Interview with Dan Radcliffe from Arcana Design

What did you had for breakfast this morning?

I actually had leftover Chinese food, which is coincidentally also what I had for Thanksgiving haha.

What do you do as a hobbie besides creating art?

I love music and playing guitar, it is great for taking a break from things and just letting out some music.

Right now you are in San Francisco, do you have any plans for a near future?

Well I am working here and also going to grad school for 3D modeling so hopefully I can get the degree and then the dream job...

At what age did you get interested in Graphic Design and how did it evolve from then?

It wasn't until college that I started using the computer in my art, but after that I think I really found a style of my own through t-shirt design. It just allows for a lot of freedom in creativity, not to mention you get to see other people wearing your art.

What do you recommend to those young people who are interested in art design and don’t really know how or where to start?

Alot about being an artist is about being observant and practicing, as much as the creative part. I would say to really think about the artists they admire and their styles, and to use them to help fuel their ideas.

Which artists do you admire? why?

I love Dali, Monet, Da Vinci, most of the great masters. I just can't believe how creative and ingenuitive they all were, and how their art is completely timeless. As far as t-shirts though I really like Jimiyo's work. His stuff always gives me some good ideas and inspiration, not to mention it makes great clothing.

What do you do to get really inspire and finish a design that turns out to be a best seller?

After I finish a design, I like to not look at it for maybe a day. When I look at it again, it is easier to notice changes that need to be made to make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

Do you prefer working as a freelancer or have a full time job as an art creator?

I do both, t-shirt design is more for fun and I do it freelance too, but I also work as a graphic designer for a magazine. I like the freelance better actually, but it doesn't always pay the bills...

What would be your dream job?

I would love to work as a 3d modeler in film or video games.

What are your work tools?

Pencil and Photoshop mainly

Which one is the most amazing design you personally loved?

I really love this shirt from RZST I have called "painting the roses red", it is just the coolest shirt design and people always comment on it. I also love the design by Jimiyo on www.metalinkshop.com called "Mother III", the shirt is just amazing.

In which websites can we see more of your work?

I have some designs up for sale at www.uneetee.com under my screenname spacemonkeydr. I sub to a lot of sites though, including Design By Humans, Threadless, and Teextile.

We thank Dan Radcliffe for his time and dedication to graphic design, we hope we can see more of his work out there.

Visit his portfolio at www.arcanadesign.daportfolio.com for more information.


If you want somebody in particular get interviewed in this site, please send me an email at shirtquest @gmail.com

Early Christmas at Threadless

Christmas has arrived early at Threadless, so prepare yourself because all shirts are for 12 dlls this week. But if you wait until friday, shirts will be at 9 dlls for only 24 hours.

9 Dlls Sale will start this friday at 12.01am and ends at 11.59pm, so stack your cart with all your favorite shirts and buy them on Friday.

How important it's Customer Service,

Have you ever bought a product of service at a cheap price and customer service is not service at all or even do not exist? Thanks to this little huge mistake the product looses it's value to the consumers eye's, and it's 99% certainty that the client will not return for a second purchase, and if he does he will not be happy to buy anything from you. This is why is really important to have a great product to offer and at the same time an excelent customer service, even if the customer is not requesting it, this can help you correct posible flaws and makes you more competitive.

You see, your company sucess is practically customer satisfaction where the purchase is not the most important thing, but that the customer returns and makes a second purchase. You have to be commited and elevate your standards so the client realizes that you are doing everything possible so he/she can be satisfied with your product or service.

You can even make some little extra efforts to add value to your product:

• A simple phone call asking how the product is working for them, you must not coonfuse this with harrasement, just let them know that their opinions are important for further decisions in your company.



• Send them a personal appreciation email.



• give the little freebies with every purchase.



• Discounts for further purchases.



• Or well a little note at the bottom of the invoice thanking them for doing business and a smile face, remember that there are no rules and everything is possible.

Everytime that the customer buys something from you, there has to be an excelent customer service, it can be by email or phone, whatever you choose must be 100% efective.

Remember that the client is not always right, but the client is the client and is he/she is giving you their money so your company can work properly. The price doesn't always matter, it's the added value you offer in your products.

Any comment of new article you can comment this post or send me an email at shirtquest@gmail.com

Thanks and stay Awesome!

ALPHA design in Teextile

Teextile is a company that sells only 5 shirts per week, so if you like a shirt and want to buy it, don't wait till next week because chances are you might never find it again.

This design from ALPHA is really cool, the placement and grey shadows blends quite well in this design, so visit Teextile and order it before this week ends.

Starting a screenprinting shop

When I was 19, i got curious about how to print my own shirts with my own designs, but like all rookies i didn't know how or where to start, so I came up cutting a stencil and paint the shirt with a spraycan , and of course it didn't look the way I wanted it, in fact it looked horrible and a lot of good shirts were lost in this battle.

Later on I decided that if I wanted to learn screenprinting i had to work in a screenprinting shop, which i did for free. Now I know a lot about art and i'm confident giving out advise to whoever want to start a screenprinting shop from zero.

So you want to start a screenprinting shop uh? is more simple if you have a little experience that backs you up, do you know what you need? how much money? which machines are best for your needs?

First of all you need to know the impression quality you want to offer your customers, from this depends the equipment you might need to accomplish your goal.

If you're starting from zero and have customer demanding low qty's of shirts per week you might need to consider buying a manual press that can handle as many colors you want to offer.

* Gas or electric oven
* Inks
* Squeegees
* Light exposition table
* Pressure water pump

You will also need:
* Spraying gun
* Emulsion
* Screens

So basically if you manage to gather all this items you have a really potential screenprinting shop. I'll write more about inks, screens, and other cool stuff later on, so keep in touch.



any questions, please post them in comments of send me an email to shirtquest@gmail.com


Thanks and stay Awesome!