Behind the Illustrations: An Interview with Jay Keeree
If you’ve used Tempo, you might have wondered about the illustrations within the app; where’d they come from, and what do they mean? Rather than me trying to explain haphazardly, I spoke to the originator of these illustrations, Jay Keere, to explain in his own words.
Sebastian, Tempo Co-Founder, first came across Jay’s illustrations via Instagram, and proposed creating illustrations for the app, based initially on a series of black-and-white loops. What started as placeholders, eventually became custom illustrations based around emotions conveyed when using Tempo. Now, they’re an integral part.
Hey Jay! I’d be interested to hear what your approach is to creating illustrations for an email application, something that sounds a bit mundane, as opposed to your other projects?
Jay: “This one was quite different from my usual illustration projects because we were looking for something quite abstract yet functional. The challenge was to use simple forms and my animation skills to convey the emotion that would match each event of the app.”
“I drew loose inspiration from Japanese Graphic Design, 2011 Space Odyssey, and Surrealism.”
Can you give us some insight into your thought process behind the illustrations?
Jay: “I first went through Tempo’s Instagram mood board to find some keywords and visuals, then I came up with my interpretation of them. I drew loose inspiration from Japanese Graphic Design, 2011 Space Odyssey, and Surrealism. Somehow, those mismatched ideas connected the dots for me and got me sketching. As I was sketching, I had to simultaneously think of how I would animate each idea. It’s quite a ‘messy’ process, and it took a few iterations because I wanted to find shapes that are appealing both as a static image as well as in animation.”
You mentioned a few bits of inspiration for the Tempo designs, but what/who influences your work?
Jay: “I have always loved looking at architectural drawings and diagrams. I generally gravitate towards artworks that have visible, crisps lines in them. To be specific, I have been influenced by Zaha Hadid’s early drawings, Augustine Kofie, Rune Fisker, and Geoff McFetridge.”
What other projects are you working on?
Jay: “The current pandemic has slowed down my workload quite a bit and frankly has been mentally draining. When I’m not procrastinating, I have been using the time to try some new things, like learning Xpresso (Node-based programming for 3D) in Cinema 4D or being a little more adventurous with 2D cell animation.
Also, I have been taking a crack at doing some illustrations for some packaging design projects, which is uncharted territory for me.”
We’re curious, what does “focus” mean to you? Do you have any rituals that help you get into the right headspace when working or creating art?
Jay: “Focus for me is being totally comfortable with the process and are okay with getting lost in it. I have to continually remind myself to get out of my head and try to be in the moment when I’m taking on something challenging. Meditating and putting on my ‘focus music’ have helped me get into the mood. Khruangbin, Natalia Lafourcade, and SZA have got me through a few tough times.”
How do you manage to balance the more “mechanical parts” of running your “business” vs. the open-ended creative parts?
Jay: “Time management and mindfulness. I try to loosely schedule blocks of time dedicated to each thing; however, in reality, things aren’t always clearly defined and it’s quite easy to lose track of what you’re doing. That’s where mindfulness comes in — sometimes all you need to do is to pause, take a deep breath, and catch your thoughts.”
Do you have anything else you’d like to plug?
Jay: “Apart from my portfolio website, I tend to update my Instagram more frequently whenever I have something cool to show the world.
I’m also running a Philadelphia Animators’ meetup group called Philanimators — we have had a few group shows, and we have been doing Virtual Drink-and-Draws, which are open to anyone.
Follow any of these if you want to hear more from me!”
