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3DTotal: Hello Dwayne, well I must start by saying it was a pleasure meeting you face-to-face at last year’s Siggraph convention! Could you introduce yourself to our readers and give a little insight into your progression to where you are today?
Dwayne : You guys do a great job at 3DTotal and it was a pleasure to meet you guys, as well. Well my name is Dwayne Vance and I am married and have three kids. My wife would probably say I am the fourth kid. Well like most artist and designers I started at the early age. I took art classes here and there throughout school and really didn’t get serious about art and design until I started college. I started as a mechanical engineer and found that I wasn’t a math guy so I changed my major to graphic design. I had a teacher and my girlfriend now my wife, really inspire me to apply to Art Center in Pasadena. So I did and failed then tried again and got accepted. Finished and got my degree in Transportation Design in 2000. I got my first job at a company called Troy Lee designs, I designed protective motocross gear. Then moved onto Hot Wheels and designed lots of toys there. That was a very fun job, I got to really design what I love, entertainment style vehicles. Then ended up going back to Troy Lee designs and I designed more protective equipment. Now I have my own business called FutureElements and we do anything from product design to entertainment design. I also try to find time to do Hot Rod art and sell it at shows. |
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3DTotal: How do you feel the relevance of conferences such as Siggraph and Adapt have for artists like yourself?
Dwayne : Siggraph is a great show because you get to see what is going on in the industry, from 3D software to the movie industry. I have not been in a few years and I decided to go this year at the last minute to make more contacts. As I am starting my own business I never know who I will run into at these shows - like meeting you guys! I also ran into friends at Siggraph that I had not seen in a while, and it was very different from when I used to go. Companies like Lucasarts, Disney and several others were a lot more open and very friendly. I got to talk with a few of the guys at Lucas and asked all kinds of questions about the stuff they worked on in Transformers. It was very informative stuff and I could’ve sat and listen to it for hours! |
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3DTotal: Okay, so you’re currently starting your own design company up; could you tell us how that is going, what sort of work you will be producing?
Dwayne : Yes, the company is called FutureElements and we will be working on all kinds of projects from industrial design to Illustration. Things are going really well right now and I have had to recruit a few people to help me with all the projects I have. Some of the current projects I have been working on are designing stuff for Mattel, Hot Wheels and Batman properties, as well as Hasbro. I’ve also been creating some mountain bike designs and Illustration work for Texaco, and a few other things. Then I have several projects coming up in the future. I am really plugged into the extreme sports industry and the automotive industry, but my next goal is to gain more work in the entertainment industry. I have a real passion for gaming and I hope to break into that industry soon!
3DTotal: So with your passion for cars and gaming, I would assume that if you broke into the games industry you would try and work on a driving game |
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title. So out of the collection that are around right now which one would you most like to work on?
Dwayne : I know this will sound funny but I really have no interest in working on a car game. I love cars and everything about them, but I get really bored with car games. I would rather work on something sci-fi like Mass Effect, Halo, Lost Planet - anything in that type of genre, really. I have a passion for concept design, and drawing existing vehicles just doesn’t excite me as much. If I did work on a car game though, I would choose to work on the Need for Speed games as they have a little more imagination and energy to them. |
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