Interview with Jake Dillard

Jake Dillard is a young designer from Oklahoma, he has been designing since he was twelve years old, he loves to play basketball, skate and hang out with his  friends. Jake  also has a love for photography and In our interview, he discusses his process and experiments. So lets get into another great interview!

1. Welcome to INSPIKS, please introduce yourself. Please tell us where you’re from and how you got started in the field of Design and Photography?

I’m from Muskogee, Oklahoma and I started playing around with Photoshop when I was 12. Pretty much, I just bought my first computer and started playing online games, then gradually worked my way into Photoshop. In January 2010, I bought my camera, so I have been taking pictures since then.

Window

2. How were you led to become a Christian and how does your faith in Jesus Christ impact the way you approach your designs?

Well, I grew up in the church. Usually you hear about kids that grew up in church, stray off from the church and their faith later on. I didn’t though. I believe it has to do with who you hang out with. My group of closest friends were always Christian, and not much has changed since we all hung out in elementary. I try and plan my designs out first. Something random like a picture on the wall will give me a design idea, and I’ll write it down real quick.

Self Portrait

3. You are sixteen years old with four years of design experience. That is amazing for the quality of your work you produce, do you want to do design/photography as a profession?

Yes, I think it’s something I’d like to do as a career. Also do some video on the side.

Heart on Fire

4. For those of us who are aspiring to take great photos, what kind of equipment do you use?

Canon Rebel XSi and my imagination. I don’t think you need a lot of expensive equipment to take good pictures, just be creative. Photoshop comes in handy too. Right now I don’t have much money to buy equipment and stuff, but that’s not too bad. It really helps to have connections though, because I know some people that would lend me something if I needed it.

Cambrie

Sigma-10-20mm-DC-HSM-wide-angle

4. Your nature photos always seem to capture the right amount of light and color, tell us a little about your process?

There’s a lot of experimenting with getting a good photo. Not all photographers capture a good photo first try, you just have to play around and see what looks good. I’ve taken well over 2000 pictures, but you may notice I only have a few good ones. The best I can tell you is to play around with your camera, and play around editing.

War Sky

Field Sunset HDR

5. I see that you love to use 3D in some of your designs, which software do you use? what are some of the advantages of using 3D?

I use Cinema 4D. A lot of graphic designers use cinema because it’s powerful, cheaper than other 3D applications, and there’s not a giant learning curve unlike Maya or 3Ds Max.

One of the advantages of 3D is the lighting and shadows. If you were to try and recreate some 3D type in photoshop, it would take forever to get correct lighting and perspective. With 3D, you can create virtually anything.

Creativity

6. One of your designs that always capture my attention is “Chaos”, It really is a great demonstration of the power of 3D typography and light! tell us a little about the story and process behind that image.

On Wednesday nights at my church, the kids program is called “CHAOS!” One of the other kids that helps out there asked me if I could do a design to put up on the projector during the service. So after a few trial and errors, I created that piece. I wanted it to look like it was exploding, or blasting out. I wanted the word to show it’s meaning, so that’s what I was going for.

Chaos

7. Who are your favorite designers/photographers? How do they inspire you?

My favorite designer would have to be Barton Damer, he’s really good, and a Christian as well. I can’t really put my finger on a favorite photographer. I’ve seen so many good ones across the internet. As far as inspiring me, I see other artist’s works, and it makes me strive to do better.

Ice Water

8. Are there any websites that you like to visit for inspiration?

Yes!

• Abduzeedo
• CoolVibe
• Behance
• Tuts+ Network
• YouTheDesigner
• Vimeo
• CreativeFan
• Flickr

And of course, INSPIKS!

Jordan

9. Can people contact you for freelance work?

Sure! Just go to my website and click contact.

10. Thanks again for providing INSPIKS with this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?

You’re welcome! Readers stay crispy. (Stay alert and on top of everything. Only the finest can stay crispy while the masses lose it and turn soggy.)

Skate Church Promo

11. Where can our readers find Jake Dillard on the web?

• Portfolio/Website
• Flickr
• Behance