Summer time is almost upon us, and that means the return of one of our favorite summer activities: camping!
It’s hard to pick just one best thing about camping; The fresh air. Being one with nature. The sweet, sweet revenge you feel when you finally slap that mosquito that’s been pestering you. But whether you’re gathered around a bonfire in the great outdoors or in front of a candle in the great indoors, there’s nothing like campfire stories. Just take it from the winner of our camping challenge, Timothy Premack (a.k.a MackStudios).
We talked to Timothy about his winning design, his dream camping trip, and the inspiration behind his Artist Shop designs. Check out his answers below!
Got an awesome camping story? Tell us in the comments! We’re technically around a bonfire design, that counts.
First Threadless win and first Threadless print! Excited?
Super excited! To be honest, I started getting discouraged, thinking I would never win. Now I have a fresh boost of confidence.
Congratulations! So tell us a little bit about yourself!
I’m originally from Moscow, Russia. Have been living in Los Angeles for 22 years now. I have a beautiful girlfriend Cecilia and we are expecting a baby boy in two months.
What attracted you to this challenge?
I’m an avid fisherman. I also go camping often and I love the outdoors. It was meant to be.
What stories do you like to tell around a campfire?
When I bring my nephews along to go camping, I usually look up a few scary stories to share with them. The last one that scared them really good was called “The Smiling Man”
When I go camping with my fishing buddies, the stories are usually about who caught what fish and where.
Many of your designs have an outdoorsy element to them – is nature a big influence of yours?
Absolutely. As a graphic designer who spends a lot of his time in front of computer, I almost have an uncontrollable urge to hit the outdoors on the weekends.
Come to think of it, you have a few different themes going in your art – nature, politics, Eastern-inspired – what inspires you?
A lot of things. I’m a passionate person. One day it could be politics, next day tattoos and the next it’s outdoors. I’m all over the place I suppose. I recently ran across a new word that perfectly describes me as an artist and a person: Eclectic!
If you could go on a crazy camping trip, where would you go?
I don’t want to give up all my secret spots lol, but I love the Sierras, Northern California, Mammoth, Yosemite; Maybe I will get a chance to camp in Alaska one day!
Favorite summer activity?
Scuba diving and snorkeling, my favorite!
What was your process when coming up with this design?
I first looked at what art have been already submitted. I noticed there weren’t that many quotes, just graphics. So I sat for 15 minutes thinking of a line.
When the line “Best stories are told around a campfire” came to me, I was shocked. It was such a good line, so I decided to Google it to make sure no one had done it already. They hadn’t, so I did a rough sketch of the layout. I knew I had to break the text down and throw a fire in the middle. The rest is history.
P.S. I originally forgot to add the A in front of ‘campfire,’ then on April 2nd 2016 while I was in the process of adding the A and resubmitting the JPEG to Threadless, jennarosenthaldesign left a comment that it should be ‘campfires.’ I thought then that campfires read better, so a shout out to jennarosenthaldesign and the entire Threadless community!
