3 minute read

Conversation Interview with Jasper Hostler

Words + Design

Joshua Rodriguez

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Joshua: How would you explain your art, or art style?

Jasper: I’ve loved cartoons, comics, and street art since I was little kid and I like to think I bring a bit of Hupa and Yurok tribal flair to those styles. Most of all though I like to try and make things that feel like they have a rich backstory.

Joshua: How do you feel about analog vs. digital art?

Jasper: It’s cool that there are so many ways to make art. Hopefully having so many points of entry will help more and more people find their voice. It’s incredible the things people can create. Sometimes I’ll even see a really cool effect in a digital piece and I’ll be really curious how that could be achieved in a physical medium. This lead to some hilariously bad pieces and some surprisingly cool pieces, it’s just fun to experiment.

Joshua: What is your Proudest Achievement?

Jasper: It’s silly but one time I did this cool piece of Max Holloway, one of my favorite fighters. It was this legendary moment where he looks to the commentary team mid fight and starts shout “Count em up!” As he then proceeds dodge multiple shots without even looking at his opponent. Goosebumps dude!

So I’m watching this and Im super inspired to try and capture the moment. So I did my thing, and I had a blast. One of those drawings where you are smiling ear to ear the whole time you are working on it. Then I share it on my Instagram and tag his page thinking why not right? Next thing I know he totally shared it on his story and gave it a like. I was so pumped.

Joshua: What tools would you say are in your design tool box?

Jasper: Let’s see I’d say the things I value are my adaptability, ability to work under pressure, sense of balance, and my stubborn optimism.

Joshua: How do you seek inspiration, in general, and for a particular project?

Jasper: Somebody once gave me a funny acronym I try to remember when i have creative block. “K.I.S.S.” Which means “keep it simple stupid”.

I sometimes get the impulse to try too hard to be clever. Which as you can imagine leads to overworked concepts that really only spoke to me. Using that as my sorta mantra I remember that starting with the fundamentals of a project and making sure that the message is clearly communicated is step one. From there the “ah ha” moments can really happen organically.

Joshua: Can you explain your freelance process to me from start to finish, what steps do you take to reach a product you’re happy to share with the public or client?

Jasper: Well first things first, talking with my client, sometimes people will tell you exactly what they want and not even realize it. Especially if it’s something super important to them. Listening to people talk about what they are excited about is one of my favorite things in this job.

Then I start my research, searching for visual elements and symbolism that I can pull from to really capture what ever story we are trying to tell.

After that I start sketching thumbnails. Get all my thoughts on paper. All of em, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

From there I create what I like to call my mechanical version combining what worked and discarding what didn’t from my thumbnails. This is a version that’s still fully editable nothing it outlined or flattened so any feed back is super easy to apply.

Next is just doing rounds with your client. Presenting what you’ve done so far, having a conversation, and getting there reactions. Sometimes they’ll be really inspired too and have some insight that’ll really bring it home, so these chats are really important.

Then finally you refine it into its final form and hopefully everyone is super happy and you celebrate with some pizza and doritos!

COMISSIONED BY JASPER HOSTLER

Joshua: One of your favorite mediums is felt tip markers. How have you tried to incorporate your marker art in your commercial work, and what tips do you have for other designers trying to branch away from the computer or merging the two mediums on a corporate level?

Jasper: Oh most definitely, alcohol markers are a very fast and versatile medium. I love to use them when ever I see an opportunity that makes sense.

As for tips I would just suggest practicing as much as possible with what ever medium you are excited about. That way when you find an opportunity to incorporate it, it’ll feel more natural to develop your concepts

Joshua: As someone who has worked on multiple different types of projects from illustrations, storyboards to catalogs and billboards, what do you prefer and what about those projects do you enjoy so much?

Jasper: The variety keeps ya sharp, I don’t know that I have a preference honestly. Every project is a puzzle with its own unique way of challenging me to think visually.

Joshua: What is something you think every designer should know as they emerge into this new career?

Jasper: Keep getting critiques as often as possible just like in school. The best way to know if a design is working is to see if it makes sense to outsiders looking in.

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