I will be sharing segments of our discussions over the next week, similar to my last series. Today we start the conversation by talking to Morgan about some of his work on historical minifigures and his Halloween series. Enjoy!

Since emerging from your 'dark ages' and entering the online scene, much ofyour work has gained instant notoriety. Your set of historical figures is one of those. What is the story of how these came about and then expanded into the 90+ figures we see online?

"Although I’ve been playing (err, building?) with LEGO for just about my entire life, I believe my Historical figures were the first group of LEGO minifigs I’d posted online, originally to Brickshelf and then Flickr.

In 2006 I was living with my wife in an apartment that didn’t have much space for MOC-scale building, so most of my bricks were (and still are) stored over at my parents’ house. Despite that, I’d always keep my collection of figures around just to fiddle with when I had time, so I was particularly intrigued when I stumbled upon a minifig-centric contest Kaminoan (Jared, from The Fine Clonier) was hosting. The goal was to create interesting historical minifigs using nothing but 100% pure, unaltered LEGO pieces–easy enough, given that that was all I had available to me! So I thought “what the heck,” and started researching famous historical people.

For the next week or two I’d come home from work and either immediately startpicking through my minifig parts to see if anything inspired me, or go online and look for photographs that would translate well to an existing LEGO torso or face. I never intended to do 90+ entries for the contest; that was more a side effect of enjoying the entire process than anything.

One of the contest’s rules was that each entry needed to include a link to areference photo of the actual person. I, being quite economical, decided to utilize my 'graphicdesignedness' and integrate the photo into the figure’s image. But as I went along I realized just having a photo plopped next to the minifig didn’t look “finished” enough for my taste: the figure needed a photo, the photo needed a related background, the background needed colors to tie everything together, a title to identify it all, etc... And that’s how my chracteristic Photoshopping of LEGO figures began."

Your Halloween minifigures all seem to have a passage from a book, a stanza ofpoetry, or music lyrics accompany them. What often comes first, the figure or the literature/musical reference?

"Like the Historical figures, my set of constantly-expanding Halloween minifigs started because of another Fine Clonier contest in 2007. Beyond having the Photoshopped graphics for each, I had a simple gut feeling that I wanted to add some creepy flavor text to really push them into the next level of presentation– pairing the visual elements (figure, graphics) together with the mental elements (the feel of overall image paired with the mood of the text) to really emphasize each one’s atmosphere.

Because I’m very much a visual person, more often than not the idea of the figure (or the entire completed figure) comes first, followed by some late-night in-depth Googling to track down a poem or lyrics that pairs with it nicely. (The same is usually true for their graphics and names– more often than not I don’t have those decided until the figure is staring at me in Photoshop. As goofy as it sounds, the figure and I sort of discover each its identity as we go.) So although they tend to be rare, there are a few instances where the text inspires the figure. 'The Shattered Maid' is a good example... I had that Evanescence song stuck in my head for months before finally coming up with a figure I was happy enough to pair it with."

Your references are quite varied. What authors/poets/musicians do you findyourself returning to often when you look for design inspiration?

"I wish I could say I had a tremendous backlog of conscious literary inspiration to draw from, but the ideas usually just come straight from my imagination or, more likely, long frustrating hours of staring at my parts bin trying to figure out something fun to make with parts combinations. So I’d say there’s no dedicated “pool of talent” I turn to for inspiration, but putting a creepy movie on while I’m creating or listening to some moody atmospheric music can work wonders to get the creative juices flowing. Evanescence, Within Temptation, Blackmore’s Night, or even my Celtic/New Age station on Pandora are good for that sort of thing."

Please join us again tomorrow when I talk with Morgan about how his background as a graphic designer influences his work with the fig.