Tilteed

Can you tell us a little bit about Gnomeland Security and what gave you the idea to create this piece?

I had an idea of having gnome doormen/bouncers outside my front door which I still plan on doing but living on the 3rd floor at the moment means no one would see them. This idea just kind of stemmed from there and I went with a parody of the homeland logo rather than just drawing the literal idea.

What have you been up to since we saw your Tilteed contest winning design, Storm in a Teacup?

Well, the main change in my life has been getting married. It’s been a complicated process with both of us living in a foreign country and I had to translate all of my papers so that has taken up a lot of my spare time. Other than that I am slowly working on a new portfolio website and thinking of re-locating to your wonderful country with my new wife.

If you could collaborate with any artist from any time period on a t-shirt design, who would it be and why?

Interesting question. Instant thought is Jim Phillips. His skate art is legendary and it would be an honour to do something with him.  Maybe for just a complete contrast of styles I would go with Wassily Kadinsky just to see what kind of craziness would follow.

I have noticed that many of your new works, including your recent contest submission ( Love All, Trust a Few ), are inspired by Celtic art. How did that interest come about?

I am English, but I lived in a Celtic region for most of my childhood and there has always been Celtic art around me.  I recently got back into doing lino printing and Celtic art lends itself to that medium very well.  The influence has just crept into my design work bit by bit. I don’t like being tied to one “style” otherwise I get bored so it’s a nice new avenue for me to explore.

What are some bands and musicians who you have designed for, and are there any others who you would love the opportunity to work with?

Not as many as I would like.  I’ve done a fair bit of pop punk like Hey Monday, A Rocket to the Moon and All American Rejects.  I recently did a shirt for an awesome old school Punk band here in Spain called Soziedad Alkoholika and that was pretty cool as that’s the sort of music I listen to. I would seriously love to design for NOFX or any of the bands from the Cali punk scene from the 90’s and maybe mainstream wise someone like The Cure or something different and challenging.  To get the quality of clients like Wes Allen, Rob Dobi, etc. would be very nice.

Do you have any links that you would like to share with the readers?

My portfolio isn’t going to be ready for another couple of weeks but keep an eye out for a complete overhaul at http://designsbygaunty.com but until then if everyone could swing by http://makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org and support Mark’s great cause of wiping out bullying, that would be awesome.

Any final thoughts to share with the fans?

Strive to be original, that doesn’t necessarily mean doing something completely new but it does mean do things your way. There will always be influence in people’s art but the first thing people should see is you!