Inspired Inspire

Jesse Pyysalo is the one-man design team behind JEP Creative. Hailing from Seinäjoki, Finland, he specializes in typography and logo design, I spoke to him about his passion for design and also his recent project ‘30 Days / 30 Stories / 30 Logos’.

When did you realise you were going to be a designer? Propably during my first weeks at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK) back in 2011. I have always somehow known that I want to do something creative with my hands for a living, but before starting my bachelor’s degree I had no idea what exactly that might be.

Does the passion for design run in your family? In a way, yes. My mother has always loved fashion and interior design, and my grandparents from her side have a great passion for fine arts. I guess if you mix that with my father’s more logical and practical mind, it kind of makes sense that I love graphic design.

What was the first logo you ever designed? That’s a tough one. I think I remember participating in a logo competition in primary school. For some reason I really thought a logo depicting a pocket watch would be the perfect choice for a company that manufactures hardware and furnishing products. I’m pretty sure I drew that just because I had just learned a cool way to draw loops, which I then used in the chain of the pocket watch. I didn’t win the competition, though.

Which operating system do you use? OS X El Capitan

Which software do you use frequently? Illustrator CS6: It’s like an extension of my hand nowadays! I’ll use illustrator for everything I can, but of course I can’t manage without InDesign or Photoshop either. I’ve had to use the Creative Cloud versions on several occasions, but I feel that the CS6 versions are still trustworthier and easier to use, so for now I’m sticking with them! I’m just more used to them and they seem to be more stable. 

Apart from Adobe’s software, I like to tinker around with Fontographer and hone my typography and font designing skills while studying the software.

What does your day consist of? I start my day with some nice hot porridge in one hand, with the other hand petting my cute little cat Sissi. I go to work by bike and immediately start making some coffee if my co-workers haven’t done that already. The workday flies by with all kinds of design jobs and creative meetings and laughing at some weird videos with my co-workers to keep our energy levels high. 

After arriving back home and greeting Sissi, I’ll spend the minimum amount of time possible on boring everyday stuff like cooking and cleaning, and even then I’m constantly thinking of stuff I want to design or should be doing! Should I add something to my portfolio? What do I want to do next? What potential clients could I contact? 

The rest of the day goes by either on the computer designing stuff, taking some time for myself to relax or spending time with some of my precious friends.

What is your daily inspiration when you design? Behance is my go-to place for inspiration, but lately I have been quite fond of using Instagram, which is also a great way to find some quick inspirational first-aid, so to speak. 

What is your design process for a logo? After the usual brief, data about the client and whatnot, I’ll start by gathering some inspiration from Behance and other places. After that I’ll start sketching something on my notebook or go straight to Illustrator. I’m extremely comfortable in Illustrator so I do most of my work there, occasionally jumping back and fourth to my sketchbook whenever I need a bit more freedom in my sketching and brainstorming! The same process just goes on and on during drafting rounds, until we reach the desired logo concept.

In the end I’ll spend countless of hours on tinkering with the smallest of details to get everything just right in the logo. And still I feel like I could do better and in time I’ll start noticing stuff I could improve in my designs. I’m certain it is impossible to design a perfect logo but I’m always aiming for one!

What do you reckon is the best logo you’ve designed? Hmm... Well, I really like the logo I designed for a fictional sushi bar, The Blowfish, during my 30 Days / 30 Stories / 30 Logos - project. It’s ultra-minimalistic, instantly recognisable and just works great. I think I really nailed that one!

What are your top 5 favourite logos? (from all the logos ever created by mankind) That’s impossible to answer really, there are so many logos I love in many different ways. But here’s 5 logos I have really liked for a long time: the old Quaker and Warner Communications logos designed by Saul Bass, the peace sign used in the campaign for nuclear disarmament by Gerald Holton, the CBS logo made by William Golden and, well, the whole “Word as Image” project by Ji Lee. They may not be actual logos, but I just love the concept and execution so I definitely want to name that as one my favourites even though it consists of multiple works.

What’s the best part about what you do? The fact that I simply love designing stuff! It is a dream come true that I can do this for a living and I enjoy every second of it. If I manage to inspire someone else with my work or behaviour, that just makes it all even better.

How did the project ‘30 Days / 30 Stories / 30 Logos’ come about? Well, I had some unused logo concepts in my head that I thought might look great, but unfortunately I had no outlet for them. At the same time, Behance and other sites for designers like me were filling up with people doing these different challenges like 36 days of type. I also had some extra time at the time, so I just figured that using a month for something like this would be just the thing for me right now. I could finish some of the concepts I had been thinking about, keep myself busy, boost my creativity daily – and get an awesome project to showcase in my portfolio!

Worst design story? I’ve never really had any terrible experiences in design projects. Nothing especially bad anyway. If I had to choose one as the worst, it would be a project I worked on last week. It was supposed to be a quick pro bono commission for one afternoon, adding some minor stuff to a design made by someone else. But it just kept growing and getting more complicated to the point where it all blew up in my hands. It was very hard to work on a project started by someone else because it was so unorganized and there were too many people involved at the customer’s end.

What else do you do apart from design? I watch movies, play videogames and meow back at my cat. Also, partying with some good friends is one of the best things I can think of in the world. I also enjoy shooting some pool or going out for a jog. That really helps me blow off some steam and clear my head from all the design stuff that I never seem to stop thinking about.

One thing you always carry with you? My awesome bushy hair!

What’s lined up for Jesse Pyysalo in the future? Honestly, I have no idea. Of course I want to keep working hard at my job like I have until now, but I’m slowly growing as a freelance designer and getting more and more commissions on my own, so maybe I’ll focus more on being a freelance designer in the future... who knows! I’d like to think that at some point in the future I could learn more about font designing and maybe even be able to specialize in that field to a certain degree. I’ll need to find my own sensei to help me with that.

Who is the most inspiring person to you? Saul Bass without a doubt. I discovered him during my time in SeAMK and did several essays and presentations on him. I simply love his style and vision in everything he did, and I also identify my own minimalistic style with his style the most. But I also happen to be very lucky to have great co-workers, designer friends and former classmates who drive me to be better at everything I do. Nothing is more inspiring than a good friend with whom you can talk about everything related to graphic design and respect each other’s design work in a way that makes you want to do better. It’s not competition; it’s something much more than that.

What is your message of inspiration? Remember to challenge yourself and design something just for fun every now and then. Do stuff that makes you happy!