Where has your creative career taken you so far?
So far too here. …Thanks endemic, and anyone who so far has bought a Dog brothers T-shirt… but the future is a very big space.

Can you pass on any advice for others pursuing a similar career?
The T-shirt and design business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side! ! Keep it small one design at a time and most of all have fun.

Who are some of your favourite artists & designers?
This may be a long list sorry ahead of time…the late great Martin “FUCKIN” Emond, Broadmore, Dan Tippett and DLT, Otis Frizzel and Mark Weston, Trust Me also Banksy (especially the paris Hilton album rework) and anything he does that makes you think !, Obey, 3D, Vhils, Antony Micallef, Mode 2, Seen, Futura 2000, Jr, Connor Harrington, Zevs, Misery, Askew , TMD, Enu, Little Elliot and my mate Quink.

Describe your dream job?
Mmmm Fluffer on female porn sets ! (You asked).

What are you currently working on? Do you have any new and exciting projects coming up?
Slowly (ha ha) working on more limited edition prints (some may make it to T-shirts) the theme is New Zealand icons and music so watch this space.

Where did the name  Dog Brothers come from?
We were looking around on you tube and found a fighting group called Dog brothers there main thing was about self defense but when you looked closer it was brother hood and about respecting your opponent so we thought the last bit was a bit of us, so part of our aim is to help promote other would be artist such as Dj’s or graphic, clothing labels etc, so on our web site we post other peoples work and links. ”Even cage fighters who beat the living shit out of each other, still hug the looser and respect there efforts” a bit like how life should be.

What do you like most about being an artist/designer/making prints?
The free time.

What else do you do?
I am currently employed part time at Karousel screen printers, printing textile i.e. T-shirts etc for bands like Fat Freddy’s , Tiki and the list goes on etc etc.

What are your 5 favourite things?
My girlfriend my major support unit (couldn’t do half of it with out her x)
My art print collection, Obey, Otis Frizzell, Martin “F” Emond, Misery, Coop etc
Music at the mo Dj Dub Head, Dj Printor and J-Star
Italian home cooked food
Red Wine mmmmmm

What website do you spend most of your web time on?
www.dogbrothers.co.nz

What are your tools? black fine tip biro pen/ 21″mac/ go pro?
Start’s in my head then Pencils or Pen rough as sketches (which to most would make no sense) then talking to friends they listen and help me see the bigger picture and then my trusty 17” power book oh and now stencils and spray paint and lots of ink…

In what order did all this happen? Have you always been designing/illustrating under the Miss Ellie May brand?

Well, the ‘Miss Ellie May brand’ began when I wanted to sell a few things I’d screen printed at Craftwerk, back when that was happening, and I needed a name. Misselliemay has always been my email address and a lack of imagination and indecision led to me using it as my ‘brand’ – I’ve always meant to change it but have never gotten around to it. I guess I started that about three years ago and I’ve always wanted to make a magazine, so I finally set myself a deadline for Christmas last year. I don’t really know what I’m doing but it’s fun learning as I go.

How do you manage a demanding day job plus run two of your own brands? Do you have secret helpers?

I don’t really manage that well. I need to slow things down. I need to go to physio! Leading up to an issue deadline I am a bit of a stress bomb and after each issue I have put so much energy into it that I have to do nothing for a while – just send off packages of magazines. But yes, I do have a few secret helpers for the magazine – lovely friends who help with proofreading and bouncing ideas off, and of course the talented writers and photographers who contribute. I do a lot myself but as time goes on I hope to involve more people and spread the load.

Do you have any more ventures planned or is this it for now?

This is enough at the moment! I think the next idea is always forming in my head while I’m doing something else, but I need to focus on what I’m doing now.

If you had to choose one (graphic design, magazine publishing, designing tees & totes), which one would it be, and why?

I’ve always had trouble with indecisiveness, so I don’t really know… it’s hard to choose just one. I am really enjoying doing the magazine at the moment. I love that I have complete control over it, and I especially love having an excuse to be nosey about other creative people I admire – ask them about their work, go to their house and photograph their work spaces…

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learnt doing all this? Made any big mistakes?

Ah, yeah, I make mistakes all the time. Hopefully not too many people notice. Most valuable lesson: proofread a million times, and get someone else to proof as well.

And our favourite question, what’s your favourite product on endemicworld.com?

I love the Nice Work ‘You’re Lovely’ pillowcases and also Papercup’s ‘pocket protector’ tee.

Hey thanks for your time Ellie, we’re envious of your design filled lifestyle and illustration skills and hope to see more of your work up in here soon…..

I’ve always been a drawer, ever since I could hold a crayon, and I’ve never stopped. I opened my first publishing company at the age of 11, in a treehut in a walnut tree in the back yard, where I wrote stories on an old Remington typewriter, designed the covers and handstitched the spines. Very limited editions, none of which have survived, sadly. I studied textile design at Wellington Design School, but almost immediately got into book design (after a short stint as till jockey at Unity Books). I worked for various publishing companies in NZ, before landing a plum job as graphic designer at Bloomsbury Publishing in the UK. Since returning to NZ I have run my own graphic design studio, offering a complete publication service: from design & illustration, writing & editing, through to print management and production, winning numerous awards for book design in the process.

© Victoria Birkinshaw

From bespoke stationery, to limited edition prints to publishing books… what is your favourite and why?

My first and greatest love is handlettering, and I’m busy carving out a niche providing handlettering for packaging & identities, often for other design houses. A recent high-point was being commissioned by the New York Times to draw some type to accompany their regular column ‘On Language’, and being included in their group show in New York alongside such type luminaries as Ed Fella, Paula Scher, Marian Bantjes & Jessica Hische. I’ve recently had two really challenging commissions from the City Gallery Wellington, one to produce the drawing ‘I did this instead of going out‘ for the Courtenay Place lightbox series, and the other for a huge type installation on the wall of the Hirschfeld Gallery. I’m also getting some interesting private commissions for handlettering, including designs for a classic yacht restoration, and various architectural features in home renovations.

What’s the main inspiration behind your illustration style? Wellington weather got anything to do with it?

Words and letterforms are my main inspiration. I have been preoccupied with drawing letterforms from a very early age, and I still find it endlessly inspiring. I also have a great love and fascination for language, for nuance and meaning and hidden meaning. Wellington weather is more of a damn hindrance than anything else. I said that through gritted teeth…

Wellington is cool, it has a natural creative energy thats hard to describe and different from many other NZ cities… whats in the water down there?

Maybe it IS the weather. You have to be tenacious and hardy to withstand it, particularly the wind, and maybe that has become a defining influence over the creative energy here. I’m guessing of course, but maybe there’s something in that. Perhaps we have to put our heads down and bury ourselves in creative endeavour to block out the horror of the elements…

What’s your favourite product on endemicworld.com?

My life has been an endless search for the perfect handbag. I think the Paris House Bebe Tear Drop Bag is getting pretty close. While I save up for that, I could be very content with Miss Ellie’s Miracle Tote Bag.

Thanks for your time Sarah and we’re all looking forward to seeing more of your work on endemicworld.com soon.

What is F3 Design?

Ella + Pippin – F3 Design is a platform for creation: homeware, furniture, architectural, exhibition and graphic design. An umbrella that allows us to indulge our design ideas in a digestible and practical way to allow others the opportunity to experience and attain them for their own homes and body adornment. And on a less serious note but equally as important… fun is pretty essential to the whole operation here!

What is it like working with your brother/sister? Who’s the boss?

Ella + Pippin – Ella thinks Pippin is the boss.. and Pippin thinks Ella is the boss!!  It’s great working with family, we know each others strengths and weaknesses and we can use this to our advantage. A successful business hinges on knowing your shortcomings and where you excel… for this reason working with family means we have an advantage over many other business partnerships.

Your range of products vary from tea towels, to art collabs with photographers through to decking out event interiors. How did you end up doing such a wide variety of creative work, what was first?

Ella + Pippin – We are versatile in our abilities and interests, and between the two of us we have an array of skills that allow us to tackle a wide variety of projects. One project or product leads onto the next project or product… each taking seed from the last,  giving us a new idea and direction for the next.  We are often surprised at the types of projects that arise such as our latest design project for the International Antarctic Centre. We definitely did not see ourselves making icebergs as part of our business, but it’s a nice change and challenge, and definitely keeps us on our toes.

What is your most popular product and do you do commissions for individual requests?

Ella + Pippin – Our most popular product/products are our Guywire jewellery range. Guywires have been in production for many years now and are developing a great customer base and seem to be a great conversation starter when someone spots a guywire on the wrist of someone they don’t know! The Guywire range has grown and evolved over the years to accommodate the requirements of the modern guy and gal, and can now be found throughout New Zealand, and parts of Australia, as well as online through the great guys at endemicworld.com!

Increasingly we do quite a few furniture and shop fitting commissions. These usually stem from customers who have seen and enjoyed our products and general aesthetic. Customers often really like one of our tables, for example, but need it slightly smaller to fit their space, or in the case of larger commission design jobs, such as a current job for Underground Coffee Company HQ, we design pieces to fit into their space.

Last time I was in Christchurch was for University back in 1999, it was a quiet town, what’s the design/creative scene in Christchurch like 10 years on?

Ella + Pippin – The Creative scene is Christchurch is small but robust.  There are some great leaders and big thinkers here that are making huge in-roads into helping Christchurch creatives come out of the woodwork and entice new ideas, productions, activities and design into the path of everyday viewers and participants. Christchurch is a small city that needs some big characters and innovative thinkers to keep the creative momentum going, and I think we are starting to see the outcome of this with some great design, artwork, and arts and dance festivals here… long may it continue!

What’s your favourite product on endemicworld.com?

Ella + Pippin –  We really like the thatch stuff, and think the Zoe Ikin jewellery is great, especially the lightning bolt necklace.

Hey thanks for your time guys and filling us in on the Chch scene at what makes F3 tick. Visit F3′s quality NZ made goods here.