Artist Interview - Tom Fry (Pt. 2)
Our wonderful FLICK friend and artist Tom returns for his second interview instalment. Currently busy and working on a super-cool and top secret project, we take a flashback to Major Magnet and his Midnight Turbo deck!
Do you play cards? What is your favourite card game, (omitting FLICK of course)?
- Easy - Nomination Whist! Old family staple, particularly on Boxing Day and the summer holidays of yore that does a good job of balancing chance and skill. Someone's probably going to storm off half way through as well and if they don't, then maybe I will just for added drama.
What are you working on now?
- We're very busy, but nothing to officially announce just yet! Watch this space.
Trainers or high-tops?
High-tops, always high-tops. It started with the Converse back in the 00's, now it's the chunky boi sneakers.
Name a guilty pleasure video game character you love who really you shouldn't?
- Bullet Bill*. I don't condone firearms, but if ol' Bill can zip me to the front of the pack in a flash in Mario Kart well, I can make a special exception for him ❤
*son of Gary Gun
Can a designer/creator change their style for a project? Should they have to?
- In my opinion, if you're a designer/creator worth your salt, you hopefully can turn your hand to a myriad of disciplines, it depends what the brief is asking of you. It's highly dependent on the context really, though I would imagine for most that there'll always be a hallmark or two of a creator's natural style that'll seep into their work no matter how hard they try to reign it in.
Do you remember Ian (FLICK creator) from the Playhubs days? I believe that is where you chaps met?
- I sure do, Ian was the first friendly face I encountered and he made me feel extremely welcome there. I didn't expect to meet someone who was familiar with the same engine that I had been using when I went either!
You used the games development engine Solar2D on the Major Magnet project - how important are these type of engines and their availability for aspiring indie game devs?
- Given the fact that Solar2D was the first ever engine I made a shipped game on, I'd say it is hugely important. Unity and Unreal were around back in 2011 when we started on Major Magnet, but the appeal of Solar2D and similar engines is their focus on a particular type of game or rendering technique. Given that we wanted to make a strictly 2D title on a limited budget, Solar2D funnily enough fit that bill perfectly without feeling overwhelming by offering too many tools, bells and whistles out of the gate.
Do you prefer solo or squads? (Not completely Fortnite related! My house has seen the whole family join up in squads, with quite a few Victory Royale wins!... I can't even blame lockdown now!)
- I'm more of a Call of Duty: Warzone or Apex Legends person myself, but same difference right? Depends what sort of experience I want on a given day - if I want my heart to leap into my throat as the circle closes in, I'll go solo, but if I'm just looking to banter and muck around with my best bud, we'll go duos if it's available.
What type of video games do you buy - to play with friends (online social games) or alone?
- Probably more on the 'alone' side of the scale, though I can certainly sink hours into certain multiplayer titles too - especially if there's a solid multiplayer option in a single player game focused on.
How long did your Midnight Turbo deck take to design? Can you tell us a little about the actual creative process?
- It was spread over the course of several weekends in a month. Ian floated the idea of doing a "neon 80's" style deck and given that that aesthetic is very much in vogue right now and I hadn't yet really dabbled in that in any of my other creative pursuits, I thought this was a great time to dive in to see what I could offer. I've been building up my skills in 3D in recent years and thought this might be a good opportunity to model a set of assets to use in a deck, which it didn't really seem like anyone else had yet tried in the Flick Solitaire roster at the time.
- I'm also a little bit of a petrol head and have a fondness for exotic cars from the ‘80s and ‘90s (nostalgia, again) so it seemed only natural that I'd model my ideal ‘80s motor to feature prominently. I refer to the deck as being "mixed digital media" however as its not solely composed of 3D models, but also custom typography, 2D vector art and procedural generation with a view to making these disparate processes feel cohesive in the final article.
What gets you in the mood to get creative!?
- Art in all its various permutations - film, TV, music, games... that sums up what art is to me - it's inspiration incarnate and you never know when a red hot idea is going to strike when you're taking on all of these stimuli.
You're currently based in London, if you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
- Some place snowy and secluded. Maybe a nice mountain hamlet in Hokkaido, somewhere like that where the pace of life is slower and I could push myself to become ever more self-sufficient.
Are you able to say no to a project? Are you gentle or direct with feedback?
- Having been in this industry for nearly a decade, it has brought about some hard lessons regarding what happens when you don't say no to a project and the mental repercussions from that alone can be blunt, so I've learnt (with the help of experienced folk around me) to be more discerning on the likelihood of what will or won't work out in the long term within reason. I've also learnt to be more direct with feedback in recent years as you're more likely to get to the nub of a problem quicker, but that doesn't mean the sharp edges of your words can't be sanded down a bit to make them more palatable to the recipient!
Who inspires you?
- This could be a long list, but if I had to nominate one person who inspired me to take this direction in my adult life, it'd be my Dad who himself co-founded his own business shortly before I was born which, while it has thrown its challenges (as life in general will), continues to this day to thrive, doing good for so many across the globe.
Who is your biggest fan?
- My partner, a creative herself who has always been that fuel to spur me on for the last 5 years and I sincerely doubt I'd be where I am now without her bottomless love and support.
Three words of advice for aspiring artists?
- Never. Stop. Giving. This could be interpreted in many ways and they're probably all correct, but I am a firm believer in using your life to contribute to the fabric of society in whatever way you can. It can be so easy to switch off and take, take, take, but if you're engaged and empathetic it's equally straightforward to give back to enrich the world in so many capacities.
Huge LOVE to Tom! We are SO excited at FLICK to hear about the next project - we’ll keep FLICKERS updated here or follow Tom via Instagram and Twitter!