Zachary Quinto's Biceps Blog Update: A New Look Unveiled!

Happy Sunday!

Welcome to the splashing, New Look of the Appreciating Zachary Quinto's Biceps Blog !

I have been searching for someone who had the passion to help design a new ZQBiceps blog header banner for me for some time. A couple of weeks ago, I was so stoked to have found someone who was willing to do one!

You may know him as Davian Aw, who have been posting quite regularly on ZQC recently.

Not only does Davian and I share the same fandom, we also originate from the same country! Pretty rare in the Zachary Quinto fandom world as statistics may tell you. Call it Quintoistic kismet. ;)

I love doing special ZQ Fan Focus from time to time. I covered Q&A's with one of Sylar's Army's (SArmy) founders Meaghan McBee, and another SArmy moderator, Natalie Wells, who also happens to be a very talented photographer. If you want to read about these fans, head to the bottom of this blog page for the links.

To make the launch of the blog's new look more personal, I've asked Davian to give us a little background of his work and feelings about the Zachary Quinto fandom.

24-year-old Davian is currently working as a digital media intern in a small start-up company based in NYC. As part of his internship, he is helping the company out with their graphic design and web development needs.

Davian has a wide range of interests that spans writing, web design, computer programming, playing music, and he also likes science-fiction. In addition, he is particular interested in researching and understanding about where and how science & religion meet, and likes fighting for LGBT rights, particularly within Christianity. (On a separate note, Davian has admitted to me that one of his other key activities is knowing where his towel is. Pretty sure that with his writing, computer programming and religious knowledge, he could either create a towel-finding code, write some kind of special prayer or a mix of both. ;) )

1. How long have you been a Zachary Quinto fan? 
Davian: It was a gradual process that I think began in 2007-ish, when his name popped up in the "Heroes" opening credits. I had no idea who he was, but I thought he had a fascinating name. 

I probably hit the fan stage somewhere in mid-2009 shortly before Star Trek XI came out, thanks to this series of stories I was writing with a friend over MSN chat because we thought it would be awesome if Sylar and Spock were to meet. So that would be about four years, now. 

2. What is it about Zach that especially inspires you?
Davian: I admit that the main thing which drew me into his fandom and keeps me there is the diverse range of characters that he plays. I'm utterly fascinated by and have written way too much fanfic about these characters. (I also role-play Smudge and Adam Kaufman here and there on LiveJournal). So that's the actor side of it. 

When it comes to Zach as a person, however, I continue to be greatly inspired by his declaration of intent - made on his blog shortly after he came out - to live "an authentic life of compassion, integrity and action". While not perfect - as no one is (sadly) - he comes across as a genuinely good person who wants to do the right thing, and the way he lives his life gives me hope for my own and the faith that it gets better. 

3. Has designing always been your passion? 
Davian: Writing is my passion, actually! I never intended specifically to be a designer. In 2005 or so I just started out making fandom stuff like icons and calendars (which were made in PowerPoint and were terrible), because other people were making them and I wanted to join in. 

But then I fell in love with the creative design process and the fun of messing around in Photoshop. I got better at it over the years (at least, I like to think so), and at some point I realised that I had done enough graphic design (and web design) work in fandom to create a portfolio. So I did that, and it got me a few freelance jobs as well as this current New York internship, which was awesome. 

4. And do you have a favourite designer?
Davian: I don't have a favourite designer, and can't actually list any designers. I got my design education in fandom: it was always other fans' work that inspired and motivated me, and I guess I never got down to searching out and studying professional non-fandom designers like actual design students would do.

5. If you are not a designer, what would you be?
Davian: I'd probably be focusing all my efforts on my writing. I procrastinate too much.

Both Davian and I hope you enjoy the new bicepstuous banner for the blog!
And feel free to give him a nice shout out at the Zachary Quinto Community, post comments below or at the ZQ Biceps Facebook Page!

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Here are the links to the other fan-focused Q&As:

Meaghan McBee
Natalie Wells

Link to Davian Aw's website