A RTI S T P RO F I LE BL AKE S TE VENSO N Words by Daniel Cochrane
J e t p a c k s a n d R o l l e r s k a t e s i s t h e d e s i g n a l i a s o f S o u t h e r n O n t a r i o's B l a k e S t e v e n s o n . Bla ke, li ke ma ny ot her creat ive k id s, read i ly ad m it s t hat he wa s t hat stereot y pic a l inat tent ive st udent in school choosing inste ad to spend h is cla ss t ime d raw ing sku l ls, com ic book cha racters, a nd t he logos of h is favorite compa nie s f rom t he sk ate a nd snow industries. A f t e r d o o d l i n g h i s w a y t h r o u g h s c h o o l B l a k e's o r i g i n a l c a r e e r i n t e n t i o n s c e n t e r e d o n a nimat ion, but he fou nd t hat pu rsu it u nable to live up to h is expect at ions. Instead,he e vent u a l ly set t led into a c a reer pat h v ia a n adver t ising a nd a r t de sig n cla ss. T hat led h im to h is cu rrent d ay job, but a lso to t he e vent u a l cre at ion of h is Jetpack s a nd Rol lersk ate s a lia s to pu rsue out side intere st s t hat appe a led to h is ow n bra nd of creat iv it y a nd st yle.
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For Bla ke, t hat st yle is a n a ma lg a mat ion of in f luenc e s. W hen t a sked w it h a n ad m it ted ly g r o a n e r o f a q u e s t i o n " W h a t a r e y o u r i n f l u e n c e s ? " h e p e r f e c t l y a n s w e r s "u l t i m a t e l y e v e r y t h i n g" b u t t h e n n o t e s s p e c i f i c a l l y " I h a v e a l w a y s l o v e d e v e r y t h i n g 8 0 s , 9 0 s , a n d 2 0 0 0 s . G r o w i n g u p a m o n g s t a f l u r r y o f M T V, c o m i c b o o k s , s k a t e b o a r d i n g , t o y s , a n d sug a r y c erea l com mercia ls. Ever y t h ing wa s bu rst ing w it h at t it ude a nd oozing w it h slime. N a t u r a l l y, a s a k i d , I m i m i c k e d a l l t h e t h i n g s I w a s i n t o . O r i g i n a l l y s t a r t i n g w i t h c r u d e c opie s but e vent u a l ly f ig u ring out how to e x t rac t t he e ssenc e of t hose t h ing s I loved into s o m e t h i n g d i f f e r e n t . M y o t h e r, o t h e r m o r e t r a d i t i o n a l i n f l u e n c e s a r e r o o t e d i n d e s i g n , print ma k ing , modernism a nd pop a r t. T he se element s a l low my i l lu st rated work to t a ke o n a m o r e g r a p h i c s t y l e a n d a l l o w s m e t o d e v e l o p c o n s t r a i n t s i n t o m y w o r k .� Wit h a qu ick a sse ssment of h is body of work, one c a n qu ick ly pick out t hose ch i ld hood i n f l u e n c e s a n d B l a k e's u s e a n d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e m . A l t h o u g h h e d o e s n't l i k e t o o v e r l y de scribe h is st yle, a s st yle is a n inter pret ive na rrat ive persona li z ed by e ach ind iv idu a l, h e d o e s a d m i t "g r a p h i c , p o p c u l t u r e - i n f u s e d c h a r a c t e r d e s i g n w i t h e l e m e n t s o f h o r r o r a n d c u t e n e s s" a t l e a s t p r o v i d e s a r e l i a b l e a n d i d e n t i f y i n g l a b e l . Since Jetpack s a nd Rollersk ates is a side endeavor to his reg u la r c a reer Bla ke ha s had t he lu xu r y to pick a nd choose project s t hat appea l to h is de sign sensibi lit ie s. "I work w it h such a w ide ra nge of client s. Wit hout sing ling out a ny pa r t icu la r client s I c a n say I have done work for la rge med ia net work s, independent sk ateboa rd bra nd s, appa rel c ompa nie s, v ideo g a me compa nie s, bre werie s, la rge tech compa nie s, you na me it. If I told my 13 - y e a r- o l d s e l f t h a t p e o p l e w o u l d p a y m e t o d o t h i s s t u f f, h i s m i n d w o u l d h a v e m e l t e d ." A s for advice to a nyone else out t here look ing to ma ke t heir own distinctive ma rk in a c r e a t i v e w a y h e o f f e r s t h i s v a l u a b l e a d v i c e ; "A l w a y s b e h o n i n g y o u r c r a f t . Tr y a n d b e c o m e s e l f- a w a r e e n o u g h t o p i v o t w h e n s o m e t h i n g i s n't w o r k i n g . M o s t i m p o r t a n t l y, o n l y p u t o u t w o r k y o u' d w a n t t o d o . I f y o u w a n t t o d o w o r k i n a c e r t a i n i n d u s t r y o r i n a p a r t i c u l a r s t y l e , s h o w t h a t w o r k o r c r e a t e p r o j e c t s w i t h t h a t i n m i n d . It ’s t h e o n l y t h e n t h a t p e o p l e w i l l k n o w w h a t y o u a r e c a p a b l e /p a s s i o n a t e a b o u t ." Yo u c a n f o l l o w B l a k e o n I n s t a g r a m a s J E T PAC K S A N D RO L L E R S K AT E S , o n F a c e b o o k a t Jetpack s X Rollersk ates, a nd f ina lly in t he web at Jetpack sa ndrollersk ates.com
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