A British Perspective - 3

`cyberyt - And then to EXTREME WILD ORGY?

^rocksicle - Yeah sure. Ok, so it's an easy question first off: How did you find deviantART amongst the electronic ether?

`cyberyt - I suppose I found deviantART through snakerboy, he logged on at college once, and I remember him working on Angry Key Deviants 2. I regularly browsed DA through a 56k Freeserve account every time I could afford to stay on the internet that long after playing Command & Conquer. It wasn't until I got ISDN that I joined deviantART, and at the time I didn't really have anything to submit, I joined to comment. I later got into photography, a different story.

^rocksicle - I suppose that might give the answer for your next question. Many deviants have chosen to use the resources of deviantART to do their own thing on a group level; which community project do you like most?

`cyberyt - Hmmm, community projects. Again back to Angry Key Deviants, it was the first real community project I had witnessed, yet I never contributed. There have been a lot of "cam" projects, whilst some users may see this as cliché now or overly done, I disagree. It really is a good way to get to know how that person thinks, through their facial features (most of the time) and I think this links a project to a relationship in real life. My favourite community project has to be   Angst Face Deviants. Of course this is sort of blowing my own trumpet, as I was at the helm with blackice, but this is why it is my favourite. To be such a part of a project, rather than just contribute, is something else. It was hard and frustrating work as it was my first experience with Macromedia Flash, but I enjoyed, and still do enjoy, the final outcome of the project.

^rocksicle - What is your favourite typeface and why?

`cyberyt - Ohhh! I wasn't expecting this sort of personal question, you have suprised me. The truth is, I don't know. I have many, MANY typefaces to mention I don't like, some I despise completely, but not one I can call a favorite. The thing with typefaces is, each one has a job to do, and for each job I have a favorite. You can't write a letter to your bank manager in the dreaded Comic sans (why you'd use that face at all leaves me at a loss), and you wouldn't expect to see signage in Impact (I'm using 'MS' examples that everyone should recognize here) nor would you expect a children’s book to be using Times New Roman. I suppose my current favorites in the vast univers (little pun there) of typefaces are Gill Sans for sans serif work, and Baskerville for serifed. Gill Sans is a personal hero of mine, such a beautiful typeface, with the ideals of his mentor’s (Johnston) typeface 'Transport' which is used on the London Underground signage. Baskerville is also a totally bodacious dude. He had such belief that a typeface could make a difference in printed books, that he worked himself far into debt trying to get his typeface perfect, finished, and used. John Baskerville is also the reason our paper is so good. As he pushed for the use of weaved rather than laid paper, which was his own idea, if I recall correctly. Without Baskerville and his typeface, we wouldn’t have the choice we have today, in terms of type, and therefore graphic design.

^rocksicle - Wow, a cool bloke indeed. How's your academic life going? Do you find what you study makes its way into your art?

`cyberyt - Ohhh, Uni starts soon, and I’ll be honest, I’m scared shitless. At Stafford College, my lecturers all reminded me too often, I was an intelligent hard working person, and had great potential and talent in the world of graphic design and typography. However, I live in London now, this is it. The cream of the crop, as it were. After worrying so much about whether or not I’d get onto this course, I start to worry whether or not I’m good enough for it. I'm sure I’ll be fine, but I don't know how I’ll cope with not being the best, after finally finding something I’m good at. About Art and how it related to my work, there's a funny story. See, after failing my AS levels, I had already worked out through deviantART and through my friends, that I was a creative person. I loved photography, and quickly signed up to the photography course. However, in the few weeks when the course is still mixed, before we go onto our individual 'pathways' I met Timothy Donaldson, my typography and graphic design lecturer. I talked to him about my fears that photography being work, could kill photography being art and emotional for me. I don't know if Tim saw something in me, or whether he was just searching for more people for his course, but he tried pretty hard to get me to go down the graphic design pathway. In the end I did, the clinching remark from Tim being "Graphic design brings almost every creative outlet together, you can use photography in design, but you cant put design into photography". My final straight answer for this question has to be, No. What you all on deviantArt see, is my Art, it isn't my work. If it is my work you will be notified in the description. My photography is my emotion, and it rarely links to what work I’m doing, but rather, what's going on in my head at that stage on my journey through life.

^rocksicle - So why are you called cyberyt?

`cyberyt - Aha, this name goes back to the mid-nineties, and I wish I could get it changed. As you and most of my friends/colleagues know, I’m now known as 'YT'. The YT bit of my name is quite simple, 'Whitey' was my nickname in middle school, and refers to my last name 'White'. The cyber bit is now very embarrassing, as the evolution of the English language through the internet has come to see cyber as a form of sexual relations via the internet, but cyber was originally a play on the word 'cybernetics'. See, I was such a nerd when I was little that I thought one day, I would become part man, part computer, and probably quite literally surf the internet on a waxed up piece of fiberglass.

^rocksicle - Well I’d thought we’d have flying cars in the future so I guess everyone gets a little bit of disappointment. At the moment you're going out with deviantART misanthrope picnic ; how do you cope with her alcoholism?

`cyberyt - At first it was funny, few drink and she'd be up for anything. But recently, I dunno man, I keep trying to ring that Domestic Abuse Helpline, it's always engaged. I have to hide most of the power tools at night.

^rocksicle - I hear the third time you call them they have to make an arrest.

`cyberyt - What about the 301st?

^rocksicle - Oh man. Well it's not PC, but sometimes you just have to lay the smackdown on a ho, you know? And in this case it seems you're the ho. Speaking of which, do you look good in leather?

`cyberyt - [link]

^rocksicle - Well that answers that question, ok a difficult one now: do you wipe from the back or balls to crack?

`cyberyt - Balls to crack, no-body wants shitty balls. Except maybe you, you sick fuck.

^rocksicle - Hey it's a free country, so which deviant do you admire the most?

`cyberyt - nostrich and gauravpatel. Such awesome intellect and community spirit, it's such a shame they've been banned. They’re two members that really make people want to go to the forums, and get down and dirty in IRC. I also have to admire mattdanna, that boy has really worked hard for DA, he never stops doing what he does best, he has gone far above and beyond the call of duty, in his specialized field of... brown-nosing.

^rocksicle - A truly diplomatic response. Is it true you slept with Pete Doherty from Babyshambles? Do you find his position as Worst Performance of the Summer in a recent NME poll justified?

`cyberyt - Someone once said I looked like Pete Doherty. That someone is now under my patio. Whilst his 'good' looks and (I suppose) music could be seen as a compliment, I just can't stand him. Nor could I stand her, which is why she's under that patio (Sorry, Kayley, RIP).

^rocksicle - Well that's it.

`cyberyt - Mint.

^rocksicle - any parting message you'd like to give to deviantART?

`cyberyt - Yes actually. "Be excellent to each other".