{"id":3880,"date":"2019-01-14T18:01:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T18:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everpress.com\/blog\/?p=3880"},"modified":"2019-11-13T13:01:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T13:01:01","slug":"design-good-music-merch-jackson-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everpress.com\/blog\/design-good-music-merch-jackson-green\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing Good Music Merch With Jackson Green"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learn your craft<\/h3>\n

Technical skills are the cornerstone for your work, so get deep into your process and gather the best skills you can, says Jackson. That doesn\u2019t have to mean access to an expensive education, though. Jackson, who attended a public college, advocates using \u201canything that levels the playing field.\u201d That means online tutorials, YouTube, books and asking lots of questions.\u00a0<\/span>Put yourself in challenging situations and \u201ctake on slightly more than you think you\u2019re capable of”.<\/p>\n

\"Jesus
Jesus Piece T-shirt by Jackson Green<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

find niches, explore aesthetics<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Find Your Own Style<\/h3>\n

You also need to develop your own distinctive design voice. There are countless books and papers on what makes work eye-catching \u2013 but Jackson wants you to avoid a \u201cpaint by numbers\u201d approach. His first tips are to: \u201cPay attention to how things look, pay attention to how things don\u2019t<\/i> look, find niches, explore aesthetics\u201d. Look at Jackson\u2019s work and you\u2019ll see bold colours and custom typefaces, but the story behind this artist\u2019s work runs deeper. His personal style comes from things he connects with and his own philosophical leanings.<\/p>\n

\"Original
Original artwork by Jackson Green<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Science fiction has always informed Jackson\u2019s work and he cites ideas from Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/i> <\/a>as a major influence. The artist also blends imagery that purposely feels out of its chronological lineage \u2013 \u201cI try to blend things in a way that it creates a sense of temporal ambiguity. I want people to wonder if it\u2019s from far in the future or from the distant past” \u2013 but that doesn\u2019t mean you should do the same! Find your own ideology then let it consume you and guide your work. Remember, aesthetic styles come and go but your ethos will always be your own.<\/p>\n

Learn to communicate<\/h3>\n

When someone buys a band tee they\u2019re buying into what the band represents, so always remember you\u2019re there to visually communicate the band\u2019s ideas \u2013 not your own. <\/span>Jackson describes his own work as dealing with the “explanatory gap \u2013 that grey area between statement and intent\u201d\u00a0\u2013 and<\/span> recommends approaching each job like a challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Original
Original artwork by Jackson Green<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His best advice? Transparent communication and \u201ca lot of back and forth.\u201d The end result might not share the message exactly as you might\u2019ve chosen to, but translating a band\u2019s ideas and beliefs take precedence. \u201cWe’re all just people screaming into an endless void hoping we get the point across,\u201d Jackson muses. \u201cIf we can help someone communicate their ideas that\u2019s a really wonderful thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about putting it out there<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Human Anatomy 101<\/h3>\n

To sell merch and make bank you need to understand human anatomy and be sure of how the blanks you\u2019re using will fit on a body. <\/span>Jackson personally owns an archive of hundreds of T-shirts he\u2019s collected over the years. \u201cI\u2019m obsessive. I keep a copy of everything!\u201d he laughs. You don\u2019t have to go that far, but at least study how a Gildan tee sits. <\/span>Placement and print choices also massively affect the perception of form, so acknowledge them and practice placing them. \u201cIt\u2019s similar to knowing that vertical stripes are slimming,\u201d Jackson explains. If you\u2019re working from someone else\u2019s design \u2013 <\/span>like Jackson did with Jesus Piece\u2019s hellfire-themed album artwork \u2013 get to know the design and vocabulary behind it before marrying them together onto the human form.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Original
Original artwork by Jackson Green<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Learn from the best<\/h3>\n

Reaching out to people whose work you like is invaluable. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s all about putting it out there that you\u2019re looking,\u201d Jackson declares. <\/span>His iconoclastic merch run for hardcore band Jesus Piece<\/a> came directly from knowing the Philadelphia band and, as a teen, he reached out to Paul Nicholson<\/a>, the designer behind the Aphex Twin logo, and asked him to crit his work. In fact, <\/span>the artist\u2019s job at Mad Decent came directly from posting that he was looking for work on Instagram. Being vulnerable to rejection is daunting, but you have to get over it. As the Philly native says, \u201cYou lose nothing by sending a message but you have everything to gain. The potential positives from actually doing things are infinitely rewarding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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A post shared by Jackson Green (@jdg.94)<\/a> on