Jordan Awan is a classic double-threat visual creator. He is the art director of MIT Technology Review and a former art director of The New Yorker who has had his design work recognized by the Society of Publication Designers, Type Directors Club, and more. At the same time, Awan is an accomplished illustrator whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and many other publications. He’s also done illustration for product design, billboards, and T-shirts, as well as creating comics and paintings. Awan’s work is smart, graphic, and modern. He describes his dual roles by saying “both endeavors just seem like different parts of the same mission to me.”

MY LIFE:
My name is Jordan Awan, and I’ve been working as an illustrator for 10 years and as an art director for six. I live in in Salem, Massachusetts with my wife Morgan Elliott, who is an illustrator and painter, and our three cats. I work at MIT Technology Review in Cambridge.

I grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, which is right outside DC. My mother is a retired teacher, my father is an editor and a poet, and my older brother Jashar is also an illustrator. I studied illustration and design at Pratt Institute and lived in Brooklyn for 11 years.

Working in publications goes back a ways in my family. To my knowledge, I’m the fourth consecutive generation to work at a magazine or newspaper—but the first to work on the art side, and not the word side.  

I’ve worked at an ice cream parlor, a record store, my college newspaper, and a printing lab. For two years after college I had a design job at a gallery as I did freelance illustration work. I began working as an art director at The New Yorker in 2010, and also taught illustration at Pratt Institute for a while before I moved out of the city. In fall of 2014, I started working as art director at MIT Technology Review.

MY WORKSPACE:
Since I’ve always balanced a full time job with illustrating, and because so many freelance projects have short turnarounds, I’ve learned to be not picky at all about where or when I work.

When I worked at The New Yorker and got an assignment, I would ideally go out to the New York Public Library to draw up the final; if it was nice out, I’d sit in Bryant Park. But usually I was stuck sketching secretly during a meeting, or on the subway going to or coming from a psychiatry appointment, or as I sat in Times Square with a halal sandwich in one hand and trying to draw with the other.

Now I have a half hour train ride from Salem to Boston, which is a good time to sketch and think. The art department at the magazine has a big communal space to work. At home, I have a studio on the top floor of our apartment that looks out towards town. It’s the first proper studio space I’ve had in years. It’s all set up at this point, but still needs some decorating. Other times, usually when I’m just kicking back and sketching, I’ll work with Morgan in her studio.

HOW I MAKE MY ILLUSTRATIONS:
I draw in pen, then scan and finish it in Photoshop. I'm always carrying a bunch of books with me—one for notes, one for sketching, one for drawing comics—as well as a well-stocked pencil bag.

My process always starts with writing, and often the concept comes from working with words, not images. Most of my sketches are phrases or sentences that I then translate into simple thumbnails in pencil. But recently I’ve been trying to work in a purely visual way, closer to gag cartoons than to a proper conceptual solution. The hardest (but most interesting) part is coming up with ideas, and that’s what I usually end up spending the most time on. I’ll draw and redraw sketches a few times until I get it looking right, then put it on a light table and start polishing it up into the final.

MY FIRST BIG BREAK:
In terms of art direction, my big break was being hired by the wonderful Caroline Mailhot at The New Yorker. Max Bode, the art director who was leaving, had put me in touch with her. The magazine was about to start work on their iPad app, and they were looking for someone with a background in design who also knew the illustration field and process.

In terms of illustration, I think I had a series of good-size breaks. As a student, I designed a line of dishware that was produced and sold. I also did an illustration for Steve Heller when he was at The New York Times Book Review. Then two weeks or so after graduation, I got a call from Brian Rea to do a letters illustration for The Times. That assignment really felt monumental, as did the next one I got from Brian, which was a large Op-Ed piece. After those experiences, being an illustrator no longer seemed mysterious or unconquerable.

MY INFLUENCES:
Keith Haring is one of my earliest and biggest influences. The Corcoran Gallery of Art in DC had an exhibit showing his work when I was in first grade or so. I had never seen anything like it; it was the first time I really connected with art on a very personal level. He’s never stopped being an influence on me—the clean lines, bold colors, geometric forms, and sense of playfulness.

Some other early influences on my illustration work would be Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy; Herge’s Tintin; and book collections of classic New Yorker cartoons, featuring the likes Peter Arno, James Thurber, Gluyas Williams, Otto Soglow, Syd Hoff, Rea Irvin, and Chon Day. I’ve always loved the sense of humor and style of that whole era of New Yorker cartooning. Other big influences would be Saul Bass, Seymour Chwast, and Tadanori Yokoo.

Studying and practicing design has also influenced me, especially typography, which changed the way I think about drawing. There's a great quote in Robert Bringhurst’s Elements of Typographic Style where he defines calligraphy as “the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand.” I love thinking about that description in terms of drawing.

MY MOST ADMIRED CREATIVE PERSON:
As far as illustration goes, two people come to mind. Charles Barsotti is one of my biggest heroes. His line work, his characters, his compositions, his wit—it’s about as close as you can get to perfection. He draws the cutest dogs and the best criminals.

Saul Steinberg is the other person who comes to mind. I look at and think about his work a lot. Two quotes of his in particular have stuck with me. The first is him reminiscing about how studying architecture influenced his way of drawing: “The frightening thought that what you draw may become a building makes for reasoned lines.” I think about that quote often when I work on finals. I also love his description of himself as “a writer who draws.” In many ways, I feel like that too.

MY CREATIVE INSPIRATION:
Living by the ocean has been really inspiring. Reading is inspiring, poetry in particular. Mythology is endlessly inspiring. Everyday life is always inspiring. My wife inspires me more than anything else.

I love going to museums of all kinds, and galleries whenever I get the chance. I go to the library fairly often to see what I can discover. I also have a growing archive of found images that’s been creatively invaluable. But mostly I’ll return to my bookshelf, and the comics and art books I’ve looked through hundreds of times.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN WORKING ALONE:
I’ve worked in great art departments with really talented and creative colleagues, which helps offset that typically solitary illustrator existence. When I’m working at home, Morgan and I usually work together, and I rely on her feedback and criticism a lot.

A MEMORABLE ASSIGNMENT FROM THE PAST YEAR:
I did a few spots for Luke Shuman as he worked on designing the inaugural edition of the Men’s Style section in The Times. One was about figuring out how to tie a bow-tie, and the other was a series about the tools a “gentleman farmer” would use. Both were great, funny topics to play with.

I’ve since continued working for the section with art director Julie Weiss, drawing things like designer strollers and not going to the dry cleaners. It’s been one of my favorite continuing projects.

I also drew the Halloween parade for Deanna Donegan at The New Yorker, which was a big honor.

DREAM ASSIGNMENT:
I would be really excited to draw for some Japanese style magazines like Brutus or Popeye.

Book covers or illustrated books would be really fun. Album covers too. If Fugazi got back together and asked me to design the album art, that would also qualify as a dream assignment.

MY FAVORITE ART DIRECTOR:
I’ve worked with a lot of art directors who I’ve really loved over the years. A bunch have been from the Times, like Brian Rea, Leanne Shapton, Kim Bost, Alexandra Zsigmond, Matt Dorfman, Julie Weiss, Nathan Huang, and many more.

Gary Fogelson and Phil Lubliner did really amazing work when they were running Bloomberg View.

Most importantly, I’ve been very lucky to have worked with incredible art departments. I learned a lot from working with Chris Curry and Caroline Mailhot when I started at The New Yorker. No matter what situation I find myself in as an art director now, good or bad, or even very bad, I always have an appropriate Chris Curry quote to match. Deanna Donegan has been doing a tremendous job at my old post. I miss working with all of them quite a bit, and that includes New Yorker designer Katie Long as well. It’s great to see Nicholas Blechman over there now too.

I currently have a great art department at MIT Technology Review. Nick Vokey, who I worked with at The New Yorker when he was design director there, is the creative director, and Sam Jayne and Lynne Carty are designers. It’s a small department and very collaborative. I’ve been teaching Sam and Lynne how to art direct. They are both incredibly talented and very hard workers. Now all four of us assign and work on projects together. It’s more like working at a design studio than in a traditional magazine art department.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE ILLUSTRATORS:
There are so many illustrators I admire that it’s hard to name just a few! Basically almost any artist who I've worked with, plus a bunch more I haven’t (yet.) But a couple fellow illustrators who do come to mind as artists I look up to are Dadu Shin, Bendik Kaltenborn, Tomi Um, Jon Han, Josh Cochran, Brian Rea, Kris Mukai, Andy Friedman, Tom Bachtell, Daniel Zender, Javier Jaen, and Evah Fan. I could easily keep going, but don’t want to get too carried away.

HOW MY ILLUSTRATION AND ART DIRECTION WORK INFLUENCE EACH OTHER:
I think the two areas have had big impacts on each other. It’s like being a double agent—eventually you get to know both sides and can shift between either point of view. Being an illustrator definitely gave me a head start in thinking critically about concepts as an art director; and being an art director in turn helped me broaden my own ways of thinking as an illustrator. But at this point both endeavors just seem like different parts of the same mission to me.

One of the biggest perks of being an art director is getting a little window into each illustrator’s thought process. I’ve learned so much from seeing how different artists approach assignments. It’s always interesting and often educational.

It’s also been helpful to know both sides in terms of communication. I guess it’s made me more empathetic!

ILLUSTRATING FOR MY ART DIRECTION PROJECTS:
I had done illustrations for The New Yorker before I started working there, so once I was in the office every day, I became sort of the default house artist. Or maybe a better description would be the last line of defense. Meaning, if art was killed at the last second, or something had to rush online and they needed art ASAP, I would get the tap on the shoulder to jump in and do it.

And I’ve actually never illustrated for MIT Technology Review. They don’t want me!

OTHER WORK:
One of my favorite non-editorial projects was creating a series of drawings to decorate the beautiful Greenpoint bar Ramona.

I taught illustration at Pratt Institute before I left the city, and did a lot of guest-critiquing at Parsons and SVA.

I’ve done some works for products—logo design for City of Daughters Specialty Cocktail Goods, and two lines of dishware and accessories for Fishs Eddy—one of Brooklyn and one of animals. I’ve done t-shirts, wall drawings, and billboards.

I also make comics and paintings, but haven’t really posted much of that around.

HOW I PROMOTE MYSELF:
I think in terms of promotion so far I’ve had an experience that’s not very typical. I haven’t promoted myself in years, but have happily kept some steady clients, and new ones seem to find me through that. I wouldn’t recommend my approach as a model for anyone. Working full time can sometimes put limits on the amount of freelance assignments I can handle anyways. 

From an art director point of view, emails or postcards are all totally fine. Although if an illustrator emails my personal email, it will get lost. I’d guess that’s pretty true of most art directors—best to stick with their business email. Anything extra beyond the traditional promo card, like a zine, comic or small print, can also really help you stand out. But the work is in the end so much more important than the way it gets to me.

ADVICE FOR SOMEONE STARTING OUT:
I think the most important thing would be to stay true to what you want to do. Don’t change to get clients or match current trends, or for any external pressure for that matter. Work hard and be persistent, and have fun with projects when you can. Don’t become cynical! Be kind to everyone you meet on the way—it’s a small field.

Enjoy getting work, but don’t measure success by the amount of projects you get or money you make. Measure it in terms of how much you're learning, or improving, or striving for excellence in each endeavor, no matter how small.

Stay open to unexpected opportunities. I never pictured myself as an art director before the possibility seemingly materialized out of thin air. But also don’t be afraid to say no if the opportunity isn’t right.

And lastly, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s really easy to get discouraged in any creative profession, especially one as competitive and relentlessly promotional as ours can be, and even more so when you’re starting out. Go at your own pace, but just keep going. Make your own path, self-doubt be damned.

Remember the words of Melville: “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation;” and also of Kierkegaard: “Don’t forget your duty to love yourself.”

See more Jordan Awan illustrations, new work and updates:
Jordan Awan website
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