Tracy "Trace" Albert Tubera is graffi artist turned professional artist & designer. He's part of the Vision Shoe Design Team and double duties as a deck designer for Shuvit Skateboards.

What school did you attend to obtain your degree in the Art? I attended CSULB (Cal State Long Beach) and I have a degree in Illustration.

If you weren't a shoe designer, what field of employment do you think you'd be in? I'd probably be a cartoon animator or a comic book artist.

What's the toughest part of being a shoe designer? Trying to come up with designs that are unique so my shoes can have their own style.

Which shoe companies are you feeling right now? I'm a DC Shoes fan for all time because of their innovative designs--and Pony cause I dig their simplistic, retro style. I Like 4CEs casual footwear. I love the Adidas T-Macs.

What do you think is you're most innovative shoe design? I think my personal favorites are the Trace 3s in red and white. They release in August! DON'T SLEEP!!

Growing up, you collected a gang of comics. Name some of the artists that influenced your style. There were so many artists that I grew up admiring. Nowadays there's a bunch of comic artists that I dig, such as Jason Pearson. He did a series called "Bodybags"--a father and daughter hitman team. Then there's Kaare Andrews, Rick Mays...I basically like the cartoony-manga Style.

You're also a part of the multi-talented crew SOL, aka 705, what adjective best describes you're crew? I'd say diverse due to the fact we started as graff artists and, now that our styles have matured, we're doing stuff like graphic design, computer graphics and making movies. One of the founding members of SOL works for Industrial Light and Magic. When you watch Episode I and Episode II, keep any eye out for the infamous 705 logo! Two other members, Chito Arrelano and Roman Cortez, and myself make short films--films that have been in a few film festivals. Check out our Website www.SEVENOHFIVE.com for all your audio and visual needs.

You also collect action figures. Which figure is the baddest to grace your collection? Right now it's my "Dragon Lives" collection. BADASS, fully pose-able, Bruce Lee 6-in. action figures. I even have the 12-in. Bruce Lee in the "Game of Death" outfit. A close second would be my Simpson's playset. The Comic Book Shop guy rules!!!

In your opinion, who do you think was a deadlier master of Ninjitsu, Snake Eyes or Storm Shadow? Personally I'd have to say Snake Eyes, but when Storm Shadow became a good guy his transition made him a BADASS--plus he was a ninja who wore white and still no one could see his ass, how BADASS is that?