Jared Nickerson

Jared Nickerson (aka j3concepts) is an amazing artist. His skill and popularity is very widespread. He is steadily rising to one of the most popular vector artists online.

Interview

Hey Jared, thanks for taking the interview, and congrats on being the very first featured artist on ArtCulture.com!

Hey, I appreciate the opportunity.

How did you get started in the world of digital art and vector illustration? How long have you been doing this?

I’ve been designing for about 2-3 years now, I only really started doing full out design for companies and freelancing within the past year and a half. The digital design medium appealed to me because of it’s versatility and ease of use. I figured the way things were going, doing everything by pen/pencil will be outdated very soon, so I thought “why not incorporate my penstyle… into a digital artform?” Vector seemed to be the best answer to that, and so I initially started playing with Corel Draw and then slowly moved on to Adobe Illustrator. Then I started thinking, “why not post my work for everyone to see?”

Do you have any formal art training?

The only previous art training I have is Highschool art class, no joke. When i started messing with vector art, I didn’t know anyone close at hand that ever used Corel or Adobe. With that I grabbed a copy of both, and taught myself both programs. That alone took a long time considering the complexity of both programs. And still I don’t utilize either to it’s full potential. Then from there it was a matter of getting my ass beaten online by other designers, mainly because of my inability to grasp basic design principles and my total lack of style. That’s one thing I’ve got to say is very humbling and also very helpful in the grand scheme of things. I used to get pissed when people would bash my work or even give constructive feedback. Eventually though you come to realize that “hey, maybe they are right!”. I’ve got to say that was the “major turning point” in my work when I started to realize this fact. Then I grew from there and really started taking more time and pride in my work.

Can you try to describe your creative process?

My design process is rather random and incoherent, kinda like that drunken sorority girl in my basement… Very incoherent, yes. I usually get ideas when I’m out doing other activities not linked with design. I always seem to think in text, not visuals. So my ideas can come from quotes by friends, song lyrics, movies etc. It’s weird how I get my ideas from words… but they translate into visuals… I never really understood that. That answered the question right?

When you are creating a new piece, what do you usually rely on to set the mood or tone of the work? The colors, the subject. etc.

I’m always bad at conveying a mood, I can never seem to get an overall “dark” feel to a work, or an overall “cheerful” feel to a work, on purpose that is. Also my color choices always come last, and the colors usually change 10-20 times. Like i said, my whole process is very random. I’m also very bad at layout or positioning pieces on the backdrop, I don’t think that’s rare though, most artists have trouble with that. I think at this point the most influenthial aspect of my work would be the style. I mean there alot of vector artists out there, but to truly succeed, your work needs that spark or that extra “oomph” It’s all a matter of how it’s presented. I’ve always had that minimal style, but I’ve learned over time, even minimal can be detailed and catch the eye, you just have to know how to “work that in”. I think that’s were alot of vector artists go wrong, they have pure talent, but they don’t know how to apply it properly through a digital medium.

The work you do always seems to have very indepth titles and type work. Messages if you will. Are you trying to tell people something?

Sometimes I try and convey a message or a subtle ideal. I’ve always been against preachy artwork, but I guess sometimes that jumps out of my work. I have work that speaks out against the whole “multiply and consume” ideal that us North Americans share. I have work that expresses the loses and gains of love. And so on. Most are from personal experiences, but to be fair, some of the titles have nothing to do with the artwork itself, it’s just whatever I think sounded sharp and witty at the time.

Do you do professional illustration work for anyone, do you work in the art field?

I’ve done some higher-end corporate design as well, but I mainly stick to more freelance low-key stuff. I also have a clothing label I co-own called LAID Apparel, which will be launched within the next month or so. Also I’ll be working on some designs for the clothing line WuWear (Wu-Tang Clan). So design keeps me busy, but it’s not my full time. I currently work for an online broadcasting company, so that takes most all my time, mainly because of travel and responsibility. Would I like to pursue a career in design? I honestly don’t think so, it just seems to suck the joy out of it. Deadlines and guidelines kinda restrict the whole creative process for me.

You have an impressive amount of works in your deviantart gallery. How long does it take you on average to complete a new piece?

If I could narrow it down to a certain time frame… well damn I couldn’t. They can take 2 hours to 2 weeks, hard to say sometimes, depends on my mood and my time restrictions. Sometimes brilliant ideas can come to mind and be executed in an hour, and sometimes very bad ideas can take a week to execute.

What do you hope the person looking at your artwork walks away with?

Hard to say. I’ve always tried to make my artwork usable. I mean art is nice, usable art is a bonus. I’ve always tried to make my work into standard wallpapers or icons for the everyday customizer. I’ve always believed that the art that makes the biggest impression, is the art your subjected to everyday… wallpapers being one example.

What about the relationship between your artwork and your personal life? Do your illustrations image certain experiences, events, or emotions?

This goes along with one of the other questions. Some of my work has been translated from personal experience, some has been translated from random bollocks of thought.

Thanks for taking this interview, and keep up the great work. Is there anything you would like to say to leave the readers with?

You get a bruised ego or a slap in the nutbag in regards to feedback on your designs, first think “maybe they have a point” … always look at the advice itself, not the advice giver. Also I’ve been guilty in the past of following trends myself… we all fall into that trap from time to time. You’ll be respected more and be praised more if you cut your own stylistic path. If there is one thing I’ve learned from all this, respect is given for originality, not conformity. Good luck guys and thank you for your continual support.

Jared Nickerson
J3 Concepts

I Design.

Category: Design