Interview with Jennifer Shauger

J:These are some of my influences here, like Ed Ruscha, he documented the 26 gas stations, and he also did word painting using expressive typography.


K:What draws you to Ed Ruscha’s photography?


J:I don’t know what it is, I think it’s the rawness of it, he documenting what’s there and maybe he sees it as beautiful, and in my work I like to do things that are beautiful to me. There is a lot of old signage in these gas stations, which is interesting. Also in his work with his word paintings, you wouldn’t think they were by the same guy, but it is. There’s a certain beauty to his work.


K:Have you looked at other artists that do documenting type of work?


J:I just saw someone today named, Allan Hess. He took pictures of Rt. 66 and the countryside. It’s beautiful because there are no distractions, technology, or advertisements like it is today.


K:So you like the old feeling to his work?


J:Yea, I think pre technology and pre saturation of media and everything sort of pollutes your brain, it has a nice calmness to it.


K:You are graphic design but in your work you use photos, do you do photography as well.


J:I wouldn‘t say that I’m a photographer; I enjoy doing it as a hobby. If I have to use photographs in a project, I wouldn’t particularly take pictures from online, I would rather take the pictures by myself. If I had to use a picture like a ship, I would obviously take the pictures off line.


K:When you have access to it you would rather use your own imagery?


J:It makes it more personal, which I think is an important element in any kind of work


K:Instead of it being an assembly of stuff you’d rather use your own pictures?


J:I think adding any personal element to work whether it be design or photography, if its something you find beautiful in design whether it be hand rendered type or your own photography like James Victor he does hand painted typography and hand painted illustration.


K:I think it turns a lot of people off to being graphic designers, they may think that “I have to use text, I have to use these things,” and they don’t feel they’re going to have the same freedom.


J:A lot of people do see design as being strictly the computer but that’s what makes it so great as long as you are revealing an idea or trying to convey a certain concept. Any kind of materials you can use to try and achieve that work as long as you can form a solution to the problem that needs to be solved. A scribble can be used and as long as it conveys the idea, then it works.


K:Where are you trying to go with your work? Personally I don’t’ really know what the facets of graphic design are. Will you be going to go into commercial product packaging design or signs?


J:I have such a broad interest in design, there’s so many aspects to it, there is packaging identity, advertising, book design, there so many aspects to it so whatever is open and anything I can find to utilize my own interest. Within that, I always wanted to work for penguin books, all their book covers are amazing and a lot of designers I look up to have worked for them and that would be really cool.


K:What would your ideal job be like?


J:Working at a really big design studio. That’s sort of wishful thinking. I would be doing book covers or branding.


K:What is branding?


J:More like logos and everything like McDonalds is a brand, if you think bout it everything is a brand like Rutgers is a brand, you see signage out on the street. TV shows are a brand as well. Everything is really a brand, which is good for designers


K:You’d never run out of work.


J:But at the same time technology is taking over and leaving designers of out of jobs. Everything’s pretty much the computer, especially ipads and kindle, what about book covers?


K:I would still rather read a book but for a lot of people it’s convenient to not have huge stores of books around the house.


J:I like getting books and just having them, and reading them, even pictures or novels.


K:It’s sort of like photography; I think there’s something much better about the print then just looking at a file on the computer.


J:I’ve always been interested in these little booklets that I make, things that you can keep and collect, and when it’s digital it’s not as fun to click on it. I like being able to have something tangible. It shows you how design evolves because you can look at it in 20 year and look how things were being designed then.


K:Do you like using the computer?


J:I do, but like breaking away and using other stuff.


K:Like going back to using a typewriter?


J:Exactly, using a typewriter, photography, and hand drawing things. The fusion of that makes the design more interesting. You have to think about every kind of way to design.


K:A common theme in your work is the rounded edges what is the idea behind it?


J:I should have never gotten one of those things from Michael’s. It’s an old aesthetic that I find beautiful.


K:There’s a lot of work that you did that has the rectangle inside the rounded corners.


J:I collect a lot of stuff like these postcards. Lots of a them have those rounded edges and they have the nostalgic aesthetic. I really don’t know why, I find myself being more attracted to older things.


K:Like the photos of the old signs, but even though they’re new pictures the rounded makes them look older.


J:There’s certain decay to it that I find beautiful. Like what was and what used to be and is not longer, is interesting to me. When things become obsolete and what makes them obsolete. It all goes back to evolution and progress, which is hard to deal with sometimes.