MacThemes: Ah, so would you say your interest in a larger scale of illustration was pushed by making desktops then?

It definitely was, when I first started making them I didn’t have a printer so I used my monitor as a kind of virtual frame for my tiny room at college. I used Deskshade for a while since it was so easy to change the images, although now that I am always using two monitors it would be nice to use it for that as well. I still like having my icons on the desktop though.

MacThemes: So when you’re coming up with a desktop, how does the process go? I imagine like many artists, there’s an irresistible something to make and do all the time.

I’m constantly doodling and sketching things in my sketchbook. There are always a lot of bad ideas to get through, but the more you go the more inspiration you get and as the drawings evolve, I bring it over to Illustrator and redraw it and makes tweaks and then color it all in.

MacThemes: So then you have a very organic process to match what I’d describe as quite an organic style.

It’s a very loose way of getting an image, probably more related to improvisation than anything pre-planned. Although occasionally I’ll also have ideas in mind as starting points, but something unexpected always tends to creep in during the process.

MacThemes: Something you mentioned earlier, with wanting to make your icons match your desktops… and this idea might particularly apply with Somatic, with its large cast of characters as icons – it’s a nice idea for the desktop to be a kind of field for the icons to populate.

I tried experimenting with making little scenery to put the icons in so they were almost hidden, but it wasn’t very useful from a functionality point of view so it was never explored very extensively. I’d always be losing my icons or trying to find where I put my hard drive. :p

MacThemes: So as your own desktops have progressed in style and execution, monitors worldwide are getting bigger. I know that working in Illustrator helps enormously with this, but do you see the desktop going anywhere else in the future other than… getting really big?

Well, I’m sort of hoping that resolution independence will come along so I only need to worry about making them one size. As far as desktop functionality goes, I think the trend will be to create near the edges more often than the middle so I highly doubt the desktop picture will go anywhere.

MacThemes: And with devices like the iPhone coming out, can you see yourself making many… for lack of a better word… desktopettes?

I’ll definitely be playing around with that… maybe I’ll have to get one to test development on

MacThemes: Let’s talk about Aqua. Leopard is obviously going to bring changes to Aqua’s aesthetics; from what you’ve seen in previews, do you believe it’s still fresh?

I think that parts of Aqua had been getting stagnant for a few versions, but I really like the new directions Apple is exploring. Some things are good, others maybe not so much. I’m not too enthused by the new folders, the blue color is nice but the texture on them reminds me of cheap paper or cardboard. I think that the new toolbar icons look great though as well as some of the new UI materials. Leopard really feels like it will be more unified overall and be enjoyable to work in without having to mod too many things. It may be rough now but with a few refinements and help from the community it will all work out, they do have some brilliant artists working for them.

MacThemes: What kind of Mac do you work on? What’s your ideal dream machine, if you don’t already own it?

I pretty much have my dream machine, minus a few 30″ displays! I work on a 2Ghz dual-core Mac Pro with plenty of RAM and disk space, along with a 20″ display and extra 19″ monitor.

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