Interview with Contempoinc

One of my favorite elements of the Free File of the Month is interviewing the varied talented and creative authors who participate. This month, we get to chat with contempoinc, the author of the Sexy Vector Laptop file and a library of other sexy product illustrations. contempoinc is a prolific GraphicRiver author who also works as a Senior Web Designer in the creative industry. Read on to find out how contempoinc gets his ideas and what he does when he’s not turning out sleek vector illustrations.

1.Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from, what do you do for a living?

I’m from San Diego, CA and work for The San Diego Union Tribune as a Senior Web Designer.

2. How long have you been designing and what made you start selling items on GraphicRiver?

I’ve been in the industry since 2001, and started selling items on GR because I had some spare time and figured why not?

3. Do you create files from scratch for GraphicRiver, or do you re-use work that you’ve created for a client?

Every file is created from scratch, no recycling old client work here

4. Where do you get your inspiration from for your GraphicRiver work?

Most of my item ideas have come from just browsing GR, seeing a gap in what’s offered and trying to fill that product gap with something of my own. It really just comes down to the love of creating vector and raster art, selling it is just a bonus.

5. What is your work flow like when starting a new file? Could you walk us through the steps you take when getting ready to create a new file?

Pretty short and sweet. I’ll start out sketching in my Moleskine, take that to the scanner, transfer it into the appropriate program (Ps or Ai) and start refining.

6. What do you do to market and brand your files?

Until recently not much at all. But not to long ago I purchased a few small ads, on some various sites through BuySellAds.com, linked to my Theme/Art preview site. It’s not much but I think it’s helped me gain a little bit more exposure.

7. What advice can you give to authors that might help them increase their overall sales?

Create quality work, and be active in the community. In my experience these two things have gained me exposure and multiple new business relationships.

8. Besides yourself, who is your favorite GraphicRiver author?

I’d have to say epicera, he’s got some great work on GR and TF.

9. Which file do you think is your best file so far?

Probably my Sexy Vector Laptop, or this month’s Free File.

10. What one thing would you like to change about GraphicRiver if you could?

This is really a more global marketplace change but adding a Updates tab to the user profile area, to notify buyers of updates to products they’ve purchased.

11. When you aren’t creating graphic files, what do you do for fun?

You can catch me skating, surfing, snowboarding, mountain biking, going out to the Colorado River, hanging with friends all the normal Southern California stuff.

12. Would you like to give a sneak peek or some information about the latest file you are currently working on to our readers?

I’d had a file I was pretty excited about releasing, it would have rounded out my “Sexy” collection of products, however due to strict patent and trademarked product designs I’m unable to. I might however be releasing it as a free file on my personal site. Other than that at the moment I’m not sure what’s up next.