Meet Jeri Evan

We recently connected with Jeri Evan and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeri, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

Any time that I’m feeling lost in the sauce, I like to retrace my steps. So much of my creative spark comes from past experiences, and I consider a lot of my work to take on the appearance of the environment I’m in. Whether it’s a place I am, how I’m feeling in the moment, or especially in recent years who I’m collaborating with.

Embracing the weird has allowed me to fall in sync with people who see things the way I do in an extremely organic way. I feel so blessed to have finally found my tribe after years of growing pains and not quite feeling like I fit in anywhere. It was like going through Design puberty.

I excel working in a team environment, and having a community to bounce ideas off of has been what’s reined me in. I’ve felt a lot of support from my peers in making me a much better Designer.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a Graphic Designer and Illustrator working in LA’s music and entertainment scene. I transitioned into working in Commercial Advertising for media companies and entertainment studios after getting my start in the Indiesphere working for various record labels and musicians. The most exciting part of what I do is getting to make my mark on pop culture.

2024 has been my most exciting year to date because I’ve gotten to work with two mega stars, Olivia Rodrigo and Camila Cabello. I designed supporting promotional marketing materials and signage for Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘GUTS’ World Tour Bus, as well as helping design exterior vinyls for the bus. Getting to have a hand in work that’s so public is always exciting. For Camila Cabello, I created exterior and interior vinyl posters for a Merch Pop-Up / 7-Eleven takeover ahead of her ‘C,XOXO’ album release. I also designed the signage for a Yacht Party in Miami where she performed her upcoming songs to superfans.

My favorite part was being able to translate their vision into something tangible.

I love seeing the fans reactions, and knowing that something I helped create is propelling these artists further.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Perseverance, enthusiasm, and resourcefulness are all it takes. Not giving up when the going gets tough. I’m a firm believer in paying it forward. It hasn’t failed me yet.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

Since July 2023, I’ve worked with Disney, MGM, Universal, Searchlight Pictures, Sony, American Express, Interscope, Geffen, Bacardi, 7-Eleven, Meta, Dr. Martens, Olivia Rodrigo, and Camila Cabello.

During my first few years in the industry, I started small. Predominantly designing merchandise, occasionally something bigger would be thrown my way. Coming up on my fourth year in the game, I’ve finally been able to break into the mainstream world of Commercial Advertising. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see my work finally getting the spotlight it deserves. You don’t start out working with major stars. It took a lot of grunt work and side hustles to finally gain the trust to work on projects of this scale.

I’m proud of myself for sticking with something that has always been tentative in nature. I think a lot of other people would have thrown in the towel by now.

The career growth I’ve experienced has carried over into so many other areas in my life. I was invited to review portfolios for prospective students at my alma mater, MassArt, which was extremely fulfilling on a personal level. I also got to work with students in Lasell University’s Graphic Design department in the city I grew up in Newton, MA. I love being able to share some of the tricks of the trade I’ve learned along the way.

You don’t need to have everything figured out right out of high school or college. I don’t think you’re ever going to figure it out.

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