Queer Design Club

I'm Theo! an illustrator, comic artist, print designer and zine maker. My work relates to LGBTQ+ history & news, advocacy & accessibility, humor, pop culture, the macabre, and vintage ephemera. I live in Phoenix with my wife Rae and our very old cat.

How does being queer inform your work?

So much of my work exists within our community. I do print magazine layouts and editorial illustration for LOOKOUT News, I've done print ad design within the community, and I'm a co-organizer for PHX Zine Fest, which strives to uplift marginalized creators. Contributing to work that uplifts or informs our community is so aligned with my values. Beyond that, being queer also informs my approach to creativity and the themes I like to explore. A lot of my personal illustration work is a mix of seemingly oppositional ideas. I like to mix dark themes and bright colors, or challenging topics with humor. I try to walk the line between subverting norms and inviting people in. Most seemingly opposite things are not mutually exclusive, and that's a space I like to occupy with both art and gender.

What are your favorite pieces of queer visual culture?

I have done a lot of archival print design work for Echo Magazine. Echo is no longer publishing, but it ran from 1989 into the early 2020s. Getting to see historical queer magazine design from my city is everything to me. So my answer isn't just one piece, it's anything historical that is designed for us and by us. I love old gay bar ads. I love illustrated event maps. I love candid photography spreads. Even just old classifieds are really enthralling to me. But I guess if I had to choose one thing off the top of my head, it would be Catherine Opie's Dyke Deck.