Tim Tsui in front of Bling canvas

Interview by Angel Greenham:
Tim Tsui is one of the top players in the designer toy industry (a term used to describe toys and other collectibles that are produced in limited editions), his figures decked out in cool street wear and influenced by Hip-Hop, are extremely popular with collectors all around the world.

Tim has worked with huge clients like Coca Cola, Adidas, Nike and Royal Elastics and is a prominent attraction at all the leading toy fairs. Read on to find out how his experimental attitude has led to his success and what helps him boost his energy.

Bling by Tim Tsui

You’re always traveling around the world to different exhibitions and trade shows, tell me how do you cope with the fast paced lifestyle of being a high profile artist?

I really enjoy meeting my fans during events, Like SDCC (San Diego Comic Con), TTF (Taipei Toy Festival), and at some of my own exhibitions. Every time I go to these events, I have fun and take time to relax. I enjoy going swimming and when the sun is shining, I chill out at the pool side. Its great having drinks with my artist friends and meeting all my fans, all these things allow me to re-charge my energy and bring me great joy and happiness.

After having a few days holiday I get back to my base, then I start again creating my characters and sorting out some paper work. So, friends and fans are my energy, please don’t be shy when you see me at an event, just come and try to talk with me, I would really enjoy it so much.

Photo of Tim Tsui and Alice Chan by Ramond Kan

What other big toy fairs or events have you shown your work?

I had been invited to show my work at events around the world like, in the USA, France, UK, Japan and Taiwan for several years, and I’ve had a touring exhibition in LA, London and Paris. Apart from that, I’ve participated in live paintings at famous dept stores and Galleries like Lafayette in Paris.

Now I know you have a huge fan base yourself, but who are your hero’s?

No, I don’t have anyone special, I liked to explore things by myself, just like what the Salvador Dali said.” An artist is not one who is inspired, but one who can inspire others”

Da Minci GID by Tim Tsui photo by Lin Ping Kuang/Amon

Tell me when you first set out on this creative path, did you have a strategy of how you were going to achieve success?

I don’t think becoming an artist is an easy path, I think mostly artists have a very hard life or have worked hard before they gain success, many people see others being successful and think its easy but they never hear how hard it is behind the scenes.

For me, I learned all the stuff myself by reading books or by experimenting, since I think you can only learn the best things by exploring them yourself, rather then just asking people how to make it or how to do it. I was lucky that, finally I did succeed, but I did spend a lot of time testing different things instead of enjoying myself, like going to the movies or to a concert or hanging out with friends.

I didn’t set any goals for myself, I just worked on the things which I liked to create or on expressing myself through my thoughts. I enjoy creating things which are surreal with a mix of lifestyle thrown in, that’s why I created an ape wearing hip hop clothes, which make him look almost human. I like to make things crazy but meaningful, that’s why I came up with the series Da Fighter, to tell people fight for your dreams, with respect and love.

Da Fighter by Tim Tsui

How do you think people view designer toys?

I hope people look at other artist’s characters and study the background of the figure instead of just looking at the price. Sometimes I see people get annoyed with artist’s work and they don’t seem to get their point of view, they don’t know the story behind it or understand the meaning the artist intended. I hope Art Toys can be respected and appreciated as a piece of art.

Click here for Part 2 Of This Interview where Tim describes what he was like as a child and how he did at school. He also shares his advice for problem solving and how he handles negative criticism. Plus don’t miss hearing about guns, giant wrestlers, and working with multi billion dollar brands.

Check out Part 2 Now…

Have you been laughed at by people who say you’ll never make money from your creativity? So has David Horvath, artist, toy designer and would-be UFO hunter, but he didn’t let that stop him.

Read his fascinating story, exclusively in SUBvert Magazine and learn how he went from sleeping on the floor of an illegally erected bedroom to international success as co-creator of the Uglydolls and other cool characters.

(For FULL SCREEN viewing, click the button in the top right hand corner below)
SUBvert David Horvath Edition SUBscribers only

Photo of David by Corey Burton

Sket One is an artist with an old school graffiti background, he is also a successful urban vinyl designer and frequently exhibits his work all over the world, the man has it all!

Angel: When did your interest in art begin? what influenced you at that time?

Sket One: I, like all kids drew from an early age. I just stuck with it through junior high and high school through Band graphics and skateboarding and once hip hop was around in 82 I had graffiti to help me even more. Good down time, me time, think, chill, relax. And draw.

A: Did you study at a creative subject at college, if so tell me about it?

SO: Yeah School FUN! Did it up in Massachusetts for around 3 years Art was Art at that time. Did a lot of graffiti, Boston at that time was very active a lot of writers.

A: When was the first time you got paid for a piece of your work and tell me what the work was and how much you sold it for? and how did it make you feel?

SO: umm lets see probably was in 1991, I used to do body prints and build them up with spackle so it was in that style. I cant remember what I got for it but I was happy with the price. I felt Great of course!

A: What things inspire your work?

SO: Depends on what kind of work I guess, of course life situations count, but I also like to make people think n laugh. I touch on a lot of pop culture and branding images from current and past years.

A: How can you tell when a piece of work is finished?

SO: I have an image of the finish look and once that’s established I am done!

A: How do you define a successful piece of work?

SO: I don’t define that.

A: You have produced some amazing urban vinyl pieces, how did you get involved in these projects and how established were you at the time?

SO: I met with Tristan Eaton at a Graff show. I was introduced to him by Mark Bodé. He was showing Mark the first prototype of the 10” Cheech Wizard Figure (Kidrobots First Figure). He dropped the first Dunny template on me that night and I designed some concepts for Dunny Series 1. I was doing a lot of Graff and was very involved in producing the Bodé Jam in CT every year.

A: What advice would you give to someone who wanted to get their work made into urban vinyl?

SO: Well Research, get involved with the community that’s who you want supporting your toy, get involved, show pictures of your work, design templates, promote through random design and also pitch companies your ideas.

A: What is the secret of your success?

SO: Don’t tell anyone but it’s peanut butter!

A: Give us three tips on how to achieve global recognition?

SO: Still working on these also, my guess would be. Patience. Perseverance. Learn From the Past.

A: What is the reality of being a designer, talk us through your day?

SO: Rather Mundane, Wake up, Shower, Check email, Ride to work, Do Meetings and designs for various clients at my day job, with lunch at the desk, come home check emails and work till late on my own projects. Work, Work and Some more Work

A: What percentage is hard work and how much is luck and talent?

SO: Whatever they are they are, it would make a dope drink!

For more information about Sket One
www.sket-one.com
www.myspace.com/sket_one

Jeremy is an artist and designer based in Sydney, Australia. He has his own clothing label Jeremy, a commercial design company called DESIGN Lab and Jeremyville, a concept store selling work by all the cutting edge designers.

I discovered Jeremyville when I was researching urban vinyl for my dissertation. I came across his book “Vinyl Will Kill”. The book is a urban vinyl bible, with loads of cool interviews and pictures of toys you’ll want to take home with you. Jeremyville’s artwork is colorful and funky and his characters are wonderfully weird.

SUBvert magazine wanted to get the lowdown on this crazy phenomenon which is still fairly undiscovered by the masses.

Do you think urban vinyl will ever be accepted in the art world as sculpture?
I think the ‘art world’ is a very small and self referential industry based on the manufactured stock value of a particular artist, and I feel designer toys exist outside of that, more akin with movements such as graffiti, sneakers, music, fashion, graphic design, hip hop, and pop culture.

I think stores like Colette in Paris, Alife in New York, and the Vacant stores are more exciting, adventurous and ground breaking than any art gallery could ever be these days. And you will find toys in such stores.

What do you think art is in the modern world, what does it mean today ?
I think the notion of what art is has really broadened, and is a lot more conceptual and encompassing, and crosses over between disciplines. so you have artists such as;

Geoff McFetridge, Mike Mills, Maya Hayuk, Deanne Cheuk, Groovisions, Takashi Murakami, Jeff Soto, Ryan McGinniss, and a host of others who are pushing the notion of what constitutes art.

The traditional gallery scene is really struggling to catch up and certainly does not hold much excitement for me. It has been a long, long time since I saw an exciting fine art show, but I am regularly excited by modern artists like those mentioned above.

What type of person do you aim your figures at?
Someone who values the new, the challenging, the different. Someone who respects all forms of creativity from the humble DIY sketchbook to a 200 foot mural, to the art on a CD cover. Or a cool new shoe design. Or a painted canvas. Some days I just want things to change completely, to smash it all up…today I’m sick of the old 20th century notions of art, commerce, design, traditional values, and notions of what is ‘acceptable’. Tomorrow I might think differently, but today I’m frustrated by old values and narrow minded thinking. I think toys are a part of the revolution.

What or who inspires you?
Free thinkers, open mindedness, people who break down old notions, change perceptions, push boundaries. More and more I’m feeling liberated, more able to be exactly who I should be. I also inspire myself most days, which is a convenient thing!

Who is your favorite character?
KAWS Accomplice Pink Bunny, Crusty the Clown from the Simpsons, King Ken by James Jarvis, KAWS Companion, the Smurfs, Snowy the dog from Tin Tin, Camguin by Fowler

In what countries is your work most popular?
in Jeremyville, and on the internet. I think the notion of countries is very old fashioned. I don’t think like that, I think of people first, connections with people, then email and websites. those are my points of reference.

I also sell to many people all around the world, like Colette in Paris just ordered from me, I’m having a show in Montreal next year, and I’ve sent off art to be featured in 18 books this year from Barcelona to Tokyo to New York, so it’s about the people, the projects,the mind set not the latitude on the globe they happen to be from.

The Internet is the catalyst for that revolution. 95% of my projects would not be possible were it not for the Internet. I see artists’ websites as mini suburbs of one giant, creative global township.

Whilst writing “Vinyl Will Kill” did you discover anything surprising?
Megan and I realized how long books take to produce! How helpful and supportive designers can be. How strong the global toy community scene is. That emailing your last files to the publisher at 3am on a Saturday night can be a very exhausting process.

What did you gain personally from writing the book?
A really cool network of friends and contacts in various fields all over the place; some great design commissions that came from people seeing the book, such as a big series of animations for MTV Americas; an ongoing column of around 6 pages per issue that I write for IdN magazine on designer toys; the book being in Wallpaper’s book of the month feature, and a 2nd reprint of the book in the US in about 2 months.

How do you think designer toys will evolve?
I think the customisable platform can be extended into more imaginative shapes, and a lot more crossover with products such as apparel, games, publishing etc., that fit in with the general toy concept.

More innovative designs. I think as long as designers push themselves and keep the customer excited and challenged, then the audience for toys will grow.

The toy flame needs to stay alight! Plastic does burn very well, after all.

Check out more of Jeremyvilles cool creations;
• www.Jeremyville.com
• www.designlabco.com

A Successful illustrator, artist and toy designer, based in Melbourne. Nathan’s beautifully strange characters such as Scarygirl, are brought to life by his collaboration with Hong Kong based toy company Flying Cat.

I was introduced to Nathan Jerevisius, “Scarygirl” by my boyfriend Paul, he thought it was the sort of thing I would be into and he was definately right. I love the way Nathan creates these vibrant characters with their slighty sinister darker side but still maintaining charm and humour all at the same time. I managed to track Nathan down and get his thoughts on Urban Vinyl.

How do you view Urban Vinyl?
I see limited edition vinyl figures sitting in the same category as artists prints (affordable reproductions by an artist/designer).

Describe the process?
Generally it’s about the run size and the types of designs made. Normal toy manufacturing is about mass audiences, movie and TV licenses and is not limited to a special run size. Also a distinguishing feature is that most of the toys created in the Urban vinyl world are by known or semi-known artists and that’s part of the appeal of the final product.

What is your opinion on art today?
Art today is very unregulated. If it can be displayed in a gallery most people view that as ‘art’. I think art is anything created that is trying to express an emotion or message (that’s my interpretation anyway). Art then is relevant to the majority of people.

What type of person do you think is interested in Urban Vinyl?
Urban vinyl is different in every country. I suppose in general people who like Urban Vinyl have a collectors mentality.

How would you describe your work?
Story telling art

How do you think the designer toy scene will evolve?
I think there will be a large turnover of artists who will move in and out of the vinyl world and some artists work will merge into the more mainstream audience.

What other projects are you working on? and what future projects do you have planned?
a few things coming up including: A solo exhibition at gallery Neurotitan in Berlin. October 10th. Also doing a lecture at Pictoplasma in Berlin at the same time.

Check out more of Nathan’s work;
• www.scarygirl.com
• www.nathanj.com.au

Gary Baseman illustrator, fine art painter, toy designer and creator of the award winning animated series and Disney film “Teachers Pet”

Every time I opened an art magazine I saw these beautiful Gary Baseman paintings which reminded me of the classic early cartoons in style. But they were more crazy looking in vivid colors. They were totally unconventional with themes which shocked and made me laugh at the same time. This was an artist with something interesting to say and I couldn’t wait to ask him about Urban Vinyl.

200 Tobys

Do you think Urban Vinyl will ever be accepted in the art world as sculpture?

I do believe the “established” art world will accept Urban Vinyl as sculpture. Some have already been accepted. But like any new medium, it is just the vessel for art expression.

I was first introduced to Kaws’s Companion when I walked by the window of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in NY in Soho. I am starting to have many conversations on possibility putting together a Vinyl show in some Contemporary Art museums around the world.

I don’t make a determination if something is art by the media that they are created. I judge things between what I find as good and bad art. Some vinyl is great. Some suck shit.

How do you think it differs from normal toy manufacturing?
Much of “normal” toy manufacturing is based on a licenesed property and are developed and designed for mass sales. People who are buying Urban Vinyl or Designer Toys are buying them based on the “artist” and not the property. The artists designing the vinyl are designing small sculptures that compliment their artist themes and point of view.

ReTardy

What do you think art is in our society today, what does it mean? how has it changed?
I have always felt good art should capture the zeitgeist of our times. Of course, art has to change. Society keeps changing. Our choice of media is exploding. Our heads are exploding. From too much opportunity of information to so many porn sites, all our heads are exploding.

Dunces

The way we react to others have changed. Now we don’t ever digest information. We react immediately. Everyone and their dog has a cell phone. A computer. A blackberry. We have access to everyone at every second. We don’t have time to think things through. We vomit our emotions immediately. We are also bombarded by all media all the time. Not just TV and a million channels of cable and a zillion web pages. Twenty katrillion songs on our ipods. We have so many choices for better and worse.

The artists that will be king are those that have strong iconic images who can blow away the clutter. That is why so many great painters have been coming from commercial art. We practiced being master visual message makers. But now we use our skill to tell our own stories and create a body of work from our own themes.

I cut my teeth working for the New York Times and Time magazine when they needed sketchs and sometimes finished art in one day. One learned to work fast and direct. We had to become visual marksman.

Hugging Tobys 4ft

Who do you aim your figures at?

I aim my figures at the same audience as my paintings. Myself. But not in a selfish masturbatory way. More of an insightful way to create work that is appropriate and challenging that speaks in my voice about the times we live in.

What or who inspires you?

Desire. Mortality. Control.

Name your favorite Urban Vinyl character?

Kaw’s Companion (the original)

What other 3D designers do you admire?

Tim Biskup. Friends with You. Pete Fowler.

Hotchachacha White

How would you describe your artwork?

Where the line between genius and stupidity has been smudged beyond recognition.

What countries is your work most popular?

Heaven and Hell. The great state of New Jersey. My hometown of Hollywood, CA. I am also as big as David Hasselhoff in Germany. I can’t walk down the streets in Taiwan without someone trying to rip off my clothes. But Iran seems a little sour about my work.

Magis4

Check out more of Gary’s work;
www.Garybaseman.com