Tina Vey had been working for her husband, cartoonist P.C. Vey for about 10 years cleaning up his images in Photoshop, but hadn’t done anything creative for herself for a while and was feeling restless. She discovered Spoonflower almost two years ago, and got excited. Choosing the name Ottomanbrim to deflect the confusion with Tina Fey, she started entering contests regularly “and before long I had a shop filled with designs. I love the freedom to design what I love and not worry about current trends. Hopefully I can start a trend!”

 

 

Simple, abstract shapes with loose textures  are layered together in subdued bright colours to produce work that is reminiscent of African wax prints, of linocuts and of mid-century modern. And she always includes dots and circles in each design; “I love them. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to do a design without them.”

Tina draws straight into Illustrator with a mouse {“I still can’t seem to get used to the tablet”}, or starts with a pen and ink drawing, scans it, and uses the image trace in Illustrator. “I also scan anything I can find to create unique textures.” Rough shapes are tiled in Photoshop to see how it works as a repeat. Then, the design is worked and reworked, “usually hundreds of times until it feels right. I’m always trying to achieve the look of an overall pattern where nothing really stands out and all the elements work as one. Once I like the way it looks in repeat I go back to Illustrator to fine tune the elements and make sure the repeat is perfect. I’m always playing with the boundaries of how many details or elements I can add to a piece and still keep it simple. It sounds silly but I work tirelessly to make everything look fresh and effortless.” {And no Tina, it does’t sound silly at all. Good work takes time. – JG}

 

 

 

It’s taken a long journey with a few detours to get to this point. Tina originally worked as a market research analyst doing statistical analysis, which she suggests might explain her love of symmetry. “I also worked as a fit model, sweater designer, menswear designer and illustrator. My illustrations were originally cut paper and I had many clients including The New York Times. I would paint huge pieces of paper with brilliant gouache then cut and spray glue the pieces together. It was so toxic. Then I discovered Illustrator and Photoshop. These days I do everything in Illustrator and Photoshop but often cut shapes out of paper to get that unexpected spontaneous shape.”

 

 

Her best advice comes from the heart of “Never give up.”

“Many years ago I was interviewed for a market research job and was told to call back in a week to see if there was an opening. Week after week I called back and they said there was nothing yet but to keep calling back. Frustrated I asked a friend of mine what to do. He said never push them to make a decision and put them in a situation where they can say no. Keep calling back because once they say no you no longer have a chance at the job. Needless to say I kept calling back and sure enough I eventually did get the job.”

 

 

 

You can find more of Tina’s designs in her Spoonflower shop, ottomanbrim, and also on Society6, and Kekacase.