Extended Artist Bio: Dino Pros

Dino lives, breathes, photographs, watches, sketches, pixelates, and writes about cars. So yeah - you could say he’s a pretty hardcore enthusiast. Among the many options this Croatian has for laser-focusing his zeal, it’s blipshift designs that he’s most enjoyed for combining his love for 4 wheels with his bill-paying-skillz as a graphic artist. This has lead to a bevy of brilliant designs like "Leave Your Mk", "Yellowbird", and "For The Trees".

Dino took a moment to answer a few questions:

How did your interest in cars start?

To be honest, no idea. There was no "how" nor "when", my interest in cars was just sort of... there. No family members in the car industry, no die hard enthusiasts, nothing. But as long as I can remember I have loved cars.

The number of drawings I made during my childhood, hours I spent playing Gran Turismo, and toy models collected were clear signs of that. Many of those models survived and are kept in pristine condition to this day.

How does your interest show itself?

Basically everything I do during the day more or less revolves around cars, that is the one thing that hasn't changed during all the years I've been on this planet. Ok, maybe I don't spend hours crouching on the floor going "vroom-vroom" with those toy cars in my hands, but I still enjoy drawing them on my computer (hence, blipshift), writing about them, photographing them, browsing classifieds, reading magazines, watching YouTube videos and Top Gear/The Grand Tour, doing a bit of car spotting etc.

What is at the top of your automotive bucket list?

At this point, I would be happiest if I could go on some sort of long road trip in a nice car (F-Type would be plenty enough), visiting places that Top Gear made famous like Monaco, the Italian Coast, France, and Spain. Nothing too spectacular, but for the moment that sounds like my idea of automotive paradise.

What's in your driveway, and what makes it special?

I drive 2019 MINI Cooper with the JCW trim. I wish it was a real JCW, but this will do. It has 136 hp, manual gearbox and it handles really well. I don't need anything more than that for the time being, to be honest. It is also a first car I bought brand new, so that makes it very special indeed.

What's your dream car?

Oh, man. My biggest nightmare would be that someone gives me an infinite amount of money and a minute to decide which car I would like to spend it on. It changes drastically from day-to-day, but let's just say a silver F-Type with a V6 (yes, V6) up front is high on my list of "one day" cars. I know, I'm very modest.

What do you do besides designing awesome shirts?

I work as a freelancer in my own company so every day is a bit different to me. Submitting designs for blipshift brings me more joy than anything else because combining graphic design with cars is something I've always dreamt of doing, and blipshift team provide a great platform to connect with like-minded enthusiasts.

Besides that, I run PX BY PX after having created custom illustrations and keychains for car enthusiasts for many years as a way to branch out into other types of clients.

What are some of your non-car hobbies?

Non car? Hmm. When I have a bit of free time, I enjoy bicycling, a bit of photography, spending time with my girlfriend, the usual.

What have the funds from blipshift helped you accomplish?

Funds from blipshift helped a lot for starting my own business (buying the necessary software) and also put a decent dent in the "my first car" fund.

What are you influenced by as a designer?

Really anything can influence me. Sometimes random stuff like an interesting fashion piece can spark something, but mostly it's just other people's illustration and graphic design work that inspire me the most. I couldn't name one person, there are plenty of designers out there with so much talent. I really like minimalistic and simplistic artwork that is clever and says a lot with just basic shapes and colours.

What's your favorite blipshift shirt?

I really like the funny and clever ones like "Swedish Racing Green" and "Nalware", but also those that are really nicely executed. Recently I was blown away with "Trackson Pollock" by Bomdesignz.

Any advice for fellow artists? How did you find the process overall?

Have fun with ideas, write them down, juggle them, combine them, and most importantly: start something! More often than not, the process of drawing sparks something new, and at the end you have something totally different than the initial idea you started with. Inspiration can come from many different sources, so read about cars, watch videos, etc. The good ideas are everywhere. After you're done with the design for a tee you personally would like to wear, submit it to awesome guys at blipshift who will guide you further in the right direction. They do that on regular basis and I can't thank them enough for providing great feedback, and for creating this awesome way to connect with like-minded car guys and girls.

Thanks Dino for your time and talents.

Apex Everything!