Interview with Jasper Nijssen
My purpose is to create a visually stunning world by creating authentic designs for brands, companies, and organizations.
Designer Interview
19 May 2022
From childhood on I was always telling stories. As a kid, I used Legos and pencils. In my teens, I started taking pictures with my dad's old camera. So Art School was the logical choice for me. There I got a fascination for typography and the expression you can put into letters.
Currently, I'm working at a communication company as a senior designer and taking care of my 3-year-old son. He's a constant source of inspiration for new typefaces and personal projects.
For me, design is putting a bit more love into a product than necessary. So it'll convey a thought, an idea, or a feeling the designer wanted you to know or feel.
Logos! The challenge is, to find the core of a client's story and to convey it with minimal elements in a confined space.
A design is successful when the client feels that his or her story is being told without reading a word. This is true for logos, menu cards, and business cards, but also for other disciplines in design. For example, a new chair design can convey a solution to a problem the designer noticed and solved.
There are many variables in a project and as a designer, you can influence many of them. The visuals are your main responsibility, so you must them as beautiful as possible. So you'll make the world a more beautiful place, one design at the time. You’re also in a position to advise your client to keep the production local and green. Take advantage of that.
A lot of inspiration comes from my 3-year-old son. His enthusiasm and playfulness are infectious. Also, I regularly visit museums, read (art) books, and listen to music. Inspiration takes many forms and is everywhere, so I always keep my eyes open.
My style can be defined as modern with a bold statement. I take an essential part of the client’s story and find a new way of looking at it. So it’ll stand out, get noticed, and … most importantly … be remembered.
There’s no shutting down my designer brain. On the positive side, I see beauty everywhere and am constantly inspired by the simplest things. This means, I fully enjoy a meal in a restaurant that has a website that reflects the interior. Where the logo is in the same style as the menu card. On the negative side, when a logo doesn’t fit, it annoys the heck out of me. I can’t stop looking at it and trying to find a solution to this ‘problem’.
Sketch everything first on a blank piece of paper. You’ll immediately notice if it works or not.
A combination of creativity, confidence, and the ability to listen. As a designer, it’s your job to tell the client’s story and convey it through your skills and knowledge. It’s knowing when the client is right and convincing him/her, when he/she is not.
There are several projects on my shelf. The first is a recreation of a 10-year-old project, the Lego Nachtwacht. Another one of them is a monospaced typeface with a sans-serif and a serif version. Details for this project are still a bit vague, but I’ll keep my followers posted.
Follow me directly on instagram.com/jasper_nijssen or visit my site: www.jaspernijssen.nl. You can always try sending a smoke signal, but you can also write an email to: info@jaspernijssen.nl.