Interview with the owner & graphic designer of Olipop and a few of my favorite t-shirts.

I have a confession to make… cool T-shirt design is kind of my thing. If there was a store that could house all the cool shirt designs that were ever created, then it would sit empty. That’s right. I said empty. Because all the cool graphic t-shirts would be in my closet. Yup, I’m a geek.

Image my joy when I discovered OliPop Art & Design. Scroll down to see me wearing my favorite OliPop t-shirt. 

What makes a tshirt great?

In my opinion, a great t-shirt is made out of light, breathable fabric, preferably cotton. I like my t-shirts to be soft to the touch, comfort fitting meaning not too small and not too large, and with a round neck. Since I’m pretty tall, I prefer a longer tshirt to wear over my pants. The artwork on front need to stand out by being eye catching. I also prefer to have a small logo or design on the back.

We got a chance to ask Oliver Ibañez a few questions about his profession.

Nick: How did you get started with your Cool Graphic T Shirts? How did you discover your passion?

Oliver is the shop owner and graphic designer: As a teenager I always felt an attraction for audiovisual stuff and computers. When I entered the university in 2001 I started the Computer Engineering career, but after a few years I felt that wasn’t what I really wanted to study, so I moved into the School of Art and Design and finished my studies of Advertising Graphics in 2007.

After that, I found my first job in a small audiovisual company and I felt very happy working on things I studied about! The following job where in a local newspaper for 2 years. Then it was in 2010 when I started working for Fanisetas, a graphic design and new technologies business of my brother and a good friend, that also had a small emerging online business of t-shirts.

I never did t-shirt designs before so that was my first contact with this kind of business. Thanks to that, I became a freelance artist since 2013 and I’m working almost exclusively on t-shirt designs.

What keeps you going?

The truth is that I had no idea that the t-shirt market was so profitable when I started working on it, but now that I’m freelance and I can work at home in something that I really enjoy doing it’s something that I just can’t leave!

People are so grateful with the work I do.

That keeps me working each day with the same enthusiasm as the first day! Also having to pay the bills are what keep me working every day haha

What would you say is your greatest accomplishment in life so far? What were some of the things you’ve learned from it?

Becoming a freelance artist is something I didn’t expected it to happen, but now that I’m working on my own I can take control of everything I do, without receiving orders, doing whatever I want and learning new thing that could make my business grow.

I think that is the greatest accomplishment I could reach at this moment and that made me learn to become more self-sufficient in my job. With that, all the rewards comes by keep working and being constant. And I hope to reach more accomplishments in the future!

Do you feel comfortable sharing a mistake/disappointment from your life with us? What have you learned from it?

Absolutely not! I guess that the biggest mistake I had for some time was that kind of fear of not reaching my own goals and just focusing on that I couldn’t reach more or not being able to do something. I’m an introvert guy that finds it difficult to evolve.

But hey, it’s all about trying and seeing what happens! If I leave all those fears and just focus on doing something I need in my life or in my work then I just do it :)

Who has been the most influential person in your life? Why?

Well, I couldn’t take just one name because there are many people who have influenced me and that continue to influence me. Obviously, in my life have been my parents, my big brother and my friends who made me grow as the person I’m right now.

Professionally, I liked so much the work of Drew Struzan, the famous movie posters artist, because I love movies and I grew up in the 80s era with all those great movies and cartoons. And now with the t-shirt business there are a lot of great artists that are a huge influence for me and for my job.

What are your goals for your future?

I’m not sure if I’ll keep working in the future at the t-shirt business, but I would like to try other kind of jobs. I have something in mind since a few years ago, but the profession of voice actor really catches my attention and it has to be very funny to do. But anyway, I’ll be open to do anything that makes me happy :)

And now a few more Cool Graphic T Shirts from OliPop Art:

If you would like to stay on top of what OliPop Art & Design has to offer check out his social media sites for new graphic designs & special deals.

Find OliPop Art on social media:
twitter.com/OliPopArt

The shirt that caught my eye was the one from the Guardians Of The Galaxy.

It’s one of my favorite movies and I always have thought that the films characters were easily identifiable to translate to just about every form of marketing imaginable. I’ll keep you posted on that as it develops. In the words of Stan Lee: ‘Nuff Said‘.

UPDATE:

I received my Guardian Of The Galaxy t-shirt “The team with a bunch of A-holes”. Woohoo!! I really like it! It’s a Fruit Of The Loom ‘HD’ shirt. It’s really comfortable and fits nicely. What do you think?

We would like to thank Oliver for taking the time to chat with us.

Be sure to check out his Etsy store and find even more creative Cool Graphic T Shirts, art and design.

Which one is your favorite t-shirt design? Leave us a comment below, we would love to hear from you.