What’s an artistic medium that you haven’t worked much in that you want to?
I’d like to design a room for a boutique hotel because I’m really interested in installations and immersive art experiences.
I thought about experimenting on some rooms in my house, but then I’d have to live with it every day. With a hotel room, you’d come for a temporary experience. You can be a little weird and out there, because people are only staying for a night or two.
What are you listening to right now?
I’m really into Madame Gandhi right now. She has an upbeat style, she’s politically woke, and she talks about serious issues. So, I’ve been jamming to that.
Which RAYGUN shirt are you proudest of so far?
The Mt. Nasty shirt was pretty amazing. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people who copied it. And Whoopi Goldberg wore one, but it was one of the knock-offs!
People who stole the design just image-traced the artwork, so they looked pretty much the same, but it’s truly devastating as an artist to spend so much time on a design and then watch other people make money off of it.
Most of our shirts are just text-based, so the actual design process is quite fast. But whenever we have something that’s illustrative (like Mt. Nasty) and takes hours of drawing, it’s pretty sad to see people wearing it without any credit to the original artist.
Our stuff pops up on all kinds of websites, and keeping up with the imitators is hard. The Internet gives so many people the opportunity to become entrepreneurs. At the same time, it makes it very easy for people to steal other artist’s work.
Still, it’s amazing that it was so popular. Imitation is a form of flattery, right? I just try to think about that to calm my nerves.
The biggest cliché when presidential candidates roll through the Iowa State Fair.
They try so hard to “connect” with Iowans by pretending they relate to the farming and Ag stuff. In reality, very few Iowans even relate to those things.
It’s kind of ridiculous the way they feed totally inaccurate stereotypes about midwesterners while thinking they’ll win votes by eating corn dogs in our presence.
What’s your superpower at work?
I feel I’m pretty good at communicating with people (which is important as a manager) and relating to them on a level that isn’t strictly business. I try to be open and understanding, and not immediately shut down when people get passionate (or emotional).
Other than that I think I have kind of an unfiltered brainstorming mechanism which won’t ever be shared in public, because it shouldn’t be. But sometimes when you have that uninhibited creativity, great things can come out of it.
What’s the design process like at RAYGUN?
As the Creative Director, people always ask me, “So, you make all of these shirts?” And I always say no, we all work together on designs.
We use Slack, which keeps everybody in touch. We can all see what each other is doing, and quickly brainstorm design ideas.
Even if I make the final artwork, I never feel like it’s just my design, because we all worked together on it in one way or another. Everybody here is creative, so we open it up for everybody to contribute, designers or not. It’s truly collaborative, which is awesome.
Which individual’s creative work do you really admire?
Today I was looking at the art of Jean Jullien. He does really simple drawings and artwork, but they make big statements and I like the simplicity.
The more you can pare down your design and your message, the more effective that it’s gonna be. People receive so much information all the time. The more direct you are, the more effective you are, I think.
What’s a news source that you follow?
Reuters. Go straight to the source. Some of the more liberal-leaning news sources annoy me sometimes, even though I’m like a radical liberal.
If you want just the story, the facts, that’s where you have to go. People should be able to consume the news without a bias. We don’t need to be told how to feel about something, and we shouldn’t necessarily know how the journalist feels about it unless it’s an opinion article.
I studied journalism, and I have so much sympathy for journalists right now. I mean, I didn’t stay in journalism because I knew that I could not be objective in the face of some current events. Not exercising righteous rage can be very hard to do.
Do you have any upcoming art installations or murals?
I currently have an installation at Olson Larsen Galleries in West Des Moines. They have a little pop-up space in an old gas station. The work includes paintings, sculptures, and sound … so when you enter the space, it’s immersive.
In addition to my work here, I teach part-time, I run a business, I do freelance graphic design work for the Democratic Socialists of America and several Democratic candidates. Plus I’m a single dog mom.
What gives you hope in politics?
The intersectional feminist movement. The Me Too Movement is huge, and the fact that so many women are running for office for the first time is amazing because it shows that there is a shift happening.
To me, this movement says women aren’t gonna just sit back anymore and let a bunch of men continue to create laws that affect only our lives. And that we’re going to speak directly out about the issues that oppress women.
There are a lot of men who have been in power for a long time and they feel very comfortable in their seats. They don’t knock doors, and they don’t put in that extra effort because they feel like they’ve got the power and they’re keeping it. Those are the ones that we’re gonna sneak up on!
