It’s about time I did this — Welcome to Squidfight Designs
At 32, I hit a wall. I looked at my reflection on my work computer as it was updating to lock me out after being laid off, and I realized I was not and have never been fulfilled work-wise. I spent years at school to be a mechanical designer and instead of making cool shit, my career shifted to staring at excel sheets all day, leading projects I’d never physically see the end result of. This is not what I signed up for. Corporate buzzwords were eating me up from the inside.
But what do I do now? I guess I could draw?
I’ve always had a passion for art and design, but was discouraged from pursing it as a career path (Especially art. Immigrant parents, am I right?) — but I kept it in my life in one way or another. Took art classes in high school, went for mechanical design in college, and I was even paid for altering Magic the Gathering cards for people. But staring at that blank screen after that meeting where I was let go, it hit me that I had lost my passion and drive for all the beautiful things in life. And that sent me into a spiral. That spiral sent me into some soul searching, back into a spiral, back into searching, into a panic attack, and well…it went on like that for a while. It was like I was stuck in a loop within the grieving process. Was I a failure? Do I even know how to do anything? The only thing that pulled me out and helped me reach a conclusion was my wife.
The realization was that I am and always have been a creator, and that I needed to embrace it to keep my sanity — and the result of that was Squidfight Designs. A brand where I can showcase my designs, art, and builds to the world while embracing and honing my natural skills. I want to tie my passions, experiences, and unique perspectives together in every way I can think of.
So I’ve got a name and a direction. What am I going to do and what am I working on?
I’m working on multiple things at the same time, which I will be using this blog to talk about. I plan on discussing my art and builds here, from thought processes to mistakes and what I’ve learned from them. To start, I’ve got some things I’m currently working on daily. These are just quick intros to the projects and I will go into much more detail in future posts.
A 12X18 ink drawing I’m using as a baseline to my art skill. It was initially intended to just test water colors…and well.. it grew. Even leaning on existing skills, I learned a lot with this due to its sheer size compared to the much smaller pieces I am used to (around 4X6).
I have had a 1991 Toyota MR2 turbo for about 10 years that has been beat to hell and back. I am constantly maintaining it, adding to it, taking stuff away from it, and just in general having fun with it. It is not a show car, just a fun-mobile that has taught me so much about mechanics. Even though it’s in rough shape, it’s my pride and joy. Currently, I am working on designing a chassis mount rear wing for it and am wrapping up the installation.
I have restarted work on a 1973 Datsun 240Z with a carbureted 2JZ from a Toyota Supra that has been an on and off project since COVID started. Along with the MR2, it was a bundle of lessons that is now getting the attention needed to finally get it back on the road. It is an almost ground up restoration that has gone through many iterations and chassis that is now almost ready to get the engine dropped in and wired up.
Artwork — whether it’s my interpretation of the Virgo star sign or a Bulbasaur, I draw these on the side to keep my imagination working, enhance my own style, and practice other skills. I’ll be posting these online (here and on instagram) and making some prints or stickers.
Some product design ideas I’d love to create.
I’ll start posting backgrounds, statuses, and breakthroughs on all my work so I hope to see you around. Thanks for reading!
