ADORN: An Interview with Eric Elms
How did you get into the graphic arts scene here in New York?
Doing some poster and sticker stuff on the street whenever I could, while doing my own art and design. I assisted KAWS for a while. Not really consciously trying to build up a portfolio or anything but more to just keep busy and not be lazy while I was in school. I was always working on personal work. Then after I finished up school, I went to work at Supreme, around 2002.
Do you have a favorite design from your days at Supreme?
Well, I guess my favorite was the Ewing dunking tee. That was sort of my first one, a little milestone, and it was pretty cool for that time.
And after Supreme you started doing some projects for Stussy?
I think it started with the World Tour tee series. They recorded me for that as a feature and I did one of the designs. After that I started doing graphics for them. They have a sense of humor to their graphics, or vibe, like street-versus-relaxation that I can relate to coming from the west coast. I grew up San Diego which is kind of mellow and slow. So I feel like my personality works with them, juxtaposing the town and country vibe.
What are your favorite movies?
I like Harold and Maude, that’s a good one. Searching for Bobby Fisher is good. I need to have something with some street cred- Scarface? I like documentaries. Streetwise is a good one, it’s a documentary on homeless kids in Seattle. Mary Ellen Mark did a photo book on it at the same time. I think it’s from about ’83. It’s about these kids living on the streets and their personalities.
