Time Out with Justin Mezzell
Timeouts are lightning-quick interviews. Five questions to help you get to know the players holding court at Dribbble. Many thanks to Justin for being today’s interviewee.
Who are you? Let us know where you hail from and what you do.
I’m a designer/illustrator currently residing in Orlando, Florida but originally from the Golden Coast. I bide my time between Wes Anderson films tending to a puppy, watching nature documentaries, and trying to understand more about space and how to be a husband—which are equally complex and awesome.
What are you working on?
Building a collection of client work, some collaborative projects, an incredible day job working with great friends at Maven Creative (where I do a majority of web and UI/UX design), as well as some self-initiated endeavors for the sake of experimentation.
Choose a favorite shot of yours. Tell us why it’s a favorite.
I’ve always been interested in the concept of graphical narratives that can capture a moment in time and create a window into someone else’s world. With the past few shots, I’ve been experimenting with this idea of the American Dream and how, in reality, it’s a journey into isolated compartmentalism while, in duality, a desperate grab for an empathetic understanding of our universe.
_86 explored this topic the most fully for me as it pulls on an incredible time in history (with the mid-century modern motif) where this idea of retro-futurism ran supreme in terms of the luxurious class. All this was an attempt to peer into the life of a single individual with his one chair, one table, telescopic eye to the sky in a neatly groomed suburban bubble. That and I have a fond love for geometry. Working in the mid-century modern style allows for the use of functional grid-based illustration with hard angles and inspiring violators.
Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot(s)? (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch, etc.)
I move around a lot throughout my workflow so I tend to gravitate between my desktop and a laptop. Usually both are sitting open on my desk and I’m working between both screens in an attempt to navigate frenzied file placement. I’m all Adobe Creative Suite with some hints of handmade textures. The top of my desk is typically coated with a robust collection of empty coffee mugs. I rarely sketch before I start but if/when I do, I use Microns and any sort of flat surface area I can hunt down. Though I’d like to challenge myself to break way from the computer screen and add more tangible assets into my work in the future. As my workspace is fairly underwhelming, this map of it should serve as a necessary replacement.
Choose a favorite shot from another player. Tell us why you dig it.
This will undoubtedly be the most difficult question I answer today but Nate Luetkehans was a recent discovery for me that has been putting out some killer work. Oui 1 is a favorite of mine in its line work and reductionist perfection.
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