Hi Chicharo,

Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us who you are and where you come from. How and why did you become a graphic designer?

I am a graphic DesigNerd and illustrator from Mérida, a little city in Yucatán México (the place where the meteorite hit and destroyed the dinosaurs). I’ve been drawing since I can remember, I’ve always liked character design and lately t-shirt design and web design.

How did you conceive your design “hot bath” and how did you get the idea? What inspired you and what is the story behind it?

Well here in my city is very usual to sink cookies into hot chocolate until they get soft and we call it “chuc” and that’s where the hot bath idea comes from.

Bath vs shower?

Bath, I prefer to take my time =)

Would you prefer to dip your biscuits into a cup of tea or hot chocolate?

Hot Chocolate for tradition.

Do you like cakes, biscuits etc and do you have a sweet tooth?

Yes I do very much like them, especially chocolate and ice cream combinations.

How long have you known laFraise and how did you find us?

Since 2011, I believe I found it by googling web sites about funny t-shirt designs.

If you would recommend us, what would you say?

I’d say that if you are looking for fun and smart tees, laFraise is a great choice.

Do you have hobbies other than drawing? What are they?

I like science fiction flicks, collecting notebooks of drawings, and playing video games. Actually I’m stuck with portal 2 :P

What are your expectations for this year?

I’d love to enhance my illustrations skills and to get more jobs related to it.

Could you please draw us your interpretation of strawberries with Chantilly cream? Thanks for the interview and the drawing!

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Hi Digital orgasm,

- Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us who you are and where you come from. How and why did you become a graphic designer?

My name Gegen Noviara. I started learning design when I worked at a company that specialized in comics and graphic design from that moment I started to seriously get into graphic design till now.

- How did you conceive your design “Forest spirit” and how did you get the idea? What inspired you and what is the story behind it?

In the place I live there was a story about ghost forest and no one dared to go into the woods. I got the idea from there.

- Do you believe in spiritual things and do you think forests have a soul?

Yes. I believe this. Including forests.

- Do you like nature and taking walks in the forest or do you prefer to hang out in the city?

I like both. Depending on my mood. When I want to be alone and think about something, or look for ideas, I’d rather go to a quiet place or to the forest.

- How long have you known laFraise and how did you find us?

I think two years I found laFraise. I learned about it from the Internet
- If you would recommend us, what would you say?

I like laFraise because it’s clearer and fairer when choosing the winner based on the voting results.

- Do you have hobbies other than drawing? What are they?

Yep! I love watching movies and cycling.

- What are your expectations for this year?

Hope this year is better than the previous year. Surely.

- Could you please draw us your interpretation of strawberries with Chantilly cream? Thanks for the interview and the drawing!

Ok

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Hi barmalisiRTB,

- Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us who you are and where you come from. How and why did you become a graphic designer?

Hi,My name R.Tofan (barmalisiRTB) I’m from Indonesia, I followed my brother to be a graphic designer and it’s is very enjoyable.

- How did you conceive your design “Matches” and how did you get the idea? What inspired you and what is the story behind it?

I’m a smoker and every time I lite a match, I think about every matchstick burning and dying. It’s story how I got the idea

- Do you think souls go somewhere after we die?

YES

- Do you prefer matches or a lighter?

Previously, I preferred using a lighter. But now, not anymore. I think matches are better.

- How long have you known laFraise and how did you find us?

I’ve known laFraise for more two years. My brother introduced me to laFraise.

- If you would recommend us, what would you say?

I think, laFraise is more transparent and fairer to determine the winner. The voting results make it more transparent.

- Do you have hobbies other than drawing? What are they?

Yes, apart from drawing, I also love photography.

- Could you please draw us your interpretation of strawberries with Chantilly cream?

Yes sure.

Thanks for the interview and the drawing!

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Hello Superbourdi,

- Can you introduce yourself in a few words? Who are you, where are you from and why/how have you become an illustrator?

Hello LaFraise! I am a 24-year old male from a small village in the south of France called Clion/Seugne in Charente Maritime. I left this cushy little village to study in Angoulême, but then went into hiding like a hermit in la Creuse for as long as 2 years. I eventually ended up in La Rochelle, made a few contacts there, and today I’m something like a director in a fine little agency for communication services. And if you’re a part-time superhero who’s keeping busy to save the world from evil villans, your agenda can be pretty crammed at times.

- Can you tell us how the design ‘Tranche d’oeufs’ came about?  What was your source of inspiration?

If I draw things for myself, I rearely have a pre-fabricated idea. I never feel like pushing myself, because I’m a rather lazy guy. Usually I get going with a few very abstract ideas or shapes, and then I take it from there.  As soon as an idea has developed a little bit, it enfolds all by itself. When skribbling the first draft to Tranche d’oeufs, I was sitting in a restaurant. The food must have inspired me somehow.

- Do you like eggs, and how do you like them best!

I love eggs! Fried eggs, boilt eggs, omlette, scrambled eggs, egg salad, whipped egg whites…  A small question: Can you eat eggs that are past their ‘best by date’ by a couple of days?

- Do you like karate movies?

Absolutely. But I need to say that I did karate for a matter of 6 years when I was a child, but only because I was a fan of Dragon Ball Z.

- How long have you known laFraise? And how did you become aware of this little fruit?

My buddy “Meuhnon“ (Articho) introduced me to laFraise when we were students at university.

- If you were to recommend laFraise to someone, what would you say?

“Just give it a go, there will be cream on top!”

- Do you have any hobbies other than drawing? And if so, which?

I like playing Copter online, and I like going to the cinema and eating raclette.

- What are your resolutions for the New Year?

I would like to have an exhibition, design new t-shirts, avoid unpleasant meetings with dificult people and continue to lead a happy life.

- Could you sketch your version of strawberries and cream for us? Thank you for this interview, and for the sketch!

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Hi CAPGOAGA,

- Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us who you are and where you come from. How and why did you become a graphic designer?

My name is Cristhian Pagoaga, a Honduran with bachelors in Audiovisual Communication, and a musician. I’ve worked with JWT and Hito Studio. I’ve developed my career in graphic design in order to give life to the ideas I have in me.
- How did you conceive your design “reckoning” and how did you get the idea? What inspired you and what is the story behind it?

New technologies and their fast evolution is something that has always caught my attention. For instance, the reason why I used a CD instead of a USB, is simply because the CD was the device that marked my youth. The idea was born by the thought that a “reckoning” from all the old storage devices could exist.

- Which of those (vinyl, tapes, CDs, USB, disks …) do you like the best, why and what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of new technology?

Nowadays I prefer a time capsule as storage device, as well as virtual spaces such as Dropbox. I myself in reckoning tend to incline towards the CD, mainly because of my passion for music.

From my point of view, the advantages of the new technologies are the immediateness with which I can communicate with my clients, the speed in consulting tutorials when needed and the fact of being able to learn new things on the Internet.

As a disadvantage, the only thing I can come with is the “job slavery”. I encounter myself having so much information which can be useful to my daily activities. I spend many hours at home researching, working and creating new designs.
-How long have you known laFraise and how did you find us?

I do not remember exactly how long I’ve known the site, but I think it was about two years ago or maybe a little more. And found it through Google.

- If you would recommend us, what would you say?

That is a website where there are very good designs, product quality is very good, as I have had the opportunity to buy some shirts and I’m very satisfied.

- Do you have hobbies other than drawing? What are they?

I love movies, making short films, I like to listen music and make it. I like to walk, travel and get to know new cultures.
- What are your expectations for this year and the one to come?

I wish could offer more t-shirt designs… I would like to see people wearing my designs. And in the audiovisual industry hope to produce my first feature this year 2013.
- Could you please draw us your interpretation of strawberries with Chantilly cream? Thanks for the interview and the drawing!

Last week we have received a mail from Nerdywithchildren since they featured two shirts of us (Free bugs and Gimme your brain). So we sneaked around their website to get to know more and we thought it was a cool site and we should introduce it to the laFraise’s community.

Nerdy With Children is the premiere site for alternative parents who want their children to inherit the same awesomely nerdy ways. Our goal is to feature cool products, publish nerd-worthy stories and advice, and create a community where like-minded parents can interact to share thoughts, ideas, and experiences with one another.

Nick and David are definitively cool people with lots of fun ideas. Check out the interview, it’s just some much fun!

Hi guys,

- Thanks for the interview, could you please introduce you and Nerdy with children? Where do you come from, what is your background?

David Gorcey : I am California-raised with stints living in London, Finland, and now NYC.  I have professional experience in traditional advertising, & online advertising/monetization technology, most recently on the executive team at the Google Ventures-backed VigLink before starting Nerdywithchildren.

Nick Veneris : I was born and raised in Virginia. I attended college in North Florida. I’m now located in NYC. Nerdy With Children is my second business. I launched a successful writing website back in 2006 called Xomba.com. Having been an entrepreneur for most of my professional career, I’m seasoned in most aspects of the business. Currently, I’m focusing mainly on content strategy.

- How did you come up with the idea of creating “nerdy with children”?

Nick: My wife and I came up with the concept. We saw a lack of web content aimed at parents looking for products and ideas that were hip and less mainstream, so we wanted to start a site that would cater to some of the things that nerdy/geeky/alternative parents would be interested in. We try to stay indie focused, while keeping our coverage of mainstream brands down to a minimum.

- How do you choose the products you feature on your website?

We have a couple people who curate items from across the web looking for cool products for kids under 12 that are nerdy/artsy in overall nature. There are some sites we feature products from on a more regular basis, but we try to mix it up and we definitely focus on finding independent merchants/artists from various places including RedBubble, Etsy, and of course, LaFraise. We also have been fortunate enough to have merchants seek us out about featuring their products and have discovered some very cool things that way.

- What are your top 3 nerd/geek must have things?

Tablet computer. We use iPads for work/fun pretty much every day, and unfortunately would probably have some sort of withdrawl without one.

Raspberry Pi, mini computer. Check it out here

French Press. We (mostly David) drink a lot of coffee, and we take it seriously. A French Press does it right, and keeps David from turning into a monster.

- What is your clothing style? Classic, B-Boy, casual, fashion, geek ?

David: I would probably like to consider my style somewhere between fashion and classic. I’m pretty much always in jeans though, and definitely a fan of t-shirts as well, especially when I sleep in later than I should have.

Nick: David is the more fashionable one out of the two of us. Having spent 10 years in the sweltering heat of Florida, you get accustomed to jeans and t-shirts. I’m a big fan of using thrift stores to find cool smoking jackets, flannels and other random apparel for the cold months. Lately, I’ve been trending more toward a rockabilly closet.

- What are your hobbies?

David: I like to stay active, and I enjoy things like running & martial arts. I also love to travel and go for good meals and drinks with friends. You’ll frequently find me reading about current events, technology, or my favorite magazine, Monocle, in coffee shops. But if there is some sort of science programming on TV about the evolution of man, I’m probably staying in.

Nick: As of late, I’ve found myself being less interested in video games and more into nerdy board/card games. I love exploring NYC, collecting vinyl and reading. I’m a big fan of 1950’s rockabilly music. If I had more free time I would write fiction. For relaxation I love assembling LEGOs. I do enjoy catching an occasional game of what you call football, or what we call soccer.

- What are your expectations for this year (in private and job lives)?

David: Professionally, I’m really looking forward to seeing us grow Nerdywithchildren.com this year and we are launching nerdywithpets.com in the next month or two which will also be exciting. Personally, I hope I can balance the responsibilities of working on a bootstrapped startup like ours without compromising the time I can spend with the people important to me and doing the things that make me happy.

Nick: I’m hoping by the end of 2013 we’ll have several websites launched, including Nerdywithpets.com. I think by the end of the year we’ll be rocking and rolling and our traffic should be going viral. On top of all that, my wife and I should be planning to start a family.

Thanks for the nice interview and good luck with Nerdy With Children!

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Hi kidof,

- Can you introduce yourself in a few words? Who are you, where are you from and why have you become an illustrator?

Let me say one thing: I’m not an illustrator ;-) I am an original day-one Fraisian (almost, at least) who would do some tinkering about with ideas, put them in half-baked designs and then happened to be printed as a result of an obvious mistake.  I studied child psychology, and I see myself as a future buckaroo poet, scriptwriter, author and graphic artist. Growing up in Anjou, France, I took pleasure in playing around with photoshop and creating posters for local clubs and societies.

- Can you tell us how the design ‘Illustrator’ came about, and haow you got the idea for it? So it looks like software like Illustrator and Photoshop tends to lead to hallucinations? :-)

Initially I wanted to create an eyesight test from Illustrator icons. Only a bit of a private joke for spectacle-wearing graphic designers, really. These guys seem to be continually losing their clear-sightedness (George, if you’re reading this…!). This idea then changed into something personal: a symbol that sums up an illustrator’s passion who transforms his magical energy into designs, just like little children play cowboys and Indians with reckless abandon.

- How long have you known laFraise? And how did you become aware of this little fruit?

I knew laFraise when ‘Nesk’ shook up paternal instincts of Fraisians, ‘Pandaluna’ discovered the nerd side of herself, ‘Laurent’ developed her philosophical spirit and ‘Charaspower’ showed her passion for detail… it seems like only yesterday :-) But really, I have no idea how my first click on laFraise’s forbidden fruit came about. I can only say that many years and pseudonyms down the road, I have seen and am still keep seeing do many talented emerging designers, and that is great.

- If you were to recommend laFraise to someone, what would you say?

I would say “Watch out, laFraise is an addictive fruit!”

- Do you have any hobbies other than drawing? And if so, which?

Cinema, reading, ballet, opera, football, exhibitions, travelling… and taking my hot-water bottle to bed.

- What projects are in your pipeline for the year to come?

I’d like to think that I have a way with words, so I want to channel part of my creative craze in writing. And then working on illustrations is an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

- Could you sketch your version of strawberries and cream for us? Thank you for this interview, and for the sketch!

I will try! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to feature in this interview. I would also like to thank everyone who is wearing my ‘Illustrator’, be it at work, on the beach or in bed.

Hi Randyotter,

- Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us who you are and where you come from. How and why did you become a graphic designer?

My Name is Aaron Jay working under the name Randyotter and I come from Southampton England. I have always loved drawing since I was a little boy at age seven I decided I would go to university to study animation, I actually ended up studying illustration but I still followed the same goal of drawing for a living. I graduated university and have been working as a freelance illustrator ever since.

- How did you conceive your design “Otter meditation” and how did you get the idea? What inspired you and what is the story behind it?

I usually spend a lot of time trying to think of new ideas, usually more time than I spend drawing them however otter meditation was an exception, this was a day where I just decided to draw weird detailed things without thinking too much about the concept or what I wanted to achieve as a final product .

- Your designs are very simple, efficient and have a simple approach of humour? Do you do it on purpose or is it wanted because you think it catches the attention more?

I try and simplify my ideas so that people from anywhere in the world can understand the idea, usually my best concepts are ones which anyone can understand regardless of what language they speak or what culture they are from so that is my general goal when I brainstorm ideas for an illustration.

- How long have you known laFraise and how did you find us

I have know of La fraise since about 2009 when I was looking for other sites to get my designs printed however I did not submit for a long time as my work seems to do quite badly here, I eventually earned my first win however I have not really been very successful since then so I will probably be leaving to find other sites quite soon.

- If you would recommend us, what would you say?
If you have a style that La fraise customers like you can be very successful so try them out!

- Do you have hobbies other than drawing? What are they?

Apart from drawing I play computer games but really I spend most of my time drawing or just watching tv, most of the things I do to have fun tend to link back to drawing or work.

- What are your expectations for this year and the one to come?

For the year to come I am planning to expand my body of work into different media and to try and gain a larger following as I try to do every year, I have been looking into traditional animation and working on another book project to keep me busy.

- Could you please draw us your interpretation of strawberries with Chantilly cream? Thanks for the interview and the drawing!

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