Brandon Gilbert Suit Designs Come to Life
When it comes to the cosplay world, it seems that having a skintight suit is a staple in everyone’s cosplay closet. How else can one personify Spiderman, Spidergwen, or a character from their favorite video games like Super Smash Bros?
Lately, there have been a couple of suits that have caught the eye of the Internet. And on close observation, it seems that these glorious suits are all being designed by the same man.
Brandon Gilbert is an exceptionally talented Dyesub artist, who has taken his love for art to a whole new level. We wanted to get to know Brandon a little more, so we had a talk with him about his recent designs going viral. Besides his clear love for cosplaying, Brandon has a solid background that will certainly send this artist to new heights.
Cosplay & Coffee: Your profile says Dyesub Artist. How would you define that?
Brandon Gilbert: I design patterns specifically used for making dyesub (dye sublimation) suits. There’s a number of websites out there that take these pattern files and print them onto huge pieces of spandex that then get cutout and sewed together resulting in a skintight suit
C&C:  I believe I’ve seen a couple of your designs go viral (i.e.  the Gwenom suit). Can you tell us about those (who you worked with, where you drew inspiration, etc).
BG: Yea! the Gwenom/Anti-Gwenom suit design really blew up. It was based off a character designed by Jamie Tyndall. Spider-Gwen was a huge hit when she popped up in the comics scene recently so this was a take on if she was taken over by the Symbiote.
To my surprise, Jamie was actually somewhat of a fan of my work and wanted to work with me to turn his design into a suit. So I did what I do, got his help with designing aspects of the back view that weren’t in his original piece and viola, all done.
We had the suit printed and sewn by ZentaiZone, and when it came in the mail we threw it on Elise (my girlfriend), snapped some quick pics on my iPhone and a couple days later it was going around the internet like crazy [see featured pic; photo #1].
C&C: How long have you been designing?
BG: I’ve been making dyesub patterns for almost two years now. Started off by just designing a Spider-Man suit for my own use. When I wore my suit around at a couple conventions I kept having people ask where I got it from and if I could create more. Just kind of took off from there.
C&C: Is this your full time job? If not, what fields have you/do you work in?
BG: I wish! My day job is working in the Lighting and Compositing Department at an animation studio where we work on animated feature films. We’re currently just finishing up work on The Nut Job 2 and I’m pretty hyped about it. Highly suggest checking it out, it’s looking pretty darn good.Â
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO6Fd7WBcQw/?taken-by=marvel_m3rmaid
C&C: How does the process work to bring your designs to life?
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C&C: Do you design more than just suits?
BG: Debatable if you would classify this as something different, but I also do designs for leggings as well. I have a few different Overwatch designs made and plan on more.
C&C: Do you attend conventions? If so, where do you plan on going for 2017?
BG: Of course! The plan for 2017 in terms of big cons is NYCC and Blizzon. Other than those it’s up in the air at the moment.
BG: Honestly there’s just so many great cosplayers out there I’m just grateful each time my designs get picked to be used to bring their favourite characters to life.
C&C: Are you particularly proud of any certain design that you’ve done?
C&C: And finally, if a cosplayer wants you to design a suit for them, how do they go about getting that done (if you’re available)?Â
You can see more of Brandon’s knockout suits on his website. Â Don’t forget to follow him on social media, and share your love for his awesome designs!
