(one of matt’s t-shirt designs)

Welcome to the second version of Squeegie! Posting will start as normal again, so thanks everyone for waiting! Today we’ve got an interview with Matt Yerman, the guy who did our awesome album artwork (as well as a few more great submissions).

Check it!

S: We’re all obviously very impressed with your designs and would like to know a little more about you. What is your background with art? Graphic design?

MY: I’ve became involved with art at a very young age. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been drawing, crafting and making. I took as many art classes as I could in high school and began to pursue a freelance graphic design career. I picked up a couple small clients by the time I had graduated high school and kept things going as I made way towards a B.A. in Design Studies at San Jose State University. I’ve currently got two semesters left, so it’ll nice be nice to finally get out and get on with things.

S: Are you a graphic designer for a living?

MY: For the most part. I’ve been doing the freelance thing steadily for about 5 years now, but have worked other jobs during this time. Hopefully things start to pick up a bit more though. Always looking for cool new projects to work on!

S: What have been some of your favorite/memorable designs?

MY: I did a t-shirt for Beautiful/Decay a couple years back. I’ve progressed a lot in terms of style and technical knowledge, but it was still pretty exciting to do some work for those guys. I was also asked to do a water bottle illustration for Camelbak last year, which was super exciting!

Most recently though, I did a poster for UR Chicago for a Thunderheist show. It was really awesome to do some work with people in the music community.

You can view these, amongst other works over at my site, MadeService™.

S: Who are some other graphic designers we should familiarize ourselves with?

MY: Raza Uno, DEMO, Alex Trochut, Non-Format, Dust La Rock, Steven Harrington, Mario Hugo, Jared Nickerson, Ronald Ashburn. Those are a couple of people I’m really into right now. Check em out!

S: Favorite color?

MY: Bubblegum / Salmon.

S: So you’ve decided to put time and effort into making our new site look better. We wanted to ask you some questions about music/blogs in general. What websites do you check daily?

MY: Hot Biscuits, GottaDanceDirty, Kid City, Missing Toof, Disco Dust, Wizards Are Better, Trashcan Punch, Palms Out Sounds, Top Billin, D Squared, Schitz Popinov, and of course, Squeegie! I’d say I rotate between those pretty regularly during the week. Squeegie, Biscuits and Top Billin for the win on most visits though!

S: Do you listen to the music we post on the blog regularly?

MY: Yes! They end up in my mixes a lot.

S: What have been some of your favorite albums/artists this year?

MY: In reference to favorite artists I’m going to put down Sound Pellegrino as an umbrella for all of their amazing artists. L-Vis 1990, Renaissance Man, Harvard Bass, Gucci Vump, Mommas Boy…god damn! Pellegrino also has their graphic game running pretty tight too, so I’m super down.In reference to favorite artists I’m going to put down Sound Pellegrino as an umbrella for all of their amazing artists. L-Vis 1990, Renaissance Man, Harvard Bass, Gucci Vump, Mommas Boy…god damn! Pellegrino also has their graphic game running pretty tight too, so I’m super down.

Some more artists: Oliver $, Geoff K, Joker, Wongo, Sticky K, Major Lazer, Matthew Garton, Malente, Duck Sauce

Albums: Soul for Rent EP – Matthew Garton, Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do – Major Lazer, The xx – The xx

S: What do you think of blogs in general as conduits to get music out to people?

MY: I think if the artists are down to promote their music through blogs, then let it happen! Social networking, in this case in the form of blogging, is a super powerful tool. People are just being smart. Get some publicity through releasing some promos and then get your tracks out for sale. I’m always learning about new artists too. Once you get a starting point, you can dig from their, but the blogs are great for throwing out lots of information on the music and the artists.

Cheers Matt! Again, check his work here (MadeService™) and his awesome blog chwyrvtmns.

posted » January 3rd, 2010 by MacGregor
tagged » mattyerman . renaissance