Spy of the Month

What do you do when you’re not volunteering for 826CHI?

I am the art director at a luxury furniture designer, and freelance graphic designer. Shameless promotion: http://thomasjquinn.com/ and http://blankisthenewblack.com/. I am an obsessive Blackhawks fan. I'll see any movie in which an entire city gets destroyed. I am highly skilled at most traditional ball-related sports, and I use these skills in various adult recreational leagues. I am particularly valuable on a kickball team, because I am left-footed.

Once we ascertained the presence and sharpness of your design chops, we had you designing everything from our new big student book Anywhere at Once to the materials for our big May event, People Eating and Giving. Do you have a secret design philosophy or any good advice to people looking to get into the life of design?

When in doubt, keep it simple. Don't add in a bunch of extra junk that doesn't need to be in your layout. Don't make a logo of your initials. Don't use helvetica. Don't use any typeface that was already on your computer when you got it. Don't use Photoshop filters. Don't build your website in Flash. Do take a typography class. Beyond that, I am a believer of Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule (google it).

We've seen a video of you growing a beard. How did you remain so still for months?

It's a common misconception that I actually stood still for 90 days straight. I actually just took a photo every day and assembled it all in Photoshop. Contrary to some accusations in the YouTube comments, I didn't actually Photoshop any of the beard, I just used it to make the pictures line up better and take the background out. The site I made for it got on the digg.com front page and resulted in a brief international following, but that site is now in internet heaven, and the current preferred method of viewing is on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/qvinn/beard

What’s been your favorite moment at 826CHI?

It has to be from the 2009 Robot Prom when I went as silver man. I shaved my head and applied silver latex to my entire head and face. A friend of mine was bringing her new boyfriend, and I met him for the first time at prom with a shiny silver head. I attended this couple's wedding two weekends ago and I'd like to think it was my silver head that got the relationship started on the right foot. A highlight of the night had to be when a couple of friends and I started a human pyramid in the corner and a couple of similarly/robotically dressed strangers came over and joined in. It made for quite a photograph.

What is your favorite thing about 826CHI?

That it creates an atmosphere where it is not only fun to learn, but also fun to volunteer. It's a shame that it is so common among kids to viewed as a nerd if you are smart, while it seems you are almost automatically cool if you are good at sports. 826CHI, along with the other 826 chapters, creates an atmosphere where learning to write is really enjoyable. Also, I think the books that 826CHI publishes with the students' writing could be enough to change some lives in a subtle, but significant way. I gravitated toward drawing when I was a kid, and my middle school had an art competition in which I entered a montage of photorealistic drawings of Bo Jackson that won me first prize (yeah, it was THAT good), which totally validated the whole drawing thing for me. If it weren't for that and some other early encouragement, it is very likely I would be doing something very different with my life today. In the case of the 826CHI students, I imagine seeing something you wrote in one of their published books could have a very similar effect.

Word on the ice is that you are a very big fan of sport. If you could sneak your way onto any team, which would it be and what position would you play?

This is true. I have been a big Blackhawks fan since I was a kid. In fact, I have a recurring dream in which I am playing left wing for the Blackhawks. I am aware in this dream that I am not worthy of playing in the NHL, but I still score a goal on my very first shift.

What nickname would the fans give you?

Tiki. Like TQ, but with a more appealing long 'e' sound at the end, as so many hockey nicknames tend to have.

What’s your life ambition?

I'd like to start a book publisher along the lines of a Taschen, which is to say I'd publish mostly art books with elaborate and expensive designs. But my true life ambition is to eat at a McDonald's on every continent. I'm 4/7 of the way there, and I'm scheduled to get a 5th continent checked off the list later this summer. Getting Antarctica could be tough. If anyone reading this knows of any cruise ships with a McDonald's on-board that travels into Antarctic waters, let me know.

In the uneven circumstance that the flower's fluorescent light illuminates the flour on the floor, from where should the trapeze artist order her cantaloupe?

This is what happens when you find a stranger in the alps.