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Interview :: Jake Pardoe

posted by George Wheeler February 14, 2014

Jake Pardoe, Recent Graduate of Nottingham Trent showcases a multidisciplinary portfolio of Branding, Illustration and Animation projects. Taking an intelligent yet playful approach to his work with attention to detail, Jake Pardoe has some great projects under his belt. Mr Blue Coffee exchange is a small business in which ‘Mr Blue’ distributes top quality Jamaican coffee to customers from his bike. Jake’s identity communicates this friendly independent business perfectly, featuring simple stamped type and abstract illustrations hinting at some bright coffee flavours. other great projects include short stop motion video, ‘Breath’ in which Jakes illustrations come to life. Over 100 pencil drawings went into this animation inspired by the poetry of Luke Davies and come together to great effect. Be sure to watch.

I recently had a chat with Jake about his work:

Stop motion drawing is used beautifully in your video ‘Breathe’. what attracted you to this style of animation?

Thanks, Well I have aways loved to make drawings and I saw this project as an extension of that. I really wanted to see if I could make my drawings move and not get trapped into getting too digital with it all. From my early tests I found the delicacy of the stop motion technique had a resemblance to Luke Davies’ writing.

Is this a medium you would like to continue to work in?

Yeah definitely, If I found the right project I would definitely give it another go, but I would really take it further. I saw this animation as a test of medium really.

Breathe from Jake Pardoe on Vimeo.

Displaying both strong branding and illustrative projects in your portfolio, which do you enjoy most?

At the moment my whole direction is into branding and it’s been great, but I’m still keeping busy with personal projects that will hopefully blossom in the near future.

If you could collaborate with any other creative who would it be and why?

Ah that’s a real tough one. Of course have designers / musicians / art directors I really admire but to be honest I really just love collaborating with people that I naturally find myself working with.

What are you up to now?

I am currently in London, I’ve been here for nearly 6 Months working in studios big and small and just finding out where I feel most comfortable, I’ve had some great experiences. London is a city that is just so inspiring to be working in.

What direction would you like to take your work in over the next year?

I am definitely going to go freelance at some point, I’m really into the idea of helping small, humble businesses to develop their identities. I’m also hoping to get some collaborations happening with design friends and see what comes from that. I’d like to find the time to make a bunch of new drawings and paintings too, that’s if I can find the time.

Check out Jake Pardoe’s full portfolio over at his site: