Inside the Customizer's Studio - eclipseGRAFX

[Cygnet]

The following interview is part of a series I run on my blog called 'Inside the Customizer's Studio'. A few weeks ago I raised the question to the community if they would like to see more content, other than my product reviews, republished here. There seemed to be a consensus that more content would be welcome. I hope you enjoy the interview...

Today we'll be talking with Victor Fernandez (AKA eclipseGRAFX). Since becoming involved with the minifig customization community Victor has always caught my eye, both as a unique and skilled customizer and as someone in the community that was making a serious go at building his own custom brand. I knew when I started this series, that Victor was someone I wanted to have the privilege to interview.

The interview itself was conducted via correspondence, around the time Victor was ramping up for relaunching his store with Imagination Customs.

Cygnet: Did you have a 'dark age'? If so, how long did it last and when did it end? What was the inspiration for you to get back into LEGO?

Victor: "I don't know if my 'dark ages' can be technically that. I believe that in order to have a dark age you need to have had been into LEGO at some point in your life. I grew up in a low income family of six total siblings and a single mom working her butt off to make ends meet. The only place I played with LEGO was in school and I only have a recollection of doing so in the 3rd grade. Other then that I never really played with LEGO until last year.

In September 2009 my wife and I renewed our vows and made our way to Disney World with our son. The last day there we went to Downtown Disney and found this awesome (and not so little) shop full of kids and excitement - The LEGO store. Well my son wanted me to buy some stuff for him and as I walked back and fourth determining what the best items would be for him. We bought a few sets (City) and I helped him build them in the hotel room. But since that day I started looking online for more LEGO at good prices.

My son and I had a couple of Star Wars sets that we bought before this trip, but it was during this trip that my eyes were really opened to LEGO. Wanting to make stop-motion videos made me buy parts versus sets and broke me out of the collectors mode quickly. I started building newbish sets and MOCs and at the CABG I was helped by 'troopa D' to get better at MOC-ing.

I think I came back into LEGO because I liked the ability to create. I am a creative person by nature, a graphic designer who loves colors and to problem solve. LEGO just seemed to be perfect for me since it has both colors and plenty of problem solving."

How did you get started with the minifig customization community?

"I first discovered minifig customization on eBay. I remember seeing clones of different qualities and styles. I saw a lot of stuff I knew I could do better as a graphic designer, and other stuff that left me wondering "how do you do that". Having my 3 year old (at the time) on my lap as we browsed through the web he asked me, "can you do that?". As a father you never want to lose that super hero spot light, so I did what any computer savvy person would do - I Googled it.

I then found myself on YouTube looking at not only custom clones but stop motion videos and then my son says, "WOOOOOW, daddy can we do that?" I thought it should be simple. I knew the basics of animation I just needed to learn more about how to do it with minifigs. As we kept doing our research I realized I knew very little about the Clone Wars and the characters. I started doing more research on that and found myself at the Clone Army Builder's Guild (thecabg.net). This forum was dedicated to Clone Wars and clone characters so I thought it would be the best place to learn about the different characters. Little did I know that this forum would open up my eyes to sooooo much. It is where I learned about Flickr, BrickLink and best of all water slide decals.

CABG member 'Chaotic Good01' posted a detailed 'How to apply water slide decal' tutorial on the forum that started my journey into customization. His attention to detail on decals matched my own which allowed me to quickly respect his talents even more. From there on out I just kept trying to see what the rest of the customization community was doing in order to learn from them."

A lot of your creations look to Star Wars for inspiration? What are other areas you look to for customization ideas?

"I have always been a Star Wars fan. I don't want to say big because I learned a lot more after getting into LEGO then I knew before. I read a lot of the books in the past and was always interested in the Jedi.

Other than Star Wars, other areas would have to be comics and video games though I don't play a lot of games you can easily do Google searches and find a lot of screen shots. Other areas I look at are what's currently going on with the custom community. I spend time looking at JasBrick's library (the guy has a lot of figs), Geoshift, Morgan 19 has a lot of ideas, Pedro and I also browse through the minifig pools on Flickr.

What I noticed from these guys was that some of their creations were just free form. I knew I could create just about any Star Wars character with the right reference material but to create something from scratch was a lot harder and to make it look awesome, was much harder. I started seeing the Gears of War (GOW) armor and other stuff that made me start buying them to paint in different styles. If you visit my minifig set you will see that most of my figs are just random characters that I came up with as I built the figs.

I guess you can say that my main source of inspiration is the public and what they want."

Why focus on custom lightsaber hilts for your store? You've also created custom minifigs of the Star Wars character Jarael. Why this particular character?

"The focus on lightsaber hilts was due to no one else being able to do the same. There was a huge interest in them and we made them so well that I thought we could sell them. When I say we, I am referring to 'Clashy' on Flickr, and I. He was the person who taught me how to make the hilts. And he also mentored me and helped me grow my customizing skills.

Jarael came to life only because of her shock staff. Clashy had sent me some digital comics and for some reason when I turned to this character I knew I had to make her and the staff. I have also created the imperial knights but not many people went crazy for them as they did for Jarael.

I have to also note that I met Clashy on Flickr. I don't know what made him take me under his wing but he showed me his secret little after our first conversations."

You've said in the past that you've learned a lot about customizing from the Clone Army Builders Guild. Tell us a little about this group and how they've helped you with customization.

"If you did a Google search for how to apply decals or something of that nature you will most likely find a link to the Clone Army Builder's Guild (CABG - thecabg.net). I usually use the CABG as one of my sources for marketing feedback and ideas. Also the diversity allows for a wider spectrum of opinions.

I first met 'Clashy' on the CABG, I first heard of Hazel (Tam) on the CABG, BrickArms and BrickForge were first introduced to me there as well. I guess I would have learned about all this on Flickr but it was through the CABG that I learned about Flickr and started utilizing it for LEGO.

On the CABG you will find several aspiring decal artists and it is also endorsed by Clone Army Customs (CAC). Where I learned about how profitable customizing can be.

I think the main thing the CABG did for me was keep me searching the LEGO community long enough to catch the custom bug."

You've started to sell some of your custom creations on BrickLink. Do you have aspirations to build up your own customs operation? What have been some of the challenges you've faced in selling your work?

"Opening my own 'brand' would be great. It has been on my mind and I have been trying to take it step by step to raise the money and product line to do so. The main challenge to get the business going is capital (i.e. money). I have many plans for the business and a few product lines that I want to get out all at the same time when I make my grand re-opening.

The main challenge I faced selling my work was pricing, because all the hilts are crafted by hand the price per hilt was too expensive. Not many people bought them. Now one of my projects is to finish 3D modeling and get them made by an ABS/3D printing company."

During the time of our correspondence, Victor has partnered with fellow community member Imagination Customs to bring new items to his store. Victor has been seeding Flickr with a sampling of the products he intends to sell (products that should be on his BrickLink store now). We discussed the new venture and the dynamics of having a partner...

"One of the benefits of having Imagination Customs on board is the accountability. Though it's me mainly doing the pushing, now that I have someone working with me I also feel obligated to do my fair share. One thing we discussed when we first started working together is trying to hit as many genres as we could. Each month having a major focus on one or two themes. Themes will be influenced by video games, movies, books, comic books... pretty much anything that has characters in it will be looked at to draw inspiration from.

We are currently working on some World War 2 figs and Star Wars figs (of course). Future lines that will be seen will include different military/armed forces type of figs. Star Wars will always be a main source of interest for me since there are so many different types of characters in the Star Wars universe - it just offers so many different challenges to tackle. We will also be hitting comic book heroes/villains and cartoon characters when possible. Really we intend to cover as many bases as possible.

We will also be offering the lightsaber hilts and eventually mass producing them. Some designs will be exclusive to the figure they were designed for. When mass production happens individual requests will still be taken to designs personal sabers. We are also getting glow in the dark blades soon to go with the hilts.

We are in contact with a printer to offer some high quality printed parts and this line will also grow as we get more funds. My vision for this is to eventually offer fully customized and printed figures. The cost for this is large so I have to settle for parts at the moment that can help us get to that step.

Another product line we are working on are decals to customize your own "unique" figure. We don't want to divulge too much on this project just yet but we hope to have it ready by opening day.

There are ideas that just get birthed from working on other figures. One such idea are my 'bullet' grenades that I recently posted. We decided to offer these seeing the interest that sprung from it.

And lastly, we will offer personal requests to make figures. Currently I am working on an Emile figure which should be showcased before the store opens.

We enjoy doing anything that has to do with minifigures and offering high-quality products that leave the customer wanting more. Which is the most important thing about this whole endeavor. Offering high-quality figures and customs for the customer."

How do you feel about the current state of minifig customization? What needs to change in the community? What does the community need to keep doing into the future?

"I feel like there is a wave rising of more and more customizers or wanna be customizers. You have people like legtaylor who isn't known but by a small group of people for his customizing. HE has a great eye for it but because he doesn't have the funds for the proper tools his skill level isn't able to grow.

I feel that customizers need more support from the community. I think it is sad that a person spends hours on a custom fig and when he asks how much would you buy it for, the response of $10 is given. Although it is a fun job, the under appreciation of these figs sucks out the joy of making them. Now I am not talking about personal experience but I have seen it happen to some aspiring customizers. Without the funds we can't make more customs.

The community needs to keep voicing their opinions regardless of it being good or bad. I love praise but I respect proper criticism. Without critique there is no way we can grow and improve. I also think customizers should help each other with tips on how they achieve their work. Shobrick is a customizer I have recently started following, and thanks to him I can now make gun and knife holsters."

Who do you look up to in the customization community and why?

"There are so many names to choose from Morgan19 really helps to break through any creative blocks when I free form. His work is so outside the box that it has a realm of its own. When looking for painting ideas and tips I always turn to JasBrick. I started getting my modding inspiration from Pedro-79. I mean the list goes on and on. I think all customizers can at least help in giving ideas through there creations whether good or bad."

Is there an 'unsung hero' in the customization community today that you think more people need to know about?

"I have been thinking about this question over and over and what throws me off is the word 'hero'. I mean there are obviously many customizers out there, good and bad, but the good ones have mastered some trait that helps them hold on to the top.

'Unsung' though.... I recently came across some of Levork who created some figures for charity. These figures blew me away for their quality and accuracy. They almost didn't look like decals to me.

Pecovam is starting to rise in his skill level too and making his own style as well. Breaking all the rules of what most customizers hold dear, but doing it in the right way to get the desired results. To clarify what I mean, a lot of people hate altering the main figure parts (head, legs and torso) including myself unless its the only way to get the results I want. Pecovam disregards the public's opinion and pushes through to create his figures. He currently is finishing his Reach project and in my opinion those figs are some of the best and most accurate Halo characters I have seen thus far."

What is your dream project, and what stands in your way from going after it?

"I have two dream projects. One is to get my custom business going. Offering high quality products manufactured like LEGO at an affordable price. What stands in my way is only having the funds to do it. I can learn the rest. In the mean time I am trying to raise money slowly but steadily through selling my figs.

The second dream project is Christian figs. The way I envision these figs requires a fabric/cloth designer like MMCB. I only like using high quality parts for my custom figs and MMCB is the best at fabrics that I know of. He is too swamped at the moment to take on new designs that I have in mind. So I am patiently waiting for the right time and person to work on this with. Though I may have found him I don't want to reveal that just yet.”

Can you tell us a little more about this project?

"Well the bible says - Matthew 6:33-33 'But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.'

If I am being preachy I don't apologize, but I hope not to offend anyone.

I am a minister in training as well as a graphic designer. And when I started doing customization I wanted to put God first in what I was doing. You haven't seen any of my Christian figs yet mainly because in MY eyes these need more attention then the rest of my projects. I am looking for a good fabric designer like MMCB who has the time to work with me and do designs to my specs. I also want to get the perfect hair and decals for each figure. I am not happy with ANY of the Jesus figs I have seen out there and other biblical character, if any has ever been made. I also want to go into stop motion films with Biblical stories."

I hope everyone enjoyed the interview. I wanted to say thanks again to Victor for participating. There’s always the potential for bringing more material like this. Please let me know if you would like to see more interviews in the future. Thanks!

[XimenaPaulina]

Thanks for sharing this interesting interview Cygnet! It was nice reading through the whole article and learning how one of the most notable customizers around, eclipseGRAFX, started in this field and hearing his in-depth views of the current state of customization. It's quite inspiring for someone relatively new to the field like me, knowing how he started late and literally from nothing, and with creativity, artistic talent, and dedication one can really succeed in the customization world.