#robottiger

Interviews are something I really want to do a lot of in the future, and who better to start off with than artist Julian Kahlon (aka RobotTiger).  You can see the shirt Julian designed for TVI here - http://www.thevagueidea.com/product-info.php?pid188.html.  You can also check out his work at www.juliankahlon.com & www.rbttgr.com.

TVI: How did you come up with the design-name "RobotTiger"? 

RT: Well, when I started freelance designing, I was under 18.  I've been doing freelance for 5 years now, so when I was selling designs when I was that young I didn't want my clients to think of me as unprofessional; and so I disguised my name.  I thought of the dumbest possible name, RobotTiger, thinking that when I turned 18 I would just change it back to my real name, Julian K.  But it stuck, and now I use both Robot Tiger as well as my real name depending on the work I'm doing.

TVI: Has your style remained the same since you began designing, for the most part? Or has it evolved a lot since you began?

RT: I mean, I've always loved the abstract arts. Recently though, I've been going under my real name Julian K, to pursue a different style of art: a vintage Americana-esque type art.  But I've never actually changed the style of RobotTiger.

TVI: You've been collaborating with photographers/using photography in your work a lot lately.  Do you prefer this added element in your work over designing without it?

RT: Well, I am very interested in the world of fashion and recently I met the great Basilio Silva, who is an extraordinary fashion photographer. I emailed him one day regarding a collaboration idea and it eventually became a friendship in which we both send each other different things all the time; me sending art, him sending me photography to work with. I don't have a preference in terms of designing with or without photographs but it is definitely something I enjoy. I've recently (in the last year) picked up a camera and have been shooting my own photography as well.

TVI: You recently released your own clothing line, Verana Summers.  Do you prefer designing for your own brand over someone elses? 

RT: Verana Summers is really more about the aesthetic appeal of the brand as opposed to the art side of it.  Verana Summers doesn't really touch upon epic and amazing art as much as other clothing lines may.  I design everything for the line, and it is a necessity that I do. I'm very picky and I couldn't imagine someone else trying to design something for me.

TVI: Are you most passionate about designing for clothing, or are you equally as happy designing for something unrelated to fashion?

RT: Designing anything related to the fashion business, not necessarily the clothing, makes me happy.  There's just something about fashion that keeps my interest.  I also love designing for musicians; album covers, merchandise, anything along those lines. Other than art, music and fashion are my two real interests.

TVI: Standard artist interview question - where do you draw your inspiration from?

RT:  Music, mostly. But not in an ordinary way. I subconsciously get inspired by the music I'm listening to. I find that if I revisit a design and the play-list I was listening to at the time, there is definitely a positive correlation between the two. Photography also sets me off on a thought rampage

TVI: Where do you see design taking you in the future?  What do you hope to achieve that you haven't already?