Pamela Thompson
www.pamelathompson.com


Location: Peekskill, NY

Tell us a little about your background - Design Education:
I received an AAS from FIT in NYC, and a BS from UW-Madison both in Fashion Design.

Describe your life as a Fashion / Graphic / Web Designer and Artist?
I have worked as a fashion designer for Anna Sui, Dollhouse, Betsey Johnson and currently for Heatherette. I also had my own line for a number of years and a store in the East Village in NYC. I have been lucky to work for some of the most creative companies in the US, who not only make clothes but participate heavily in styling for celebrities and fashion show production.

I became interested in computers in 1995. I got my first computer (since my old Apple 2E in the early 80's) at that time and taught myself Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash. I love being able to do many things. It tends to make you more marketable in more areas and feel more confident in your abilities. I started making art in 2001, just after 9/11. I have always had a fascination with photographs and diorama's depicting a 3 dimensional snapshot of life. My artwork helped me relieve some of the stress of 9/11 and the after effects. I was able to take some of that discontent and release it into the lives of the characters in my artwork.

How was it working for Anna Sui as her Graphic Artist and Web Developer?
Anna has been a wonderful supporter of my work over the years. She is such a creative designer and I am honored to be able to continue to work with her. Being able to be creative in your job is such a blessing.

I love your art pieces all of them! It reminds me of old 80's Album covers like Missing Persons and Devo. What was your main source of inspiration when creating these great pieces?
I get inspiration from the photograph of the central figure (I choose this first and build around it). Then I imagine what that person's life involves and develop a story around them. The dimensional aspect of the pieces helps the viewer become a closer participant in the piece!..almost allowing them to step into that characters world. The text gives you a hint of a description of what that persons world is like!.but ultimately it is up to you to decide what is going on.

You have a lot of celebrities wearing your clothing, what's it like to see your creation on such high-profile people?
It is a trip! It is wonderful to have celebrities accept your work and wear it in public, but I love seeing ALL people wearing my designs. Being involved in the fashion industry allows you to acquire a lot of the clothing I design for free! .but it really makes me excited to see someone on the street wearing my designs, because I realize that the person saw the design and loved it so much they paid full price for it! I love that my designs can help people express themselves as well!

What programs do you use to create your computer graphics and web layouts?
I use Corel Draw, Illustrator and Photoshop. My husband does the programing, but he has taught me to use Macromedia Homesite and HTML Kit to do minor web site updates.

What is your workday like being the Head Designer for Betsey Johnson?
I am actually no longer at Betsey Johnson.
I left there and have been hired to be the Head Designer for Heatherette in NYC. They are an amazing design team from the NYC club era, Richie Rich and Traver Rains. They have a Betsey type of look but even more edgy. I am doing there ready to wear line and possibly there new website. My day there is crazy. It is basically a start up, so I am the head of everything along with an associate and assistant. We just got finished with our 7th On Sixth tent show.

The line is very celebrity driven and has been worn and received by, Paris Hilton, Naomi Campell, Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Lydia Hearst (Patty Hearst's daughter), Kimberely Stewart (Rod Stewarts daughter), Liza Minneli, Anna Nicole Smith, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alicia Keys, Lizzie Jagger (Mick Jagger's daughter) and others. They also have many celebrity friends such as Boy George, who has supported them over the years.

Sorry to hear about your Kitty, are you planning to get another one soon?
That's sweet, thank you! Kitty was actually my kitty from childhood and was living with my parents in Chicago. I had her since I was 15 so I was pretty sad!!! I have two kitties in NY that are pulling me through!

Besides Art and Design what do you like to do on your spare time?
I am a tv and movie JUNKY! I got a subscription to Netflix and go through at least one movie per day! I also love to sew for myself, make movies for my website with my new camcorder (ok, they are pretty amateur but fun to make), and remix music.

Being a web developer what do you prefer technologically advanced sites or sites with simple but good design?
I am a sucker for Flash so anything that has Flash usually keeps my attention. If a site looks good but is hard to navigate, I usually get frustrated and leave. I guess I would say function is more important than design if I had to choose, but nothing beats a killer site design with great navigation.

What are your thoughts on Macromedia Flash?
I love it. I am no expert at using it, but am trying to teach myself more and more. I think as a developer, it can be frustrating since it is difficult to quickly update, but as a designer, the possiblilities seem endless.

If Art and Fashion Design did not exist what profession would you most likely be?
Graphic Design I think. I really can't see myself doing anything other that working in a creative field. I did want to be an actress at one time, but I am a major wimp in front of an audience. Stepping out on a runway and tv interviews are about all I can handle in the spotlight.

I Interviewed a couple before on PACDESCO - Tomer Hanuka and Karen Oxman both are very succesfull in the Industry and are also from NYC. Do you find you and David23 competing or do you support and feed off of each others ideas?
We support each other. We are both creative people, but our work and thinking is very different. David is a great sound board to bounce ideas off. He is more level headed than me and usually is honest with me when I get to "out there".

Any advice for up and coming fashion designers:
I was told by my advisor, when I went to UW-Madison, that I would never become anything more that a worker bee at Osh Kosh B'gosh in rural Wisconsin. I would tell my advisor that I WOULD be something and one day, work for Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson. Well, I came to NYC and so far all of my dreams have come true. Some may say that is luck, but in a city like NYC and in this field you have to have drive, focus, optimizm and a plan. My advice would be to set a goal and figure out what you need to do to get there. If you want it bad enough, anything is possible.

If someone gave you a stage to the world and told you to send a message with 5 words or less what would that message be?
John Kerry for president! PLEASE!

Any last comments?
I am having an art show in NYC on October 1, 8, 15 and 22nd at the Chelsea Arts Building in NYC. If anyone is interested in going to the show, please visit my website for more info!

0 Comments