I have chosen to look at The Head of State and how they actively participate in the world of illustration as they influence me in creating simple images that remain effective. below i have outlined a bit about the company and further down is an email conversation that we shared.
Jason Kernevich and Dustin Summers have been working together in one form or another since 2002. After graduating Tyler School of Art’s militant design program, Kernevich and Summers began making silkscreen posters for Philadelphia’s independent music scene. The graphic and conceptual simplicity of their collaborations made an immediate impact on the burgeoning poster revival in North America. Local clients and small projects paved the way to international acclaim and assignments from the likes of R.E.M., Wilco, and The New York Times. They now run a full-service design and illustration operation, applying their graphic elegance and visual wit to a wide range of clients and projects. They’ve won awards from Communication Arts, American Illustration, Print Magazine, Graphis, and the Society of Illustrators.
Jason Kernevich and Dustin Summers have been working together in one form or another since 2002. After graduating Tyler School of Art’s militant design program, Kernevich and Summers began making silkscreen posters for Philadelphia’s independent music scene. The graphic and conceptual simplicity of their collaborations made an immediate impact on the burgeoning poster revival in North America. Local clients and small projects paved the way to international acclaim and assignments from the likes of R.E.M., Wilco, and The New York Times. They now run a full-service design and illustration operation, applying their graphic elegance and visual wit to a wide range of clients and projects. They’ve won awards from Communication Arts, American Illustration, Print Magazine, Graphis, and the Society of Illustrators.
Contact:
The Heads Of State
39 North 3rd, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia,
PA 1910 (917) 499-0925
Clients:
The New York Times
Starbucks
BBDO
Ogilvy & Mather
The School of Visual Arts
The New York Public Library
American Express
NPR
Nickelodeon
Penguin
Vintage Books
Random House
HarperCollins
The New Yorker
Esquire
Wired
The New Republic
Metropolis
Los Angeles Magazine
The New Republic
R.E.M.
Wilco
Iron and Wine
The National
Idlewild
Modest Mouse
Insound
Sony/EMI
Jade Tree Records
Drive-Thru Records
Capitol Records
Louisville Actors Theatre
Virgin Mobile
The Boston Globe
The Washington Post
The London Guardian
Awards & Accolades:
American Illustration
'05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10
Communication Arts
Illustration Annual
'05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10
Communication Arts
Design Annual
2004, 2008
Cannes Lions 2010 Bronze
(To be fair, BBDO really won this. Not us.)
Print Regional Design Annual
'03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10
Society of Illustrators
Silver Medal - 2008
Society of Illustrators
06, '07, '08, '09, '10
AIGA 50 Books 50 Covers
2008
Society of Illustrators Judge
Book Category 2010
CMYK Magazine
Guest Design Judge 2010
AIGA New York City Lecture
Museum of Arts and Design 2010
ADC Washington DC Annual - Judge
2010
Senior Illustration Thesis Critic and Lecture - MICA
2009
Society of Illustrators Juror
Book Category 2009
AIGA Seattle Lecture
2008
Personal Viewpoints Workshop
University of the Arts Philadelphia 2008
AIGA Louisville Annual - Judge
2007
Impressive
Printmaking, Letterpress & Graphic Design Gestalten - 2010
Naive - Gestalten
2009
Gigposters - Volume 1 - Quirk Books
2009
Illusive 2 - Gestalten
2007
Dallas Society of Visual Communications Lecture
2006
New Masters of Poster Design - Rockport
2006
AIGA Philadelphia Lecture
2005
Illusive - Gestalten
2005
RE: THINK, DESIGN, CONSTRUCT - HOW Design Books
2004
Sonic - Visuals for Music - Gestalten
2004
Two-Color Graphics - Rockport
2004
Interviews:
On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 11:11 AM, Nathan Jeffries <njeffries24@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Good Afternoon The Head of State,
I am a third year student studying Illustration at Plymouth College of Art in the UK and I'm currently looking into researching various jobs that relate to my practice and the artists that influence me or surround the job's I'm interested in.
I am very interested in finding out other artist's career paths and how they got to where they are today, so i was wondering if you'd mind letting me in on how you guys at The Head of State got to where you are now... whether you had other jobs along side your practice to start with, how you got your work out there in the big wide world and become 'established' in your field as poster designers, and what events do you find most helpful for networking, if any...
I hope you guys can help me in my transition from student to practitioner in as many ways possible.
Hope to hear from you,
regards,
Nathan Jeffries.
From: Jason Kernevich <jason@theheadsofstate.com>
To: Nathan Jeffries <njeffries24@yahoo.co.uk>
Cc: "studio@theheadsofstate.com" <studio@theheadsofstate.com>
Sent: Monday, 26 November 2012, 23:46
Subject: Re: Transition from Student Illustrator to practitioner.
Nathan,
Thanks for writing. Hopefully I can answer some of your questions.
We started small and did it because we enjoyed it. It's as simple as that. We had other jobs and had to keep them for a few years to pay the bills until we were established enough to make that leap. How to get established? For us, it was primarily about creating work we found to be interesting and personal to us. We then made sure to get it out there as best as we could. We entered a lot of design and illustration competitions, we got picked up by some design blogs (some take submissions though others it's just a roll of the dice as to whether they will pick up on your stuff) and we tried to sell our work online and at trade shows like Flatstock, local artist events, AIGA sponsored events, and so on. We found the awards to be a good way to get immediate exposure. We also did a mailer/promo card. This is a typical and traditional way for illustrators to send a sample postcard of their work to a list they put together of art directors and magazines they want to work for, but we found it to be useful for designers as well.
Of course staying visible and updating your personal website and social networking accounts helps a lot as well and isn't something that wasn't as available to us when we started out as it is now.
Best of luck to you,
Jason
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