Interview with jasonworx

Time to get to know a bit more about jasonworx. You've seen the work, let's hear a little something about the person.

Give us a short introduction about you.
My name is Jason - go figure. I am a designer in Pittsburgh, PA. My work typically focuses on graphic design, web design, photography and identity/branding. I am married to Victoria and we have a son named Hunter.

Where did you grow up? Tell us a little story about the young you.
I grew up all over the place. My mother moved my sister and me some 39 times before I graduated high school. I was born in Texas and have also lived in California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Ohio, and now Pennsylvania.

What aspect of yourself really stands out? Any peculiar habits or odd fascinations?
I love to capture and present the mundane or often-seen "ugly" or "common" as unique, beautiful and unusual. I especially love urban exploring - going out into my urban surroundings and finding places that time has forgotten - places that have ceased to be a part of everyday life in the world around us - and to sneak in and photograph what I see there. Sometimes this is physically dangerous and sometimes it is questionably legal.

What is that common every day thing that can really make your day?
At risk of seeming cliche', the smile of my son, Hunter, can melt me in an instant. Childrens' love is so unconditional and pure. I find that being a father is a strange dichotomy of waiting until you're ready and never being ready. I think you should wait until absolutely ready to have children, because they change your life forever. At the same time, no matter how ready you want to be or think you are, you can never be fully prepared for the change - both wonderful and drastic. Once they're here, you wonder why you ever waited so long and can't remember life without them.

Is there a typical topic, story or concept that fuels your creations? Where does that fascination come from?
Most of my work here is about seeing the beauty in the world around me. I am only a novice at doing this. The fascination to see beauty in the world around me comes from the need to hold onto that which is beautiful. I think "people suck" - myself included - and that the world can be a very hostile and negative place. We hurt the ones we love the most and, given the choice to be self-satisfying or to sacrifice for someone else, most people in most cases will take the easy way. To find the beauty in the everyday helps to keep this cynicism about the world at bay and makes it survivable.

Visual artists and music is like cookies and milk, does music do anything for you?
I have heard it said that music is an even more powerful emotional stimulus than visual art. Music is very important to me. Music helps me to "feel". Music inspires me and helps me to relate to the world around me.

I have never considered myself "musically inclined"; however, I am currently revising that belief. I do not believe in "talent", but, rather in skill and dedicated practice. I believe that anyone can become great at nearly anything they wish, given that they develop their skill at a given task through desire and devotion.

I am learning to play guitar now after 16 years of not touching a guitar. When I was 16 years old, I was walking home from school with my 9-day-old guitar and was robbed at knife point. My guitar was stolen and I was scared for my life. I didn't touch a guitar again until about 3 months ago. Now I realize I never lost the desire to play, but I have missed out on the past 16 years of time that I could have been practicing and playing - becoming a musician. It's never too late!

Which artists really influence you?
The first artist that comes to mind is the surrealist Rene Magritte. I love the dreamlike visuals he created in his work and also how he used his skill as an image maker to interpret the world around him with dark, twisted, sometimes fear-inducing humor and wit.

How would you describe your style?
My style - hmmm... how about eclectic, conceptual and polished - sometimes over-polished. I will often toil for hours over something as simple as a line of typography in a design that is only off by a pixel or two, or a color that is indicernibly different from one shade to another. I can not consider a work finished until I absolutely love it. Until I do, I can not let it go. I realize that I am my own worst critic and that perfectionism is often the source of my insomnia, stress and and anxiety.

Is there something specific that sparked your creative side?
I believe that moving around so much as a kid forced me to become somewhat introverted. Oddly, it also forced me to become extroverted. I can easily switch between these two tendencies. Moving around as much as I did, I would often have to leave my friends behind and move somewhere totally new. Arriving as the new kid in class, I would have to re-form relationships, deciding quickly what people were about and finding in those around me that best qualities and also learning to avoid the bad. I believe that having to learn about myself in order to understand others is what sparked my creativity so long ago.

What's your opinion about traditional media? Is it an advantage to have experience with real pencils, paint or conventional camera?
I believe that it is an advantage to understand traditional media. Anyone can begin by throwing splatters of paint on a blank canvas, but there was only one Jackson Pollock - and he did it first. Traditional drawing is about learning to see. Painting is about learning to see light and color. Developing a roll of film and learning to print with an enlarger and learning to burn and dodge a photo is a great asset in learning to make strong images in the camera from the moment you see them. Once you have a solid understanding of the history and purpose behind techniques in any discipline, their application has purpose in your work. Without that history, work is often superficial. Know your artistic history - it is your pedigree!

Do you strive to be as versatile as possible or do you stick to one thing?
I make whatever I can think of clearly. I often take on "small projects" that grow into absurdly large ones. I see the creative process in almost everything around me - upholstering a piece of furniture, mounting photographs as gifts, designing business cards - sometimes the objects around us that seem to be the "simplest" are actually the most complex. I like to understand the parallels of creativity through almost any craft.

Is there a certain ritual that takes place before you start working on something?
Yeah... lots and lots of procrastination. I fight until the absolute last possible moment to start something. I don't like to create - I need to create. I wait until I can't resist the need any longer and then dive in head-first.

What equipment do you use to create your work?
For my photography:

Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel XT
17" Apple Powerbook G4
Photoshop CS2

For web design:

Same computer
Adobe Creative Studio 2
Macromedia Dreamweaver 8
Macromedia Fireworks

Have you been educated in what you do? Where did you study and how much do you profit from it?
I graduated from the High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, Houston, TX in 1993. I worked on some design while I was stationed in the U.S. Navy in Washington, D.C. and once I got out, I found my way into web site design. Design is 100% of my living.