JILL.DESIGN

2. JOURNAL: Behind the Scenes

I am busy at work on the first issue of my magazine JOURNAL, which I announced (!) here a few weeks ago. Usually I keep not-done work more to myself, but am trying new things. It’s called growth, people. :)

Here’s a BTS look at my process:

Typography: In my decades of design work, typography has been passion… and pain. The possibilities are endless and can feel like no end in sight – but when it clicks, it clicks and is utterly euphoric. If I woke up one day with an infinite budget, I’d easily drop a real fortune on my dream fonts and alllll the licenses. (Adds every style, ancestor, and descendant of Univers to cart, immediately.) Living as I do now in the birthplace of Helvetica, Swiss design, and International Typographic Style does nothing to help matters. I am deep in the craft these days. You can see some cover type experiments below.

Title: Journals were my earliest art practice and continue to be my religion. This name feels like home. I want it to be a record — in whole glorious thoughts and pictures — of my life as an artist. A playground, too. And it starts with a “J” — just like me.

Cover design: I’m currently totally torn between my two favorite styles — what I call “swimming in ink” (full-bleed black) and Swiss book/poster style. Stay tuned.

Here’s a look at the state of my publishing desktop right now:

3. So You Want to Make a Virtual Exhibition?

Did you know that I own my own gallery?

It’s online in Spatial, and you can visit it right now.

Immersive art spaces — whether digital or physical — are where I can bring together my visual work with experience and sound design. I love visiting new and multisensory experiential worlds, like teamLab projects in Japan or Lichthalle MAAG in Zürich. They are wonderful playgrounds for artistic experimentation.

Interested in exploring something like this for yourself? My artist colleague Karen Frances Eng (aka oculardelusion) just published this great guide: So You Want to Make a Virtual Exhibition? A survey of metaverse tools for turning cultural memory into immersive digital spaces.

4. Inspiring Friends: Naruto Ohashi

In December 2023, I met Naruto in the Ricoh GR section of Yodobashi Akiba in Tokyo. During my time there, we went to street photography shows, got drinks at Kodoji bar in Shinjuku, did impromptu street shoots, visited his hometown, and have kept in touch since. Most of the year, he’s a photography student in Brisbane, Australia and this week I got to video chat with him to catch up on all the things as he finishes up his final term.

One thing I love about having photographer friends is seeing each other’s work evolve over time. Naruto these days is off and running with a highly graphical style that is totally resonant with his cultural world of electronic music, live events, and multidisciplinary art school vibes.

He encouraged me to start signing my work. BIG. Like literally incorporating my signature as part of the work. I’ve never thought of doing this (!), and it really meets my current energy around alchemizing my loves of type/script + imagery. Thank you Naruto for the conversation and the inspiration. I love it. I’m gonna try it.