My practice is anchored in a firm commitment to strategically driven, user-centered design that aims to make the lives of people simpler & more delightful, and hopefully be a bit clever while it’s at it.
My ethos has always been that design should make people’s lives easier. The majority of what I design and develop are tools both for designers and business users alike. As such, these tools are tailored to the needs and demands of different user bases.
My approach has always been one of comprehensive understanding of both the intended audience of a design, as well as of the environment in which the design will be deployed. It would be folly to expect a business development specialist to have a deep working knowledge of esoteric design programs, thus the tool being developed needs to be tailored to that working environment.
Design needs to be beautiful, but first and foremost it needs to be usable. As such, it is worth saying that to me, design ≠ decoration; the Shakers summed it up best with their dictum: Don’t make something unless it is both made necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.
Exhibited in
Type Directors Club Exhibition, New York (2018)
Type Directors Club Exhibition, New York (2015)
Stereohype: 2004–2014, London (2014)
Type@Cooper, New York (2012)
One Club 17th Annual Exhibition, New York (2011)
Type Directors Club Exhibition, New York (2010)
Published in
Typography 39, Verlag Hermann Schmidt (2018)
Typography 36, Harper Design (2015)
Human Logo, Counter-Print (2014)
Playing with Type, Rockport Publishers (2012)
Typodarium 2012, Verlag Hermann Schmidt (2011)
The 3D Type Book, Laurence King Publishing (2011)
Typography 31, Collins Design (2010)
Honors
TDC64, Certificate of Typographic Excellence (2018)
TDC61, Certificate of Typographic Excellence (2015)
TDC56, Certificate of Typographic Excellence, First Place for Student Work (2010)
Teaching
I have previously taught brand design within the Visual Arts department at Fordham University in New York City. I have also lectured and lead workshops at the College of the Arts at California State University, Long Beach.
Learning
I hold a BFA in Graphic Design from California State University, Long Beach, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Typeface Design from The Cooper Union.
Additionally, I am always seeking to expand my notions and understanding of design as it relates to visual communications, but even more so of how other disciplines of design—be it architecture, industrial design, and even food design—approach, frame, and solve problems. As such, I endeavor every summer to carve a month out of my year to attend and immerse myself in summer workshops concentrating in fields of design other than my own. My travels so far have taken me to Alexander von Vegesack’s Domaine de Boisbuchet in the south of France, L’École Supérieure d’Art et de Design in Reims, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, the department of Design Writing & Research at the School of Visual Arts, and the Architectural Association’s Hooke Park campus.
Colophon
The type family used is Neutral by Kai Bernau, available for license through Typotheque. Content management is WordPress utilizing Emil Olsson’s Hi-Response. Principal photography is by me, with some photos by Emilie Baltz and Joe Tornatzky. Hand models include the ever patient and accommodating Rachel Hendrickson and Priyank Mehta
All content copyright © 2009 – whatever the current year is.
Don’t steal stuff, it’s not nice.
Want to work together?
Then please get in touch—I love hearing about new projects that I might have something to contribute to! Drop me a line at j@heytheremynameisjack.com or get at me on the twitters @thejackamo