Feb 2010 Team Member Feature - Elefint (Jonathan)

Meet Jonathan (elefint).
Jonathan has been a part of Teamt International since June 2009. Check out his etsy shop at www.elefint.etsy.com.

Personal....

Married/single?
Single

Kids/no kids?
No kids. But 3 nieces and 3 nephews that might as well be my own because I love them so much.

Pets/no pets?
The random gecko that somehow finds its way into my apartment.

Day job?
Because I'm in an insamely fast paces school (40 hrs. of class/week and bachelor's in 21 months), that leaves me with 2 hours sleep, 20 hours for printing tees, and 5 hours for drinking coffee. Oh yeah, and I have to be a Digital Artist somewhere in there. (That's my current defree: Digital Arts and Design at Full Sail University) So a day job? Tha's what elefint if for! And I love it!
p.s. if you want to check out my Motion Graphics go to my Vimeo!
http://www.vimeo.com/6598699

Location?
I'm currently in Casselberry, FL. I grew up in Rochester, NY for my whole life before coming down for school last year.

Age?
25 big ones.

How many languages do you speak and what are they?
Other than English, I try my hardest to communicate in Spanish with some practice in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Honduras. I've made a handful of trips down there to work in some orphanages. The kids there humor my Spanish "speaking skills". We find it easier to communicate through love and compassion.

Do you play an instrument?
I've played guitar for about 10 years. Thank you mom for bringing me to all those lessons. There's nothing better than setting up my Gibson, turning the lights down and getting lost in an instrumental session.

Can you sing?
I do. I try. I've gone from my high school "punk band" to leading music for my church. And of course singing like a loud fool in my car, but who doesn't do that?

Lets Talk Business...

What's a good story behind your craft and what got you started?
Photography is at the root of all of my creativity. From working in the darkroom when I was in high school, I loved to tangible feel and look of watching my prints be revealed right before my eyes. I love the smells and the whole ambiance it gave me. Screen printing brings me back to that. It's also a great way for me to combine my digital artwork with a more traditional medium, and it gets me off the stinkin' computer and gets my hands dirty.

Where do you get inspiration?
I get inspiration from all sorts of places. It could be an abandoned shopping cart in the corner of the parking lot, or some phenomenal artwork on a random blog. I just love observing and taking in all of the beauties of life. It's full of so many little things for us to enjoy. I try to capture that emotion in my artwork. And it's even better when someone can wear it on a t-shirt.

Does you family help with your business/hobby?
My uncle and cousin have a pretty big screen printing shop up in Rochester. MUCH bigger than my walk in closet that I turned into a darkroom. But we've never collaborated. Maybe there's unknown inspiration behind that.

Do you like you craft/hobby?
I love it. I still love lifting the screen and seeing my artwork in ink. It's so great.

How do you market?
Other than the obvious marketing we all try on Etsy, I try hard to post to blogs, get involved in t-shirt giveaways (currently giving one away on nerdlike.com). That's one of my goals for 2010: More Marketing!

What gets neglected when you're tending to your shop or creating?
The care for any of my clothes! I think all of my favorite tees and jeans now have ink on them. I always think, "ahh...I'll just be careful." And I always get ink on my clothes. I'll never learn.

What are your future plans for your business?
This year I'm excited to get many more designs up in my shop! AND to start printing on more dresses, t-shirt styles, and maybe even scarves. I wanna try to push the limit. Since 2009 was the first time I've ever even tried screen printing, I've had to experiment with what works and what fails for the "design to print process". I think I've got a much better grasp on it now. I would love to get a new design in my shop at least every other week. It's a bit of a process, but it's so rewarding to see a new design up! (look out for the "beardy tees").


Any bad experiences with etsy....rude customers/bad buy?
Nothing too crazy. A little impatience here and there. I think I've realized even more now how instantly everybody wants everything. It's a little different in the Etsy community.
Especially the fact that I do my shirts per order. That means ordering the color/size of the blank shirt, shipping to me, printing, drying, then shipping. That can take up to two weeks sometimes to get to someone.

For fun.....

Are you Awesome?
I mean.....I think we all get the stamp of awesomeness for being on Teamt.

When was the last time you had a staring contest?
Like a month ago with my niece Annalee. She won.

When was the last time you fell asleep with the TV on?
I try sometimes, but I always get too into what is on. Especially putting on a Wes Anderson movie. Huge mistake if I wanna sleep.

Do you believe in love at first sight?
I think the idea of love is possible, but acutal love...I mean really? I think if I was in the grocery store and a girl walked up to me and said, "I was just weighing my bananas, then I looked up and saw you. I'm in love with you." I'd say, "I think you're crazy. Go finish weighing your bananas. Then we'll talk." I think you have to know who someone really is before falling in love with them.

Are vampires real?
Because of my ridiculous school schedule (classes 5pm - 1am, yes you read that right), I've been forced to be a creature of the night. And I may have seen a vampire the other day. Or maybe it was the 7th cup of coffee I was seeing.

Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
No, but I wish the light on the button would continue to turn on and off. They're fun to illuminate.

Where you named after anyone?
This is kind of ridiculous. But has anyone ever seen the movie Rollerball with James Caaa? Well, his name is Jonathan, and the whole crowd chants, "Jonathan! Jonathan! Jonathan!" in it. I think my dad thought it was pretty epic, so he carried on the Caan legacy.

What is the first thing you notice about people?
I think their mannerisms. People are so unique in their own way. Those unconscious things that people do that really make up who they are.

What is on your mouse pad?
The Starbucks logo is my mouse pad. Okay, yes. I'm an addict. (I unwittingly just sipped coffee after writing that. Wow)

If you were another person would you be friends with you?
If I gave me a free t-shirt.

Favorites.....

Favorite number?
I do a lot of things in odd numbers. I'm not quite sure why?

Favorite flower?
I've always liked orchids. I feel like it's teh closest thing to having a tree in your house. But if I ever had a house big enough, I'd have a tree in the center with art all over the walls.


Favorite color?
GREEN! I love green. It's such an energetic color, but there's also the earth tone green that is so soothing and great to be around. It's just a well rounded color. Great personality.



Favorite smells?
Coffee in the morning. The smell of Guatemala (vague I know, but it has a smell). Sharpies. Making popcorn. Outside when its like 5 degrees and snowing, so crisp. Making homemade raviolis in my parent's ravioli kitchen (big Italian family).

Favorite Food?
Sushi. Garbage Plates (a Rochester original). Google it. It looks gross, but it's heavenly. And greasy.

Favorite etsy shop?
I can't get enough of Ashleys's work. She is such an amazing illustrator. I'm constantly checking her new work. And AliciaBock. An amazing vintage capturing photographer.

Favorite pass-time?
Walking at duck. My guitars and pedal board. Acting 5 years old with my nieces/nephews. Photography. Being a geek in my Adobe/3D programs. Reading Psalms.

Favorite Memory?
Too many good ones. There's a heavenly place on earth called Camp Hickory Hill. We've been going there since I was about 6 years old on Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends. The memories continue to grow there. Always an epic weekend at the Hick.

Favorite YouTube Video?
Well, I'm not an uber fan of Fatboy Sim, but I watched this music video of his recently and it had my stomach hurting cause I was laughing so hard. It's kind of ridiculous.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so9DBHCo64Q