It is time to show our appreciation for another one of the talented designers who provide the clothing we all love to collect and dress up in, and this time I have had the pleasure of interviewing one of the most recent additions to the ranks of official designers, namely Askr! 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Emilie, I’m 20 years old and from Norway. I love drawing, usually with colouring pencils but sometimes I like mixing it with paint or ink too, and creating stuff in general. I keep to myself most of the time, my social distancing skills are impressive!

I’m also really interested in languages, and would love to learn more, but I’m easily distracted and switch language of interest every three months or so. So basically I can offer you apples in a whole bunch of languages but I don't make sense in any of them. Not even my own tbh. 

Can you tell us more about the other things you create?

I like to make threedimentional things, like clay figures or just something of whatever I can find. I had a period last year when I made newspaper baskets, but I used up all the newspapers so it had to stop. 

You mentioned you wanted to learn more languages, what language(s) are you currently particularly interested in?

I should say russian, as I've been studying it for over a year now, but lost interest years ago tbh. Still think it's an interesting and really beautiful language, but I'm mainly interested in the languages of Caucasus and Central Asia. Those regions are way more accessible if you know russian, but that's kinda weak motivation so I doubt I'll continue. 

How long have you been designing for vp and what initially sparked your interest in doing so?

I’ve been designing since December last year, and sent in my first set in February. I joined the team in September. I wasn’t sure about applying as I felt very inexperienced, but I’m glad I went for it anyway.

I started designing because it seemed like there was a general lack of male sets, and I thought that with some practice I could do something about it. I have little to no experience with drawing digitally, so adjusting to it was kinda difficult, but after a while it wasn’t all that different from traditional drawing.

Where do you get your inspiration?

I usually get inspiration from scrolling through pinterest or instagram, picking up some ideas and come up with something based on that. Other times I’m trying to make an outfit and notice that there's stuff we don't have that we should have, and take some mental notes for later. 

What program do you use for designing, and do you use a mouse or a

drawing tablet?

I use firealpaca, and the trackpad on my laptop.

How long do you approximately spend on designing one set?

It varies a lot, depending on the set. Some are rather basic and those don’t take long, usually I'll be done within a week. I prefer spending more time tho, and make detailed stuff. I can easily be on the same set for a month.  

How much time do you spend designing?

Probably too much. It’s the perfect procrastination activity. 

Do you have a set that means something special to you or that had a special story behind it when you created it?

I suppose this one (below) is kinda special to me. It's one of my most recent sets, but it doesn't feel like it as I worked on it for ages. Making the actual items that ended up in the set didn't take that long, but it had so many personality changes along the way. I can still see the innocent fairy it started out as, no idea what happened. I was just never satisfied, because it was the first set I worked on after joining the team and I felt like I had to up my game. In the end I think it turned out pretty cool tho.

How do you feel like your approach to designing has changed from designing as a nonD compared to now being a badged designer?

I guess it has changed in the way that I'm putting more thought into it. I used to just make a bunch of items and if they were somewhat matching put them together and be done, but now I think of each set as an outfit, if that makes sense.

How was the experience of uploading your first set, and how did it feel seeing your own designer tag in the wardrobe for the first time? 

Well.. I was like 'pff this is easy' and then went on to misplace every single item haha. Sorting by my tag was really cool- lowkey embarrassing because there's no hiding items I'd rather forget about, but it's still pretty cool. 

Click on the box to the right to see the difference between Askr’s most recent design, and one of her oldest, created only a year ago, back in December 2019.

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I really hope you enjoyed this interview, and got to know Askr a bit more, both as a designer, and the lovely person behind the screen! 

Lastly, as a last little surprise, Askr has created some gifts for you to enjoy;

LE Female: lildatreat4fem

LE Male: lildatreat4male