The Art of Design: Profile with MB Designer Joy Burke

Joy Burke is the bona-fide Pixel Princess of Mightybytes. She is a 2007 graduate of the Visual Communications program at the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago and her personal art is being featured in the Alumni Gallery Show along with some award-winning design work she did for Mightybytes. Be sure to stop by and check out her work and that of her fellow alumni!

Alumni Gallery Exhibition
Ai Gallery, Merchandise Mart
October 13 - November 11
Reception: October 22, 5 - 8 p.m.

Q: What types of your art will be featured?
Joy: I’ll be showcasing a typography/illustration book alongside a poster I created. The book includes hand-drawn typography I created over the summer whose intricate details reflect the lyrics to music group Animal Collective’s latest album, Merriweather Post Pavillion, which the book is based around. It’s a great piece that partners illustrative elements with the digital world to create a modern artistic book.

Q: Tell us about your creative process.
Joy: I almost always start with sketches, and they’re usually pretty sloppy (or maybe that’s just the perfectionist in me). I like to exhaust all the possibilities down on paper, and I’m very organized so I have everything in folders and paper-clipped and stapled so that everything is in order…I’m a bit OCD in that department. Then I typically spend time researching the relevant material. I like to see what’s been done and think about how I could do it differently and better. That always presents the actual challenge. I do a lot of thinking about each project. Then depending on what medium the project calls for, I get to work. I turn on the blues/jazz/alt rock stations on Pandora and go to town! I’m big on collaboration, so I almost always get some sketches or drafts together and show someone who’s design eye I trust, or even some one who doesn’t have any clue about design because it’s good to see points of view from different people. I’ll get my comps done and then walk away from the project for a little while. This is key. Then I come back to it for another look-over and make final tweaks. And finally, I show it to the client and they smile and tell me I rock! (Well, something like that anyway…)

Q: You won Best in Show for Innovative Design on your portfolio at your alma mater. What tips do you have for design students or designers working on their portfolio?
Joy: Go all out, buck wild! Now is your chance to make your work be as boring or as totally rad as YOU want it to be. Yes, you have to show your teachers, and they will help keep you within the “good design” guidelines, but experiment as much as you can and make your projects as absolutely cool as you can! Focus on what you want your project to be, then do it. Turn in your stuff on time, even if that means not sleeping four nights in a row. This is the stuff that’s going to make you rise above the others you’re up against once you get out of school!

Q: What advice do you have for online portfolios or websites?
Joy: It’s pretty crucial to have a portfolio website of your own right now, especially if you’re looking for work. On top of that, make sure the design is solid, the typography beautiful, and that it compliments your work, not distracts viewers from it. It’s important to make sure the main focus is on the images of your work, and let the web elements speak second to that.

Want to see more of her design and art?
Joy’s website is: http://www.cargocollective.com/studiojoy
Have questions on portfolios tips? Post a comment for us!