This week we feature British designer, Chris Gray. I came across one of his shirts on Beautiful Decay and was pleasantly surprised by his other work. Let’s learn a little more about him.

Name: Chris Gray

Company: Toy / WSS

Website: http://www.thisistoy.com / http://www.weshallsee.co.uk

Short explanation of what you do / who you are:  I am a freelance designer working from my tiny shared studio in Manchester across print, film & web. I also run a small independent art business working alongside 9 other European illustrators.

Color: Black

Music: Chad VanGaalen (this week)

Book: Down and Out in London & Paris

Designer: Geoff McFetridge

Animal: Kingfisher

Website: http://www.as-found.net

Place: In the Sun

Shape: All of them

Artist: Salvidor Dali

Typeface: Trade Gothic LT No. 20 Bold Condensed

Movie: I’m watching ‘SYNECDOCHE’ tomorrow. So hopefully that.

Work: One of those jobs where you convince yourself that there is no idea to find, and you go through stages of believing you are complete failure as a designer. Then it hits you like an Iceberg and for those first few moments it makes you feel like a demi-god. It is surely the best feeling you can get.

Word: Rad!

Season: Summer

Magazine: Graphis 1958 – 1974

Guilty Pleasure: Riding kids bikes

Distraction: G, C, Em, D. I still suck at F

Love: My Girlfriend. She gives me more ideas then anyone I have ever met.

Hate: Mistaking Salt for Sugar

What are you working on right now? In 8 hours I start painting a new mural for my solo exhibition in which I took all the graffiti out of the venues toilet are turned it into some form of giant interlinking illustration.

What career would you switch to if you had to stop your current profession? Why? I went through a stage when I was younger whereby I wanted to be a pro BMX rider so I could cruise the streets in the sun all day doing flip-whips. Unfortunately I never quite got good enough.