Dribbble + United Pixelworkers + Jon Contino

We teamed up with our friends at United Pixelworkers on a shirt designed by illustrator extraordinaire, Jon Contino (Dribbble profile). It’s available for pre-order now!

We love Jon’s vintage basketball (laces!) and custom type in his infamous, vintage, New York aesthetic. The fine folks at UP are soft-hand printing this one on a tri-blend black tee from American Apparel. You’ll want three or four of these for the summer.

Many thanks to United Pixelworks and Jon Contino for making this happen!

Time Out with Kendrick Kidd

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Kendrick for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

My name is Kendrick Kidd and I live/work in sunny Florida as a designer/illustrator. I 9 to 5 at Shepherd, an ad agency in Jacksonville, and spend the moments in between freelancing for myself, and Halftone Def Studios. I love exploring design, and regularly seek out new types of projects I’ve yet to try.

What are you working on?

My wife and I recently had our first child, so I’ve been working pretty hard at being a good dad, haha. Beyond that, I’ve been designing a few shirts for Spitfire Wheels, and a small summer apparel line for Modus Bearing Company. Kinda pumped to work on anything skate/surf related, so work’s been pretty fun lately.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

I’m pretty stoked on this little black & white boot I did recently. I love trying to convey detail in a single color, and thought this little guy had just the right amount. Restraint can be a real S.O.B. sometimes, but it’s also super rewarding when it works out.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

My tool setup varies depending on what I’m trying to achieve but the staples are: a mechanical pencil, scanner, the Adobe suite, coffee, beer and water. My work area is littered with sketches, work samples, posters & crumbs. My mother will probably cringe when she see this, as my work desk closely resembles my bedroom as a teenager. Sorry mom, not much has changed.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

This was pretty tough… I see a heap of rad shit on dribbble, daily. I could easily pick 50 favorites and have another 50 that were a close second. The quality of work around here is bananas. That said, I feel like the Monarch playing cards shot from Curtis Jinkins is pretty up-there, for me. Curtis’s work always has a sense of craft about it. Doesn’t really matter if it’s simple or complex, the care he puts into his pieces is ever-present. The Monarch cards in particular are a great example of this. There’s literally nothing he could add, or take away that would make the packaging any better. It’s about as perfect as a design gets.

Time Out with Allison Grayce

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Allison for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

Howdy team! My name is Allison Grayce, and I’m a web designer and teacher at Treehouse in Orlando, FL. My day to day usually consists of writing blog posts, writing my curriculum, designing or recording screencasts. Since we work a 4-day workweek, on my days off I’ll work on personal or freelance design projects to keep the skills I teach fresh (and because I just love to design!).

What are you working on?

I’m always working on new content for my curriculum and blog posts for Think Vitamin. This past week, the teachers and I worked closely with our oober-talented video team to write narratives and reward videos to coincide with our students’ learning experience at Treehouse. We called it “Movie Week.” All of our remote folks came in from out of town and pitched in by either acting, screenwriting or helping on set. It was rewarding to break out of the routine and have a hand in something completely outside of my comfort zone and the work I usually do. As far as design projects go, I’m working on a photography portfolio/blog and fashion blog.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

I’d say the Treehouse Badges is one of my favorite shots. It actually ended up as an ad for Treehouse, which was funny to see when it showed up on Dribbble via The Deck. Having to come up with unique and consistent iconography for all of our courses (especially JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, & iOS which are naturally not very visual) was/is challenging. But when I see them all together, I’m pretty proud of the way they turned out.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

I’d say 90% of my day is spent in Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator CS4. (Though I’ve been using Photoshop CS6 beta lately and love the improvements!) The other 10% is spent in TextMate, recording screencasts with iShowU, staying informed with Reeder, and sane with Spotify.

As far as hardware goes, I use my 15” MacbookPro with a 27” cinema display and it sits on top of my beloved Geek Desk. Other essentials are my iPhone 4, iPad 2, Dot Grid Book, Browser Pads and a squishy stress ball to play with while I think. :D

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

This is so hard to do, especially lately since the Dribbble community and talent has just skyrocketed. I think I’d have to go with Ryan Putnam’s Amberbranch Packaging. Besides the fact that it’s an ampersand, this is a perfect example of shots that inspire me beyond the web. I get lost in user interfaces, and stumbling across this kind of stuff encourages me to get crafty every once in awhile.

Time Out with Logan Faerber

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Logan for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

My name is Logan Faerber. I’m originally from Newport, RI, but am currently living in Boston, MA. Primarily I’m an illustrator, but having experience in graphic design, painting, typography and printmaking has allowed me to work on a variety of projects.

What are you working on?

Currently I’ve been working on several comics, one of which was recently picked up by 215 Ink called “Re-pro-duct”. It’ll be a 6 issue mini-series that will follow a robot protagonist in a world where people and robots live unanimously.

There’s also a couple of other comics that will be featured in two separate anthologies. One book is a collection of stories inspired by “metal” and the story I’m doing for that is titled, “Six-Barrel Shotgun”. The other story is in a collection inspired by the seven deadly sins. I was given the one titled, “Envy”.

Along with these comics, I’ve also been developing a company with my partner Steve Trevathan titled, “Dobot” that we will be working on together in order to create and develop for people and ideas we strongly agree with and would like to support.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

One of my favorite shots that I posted was “Hiking”. There was a huge response to this shot immediately after posting it, and it began as just a simple stock photo image amongst a series, but it took on a life of its own when I added to the depth and volume of all the objects within in. I love it because it was a piece I wasn’t expecting to love, or for anyone else to love for that matter, but it ended up accomplishing both.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

My setup is honestly pretty basic. I’ve got a desk next to my bed that has a variety of pens and pencils including Microns, Copics, Pentel drafting pencils (0.5 blue lead, 0.5 HB lead) and Prismacolor architectural pencil holders. I love all these devices because they can get very fine and varied lines, which is something very important to me when creating my style that needs to have a very fluid and natural feel.

I do almost all of my illustration work in Moleskine notebooks and on smooth Bristol paper. That way I can retain control of my lines. Most all of my final inking is done with 00, 1, 3 size round brushes and India Ink. On occasion I use acrylic paints as well, and for those I have always stuck to Golden brand, since their flow, color and blending have worked beautifully for each and every project.

Once all the on hand technical drawing is done, I transfer the image into Photoshop (primarily) or illustrator for coloring and additional touch-ups. For all computer related works I use a Wacom tablet.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

I’m going to cheat here a bit because it’s hard for me to choose a favorite shot from this person since to me they seem to be part of a large series. Matt Kaufenberg’s redesigned characters are one of my personal favorites. I love them because as an illustrator I’m always considering the various exaggerations and styles in which to depict character, and each one of these figures is right on and perfect for the feeling he’s going for; they are fun and lovable. This is especially true since I’m currently working on a children’s book of my own and these are always inspiring.

I’d also love to give a shout out to the runner up pick, Chris Sandlin. Another fantastic character designer!

Mo’ Pro, Yo!

Just over a year ago, we launched Dribbble Pro to make power features such as attachments, stats and projects available to designers. A bit later, we added the Hire Me button through which thousands of work inquiries have been sent to Dribbble members. Following that, we released Find Designers and subsequently made Pro accounts available to anyone, providing a search tool that any designer, fan or employer of designers, can use to find for members of interest by skill and location.

Seeing Pro features get enthusiastically adopted—there have been thousands of projects, attachments, work inquiries, and location searches—has been truly rewarding. It’s also been a great year for Dribbble as a business. A year ago, we spent a lot of time worrying about how to survive. Now with revenue from Pro accounts and Dribbble Jobs for Designers, we’re focused on how to thrive. We can’t thank you enough for your support in helping us make that leap.

But we can make Pro better. To kickoff the second year of Pro accounts, we’ve launched two new features. For Players, we’ve added attachment and project views to your Pro Stats. Views were made available on individual attachment and project pages not long ago, and now we’re excited to roll these into Pro Stats as well.

We’re also introducing what we think will be an extremely popular feature: Lists. All Pro members (Players, Prospects and Scouts) can now build public and private lists of Dribbble members. You can add members to a list from their profile as well as their player card. Lists not only allow you to organize members of interest into meaningful groups, they offer another powerful way to discover designers by browsing anyone’s public lists.

Our favorite aspect of lists: They also produce shot streams from list members, making it easy to follow subsets of designers. With them, you can quickly tap into the work of designers in a specific area of interest, or view a more targeted stream of shots on days when your Following stream feels overwhelming.

When signed in, you can access all of ‘Your Lists’ from the ‘You’ menu in the header. When viewing your Following page, you can also get to any individual list using the ‘Your Lists’ select menu on the right, which will appear after you’ve created a list.

We’re already using lists at Dribbble HQ and slightly giddy about them. We hope they are just as big a hit with Pro members. Thanks yet again for your paid support of this amazing community. We will keep working hard to make it worthwhile.

Time Out with Diane Faye Zerr

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Diane for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

My name is Diane Faye Zerr, of Faye & Co from Reading, Pennsylvania. I’m a graphic designer and illustrator, most known for my tattoo-style stationery and lettering. I work from my home studio in and live with my husband, Dustin and our son, Cody. I also have a cat who sleeps entirely too much, and a very squawky but small-sized parrot.

What are you working on?

I literally just finished up a rush order for nautical-style wedding invitations this morning. I’m also working on a local florist’s promotional materials, websites, and a ton of other projects!

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

My favorite shot out of my profile would have to be the hand-lettered tags shot that I did over the holidays. They were fun and I loved the reaction from the recipients.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

For my favorite shot, I used black card stock, black grommets, and black & white twine. For the lettering, I used my favorite white gel pen, a uni-ball Signo broad. It’s the best white pen out there!

Every day I use a sketchbook, Canson Marker Layout tablets (they are the best!), pencils, Faber-Castell artist pens, and a variety of pens and markers of all sorts. I also couldn’t work without a metal ruler, protractor, my circle template, and other handy-dandy tools. I depend on my Epson scanner, iMac, and Adobe software once it’s time to go digital, and an Epson Stylus Photo 1400 printer for production.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

As for my favorite shot, it has to be the Dr. Jones logo icon by Tymn Armstrong. Braces are kind of a scary thing and this just makes it look so dang friendly! I mean look at that little brace hugging that big ol’ tooth. It’s adorable!

New Equipment: Charge Tee

Our popular Charge Tee is back in stock over at the Equipment Shop. Simple black battery icon printed on a 90% cotton, heather grey tee from American Apparel. Wear it to the gym, coffee shop, pub—or wherever you recharge.

This is our first tee featuring our new custom woven hem tag, and we think it looks fantastic. Buy one or five for the forthcoming warm weather.

Time Out with Joey Ellis

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Joey for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

My name is Joey Ellis and my wife and I run our own illustration and design studio here in Charlotte, NC. I love doing character design and being the biggest nerd on the planet (I would be elected King of the Nerds if we would ever organize). I also have two boys and they aren’t allowed to play with my toys. You tell them to get their own.

What are you working on?

I’ve currently got a few mascot/identity projects going on as well as a hefty iOS project that I’ve been lucky to be a part of. I’m also a big fan of doing self-initiated projects so I’ve got several personal pieces going on (current estimates have my personal pieces being completed in March of 2063).

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

My “Band of Louies“ piece was a benchmark for me as far as landing on a style that I finally felt good about, that I could sell to clients, and that I would enjoy spending a career to improve upon.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

I do a lot of research and drawing on every project that I do. Homework beforehand is king.

I tend to keep several sketchbooks going at a time. Typically one sketchbook is dedicated to a single client/project as I have found that makes it easier to go back and find things. I draw in red and clean up in black. I like the way that looks, but more importantly, I don’t tend to take a “red drawing” very seriously, meaning I don’t fall in love with it and can keep changing things about it. It’s just the way my brain works, yo.

My tools are my red and black Polychromos pencils, Illustrator, Photoshop—all the usual suspects. My studio is in a room above the garage. It’s not cool or glamourous and is filled with crap. It’s kinda like an episode of Hoarders, but there aren’t any dead animals in here yet. I have my iMac and an old Wacom along with a few iPads for iOS stuff. I have tons of toys and half-filled coffee cups strewn about.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

Oh, my “likes” are filled with Matt Stevens, Jared Chapman, Matt Kaufenberg, Chris Sandlin, Melanie Matthews, Dave Mott, Ty Wilkins, Rob McClurkan, Todd Bright (just to name a few) but one of my all-time-favorite shots is Troy Cummings’ “Hike”. I love the shapes used in the characters. I love how the bear fits with the hiker. I love the depth of the forest. Love love love. Also love.

Time Out with Ryan Brinkerhoff

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Ryan for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

My name is Ryan Brinkerhoff. I am a designer/illustrator hailing from Columbus, Ohio. I am Art Director at Origo Branding Company, a marketing and communications agency located in downtown Columbus. On my free time, I make posters and various illustrations at Bandito Design Co., which I started in 2009 when I graduated from the Columbus College of Art & Design.

What are you working on?

Right now I am working on an illustration project for Yay Bikes! I am creating 12 “bike monsters” that each represent a monthly themed bike-ride organized by Yay Bikes! Buttons and posters are generated from the illustrations. The themes are pretty fun, ranging from music to back-to-school. See some of it here.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

A favorite shot of mine was a recent one: Don’t Tread on Me. I like it because it gives a snippet of the final poster, has the entire poster attached, and also has a link in the comments to an animated gif revealing the initial sketch. I really enjoy seeing the process of an illustration, so recently I’ve been trying to share as much of it as possible.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

I usually do a rough thumbnail sketch on paper or in illustrator with the pencil tool (really rough, in that case). Then I just work through the illustration in illustrator. My textures are all vector, either created by me or modified versions of this vector brush pack by Ryan Clark. Animated gifs are obsessively created in Photoshop. Photoshop is pretty much only used for image creating for web, and animated gifs.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

I really dig this Frog Prince shot by Graham Erwin. There are so many great little things going on in this shot; it tells so many awesome little stories. The texture is intense, but works really well for the piece. The combination of the first shot and the rebounds of the final printed poster is when it gets really good. Again, I really enjoy seeing projects go from beginning to end!

Time Out with Tim Boelaars

Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Tim for being today’s interviewee.

Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.

My name is Tim Boelaars and I live and work in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Iʼm a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. Apart from that, I co-founded Frame Inc., a small branding studio here in Amsterdam.

What are you working on?

Iʼm working on several things, some of which I canʼt tell too much about. It seems Iʼll be doing some more branding work and art-direction for several cool products this coming summer.

Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.

Even though it was rejected, I quite enjoy this logo I did a while back.

Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)

I work on a 27” iMac since last summer and love it. Since Iʼm usually only working when Iʼm in the studio, itʼs really nice to have such great hardware. Itʼs lightning fast, because it has a SSD and fast memory etc. I donʼt know much about it, but Iʼm really happy with its performance. I use a Wacom Intuos 4 as mouse and a Moleskine or some other notebook to write or sketch down some ideas. Most of the stuff I make is done in Illustrator and Photoshop.

Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.

Really tough question, because there is so much good stuff on Dribbble. One shot that struck me in particular was this beautiful illustration by Matt Stevens.