Sometimes in life, you just need someone to believe in you. Especially if you’re a penguin trying to do the unjustly 
impossible – fly. Such a tease to be one of those little guys, equipped with flying essentials but lacking necessary function. Sigh. Thankfully, they make for great inspiration, as artist Steven Toang found for his design “I Believe I Can Fly”, winner of the Aviation challenge! Check out the interview with Steven below, and snag his new design here!
Congrats on your winning design “I Believe I Can Fly” for our Aviation challenge! How does it feel to be the winner?
I feel great and happy, as this is the second time I’ve been a challenge grand prize winner! Thanks so much to all the Threadless member and staff.
Do you have any personal interest in aviation, or did you simply find this challenge an interesting one to enter?
This challenge was quite interesting because there are so many ideas to think about. I wanted to do something extra creative and special, which made this challenge even more challenging. When I was still a kid, I definitely wished to be a pilot!
If you yourself were granted the ability to fly, what’s the first thing you’d do?
Are you telling me I can fly? First, I would see how high I could reach and how fast I could go. Then, I’ll try to do superhero stuff, like saving others. It would be very cool to be a superhero!
When considering ideas for your design, where did you look for inspiration?
I looked for something that actually can’t fly, to really make the design different and creative.
How did you ultimately come up with the concept behind “I Believe I Can Fly”?
My idea came from a scene in the movie ‘Penguins of Madagascar’, where they fall from the sky and can’t fly.
Would you mind taking us through the process of creating your design? Feel free to share any WIPs, if possible!
I wish I could share some, but I didn’t keep any of my sketches!
If penguins could truly fly, how do you think they’d use it to their advantage?
I think they would fly to the hot, summer beaches and have ice cold beers together! Haha, just kidding!
What’s the craziest or most unique form of flight you’ve ever taken?
I never try to do anything crazy – I am afraid to fly!
If you were to fast forward to 2035, what do you imagine will be the most unexpected flying invention?
Anti-gravity suits. That would be very awesome to have in the future!
Any other shout-outs?
Thanks so much, Threadless! More designs are coming! Yeah!
