Exclusive Interview with Neal Jenks

Neal Jenks is a 31-year-old graphic designer from Utah. He’s also a graduate of Brigham Young University, with a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts. He garnered Web Design Library’s very own Animation of the Month award in December 2004. He earned his place in the web design sun for his Flash work on his personal online portfolio. But he’s not only an artist and Flash Designer. He’s as well a coder who believes that “knowledge of coding helps you with design the same way knowledge of anatomy helps with figure drawing.”


WDL: Can you introduce yourself? Tell us who you are and what you do.

Neal Jenks: My name is Neal Jenks, and I'm a 31-year-old graphic designer from northern Utah . I have also lived in Texas , California , Alaska , and South Africa . I graduated from Brigham Young University about five years ago with a Bachelor's degree in Visual Arts, and currently, I'm the sole in-house designer for a product-sourcing company called Wholesale Marketer. I have been married for 3 ½ wonderful years, and I have a super-cute 1 ½-year-old boy.


WDL: How did you first become interested in web design?  

Neal Jenks: I started becoming really interested in web design while in my first student-design position. I worked in a department at BYU called the Center for Instructional Design. We provided instructional graphics for professors and other faculty all over campus. My supervisor wanted me to learn Flash—that was my first exposure to web graphics. When Flash is your first exposure to the world of the web, it's REALLY hard not to become more than just casually interested. That's where it all started.


WDL: You are both a coder and a designer. How does your knowledge of HTML and XML help you with your design work?  

Neal Jenks: Actually, I should update my online resume a little bit, because my knowledge of CSS probably helps me more than anything else. Anyway, I'd saying knowledge of coding helps you with design the same way knowledge of anatomy helps with figure drawing. When you're figure drawing, you can still put together a fairly nice drawing without knowing anything about anatomy, but knowledge of bones, muscles, organs, etc. gives you much more precision and accuracy. Same thing goes for coding: That knowledge gives you some precision to go along with all the other design skills you may have. The result is a website that more accurately depicts what you have going on in your brain.


WDL: What do you bring to the Flash animation and design community that sets you apart from the rest?

Neal Jenks: Our design community is so rich and multi-faceted that it's difficult to set yourself apart from them completely, but I feel that I bring an excellent sense of emphasis and contrast, the ability to control eye-movement, and a clean, simple style that is still entertaining and engaging. Beyond that, I offer the ability to give and receive feedback, as well as boundless enthusiasm for the visual arts.  


WDL: What influenced the design of your site, which boasts a geometric interface with a logo rather similar to the one currently found on the Sysco site?

Neal Jenks: It's difficult to nail down any specific influence because I derive influences from so many places. My logo is actually just the “front” of that cube, not the whole cube itself, but I suppose, on a subconscious level, the Sysco logo may have affected that idea. Anyway, I love icons. While working at Novell, I designed and worked with icons, and that really turned me on to the idea of pictorial representations of broader ideas. That's probably where all the icons come from. The cubes find their roots in my love of 3D animation. I just had to have some 3D component on my website to truly represent myself. The rest of my influences come from numerous websites I've visited, notably turbonium.com (although I think they've killed that website off now).


WDL: Tell us about your work for Sysco and your time in California , if you ever went there.  

Neal Jenks: I spent some time in California , but not for this job. That job was a telecommuting position. I enjoyed the challenge of building an entire website from scratch from my home computer, though. Although I had finished several other freelance jobs from my home computer, that was my first full-scale corporate website. It was instructive, fun, and a challenge being my own boss for a couple of months.  


WDL: When did you make your first serious attempt at creating your own website?

Neal Jenks: I had created several websites before, but nealjenks.com was the first website I created for myself.  


WDL: In your online portfolio you display a wide range of artistic interests. Can you tell us a little about your creative process? Does the process change when the medium changes?

Neal Jenks: Actually, the process is dependant more on the deadline rather than on the type of project. Other than that, the process is fairly similar. I always start with research. Whether it's a painting, an animation, or whatever else, I start by hunting for ideas. I am a firm believer that good design doesn't happen in a vacuum; you have to get outside of yourself and be humble enough to let other good designers fill your mind with ideas. Even if the research is simply looking at other websites, looking at photographs, or watching TV, I always like to do something. I even like to go on nature walks to gather ideas for color schemes. Then I sketch. I sketch out several different random ideas, then I hone in on the ideas I like the most. Based on feedback, gut feeling, or maybe even inspiration, I draw several iterations of my best ideas, then a more finalized drawing of my best idea. Finally, I'll put that final drawing into a program or on canvas.  


WDL: Your sketches interest us no less than your photography, CG, Flash and HTML work. Do you spend as much time on your fine art as you would like to?

Neal Jenks: Truthfully, not as much as I'd like. And that's a terrible artistic sin. For a designer, I think you really lose touch with what design is all about if you don't use traditional mediums every once in a while. There's something about putting pencil to paper or brush to canvas that opens up your creativity and makes your design much less mechanical. I have a good excuse, I suppose—being a father and husband. As important as those priorities are, though, I need to find more time for sketching. I think it'll be easier for me when my boy gets a little bit older and we can draw together.


WDL: Has Flash enabled you to further explore yourself as an artist?

Neal Jenks: Absolutely. My minor in college was Theater, and animation is the best medium on earth for combining design and drama. In design, you focus on emphasis, color, rhythm, contrast, etc. but animation adds such dimensions as timing, character development, pacing, etc. I can't think of anything else that allows an artist to explore so many facets, and to deal with so many challenges, than animation.  


WDL: According to your resume, you have worked in almost every area of the web design process, including copywriting. Which work experience did you find the most gratifying and instructive?

Neal Jenks: I am, first and foremost, a designer at heart, so that will always carry a higher passion level than writing for me. That isn't to say that I don't carry any passion for writing, though—just not as much as for design. It's difficult to say which of all my work experiences has been the most instructive because so much of what I've gained on the job has been instructive. Looking back, I'd say at least 95% of what I know about software, copywriting, the design process, etc. I've gained on the job. So it's difficult to put my finger on the MOST instructive thing. My most gratifying projects are the ones which I feel are having the most effect. At work, that means any project that helps the company grow in very specific ways. For personal projects, that's any project that touches other people in more than just a superficial way.


WDL: Do you prefer working in a collective or alone? Can design work be a collaborative process?

Neal Jenks: Both collaborative and individual design have, I find, their advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, though, I'd say collaborative design is the most effectual kind of design—simply because the end result reflects several good ideas from many different sources, not just several good ideas from one source. The disadvantage of collaboration is that working with others, especially in the subjective arena of design, can be frustrating. But some of my best work is collaborative, including several samples on nealjenks.com. See the Novell Brainshare animation and the Arius 3D Industrial Design animation for samples.



WDL: How do you use your Johannesburg experience in your current life? Where does the separation between your past activities and your current ones lie?

Neal Jenks: The two years I spent as a volunteer proselyting and service missionary in South Africa probably had more effect on who I am now than anyone or anything else, with the exception of maybe my parents and my marriage. The effect, however, isn't something you can assign a number to or place in a category—It becomes an integral part of who you are. Hard work, faith, leadership, teaching, determination, kindness, and enthusiasm are all attributes that I attribute to my mission. And I hope that I still use each one of those in my current life, especially in the home and on the job. So in a way, I believe and hope that there's no separation between me and my past activities; I like to think that I take the best parts of them with me.  


WDL: Web Design Library is an online resource portal. What experience do you have in creating such a website? Do you have any advice for us? See any lacks?

Neal Jenks: I have now contributed quite a bit to wholesalemarketer.com, which is a resource for entrepreneurs or other individuals searching for products to sell on the web. It's a different kind of resource than the one you're referring to, but that's probably where I offer the most experience. And I wouldn't want to comment on the lacks of the Library without first saying that I really appreciate it. I'm impressed with how quickly the Showcase and the Articles sections are growing, and you're definitely one of my favorite sources for inspiration and instruction. The only two cents that I'd pitch in would be that I'd like to see a better selection of resources—especially in the photograph section. If you want more advice than that, you'll need to pay my consultant fees :).


WDL: Who are your career role models?

Neal Jenks: Since I'm interested in so many different kinds of art and design, I think I should put my influences into categories. CARTOONING: Bill Watterson (Creator of Calvin and Hobbes), Goscinny and Uderzo (Creators of the Asterix adventures, which are more popular in European countries), and Burke Breathed (Creator of Bloom County ). PAINTERS: Renee Makintosh, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Gustav Klimt, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio, and Georgia O'Keefe. ILLUSTRATORS: Norman Rockwell, Maxwell Parrish, Ezra Jack Keats, Chris Van Allsburg, Lane Smith, and Arnold Friberg. GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Milton Glaser and Saul Bass. ANIMATORS: Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Robert McKimson.


WDL: Do you feel like you've hit your stride with your career? Are you in the groove?

Neal Jenks: Absolutely not, and I think that's a good thing. In this field there is so much to learn, so many ways to improve, that I think it's impossible to ever say that you're in a groove of any sort. If I were to ever say that I had hit my stride, then I think I'd better find a way to be less complacent, and quick. My goal is to turn 60 years old and be able to say that I'm still looking for my groove.  


WDL: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Neal Jenks: I see myself in an Art Direction position, hopefully with a staff of several designers working for me. I have supervised before, and I really enjoy it, simply because I like helping others succeed and because I like collaborative environments. I also love teaching, having done a lot of volunteer teaching in my life, and I would love to teach art and/or design to children or college students at some point.


WDL: Give us a parting piece of advice for any cause dear to you.

Neal Jenks: Never ever think that you're a good enough designer that you don't need the help of others. The best designers understand that an open mind and a willingness to change will do more to improve their design than anything else. Seek out feedback all the time. Take the good feedback (which will come a lot more often than you may think) and respectfully toss the bad. Asking others for their opinion of your work can hurt like the blazes sometimes, especially if you've put so much of yourself into a particular project, but that pain is important part of growing in your profession. And the good news is, the more you ask for feedback, the easier it is to swallow.


WDL: Thanks for your time.