Jakob Westman – Interview with the author of Color Blast

Jakob has been working with advertising for over 16 years. He’s been interested in graphic design and illustration for as long as he can remember. In school he did posters and demo tape covers for his friends who played in a band. And through a nation wide competition in school (where you were supposed to make a magazine about milk), he stumbled into advertising. His entry won the competition. An ad agency who saw the entry called him up and asked him to come to Stockholm and hang out with them. And he discovered there actually was a profession where you got to do all the stuff he liked to do. And be paid! Even since then (1992) his future title was crystal clear in his head. He would be an Art Director.

Fast forward to 1998 when Jakob graduated from Berghs School of Communication and sets up the “Graceland Sthlm” advertising agency with a couple of friends. Over the span of two years the agency grew from 2 to 16 people, won some awards and worked with quite a few high profile clients.

After a merge in 2000 Jakob split and sold his shares, moved on to a smaller ad agency before going freelance in 2001.

You have just released an art book, tell us about it!

A few years ago I released an art book called “Color Blast vol 1″, a collection of illustrations I had done up til then. It was a chance for me to do a project where I called all the shots myself. No clients with requests and no limitations at all. It was such a kick to do that! Even doing the first book I knew that I’d like to do more in the future. This year I finally did.

The second volume is even fancier than the first one. 68 pages (compared to 52) and with a dustcover that looks great. It’s printed with a partial holographic foil which really makes the colors pop. I had been dreaming of using that kind of foil for a very long time, and for this project I finally did. Was really hard to find a printer who was willing and able to do it though, quite a lot of detective work involved.

The book is released in a very small edition of 500 signed and numbered copies, and they’re available through my website.

Are there any books beside Color Blast that you’d like to recommend?

There are lots of great books in the same genre (i.e. independently published art books in small editions). There’s also a really good book store called Stuart Ng Books. It has a terrible site, but a very good selection of books. Chris Sanders, who designed Lilo & Stitch, has three sketchbooks out that are gorgeous. The books of James Jean are also very nice. But the one I’ve been the most impressed with lately is a book by Kevin Dart. It’s called Seductive Espionage: The World of Yuki 7, and it’s such a brilliant concept and it’s perfectly executed.

I’m also a big fan of the Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose magazines, they’re so perfectly tuned into me that I even like the ads in them.

What is the biggest difference between designing for web and designing for print?

For me it’s the fixed format in print. The biggest challenge for me is always to use the size of the screen in a good way. Or rather, the different sizes of screens. Since a website is being visited by so many different people, and seen on so many different screen sizes.

What does the future of web design look like?

I’d like to see (and do) stuff using the Z-depth, and not only the X-width and the Y-height of the screen. I think we could (and should) do some great stuff in Z-depth.

Do you have any recommendation for people from the print world beginning with web design?

Try to get comfortable with not having a fixed format to work with, and try to do something fun with the big RGB color space. CMYK is very limited in comparison.

What is the most interesting case you’ve had?

The MTV Japan Video Awards was one of the most rewarding projects I’ve worked on. I was asked to help out with some character design and turnarounds for a campaign that the Dutch ad agency “Kessels Kramer” were working on for the Japanese MTV. I did quite a lot of construction design for this big mascot that would be sculpted in clay in China.

It was also modeled and animated in 3d by a Swedish production company called “Fido“. And I did a bunch of poster illustrations that were beautifully designed by my fellow Art Director Nils-Petter Lövgren who worked at “Kessels Kramer”. The best thing about this project was that we were all these people, spread around the globe, and that we all brought our expertise to the table, and made each others stuff so much better than it would have been on it’s own. We were ”plussing” each other.

Can you tell us about your relationship with Hellboy?

I’ve been a big comics fan for as long as I can remember, and in 1989 there was a Batman comic called “Gotham By Gaslight” that I fell instantly in love with. It looked so good! A few years later I discovered “Hellboy“, and it turned out it was done by the same guy, Mike Mignola. Ever since then, I’ve been keeping my eyes on any- and everything he’s been doing.

In 2001, over the Christmas holidays I made some Playmobil customs, where I turned regular Playmobil Police officers into Hellboy and his friends. They turned out pretty cute and I posted them over at the Hellboy forum where other geeks like myself use to hang out. The photos were very well recieved and to my big surprise I also got an email from the Mignolas where they asked me if I’d be willing to make a set for them, as a commission. Needless to say, I was.

So I spent a lot of time making Hellboy and his fellow agents, and also his enemies from the first graphic novel. 10 different characters in total. In the summer of 2002 I took the custom made box and went to San Diego Comic Con (where Mignola was) and presented the set to him. He was very happy to see them and I had a great day. People were coming up to me asking about the figures and saying how much they liked them and how they thought someone should get them into production. Even now I get a few emails a year from people who have questions about the figures.

How do you tackle creative blocks?

I sleep badly and try to force my way through them. Leafing through books and websites can help too. But I don’t believe in waiting for inspiration. I mean, there’s usually a deadline.

Where do you find your inspiration?

In books and music. I don’t know how many illustrations that have been inspired by lyrics from songs I like. Good lyrics usually make images appear in my head.

Do you listen to music while working?

I do, all the time. As soon as I get to the office I put something on. When I leave the office I plug my headphones in and when I get home I usually put the same playlist on there.

What kind of music?

Lately I’ve been listening a lot to Owl City and PlayRadioPlay. They both come from my longing of a new album from Postal Service.

Is there any kind of artform that you’d like to explore more?

Yes, 3D. Not necessarily to do it myself, but I’d love to be involved in more projects where I design stuff that’s turned into physical (or digital) 3D. The stuff I’ve done so far have been really fun to work on.