Where Duct Tape and Design Come Together

Tim Convery, founder of Tim Scapes, represents cities that are instantly recognizable because of their bold shapes, which transform iconic monuments and sites into graphic icons.

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Where are you from? Where are you based out of?

I grew up in Worcester, MA. I left for art school in New York City in 1982. Dropped out in 1983. After spending 20+ years working in the New York design world, I moved to Provincetown, MA. in 2010. Tim-Scapes opened in 2012.

How did you get into creating graphic art?

As a kid I was always very visual and drew pictures all the time. I painted a huge "super graphic" of arrows in my bedroom so that it looked like a 1970’s airport. My first "design" job was in New York 1987 working as a studio assistant for $5 an hour. I eventually put together a portfolio and got a job as a junior designer at a little boutique agency. I moved on to other positions and finally ended up as a senior vice president and creative director for a big cosmetics company.

Your work has a very unique and particular aesthetic - inspired by duct tape. Can you explain how you came to this look?

It began in the mid 80’s with trying to wrap a present for a friend’s birthday party. I didn’t have any wrapping paper so I covered the box with kraft paper and wrote his name in electrical tape on the top. It was a hit and became the way I wrapped all presents. In 2010, my then boyfriend Tim suggested that I should make the designs larger, so using his Portland, OR kitchen as my studio, I started to create what is now known as "Tape-Scapes." I got a big roll of kraft paper and 2 dozen rolls of duct tape and created huge typographic posters, then I researched vintage travel posters especially ones from the 60’s and 70’s. I began putting pictograms and logos together to create iconic puzzles for different locations. The first ones were Portland, OR and Provincetown, MA. I quickly developed designs for other locations and now have over 150 different global designs. I think this quote sums up how I think about my work: "Because everybody is a townie somewhere."

Do you have a favorite product from your collections?

I really love my P-Town lobster. It took me over a year to design. I couldn’t get the claws right. 

Follow Tim on Instagram: @timscapes

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