Artist Interview: Anna Bond of Rifle Design

I am so excited to share an interview I did recently with Anna Bond of Rifle Design. A girl with enormous amounts of talent, she works as an illustrator and designer based out of Winter Park, Florida. Visit her blog, or her flickr photos for even more inspiration. Here are the questions!

1. How long have you been creating art and design?
I suppose I’ve been interested in creating ever since I found a box of crayons but it became more serious after I got into high school. At the time I was very focused on painting/fine art but when I began college I decided to major in graphic design.

2. What are your sources of inspiration?
Oh there are many things! I love mid century design, folk art, the work of Matte Sephens, Blanca Gomez, the mountains & trees, architecture, vintage type, WPA posters, children’s book art, most things that came out of the 50’s, and on and on. I try to find inspiration from things that aren’t in my field as much as I can (such as nature or architecture) to help me be creative and find my own voice.

3. I see you are opening a new studio space and stationary shop. Congratulations! What products will you be offering for retail?
Thank you! It’s been so exciting (and liberating) to move into my studio from our small apartment. I’m planning on selling a line of greeting cards, recipe cards, art prints, wedding & event templates, and other misc. paper goods at the studio shop. I’ll also be opening an online store that will carry the same items. Both should be open around the end of July.

4. I know it’s probably hard to pick, but do you have a favorite out of the work that you’ve done?
I hate to pick favorites but I do have a soft spot for the Carly & Daniel invitation. I think it’s because it’s a bit different than my other invitations and when she first emailed me about her wedding and ideas I felt like I knew exactly what I would illustrate for her. What popped into my mind mind is pretty much how it turned out so that was fun. It just clicked.

5. I noticed you primarily use gouache to paint your illustrations. What are some other tools/supplies/mediums that you primarily use for your work?
Gouache is my primary medium. I absolutely love it and it really changed my style when I began painting with it a few years ago. Before then I mainly used watercolors (and still so sometimes). I also love working with cut paper.

6. Can you briefly describe your process for creating a new work of art?
I typically start by just brainstorming about the project and trying to find inspiration from what the client likes and wants. I then draw up a few pencil sketches for the layout, style of the lettering, and illustrated elements. This part is really important as I usually hand draw or paint everything in the final version so it saves a lot of time to get things set before then. Once the sketch is finished I use that to create the final illustration and then transfer it to the computer for some post work.

7. And lastly, a fun question! All artists have their quirks. Name one of yours.
I asked my husband to think of a quirk and he said that I’m shy. I don’t think that’s really a quirk though. I’m going to say that it’s how much I love figuring out how things work such as how traffic censors work and how tunnels are built (most have to do with roads and transportation because I collect curiosities while I’m driving and then go back and read howstuffworks.com).

Thank you so much for sharing Anna! Best wishes on your store launch and we look forward to seeing more lovely work in the future.