Q&A With Jon Ashcroft

I found Jon Ashcroft right after I joined the Dribbble community. I was immediately inspired by his dedication and ease of style. After learning more about Jon I realized that he is one of the most dedicated, hard-working designers I’ve encountered. I’m pleasantly surprised how seriously he took this interview. His answers are full of wisdom for all designers.

Q: Hi Jon. Your work is phenomenal! Explain to our readers exactly what you do.

A: Well Thanks! I do a few different things so I will run down the list.

Until about three months ago I was a graphic designer for Fender Musical Instruments. I worked on campaign concepts, product branding, advertising, environmental graphics and misc other things for Fender Musical Instruments and all of the companies falling under the FMIC banner (Jackson, Gretsch, Guild, etc.). Then the opportunity arose for me to step into my first full-time role as a Creative Director. Now I am in charge of branding and creative direction at Redemption Church, a multi-campus Church that was born out of the merger of Gilbert based East Valley Bible Church, Queen Creek based Second Mile Church and Tempe based Praxis Church where I had been a member and volunteer designer for some time. Lots of people scratch their heads when I tell them I left the world’s biggest rock and roll company for a regional church but I think they will start to understand my decision when the vision we have for Redemption’s media and communications output comes into full bloom.

One of the many benefits of my new gig is the flexibility it offers which allows me to pursue freelance illustration and design work. I have recently delved into the world of info-graphics and completed some fun projects for Fast Company, UPS, Ready Set Rocket, and See Change. I’ve also been fortunate enough to contribute to some great community based projects like Cicada Publishing’s Graphic USA and Young Jerk’s/Dan Cassaro’s State Mottos Project.

I am the co-founder and Creative Director of the The Fight for Feuille Foundation a cancer awareness and relief fund. The foundation was established to financially support my good friend Robert Feuille (who has since tragically passed) and his family while alerting other young men to the dangers of testicular cancer. Through the sale of apparel, fund-raising events and donations made to our site, Fight for Feuille has raised over $50,000 for the Feuille family and their subsequent causes.

I am a regular contributor to The Phoenix Egotist where I write about the Phoenix creative scene and general design nerdery. The Egotist Network is a national network of sites focusing on advertising, design and art as it pertains to certain cities. The Phoenix site is still in it’s infancy but with any luck it will become a great resource for the local community.

I have also been working with a few buddies to start a Phoenix based design and screen printing collective called The Union 48 Press. Union 48 will eventually design, print and sell posters, shirts, books and other soft goods.

Outside of all that I spend time with my beautiful wife, enjoy the company of friends, chill with my dogs and listen to as much good music as possible.

Q: You live in Phoenix, AZ. How do you think that helps or hurts your work?

A: Phoenix is an interesting locale and definitely has it’s pro’s and con’s from a creative community standpoint. It is a massive city and is often criticized for lacking any culture, sometimes being referred to as a giant cowtown. There is definitely some truth in that but what people fail to consider is how young of a city Phoenix is. New York and San Francisco were already giant metropolises while Phoenix was still an empty patch of desert. When you take that into account it is no wonder that we don’t have the cultural roots that other urban centers have.

The beauty about living in Phoenix at this point in time is that I’m in on the beginning of Phoenix’s cultural coming of age. We have made great strides in the last few years with our new light rail, the push to revitalize downtown, the Phoenix Design Week conferences, our First Friday Art Walks (which are the largest in the country as I understand) and a wealth of other culturally relevant events. The city is huge and full of resources but the creative community isn’t so big that it’s a ship you can’t steer. A person can have a legitimate and meaningful impact here if they really want to. Where as in more creatively established cities they would just be another fish in the pond.

I guess I kind of danced around the question there. Overall I would say living in Phoenix helps my work because I’m so invested in the community and feel that I can actually make an impact. I also probably enjoy a bit more visibility in Phoenix than I would in more saturated markets.

Q: Did you receive a formal education in Graphic Design?

A: Yes and no. I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis on Photography and Design from New Mexico State University. On paper I do have a formal education in graphic design but the design portion of my education was sort of a joke. Most of the program’s resources were focused around fine arts photography and art history (which I received an excellent education in) with a few less than stellar design classes thrown in. It all worked out in the end though. I was able to translate what I learned about visual principals and composition from photography into design and teach myself about the intricacies of design and illustration over years of obsessive practice.

Q: You currently work as the Creative Director for Redemption Church as well completing a lot of freelance work. How do you keep a balance?

A: Finding a balance between your job and freelance and work in general and life is always tricky and something I often struggle with.

As anyone who has ever done freelance or any sort of work on the side knows it always comes in waves. There will be nothing for a month and the next day you wake up to an inbox full of potential gigs. I just try to be selective with the freelance work I take on and only commit to projects that I’m really excited about and don’t mind sacrificing my Saturdays and evenings to.

The other piece of the puzzle consists of being intentional with my time. This applies to the day-job/freelance equation and the work/life balance. The more intentional and focused I can be with my time the larger the amount of work I can complete and the faster I can finish said work and just relax.

I also have the benefit of not being able to sit idle for any extended period of time. It is a blessing and a curse. It would be nice to have a cruising speed but I don’t seem to be wired that way and that is something I’m learning to embrace.

Q: You’ve had roots in the Southwest for a long time. Do you ever plan on relocating?

A: This is true. I was born in Northern New Mexico just south of the Colorado border where I lived until I went away to school on the Southern border of the state. As soon as I graduated my wife and I moved to Phoenix and have been here since.

Paige (my wife) and I plan on moving out of the Southwest before we settle down anywhere for good. We’ve talked about the Northwest (Seattle/Portland) a lot because it is so different geographically and climate-wise from what we’ve always known and we would like to try something different. Denver and Boulder are also on our radar because they are cool places with decent creative scenes and we have some great friends in the area. We are also constantly scheming up ways to move to London or Oxford for a year or two and not go bankrupt. Paige spent a year in Oxford before we were married and we would both love to go back for awhile.

On the flip side we have a great life and an amazing community of friends and family here in Phoenix and it would be hard to leave that behind.

Q: Where is your studio space in your home? Is it ideal? If not, what is your ideal space?

A: We have a decent sized office/studio in our house that Paige and I share. Half of it is very masculine with dark wood and metal furniture, lots of screen printed posters, old photography equipment, guitars, design books, vinyl records and other miscellaneous man-ness. Paige’s half of the room consists of a white furniture, ornate patterns, yards of ribbon and a comically sized desk that is worthless to anyone over the age of 12. The room also houses a cool vintage couch which is the single piece of furniture our dogs are allowed on.

Our current studio space isn’t bad but it’s far from ideal. We have an oversized laundry room in our guest house that some day I hope to open up and convert into a proper studio space where I can design, screen print, store posters, and have friends over for poker. That is probably a few years out though.

Q: How was your workspace at Fender? Is your workspace at Redemption ideal? If not, what would make it better?

A: The workspace at Fender was awesome based solely on the fact that I was surrounded by guitars. Everyone in the company had a “cube guitar” in their workspace. We would just cruise into the warehouse pick out an axe and take it back to our desks. The company is filled with amazing players so you could just walk around the office and watch these ridiculously talented dudes play at their desks. I liked it so much that on my last day with the company I bought a butterscotch blonde Tele that now sits proudly by my desk at home. Other benefits of working at the Fender office included regular run-ins with rock stars and celebrities. I was able to meet and mingle with a number of big names while at Fender including: Dinosaur Jr., Mike Dirnt from Green Day, Manchester Orchestra (super cool guys), Emery and Chris Pontious (Party Boy!) from Wild Boys/Jackass (still not sure what he was doing there, probably partying).

I have a pretty sweet set up at Redemption to even though it is sans the guitars and rock stars. The media and communications team has a swanky little office at our main campus in Gilbert. The other guys on the team completely renovated it before I came on and did a great job in doing so. My favorite feature is that they ditched the harsh overhead fluorescent lights in favor of some Ikea sourced track lighting and lamps. I never realized how much I hated fluorescent light until I worked in this office.

The only beef I have with my current office is it’s location. I live in downtown Phoenix and have to commute about 35 minutes into the suburbs everyday. Luckily I’m going against traffic or the commute would take two or three times as long. Ultimately I won’t be completely satisfied with any workspace until I can get there via bike and have a dog sleeping under my desk all day.

Q: We all have a color we despise. What is one color you would never include in a piece?

A: Hmmm… that is a good question. I guess it would have to be purple. I don’t have an outspoken hatred for Donnatello’s (the turtle not the artist) favorite shade but I generally prefer to stay away from it. I’m attracted to desaturated colors and purple seems to be quickly relegated to grey.

Q: If you weren’t a designer, what would you be doing?

A: If we are talking from a purely hypothetical stand point I would have to go with being a musician. Music is my favorite art form/media type/past time and greatest source of inspiration. Problem is I have very little musical talent and even less desire to stand in front of people and perform.

Realistically if I wasn’t a designer I could see myself as an architect. I love architecture and built spaces and think I have the right personality type and skill set for it (minus the math). I would assume the same could be said for a lot designers/illustrators/photographers.

Q: How has your work transformed over the past 5 years?

A: In some ways I dont think it has transformed all that drastically. My palette has always been fairly soft and limited, I’ve always preferred simple shapes and highly structured compositions. The interaction between positive and negative space has always fascinated me and continues to be a major theme in my work.

One fairly recent development for myself (and a fair cross section of designers in general) is learning to embrace imperfection. I think we have all been inundated with precisely crafted computer generated design for so long that we forgot how refreshing it is to see the artists hand come through in the work. That is not to say I’m no longer a fan of or will stop creating precisely controlled and tightly crafted work, it’s just nice to see some variety entering the scene. Another aspect of my work that has definitely changed over the years is my affection for and attention to type. I find myself more and more being attracted to pure typography and desiring to excel at it. I’m not there yet but it’s definitely something I will continue to work towards.

Q: What is one font you just can’t stop using?

A: I definitely tend to binge and purge on certain typefaces. Recently it was House Industries Neutra Text but I think it’s about run it’s course for me. I’ve been on a Georgia Bold Italic kick for awhile too. I don’t like to use it as my main typeface but it makes a great complimentary font. I always question myself because it’s a system font but I don’t see it getting used much the way I like to implement it.

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you can give our readers?

A: That is quite the question. Since this is a creative blog I will keep it in the context of creativity and craft and let the readers apply it to what they will.

When I look at other peoples work (which I do daily) I am simultaneously inspired and terrified. I love seeing solid illustration and design work but I am also intimidated by the thought that I could not and did not do it myself. For a long time this fear got the better of me and served to creatively paralyze me. I spent my time concerning myself over the fact that I wasn’t taking these huge creative strides instead of just digging in and doing some work.

To combat this anxious aspect of my personality I’ve tried to develop more of a blue collar approach to my work and the way I do things in general. I refer to it as making intentional progress and what that means is I set aggressive long term goals for myself but focus my day to day activities on making only slight improvements. I commit to learning or improving something everyday no matter how menial it is. If I can maintain this progress then in-theory everyday I will be better at what I do than I was the previous day. The improvement may be slow but it will be constant.

This approach has paid in dividends for me in all aspects of my life and I would assume it could do the same for others. Unless you are a wonder-kin of course, then you should just go for the gold and not look back.

Thanks Jon for such an inspiring and in-depth Q&A. Please take the time to view Jon’s work, he’s magnificent!

Images: Jon Ashcroft

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