Jan Willem Wennekes A.K.A. Zeptonn

July 5th, 2010

Your Full Name
Jan Willem Wennekes (mostly known as Zeptonn)

Tell us about you
Hi there! I’m a freelance creative currently working mostly as illustrative designer and art director. I operate from the great town of Groningen in the Netherlands. I enjoy working on a variety of projects, running from illustration to art direction and to initiating and organising art projects. I’m also involved in an “interactive machine builders collective” called Rabonk for example. And I prefer working on environmentally sound projects (meaning, eco-friendly, cradle to cradle, etc).

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In your opinion, what would be the secret ingredients to become a great digital artist?
Find a way to use your own passion and enthusiasm in your work, and create your own style that fits you. Make sure you understand what makes you unique, what kind of things you do well and focus on those. Passion + Expertise = Success! And don’t forget to enjoy the ride!

Where are you located?
Groningen, The Netherlands – it’s a lovely town with lots of young people and a good creative industry.

What would be your most rewarding experience becoming a digital artist so far?
I was really happy when by book “Black & White Freedrawings” was finished, that was a great and complicated project to work on, and it all came out very nice. With any new project I strive to make it as new and different as possible – the most rewarding projects are those where you have something new to work on, something challenging, something that actually adds to your exciting body of work. Creating something new, exciting and additional also means that you will give the client something worth their investment, and will make the project more useful (and hence, in my eyes, more rewarding).

Where do you get inspirations from?
This is a question I get a lot and the answer is always complicated. I don’t feel that I ‘get’ my inspiration from something in particular. There are some situations that are more inspirational than others (meeting new people, seeing new and original work such as artwork, movies or reading a book) but the trick is to always be ‘open’ to inspiration on some level. The best artists I know are always ‘turned on’, they could see something that inspires them at any time of day, in any situation. It just has to fit!

How do you promote/ sell/ showcase your work?
I like to work on projects that are new, original and that will create their own promotion in some way. For example, a while back I designed rainboots for Greenpeace and those boots got a lot of media attention because it was an unusual product (not just in general but also specifically unusual for Greenpeace to sell something like that). Such projects get my attention, because they are new, interesting and will create a wave of promotion. In any case, it is always important to make sure your work is available: make sure you are with the portfolio sites such as Flickr, Behance, Society6 and the like. If your work is not visible, how do you expect people to see it and get interested in hiring you?

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De ButtonBoom / The ButtonTree from Zeptonn on Vimeo.

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Do you work better at night or in the morning? Why?
Mostly my afternoons are the most productive. I don’t work that much at night anymore (I used to do this when I just got started) and in the morning I often take care of things like emails, administration, writing, working on documents that are relevant for projects. I think I am the most ‘organised’ in the morning and the most ‘creative’ or ‘loose’ in the afternoon, if that makes sense.

What is your strength as a digital artist compared to others in the industry?
I think I am able to capture the core of the message that my clients want to convey, and am able to produce from that core a positive and vibrant feel (in illustrations, designs and products, but also in their identity, communication strategy etc). I always try to look for what is behind everything that clients tell me: why would they want that? What is it they do? Who are they? I always aim to work with the client, not just for them.

Probably another thing that makes me stand out is my focus on eco-friendly and environmental projects. I think this is simply the way to go, in the future everything will have to become sustainable and reusable in some form.

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Zeptonn Wall Drawing @ Studio Pats from Zeptonn on Vimeo.

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Who is a digital artist that you look up to? Why so?
There are so many great artists out there. The Black Rock Collective (www.blackrockcollective.com) is a great group of collaborating artists of which I am a member, they definitely influence me. There is no particular artist that I am always following, I respect different people for their different abilities. Some are great at typography, others are excellent with patterns, and again others draw the most insane creatures. Most of the time it is not just the creative talent these people have, but also the way they employ it to enable their success. All these things can inspire and awe me.

Describe a difficult work/ project situation and how would you overcome it?
Actually, I mostly try to make sure beforehand (somehow) that these don’t happen. If somehow something difficult does happen I believe there is always a way around it, or maybe even a way to turn it in to something positive and strong. Be creative!

What do you think about the Internet and how it is affecting the visual communication business?
I think the internet is a very strong means for communication, empowering people (some of whom are artists), spreading knowledge and work, allowing for more direct interactions between manufacturer and buyer, creator and user, designers and clients – and so on. Internet allows work from (new) artists to spread really fast, and it takes away borders and distances. An artist in China might be influenced by one in France, they might even collaborate on projects together. In effect, I have used these aspects of modern day communication and technology to create a book on collaborative work: “Black & White Freedrawings” (see more at www.freedrawings.nl)

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Waving Dudes II from Zeptonn on Vimeo.

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If you could turn back time, how would you do things differently?
I seriously would have no idea. I cannot imagine any decisions in my past that I could have taken differently. If I had done so (could do so) – I would probably have ended up somewhere else doing something different. All the things that happened in the past have made me into who I am now and have brought me to where I am now.

How does the global economic recession affecting the industry, or the least affecting your business/ work?
I haven’t noticed that much effect to be honest. Probably people in advertising are affected more. If anything, it might bring us individual designers (and some smaller studios) more work since we are more flexible and because some of the bigger companies have to scale down.

Name 3 of your favorite (art) books/ magazines.
Hand Job was a great book, Street Sketchbook was also amazing – as for magazines I have enjoyed Computer Arts Magazine a lot.

What is your life motto?
Follow your passion!

If you are using any software in producing your work, what are those? Do they make your work easier? How so?
I mostly work with Illustrator and Photoshop to create my graphics and illustrations. I have also been using After Effects lately, to experiment with animation and motion, which has been very interesting so far. I find that it brings new dimensions to work (time, sound and 3d space) and enables me to do completely new things. Still, most of my work ends up in illustrator where I do a lot of work. I’m quite content with how the software works and features such as livetrace, the blob tool and the pen tool are my biggest friends!

What do you like the sound of? Why so?
I am keen on electronic music – but in truth my music library is filled with all kinds of stuff. Other that music I do really enjoy being outside in nature, so I guess nature sounds would fit on the list as well