Our recently completed Firefox 3 T-shirt Design Contest was one of the most fun projects I’ve worked on since joining Mozilla…it was tremendously gratifying to turn our brand marks over to the community and see so much creativity and enthusiasm in return. Out of the many truly excellent submissions we received, though, the work of Tracie Andrews (aka “egirluk”) really stood out, so it was no surprise when one of her designs was voted the overwhelming contest winner.

I recently emailed Tracie a few questions to find out more about her background, inspirations and approach to the contest. Here’s what she had to say:

1. How did you originally get interested in design?
I’ve always loved art and computers, and always wanted to combine the two. I did a Fine Art degree in 1998 but didn’t get my first computer until 2000. It was then that I discovered a magazine dedicated to digital arts, and that was it. I still dabble with paint and canvas from time to time, but I much prefer what I do now. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

2. How long have you ben designing professionally? What kinds of work do you specialize in?
It’s only been recently in the last few months that I have started designing professionally, and I specialise mainly in illustration and graphic design.

3. How would you describe your style? What are your influences?
To be honest, I don’t have a style - I prefer not to be constrained by that limitation. I’m continually learning and evolving as a designer and I think that is reflected in my work. To me the subject matter/brief dictates the style, not the other way around. As for influences, I’m influenced by everything! TV, cartoons, books, news, fabrics, ads, packaging – everything, I’m always looking at things and seeing the creative aspect!

4. What’s your creative process like? When you found out about the t-shirt contest, how did you approach the work?
When faced with a brief, I like to research everything about the project. Once I have all the information, then I can proceed with sketches and then start work on the computer. I always leave colour choices until last. When I found out about the contest, I searched for everything I could about Firefox and Mozilla, its history, and manifesto. Once I had that information, the designs sort of came together themselves!

5. You were one of the most prolific designers in the entire contest. Of all the designs you submitted, which was your personal favorite and why?
Thank you! My personal favourite was laptop-design. With each design I tried to push them as far as they could go, without losing the ‘message’ (I wasn’t always successful!). This particular design is my favourite because it incorporates all the things I love about Firefox, particularly how Firefox can be customized to each user, so my browser is as unique as I am!

6. Lastly, what’s your favorite thing about Firefox?
Lots of things! I love the customisation aspect, the add-ons and extensions, so I can tailor my browser to my needs. I love the tabs, which makes everything so easier, no more having lots of windows open. And, the fact that the software is relatively small, never crashes and is unobtrusive - oh, and if my operating system does crash, the ‘restore session’ is invaluable.

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Tracie’s winning shirt will be available in the Mozilla Store in the next few weeks. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the contest, and stay tuned for more info on how we’d like to “open source” the rest of the design submissions to make them more widely available.