This month I had the honor to interview one of Virtual popstar’s newest badged designer. I think this designer is mostly known for their love for ducks, this user has even designed a duck skin! The designer who we want to give extra appreciation this month is the very talented DUCKBOY!
They have been so kind and even left a little gift for the VP users in this article, all you have to do is to find where it’s hidden!
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
- Hey! Name's Miguel, I'm ~16 and I'm hispano-peruvian! I'm a soon-to-be fashion design student, and in general I have a deep passion (obsession, I'd say) for anything related to art. I do pretty much anything that involves being a bit creative, like drawing, singing + music composition, building (does this count? I love the Sims lol), and quite a few other things (I'd LOVE to learn how to make tattoo designs!). Whenever I am not doing art-related stuff, you'll find me playing games like Valorant or LoL (I love shooters, they fuel my inner gamer)
How long have you been designing for vp and what initially sparked your interest in doing so?
- I've been officially designing for vp just this year, but I've designed before as a non-d (like, a few years ago). My interest pretty much started as soon as I knew about this site (around 2017), 'cause I'd see many designs made by many great designers (who I really love, and can call today -with their permission /jk- my friends). I was SO fascinated with the stuff they'd all create (and I'm still fascinated with the stuff they do), I just thought it'd be a great idea to design too!
When did you become a badged designer?
- I became a badged designer on February 12th of this year!
Where do you get your design inspiration?
- I usually just find stuff on my pinterest, but I also visit different sites like Vogue, POPSUGAR, Who What Wear... (I recommend these quite a lot!). Also, I think you can get a lot of inspiration by doing different stuff that doesn't necessarily involve fashion, like playing video games or simply going out (I live a few hours from the "big city", so whenever I go I just watch -respectfully- other's. People usually have quirky physical stuff that makes me imagine different stuff that can be translated into clothing? If it makes sense lol).
LE female code: DVCKB0YPRIDE21F
What program do you use for designing? And do you use a mouse or a drawing tablet?
- I use a mix of Paint Tool Sai and Clip Studio (I use SAI for lineart and solid colors, and then move to Clip Studio to shade, but I've only been doing this more recently and whenever I don't forget haha). I used to design with a trackpad, but that was a long time ago, before I got my drawing tablet (I use an Artist 12!).
Approximately how long does it take you to design one set?
- It really depends honestly. If I'm really inspired, I might take a few hours but lately it might take me days to finish a set (Finals, they s u c k). Also, whenever art-block attacks, I might just not design at all, but I just want to let others know that it is okay to not be productive for a while, as long as you don't let it trap you!
How much time do you spend designing on a weekly/monthly basis?
- If I am not on exam week, I might take quite a lot of hours per week (perhaps ~8 hours per day). Whenever I have exams or just a busy school-time, I'll probably be taking half the time I usually take. Again, it also depends on how inspired I am!
Do you have a set that means something special to you or that had a special story behind it when you created it? Can you tell us why / what that story is?
- It doesn't necessarily have an emotional background, but I'd say my duckboy and duckgirl designs are the ones I love most. I honestly wanted to try and recreate dollzmania artstyle with those sets, and even though they were supposed to only be meme-like designs, I think it got a bit of popularity! For a few days, after them being released, I'd see people wearing the duck skins and I was happy to see people liking -at least that's what I felt- it It was def a really fun moment, and I honestly still think about it sometimes
LE Male code: DVCKB0YPRIDE21M
Can you show us your oldest and your newest design?
- My -very very- first design as duckgirl/duckboy is, as mentioned before, my duck designs (click the oldest button) and my most recent one (released) it's the MisjelxDUCKBOY gamer collab (click the newest button)!