PPP3: Chat with Tara Jacoby

Tara Jacoby is an editorial illustrator who has produced artwork for Gawker articles. 

Her artwork seems completely digital, it makes use of clean line, shape with subtle textures and occasional animation. I asked her a few questions about her practice:

Firstly, could you describe what led you to your current profession? 

Your editorial work has featured in print and online, do you have a preference?

Are you represented by an agency? How do you find work?

I studied illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and while I was there I decided to intern at the Society of Illustrators. That led to a job there and eventually I worked my way up from museum shop, to exhibitions coordinator, to graphic designer. My experience there as the graphic designer along with my background in illustration weighed heavily on me getting hired at Gawker Media. I worked at Gawker for a year and half as staff illustrator/deputy art director, then moved on to Vocativ as their Deputy AD. While I was at all of these jobs I continued to freelance. 

I am not represented by anyone and don't plan on getting a rep any time soon. Although, I think reps can be helpful to some, especially if you are trying to branch out to different areas of illustration, like advertising and video. I was emailing ADs and sending mailers int he beginning, but after working at Gawker, people began to become familiar with my work and contact me. Every once in a while I reach out to ADs if I've been dying to work with them, but it's difficult to do freelance and work full-time all the time so I tend to take them on when they contact me. I think it helps a lot to network and go to events/openings. It's a small industry and it helps to get to know the people you want to work with.

I don't prefer online editorial or print. They both have their perks. Digital is immediate, which is great. Print is something tangible you can hold in your hand and usually get a little more time to work on. They both give you a different sense of satisfaction when you see them published. 

As for how I work.. It's kind of evolved over the years. I used to ink my work and then color digitally in photoshop.  Since working at Gawker, I've had to speed up my process. I eliminated the step of inking (which I miss) and I draw on a Cintiq. Everything is done in Photoshop. My illustrations are usually done within 1-3 hours, sometimes longer if time allows. I don't have much time to work because of the fast paced editorial environment. But I always make sure that my image is conceptually strong because I don't have a lot of time to knock out a lot of details. 

That latter point about conceptually-strong editorial is a good observation, I realise it frequently applies across most examples of editorial. As these sorts of briefs involve a quick turn around, there is often a focus on concept over intense detail. Her choice to continue as a freelancer as opposed to being represented seems to give her more freedom to dictate her use of time. Tara is another example of how being proactive reaps rewards in terms of success and employment. Her work has been pushed by short deadlines, making her imagery very deliberate, the concepts involved are generally quite funny.