Designers We Love: Jordan Metcalf

INTERVIEWED BY Michaela Stehr

We chat to local artist and designer Jordan Metcalf about type fonts, ideas, trends and his amazing achievement making the cover of National Geographic.

How did you initially get into design?

I kind of fell into it after taking a gap year after school without knowing exactly what I was going into. But once I started studying design I fell in love with the combination of creative thinking and rational/technical problem solving. 

How did it feel to see your designs on the cover of National Geographic? It’s an incredible achievement.

It was really great but totally surreal at the same time. It’s such a well respected and ubiquitous brand and I know photographers who see it as a bucket list item to have their pictures on the cover so I felt really lucky to work with them. I had friends and family from all over the world sending me pictures of copies they’d bought. I went travelling to Japan just after it came out and it was crazy seeing it everywhere I went; at airports, in the plane, in Japanese bookstores. I’ve done a lot of international work but nothing with that level of reach. 

Typography takes serious patience and concentration. What is the process behind creating one of your pieces?

My work varies quite a bit and so does the process behind making it. I guess it’s pretty much summed up in the question, it’s basically just a lot of patience and a commitment to craft and experimentation in whatever form the process takes.

Where do you look to get type ideas? Do they differ from your illustration inspiration?

I can’t say I get my ideas from anywhere specifically. Mostly I just try to approach every job by thinking what might work best for it and taking it from there. 

What do you think is trending right now in design?

The field is pretty wide open at the moment, which is great. It’s easy to think that one trend overwhelms any other, but the last decade or so has been one of the first in the history of the world where practically any visual idea can be explored and find application. We’re not rooted in a ‘movement’ like the art/commercial art world was historically. Some people are doing nostalgic, vintage-inspired work, the Tumblr kids are exploring a weird but exciting post-modern anti-design aesthetic, others are doing really modern experimental work and plenty are doing classic, clean and thoughtful design work. Identifying trends seems to depend largely on what direction you’re spending most of your time looking in. 

Who are some local and international designers that you think are hot?

First I’d have to give a shout out to my studio mates, Adam Hill, Daniel Ting Chong, Jade Klara and Hanno Van Zyl. They’re all doing amazing work in their own rights and are a daily inspiration. The creative scene in SA in general is great though. Internationally, Mario Hugo and co from Hugo & Marie, Erik Marinovich, The Pressure, Gemma O’Brien, Charles&Thorn, Stranger & Stranger and Craig Ward are all creatives/studios consistently doing great, well-thought out work. But the list is much longer than that, those are just the people top of mind right now.

Where to next?

No idea – that’s what keeps it interesting.

See more of Jordan’s work at jordan-metcalf.com.