gchat session with G

note: back in june, i did a little interview with greg for my sister's blog, UrbanRhetoric. here it is for your viewing pleasure:

I met Greg as a sophomore at Pratt while we were both at school doing orientation staff. Either I look Filipino or he looks Latino, because we went around telling people we were related.

At Pratt, he studied graphic design and drinking. Whoops, I meant just graphic design. Either way, I’ve had major respect for his work (and drinking style) ever since then. I’ve wanted to interview him for months now but every time we hang out, we end up talking about relationships, drinking, and painting. A few days ago, he signed into Gchat and our interview was born.



missdtm: tell me when you're ready for this interview
Greg: go ahead. i ain't scared
hahahah
missdtm: you know you are. you have no idea what i'm going to ask
Greg: hahhaah. i'm ready
by the way did you and steven have fun at the reed space show last night? (reed space showed Parra’s work on 6/7/07 – )
missdtm: yea! it just got really packed and i was crazy tired. ok i'm ready with my first question
Greg: GO!
missdtm: so tell me what you do (and you should probably shout out your website and myspace now)
Greg: hahhahahah
www.fluidvisuals.com
www.myspace.com/fluidvisuals/
now that we got that shameless self promotion out of the way:
i am a visual designer. currently i am working for serious usa (www.serioususa.com), they are a cd dvd promotional company that has developed and patented some new technology. they use cds and dvds in the shape of cards and they integrated mag stripes, rfid chips, and other features to the cards. it really opens up a lot of possibilities with function. very interesting and somewhat complicated stuff. its always hard to explain to people the company and the technologies they have developed.
so my job is to create the designs for the interactive programs on the cards, the packaging of the cards, and any websites associated with them
missdtm: so i know you went to pratt because you wanted to be a graphic designer but i think the real reason you went to pratt was because of the male to female ratio...
Greg: hahahahha
nope i went to pratt for the design
the male to female ratio was nice but it seemed to me that the majority of the women that went to pratt were a little on the crazy side
missdtm: ok, i'll give you that one
Greg: in general the majority of the people at pratt were a little off
missdtm: i definitely agree with that one (although i would never discourage someone from going)
Greg: and honestly the ratio at pratt didn't get better til my last years there and i wouldn't discourage anyone from going there either. the educational experience there is amazing
missdtm: back to your work though, i was checking out your website and that deutsche subway ad is dope, where does your inspiration come from?
Greg: well, I can't take the full credit for that one. i was working under some great art directors and most of the conceptual stuff came from them. but i did get to be creative within the concept they created. and my inspiration is anything and everything
most notably street art, graffitti, corporate anuals, huge advertising firms, small boutique design firms, sports, video games, music, other designers, other artists big and small
but i think at the basis of my inspiration is the need to go against the mainstream
missdtm: i'm glad you got a little more specific...i was going to shout you out for the generic answer
Greg: hahahahha
i'd say those are my major influences. i'd say the top ones are street art, grafitti, and music. but you can tell from my work that my style is pretty widespread. i really want to be as versatile as possible
missdtm: where do you see yourself in 5 years then?
Greg: hopefully working in a design firm in europe as an art director. preferably london or maybe denmark. paris too
missdtm: i never knew you wanted to LIVE in europe...you're nuts
Greg: i'll probably stick around here for a couple years, try out the west coast for a couple years then try europe for a couple years. so that would be around the 5 year mark. just for a couple years. i wouldn't want to stay there forever. nyc will always be my home
missdtm: ok good just making sure. what's on repeat on your ipod?
Greg: right now, its a set peanut butter wolf did at this club called the do over in san diego. he does a rare 80's funk set. he is actually doing this crazy week where he plays at 7 different clubs playing 7 different genres of music for 7 days straight. that guy is a beast
missdtm: you have an interesting taste in music. what about clothes?
Greg: i wouldn't really know how to define my style but the brands i'm really into right now are james perse (west cost casual), trainer spotter (urban wear, mostly hoodies and jackets), creative recreation (independent sneaker company i think they're based out on the west coast too), ubiquity & stones throw (music labels that also design shirts)
those are the more interesting ones
then there's polo, vans, nike, reebok, and some independent urban wear stuff
i forgot uniqlo (japanese, basics) and nudie jeans(raw denim based out of sweden)
i think that pretty much covers it
missdtm: when are you cutting your hair and doing your photo project?
Greg: hahah. Uhhh. i'm not really sure
missdtm: you should wear it out and flaunt it
Greg: i was going to do it after i got back from san diego but cuz of my knee it doesn't look like i'm gonna be able to get out there (Greg tore his ACL playing bball a few weeks ago. We’re getting old).
so now its kinda up in the air
missdtm: how long is it anyway?
Greg: right now its below my mid back. pretty crazy. 2.5 years
missdtm: i want your hair. just so you know
Greg: hahahah
missdtm: is there anything you want people to know about you? cause i'm pretty much dunzo with my questions
Greg: awwww
i was expecting some really fat juicy questions. hahahah
missdtm: like what?
Greg: i don't know i was expecting another question out of left field like the pratt girl ratio one
missdtm: i was going to ask you when we're going to collaborate and do something...but then it got busy at work
Greg: soon hopefully. with you being in manhattan it'll be a lot easier. i actually just got a crazy idea
would you want to work on a painting together?
a little collabo 7 foot canvas. something massive
missdtm: i don't work that big but for you--i would! can we get dunkin' in on the 7 foot canvas action?
Greg: hell yah
jus dunk her paws in paint and let her walk around on the shit
missdtm: YEA. i think she is artistic
Greg: jus throw her toy on the canvas
missdtm: that sounds like a plan. i have another question for you. when are you going to start designing some t-shirts?
Greg: i have a bunch already some old ones that i look at now that i should tweak
i jus really need to get my ass in gear and find a good production place
i also got a whole sketch book of ideas that i need to flesh out
for it to have any staying power they really need to be thought of as lines vs just one shot shirts
missdtm: what else are you trying to do?
Greg: i'm a bit of a busy body, there's the shirt line, the painting, djing (which has been put on hold a little bit, just haven't been practicing) and i'm suppose to be working with this producer friend of mine and make some beats
missdtm: artists are always working on something. actually, they're always working on a million projects
Greg: yah it seems like its in our nature to multi task
missdtm: well g, i'm trying to multitask right now at work. so i think we're done here
Greg: kewl
missdtm: you're a good sport. this took like 2 hours too via gchat
Greg: hahahhaha. man i thought u were gonna ask me some raunchy shit too
ahhahahaha
missdtm: i don't want to put you out there like that. that's always between you and me
Greg: ok hahahaha. pretty good interview
missdtm: thank you
Greg: i'll give you some pointers later
hahahhha
missdtm: :-P you suck ass
Greg: =D