Who are you?
My name is Joonas Jansson. I’m a graphic designer and illustrator hailing from the coldness of Helsinki, Finland. In the past I’ve worked as an infographic designer at Finland’s largest newspaper and as an art director at a communications agency. Currently I work as a freelancer by night and as an in-house designer at the Helsinki/San Francisco based startup called Smartly.io by day.
What are you working on?
I try to keep things fresh by having a good balance between personal and paid work. Right now I’m working on a series of Scandinavian-themed poster illustrations and textile prints. On top of that I’m doing some groundwork for a print and pattern design business that I’m launching later this year together with my girlfriend. In my day job we’ve just started doing a complete redesign of the company’s branding and visual identity which includes a full redevelopment of the website. I’m the lead graphic designer working on that project so this should keep me busy for a while.
Choose a favorite shot of yours. Why is it a favorite?
My personal favourite is this shot with details from a bigger Helsinki illustration. I’m rarely super happy about my work for more than a short while, and this shot too has gone through a lot of changes since I uploaded it on Dribbble. But what I like about this one is how it has that “Scandinavian” feel to it. This takes me back to those wine-infused bike rides through the beautiful parks and streets of summery Helsinki.
Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch)?
My weapon of choice is Adobe Illustrator for sure. Some days I like to go to a coffee shop nearby and sketch my ideas on a paper, but a lot of times I like to just start working on a computer straightaway. I have a Wacom tablet, a Macbook Pro, and an Apple Thunderbolt display. I like to be mobile and able to work anywhere, so laptop is a must. For sketching I like to use black fine tip markers to have nice sharp lines. For the shot above I also used a photo of a cloudy sky as a texture. I try to keep my texture library updated by taking new photos with my camera on weekly basis.
Choose a favorite shot from another Player. Why do you dig it?
With so much greatness on Dribbble it’s pretty hard to choose a single favourite shot. I really dig Mikey Burton’s Hillary illustration from last year. Though it’s originally a spot illustration for a newspaper, it would easily work on anything from t-shirts to bumper stickers or even on a bottom of a skateboard. These types of simple illustrations can become one of those classics that people remember years from now. Good stuff!
Find Joonas on Dribbble, on Instagram, and at www.joonasjansson.com.
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