Weâre jumping into 2016 with the theme of Language. Itâs a topic of personal interest to me, and one I see moving into the forefront of our cultural consciousness. Designer and letterer extraordinaire, Jenna Blazevich, will be sharing her thoughts with us. In the past year, Jennaâs been building a reputation around Chicago as not only a wildly talented artist, but as a person who puts her values into words. She balances client work with self-initiated projects through her studio Vichcraft and you may recognize her stunning lettering from Typeforce, the Renegade Craft Fair, or a patch on your best friendâs jacket.
What drives your desire to create?
The things that have driven my desire to create have certainly been different throughout my life, but the sense of urgency that I’ve felt about executing any of my ideas has been a constant the entire time. Before I began studying design in school, I was designing and crafting little art pieces for my family and friends, both because that was/is my love language, and because it was a consistent outlet for learning how to work with all of the different mediums that I was interested in. As time passed, I became lucky enough to be commissioned to make pieces inspired by my portfolio of those personal projects, and I also sharpened my design skills by working at a few different agencies. Instead of keeping my design life at a 9-to-5 and my post-work artistic endeavors separate, I convinced myself that I could launch a studio that combined them in a marketable and sustainable way. So far, so good!How does Chicago influence you or your work?
Chicago is a truly fascinating city to live in, and even more so for a young creative person. There is no shortage of visual inspiration (architecture, signage, parks, museums, people), and the design community is incredibly talented, humble, hard-working and inclusive. I’m very fortunate to get to run my business out of a co-working space that has introduced me to so many people and projects and communities, and the symbiotic way that we are all able to create there is sort of reflective of how Chicago is as a whole. In this city, there is opportunity, excitement, despair, injustice, accomplishment, failure, connection, disconnection. It’s all happening, and it all affects how and what I create. What is your dream creative project?
There isn’t a specific one that pops into my head immediately, but it would probably include collaborating with creative ladies that I admire on a large-scale installation project that was made using some insanely intricate/repetitive technique, and was inspired by a topic motivated by social consciousness and also possibly had a little bit of a sense of humor? Haha. Is this possible? Maybe one day.How do you see the relationship between your work and your personal/political values impacting one another?
My personal/political views have already been impacting my work for years, and they seem to more and more with each project. When I first started practicing lettering, I was choosing phrases that were pretty unobjectionable. Sweet and delicate phrases seem like an appropriate match with calligraphy, but I quickly grew frustrated with how predictable that felt. The more skilled I became with my tools, the more inspired I felt to use my lettering pieces as opportunities to beautify phrases that represent taking a stance on something. It feels not only important but also the most genuine for me to create work that’s inspired by what I’m passionate about in my personal life. How does this month’s themeâlanguageâspeak to you?
At first, I was really intimidated to speak on the topic of language, because I’m not a talented writer by any means. But the more I reflected on it, the more I began to understand that language is what links my entire design career together. The fake band posters I made in high school were based on lyrics pulled from a song, and my years spent in fashion school included screen printing band names and artwork on my assignments. My first design job introduced me to the concept of lettering being one’s specialty, and handwritten mail was what kept me in touch with all of my coworkers, family, friends, and mentors in the years that followed. As a person who doesn’t aim to overspecialize in any one craft, it satisfies me that one of the consistent themes throughout my entire portfolio is letters. Artwork made of words is infinitely applicable to different mediums, issues, spaces, etc., and it is extremely exciting for me to wonder what I’ll get to apply words to in the future.
This Q+A is a swan song for me as I step back from manning the Creative Mornings blog, but Iâll be sure to see you at Jennaâs talk on January 29th at Second City. Registration opens next Monday at 11am.Â
Girls to the front!
Rusty
