Tough Times Co Interview | Respect The Pin Maker
What is your artist/brand name?
Tough Times
Tell us the story behind your artist/brand name
My partner and I were in between jobs at the time and we both wanted to do something creative together so we decided we'd start working on some designs for pins and patches, once we had a few ideas we threw around a few ideas but it was one of my best friends who would always call me and tell me how he was having a tough time doing this or that and eventually either he suggested it as a brand name or his subliminal influence led us to just say this brand, it's ethos, the tongue in cheek first world problems point of view... is TOUGH TIMES.
Where are you from?
Born in Cuba and emigrated to the USA at the age of 7, grew up mostly in NY, long island suburbs just over the Queens border and eventually made my way to Brooklyn.
How did you get into pins?Like most of us, we got them as gifts in our youth or it was the affordable gift at a souvenir shop on a family trip. I never made it to Disney as a kid (still haven't been) so that whole thing was over my head.
What made you want to start creating pins?While I was art director at a clothing company based in Brooklyn I had the chance to design and produce some pins. The designers I was working with all really dug pins and I started thinking up ideas that would eventually mutate into Tough Times. It was a new creative outlet and way to sort of carve my own path aside from having a day job. It was after 6 years at the streetwear brand that I decided to go on my own and start something new while also having a few of my own pin and patch designs out in the world.
What was your first pin purchase? / What were the first pins to really spark your pin collecting? (Send us a picture) (tell us the story behind it)
My first pin purchase I can barely remember. The first pin I was ever gifted was a communist CCCP Lenin pin that featured a star with a flame behind it that my father got in the 80s on a work trip to what was then the Soviet Union. Funny story, that pin was later flipped by the brand I worked for slightly before I joined the team so I knew I was in the right place.
Where do you draw inspiration from?Mostly from music, inside jokes, things my friends like, things we like... art imitates life right?
What was your first pin release? (Send us a picture and tell us the story behind it)The first official Tough Times pin release was a group of 3 flips. Something we quickly departed from, but it put us on the map. We had a misfits crimson ghost skull / Raphael (TMNT) which was called "Teenage Ghost", the Wu-Tang 'W' with Hello Kitty features appropriately titled "Wu-Kitty" which was admittedly something found on tumblr years ago but had never saw a pin of it, and I had to redraw the artwork to make it look more legit. The last pin again, random as the first two, was something I screen grabbed from an episode of the Simpsons that we had always found hilarious -- it was Apu as the Hindu god Kali in a dream, forget the episode but we named the pin 'Posi Vibes'. These were basically all ideas that we was sitting on, funny flips that we wasn't sure what to do with and at the time pins were sort of starting take on this culture of mash-ups so maybe it was just one of those serendipitous moments. Like right place right time...
What pin release are you most proud of? (Send us a picture)Not sure which we're most 'proud' of, it's the kind of thing where each new/better idea sort of trumps the next. One of our favorite releases was an early release. Our first nihilist/cynical approach to the brand which was 'Nothing Really Maters' -- as annoying and overplayed as Bohemian Rhapsody may be. The lyrics still get me. It's heartbreaking. It's crazy. Nothing really matters, anyone can see...
How many pins do you have in your collection? / What are your favorite kinds of pins to collect? (Send us a picture if you have one)Too many. Haha. Being in the business of making pins and having a bunch of friends in the community has certainly helped us build our collection. We've traded with almost everyone we can think of and it's so great and exciting to see everyone's work out in the world. Best pins are just the ones that hit you, whether it's a joke, or something you find truly beautiful or just a funny movie/tv reference.
What advice would you give to someone that wants to create pins?
Bor
Hard or Soft enamel?
Hard, Soft, Cloisonne, Epoxy Bubble dome, screen-printed, holographic ... Love it all and there's always a unique reason to use one method or another.
Any other merch ventures we should keep an eye out from your brand?
We've expanded into other small accessories, apparel, headwear and we want to make bags and other personal "edc" (every-day carry) items.
Where can people find you? (social media, website, etc)