If you’re a dedicated follower of Tuts+ you might already know Kate McInnes (aka LoungeKat), the Associate Editor of Vectortuts+. She works along-side Vectortuts+ Editor, Sean Hodge, to make sure you get your daily dose of tuts, tips and inspiration. After launching the first Totem Project last week, she’s excited to be working with our talented and passionate community of vector artists and would like to take this opportunity to share a few things about herself and her role as Associate Editor.
Hi, my name is Kate, I’m the Associate Editor of Vectortuts+ and Lead Reviewer of the Tuts+ Marketplace. If you haven’t met me yet, I also go by the name of LoungeKat, I’m 1/3 of the managing members of BloodSweatVector, I have a partnership called McKelly and I have been using Vector for almost 10 years.
Earlier this year I took the plunge and quit my full time job as an in-house designer. From day one, I made a personal promise to only work on things that got me out of bed in the morning. While initially it was a bit scary to leave the comfort of the 9 to 5, I found that working with people I respect and being surrounded by constant inspiration, was much more than I could ever have hoped for.
Working for Vectortuts+ is great as I’m passionate about all forms of Illustration and love to meet fellow designers and illustrators. Not only do I get to engage with a fantastic vector community, but I’m also lucky to work with a great team of writers and contributors who continually surprise me with their teaching skills and unique approaches to vector.
I look forward to seeing more of your work on the Vectortuts+ Flickr Group and sharing some inspirational links and advice via the Vectortuts+ Twitter.
10 Things you Might Not Know about Me
- I applied to be the Associate Editor of Vectortuts+ via Freelance Switch
- The first tut I ever wrote was a Premium Tut on “How To Make A Skateboard For Digital Printing”. It took a month to write.
LoungeKat T-shirt, The 80′s are Dead!
- In High-school I thought I was going to be a Photographer, instead, my Photoshop skills got me into a Multimedia Design course at Monash University. I then went on to do a Post Graduate Certificate in Communication Design at RMIT.
- I grew up in country Victoria, Australia. If it’s not freezing and rainy in winter it’s blasting hot and under threat of bush fire in summer. It also has poisonous snakes, giant spiders and grumpy wombats.
Suburban Xmas, collaboration by Kate McInnes and Sean Kelly
- I use a 17” MacBook Pro Laptop and a top of the line Desktop PC but don’t own an iPod or a iPhone and prefer to use iriver (OGG all the way!) and an extremely old Nokia.
- I love Guitars but I don’t know how to play one, I love to design Skateboards but I don’t know how to ride one and I adore Web Design but I know close to nothing about web development.
- In my previous job, I designed over 500 different icons for one software package and rendered out two sizes for each design. To this day it’s the only software package I know of that has an icon for every single function available.
- Even though I know the best way to use vector, I sometimes forget what I’m doing and freestyle my images straight into the computer without a real plan. (See the screen cast for proof.)
Screen cast of my illustration process
- I wear so much black I get confused for waitresses, shop assistants and bar staff. Some people have also referred to me as "The Ninja".
- I’m writing this post in my pajamas.
Obsolescence by McKelly/ Kate McInnes and Sean Kelly (made with the Blob Brush Tool – Illustrator CS4)
Do You Have Any Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions or suggestions for Vectortuts+, or just want to say "Hi" I’d love to hear from you. If you would like to get in contact with me, the best way to do it is either via my LoungeKat Facebook group, Vectortuts on Twitter (which I add to daily) or by leaving a comment on one of our posts. I try my best to answer as many technical questions and comments as possible, so if you would like to ask about one of our tuts, make sure you remember to check for a reply.
Where to Find Me on the Web
- LoungeKat on Behance
- LoungeKat on Facebook
- LoungeKat on Flickr
- LoungeKat on Artsprojekt
- McKelly on Behance
- McKelly on Twitter
- BloodSweatVector
Community Project Update:
Vectortuts+ loves Illustration and discovering new talent, so we’re running a new community project that combines both, the Vectortuts+ Totem Project. The best thing is, you can be a part of it!
Vectortuts+ Totem, Collection 1 was a great success and we’ve already had some fantastic artwork submitted for Collection 2. This is a reminder that it’s not too late to add your own. For more information on how to participate in the Totem Project, and to see the artwork from Collection 1, simply visit Community: Totem Project.
If you have any questions about how to submit artwork, would like to comment on the Flickr Submissions or would like to suggest ideas for future projects, you can do so via our Twitter @Vectortuts or leave a comment at the end of this post.