Our very own resident Princess, Arkflip! 
The cover World Stuff
Where did your nickname come from
Ark comes from Architect and flip from my name (it’s the simplest way to say my name in portuguese.) And lemme say i was a brilliant architect student, then i decided to study graphic design and now i’m working at a bank but i still love to do things with photoshop.
What part of the world do you come from
Lisbon, Portugal.
What got you into designing covers in the first place
What got me? Hum... i know who got me, it was my good friend Fabio aka Stalker. I still remember that i was searching for some DVD covers for my “original†movies and then i found a portuguese site where people shared scanned covers and talked about a new thing called custom covers. Then one day Stalker and i started talking, he mentioned how people were starting to do custom covers at foreign communities (including dvdcoverart) and i got the interest to try myself. I guess i got the interest into designing covers seeing artists like Scara, Stalker and Bunny designing covers and that made me wanna give myself a chance to try. Damn! Now that i think i’m in this hobby since 2001 or 2002!
Is there anyone on the cover making scene that has inspired you
My original source of inspiration was obviously my mentor Stalker. He helped me a lot! A few years later i started to develop my retail style and Bunny was my inspiration.
What would be your best advice to any up and coming designer
Never give up and always accept advices and help. And don’t ruin a cover just to have it done in a rush. I have wip’s that were started 6 months ago remember? And most important do this for fun!
What’s your favourite cover you have made
I’m quite satisfied with my Gladiator bluray cover
but the one i really like it’s King Kong, turned out good i think.
What’s your least favourite cover you have made
That needs to be my old Last Samurai cover! I hate when i need to use poster artwork but needed to fill my own request to have that cover. Oh! And i also dislike my Kill Bill collection. I can’t remember why i did those but it was in the top 10 of MaDVD (the actual R1DB) and i’m kinda proud of myself (those days i was a rookie on the hobby...)
What’s your favourite cover that someone else has made
Still is Bunny’s Armageddon Criterion cover.
Don’t ask me why but i love the front work and it was a “love at first sight†feeling when i saw the cover. But i have a few favorite designers (Irrob, Bearstyle, Bazzah, Demonology, Ruso, SXS, Ubl and off course Zantasha)and i collect all the covers i like. To be honest i have more than 3GB of covers on my computer...
The Personal Stuff
What is your real name
Filipe Silva
What do you do for a living
I work at a bank.
Any kids (that you know of)
Not yet.
Any brothers/sisters
A lovelly younger sister.
What was your childhood like? Share an interesting "growing up" story.
It was normal i think. I really can’t remember any interesting story to share. My childhood was good, always had good friends around and i enjoyed it as much as i could.
What is your favourite food
Bolognese! Love italian food!
What is your favourite type of music/band
I kinda listen everything but 90’s grunge do it for me (Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Seether)
What is your favourite movie of all time
Have two: Raiders of the Lost Ark and Back to the Future 1
What one place would you like to visit
New York. But then i would travel to New Jersey to meet Mr. Tim Gengler and teach him how to design decent covers!
What other hobbies do you have besides movies & graphics
Football (soccer for my US friend that are reading this now lol) is the most important one. But i also like to travel, be with friends, go to the cinema, ... i’m a normal guy..
What is the best thing that ever happened to you
My family.
What is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you
Now that you ask i remember when i was a kid i was caught stealing loquats (i think it’s how it’s called in english) at a farm and then the owner released the dogs to catch me... i lost the loquats and even got grounded by my parents.
What is your favourite colour
Red.
What is your favourite animal
My dog!
Who is your favourite actor
Harrison Ford.
If you could meet one person, who would it be, and why
A few months ago when i started writing my answers i have the perfect answer for this question. Now, with everything that happened to me recently my answer would be myself. Why? Life’s too short: in a couple of months a friend died and i lost my fiancee. Now i feel that i need to find myself again so i wanna meet me again. Sad answer i know, but the most honest i could give.
If you could be one person, who would it be and why
Harrison Ford in 1981! To have the chance to work with Steven Spielberg and John Rhys-Davies and be Indiana Jones!
What is your favourite car or motorcycle
Audi R8
Are you a night-owl or an early-bird
Night-owl off course.
If you knew you had 24 hours to live, how would you spend that time
Finishing all my wip’s to leave a legacy! And i’m not sure 24 hours would be enough!
Some strange stuff
Have you ever been shot
No.
Have you ever shot someone
No.
What size feet do you have
43 european size.
Do you like Spam
What’s Spam?
What's your favourite colour of sky
Yellow/Orange.
Did you go out last night
Last night i had s3x with 3 girls at the same time.
What’s your worst nightmare
Losing all the people that i love.
Pick three people of your preferred s3x, and decide if you would marry, sleep with, or throw them off a cliff.
That’s easy: Eva Longoria to marry; Eva Longoria and Charlize Teron to sleep with and Paris Hilton to throw her off a cliff along with all the cover leechers around..
Anything else you feel like sharing with the community
I just wanna say that i think we have a great and friendly community here at HRC. Darren it’s a great person, always around to help someone who need. Same for Rob, Freddy, Mike, Jakob and others. For those who are now reading this and are new at the scene i can only say welcome to the best cover community!
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