Keebz is an independent graphics designer who’s done designs for a wide
range of artists. His most popular work is the one’s that he has done
for group Far East Movement, including most of their merchandise. He's
also done covers for Roscoe Umali, Rook, Jin, and several other
artists. In this interview, he sheds some light on what it is he does,
and where he wants to take it.
 AZNRaps
– Wassup Keebz. A second for us, we don’t get a chance to sit down and
talk with graphic artists much. So how is the New Year treating you?
Keebz
- First of all, thanks for this opportunity! Things have been going
smoothly so far in the ‘08. I’m constantly working nonstop and taking
on new projects day by day.
AZNRaps – We all know that artists have it rough. The only time
they really make it big is after they die it seems haha. Unless you are
dead or contracted with some major company, I find it very tough to
pursue such a path; I know you gotta feel the same way right?Keebz
- It’s definitely not an easy road and I’d be lying if I said I never
thought about giving it up and going into something more profitable.
But you know… I got a drive for this thing. Art is my passion and
purpose in life and that’s something I’ve known for a very long time. I
might not be a baller anytime soon but it keeps me happy. Besides, I
still have my day job to keep me steady haha!
AZNRaps – Working with graphic design has a lot of potential since
there is always a need for eye catching designs. That poses even more
challenges since there is a lot of competition out there. How can you
compete in such an industry?Keebz - Hard work, dedication, and
constantly trying to outdo yourself. Haha I know that sounds cliche but
it’s damn true.
There is a LOT of talent in this industry and you have to be very
motivated to stay on track and not lose focus. Having so much
competition can also be a good thing though because artists often get
inspired by other artists.
 AZNRaps – Besides graphic design, you have had formal training in animation. How did you like that? Which do you prefer?
Keebz
- Animation was always something I liked growing up and it turned out
to be my main area of study in college as well. However, as much as I
love the art of it, I couldn’t see myself doing it for a living. Being
an animator is a tough, grueling job spending countless hours in front
of a light box flipping pages and only those who are absolutely 100%
dedicated to it last in the business. I realized that animation wasn’t
for me during my last years in college and turned to graphic design and
illustration. It turns out I made the right decision. I enjoy graphic
design and illustration more than animation because it allows me to
have more freedom with my art and work with many other industries. Like
you said, there is always a need for eye-catching designs. I still do,
however, sit in on live figure drawing classes when I have the time to
brush up on my drawing skills. An old animation habit, I guess.
AZNRaps – I really like your style man, it’s very clean. It’s
‘cartoony’ but at the same time realistic. This style seems to be the
trend these days it seems. What kind of programs do you use when doing
these graphics?Keebz - I mainly work with Photoshop and
Illustrator. InDesign is another program I use every now and then for
album art. As for the actual freehand drawing, I use a Cintiq tablet.
Working is so much easier and faster when you have a tablet because it
eliminates the middle man aka ‘the scanner’. I still carry around a
sketchbook to jot down ideas but when it gets to starting the actual
work, I start sketching directly into the computer with my tablet.
AZNRaps – Your works are incredibly detailed and very vibrant. How
long does it take to compose a typical piece? For example, the pieces
included in this interview? Keebz - To give you an estimate, ‘The
Creation of the Emcee’ took about 15 hours from sketching it out to
inking it and adding colors. Other more detailed pieces like the Roscoe
joint can take anywhere from 25-30 hours.
AZNRaps – Do you consider yourself a perfectionist? How does that personality affect the way you do business?Keebz
- I’d definitely consider myself a perfectionist in the artist sense. I
think you have to be in order to keep clients satisfied so they can
refer you to others in need of artwork. I make sure to check the roughs
and finals dozens of times before sending them to the cli
ent for review.
AZNRaps – Let’s talk about the first time you got a “real” project.
How did it feel to get that call and actually start working on a
professional, paying design job?Keebz - I felt a strong sense of
accomplishment and the realization that all of my hard work to build up
my portfolio wasn’t put to waste haha. Getting that call for my first
“real” project was unreal.
AZNRaps – Were there any differences between those professional
jobs and amateur projects you worked on earlier besides the fact that
one paid and the other did not?Keebz - Realizing that I was
getting paid for my work took me to another level. The amount of effort
put into the projects stayed the same but I noticed myself working
faster to meet deadlines and checking and rechecking the work to meet
the satisfaction of the clients. Moving onto professional jobs also
allowed me to network faster because it exposed my art to a wider
audience in a shorter amount of time.
AZNRaps – You are well connected. You do a lot of
design work for rappers, many popular ones that we are well familiar
with such as ROOK, Far East Movement, Jin, Roscoe Umali, and many
others. How did you get in contact with these artists? Did they contact
you or you contact them? Keebz - I was the one to originally
reach out to the artists letting them know about my work mainly through
email and MySpace. At that time, I didn’t have a big portfolio to show
and haven’t done many designs for musicians. The Far East Movement were
the first established musicians to give me a chance and I thank them
for the opportunity. After the FM joint, Roscoe Umali, who I was a fan
of since his Drunken Tiger days, gave me the chance to design his
upcoming mixtape cover. Pretty soon, I started getting more and more
emails from musicians wanting me to design their logos and album covers
and that’s pretty much how I started. Props to Myspace, FM, Roscoe
Umali, ROOK, Jin and everybody who gave me a chance!
AZNRaps – I imagine all this takes place over the internet? Did you
ever get a chance to meet up with any of them? How was the experience? Keebz
- Most of it does take place over the internet and telephone but every
now and then I get to meet up with the guys I’m working with. The last
artist that I’ve done artwork for and met was Kev Nish from the Far
East Movement. I met up with Kev at a restaurant in K-Town to talk
about designs for the “3 Fingers Tees” project over a bowl of Korean
noodles. Cool cat and very down-to-earth, that guy. I’m in Korea right
now so I don’t have many opportunities to meet up with anybody but I
have a list of people I’d like to hook up with once I get back.
AZNRaps – Haha, be honest, were there any that were so bad that you wanted to quit a project but couldn’t?Keebz
- Hahaha! Every now and then I get some funky ideas for projects. Most
of the times, I suggest ways to improve the original idea and the
client usually ends up trusting my abilities. However, yeah no doubt,
there have definitely been times when I wanted to quit but couldn’t!
AZNRaps – Can’t forget to talk about this. You are coming out with
a clothing line soon which is a very popular path among graphic
designers these days. Talk more about this venture.Keebz - The
line will basically be all about dope graphics and strong symbolic
messages relevant to topics ranging from hiphop and the media to life
in general. I don’t want to get too much into it right now because I’m
still dealing with things like trademarks and all that fun business
stuff nobody wants to deal with but I can say that I truly believe I
have something dope and unique to offer the street-wear industry.
AZNRaps – Going back to the initial questions, what’s the future
like for KEEBZ? Where do you plan to go with graphic design? Continue
like how you are now? Or maybe try to get into a firm’s media
department? Maybe open your own firm?Keebz - You know, I honestly
haven’t thought too much about that yet. I’m definitely comfortable
where I am now but sometimes being too comfortable isn’t a good thing.
I’d like to get my art exposed to a wider audience. Creating album art
and logos are some of my favorite things to do so I’ll most likely be
doing that for a long time whether it’d be solely by itself or as a
side venture. As of the moment, all of my focus is on my upcoming
clothing line so I’m just going to take it one step at a time for now.
AZNRaps – Keebz, good luck with your projects. The clothing line,
tough business as well, but you should be fine if you keep up with dope
graphics. You need to do some pieces for AR! Haha.Keebz - Yoooo! Once again, thanks for this opportunity and I’m most definitely down to do a collab with AR anytime! Hit me up!
For more information, visit his MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/crackpixels
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Interviews 
