Family and friends alike have all grown to adore our beloved mascot Louie and his little pig sh*t eating grin. He’s the face of our label and really embodies our carefree, fun-loving, passion for music. Since we launched the label back in March, tons of questions have come in (both on the internet and at the club) about the mind behind the branding and design of Slow Roast Records. Well guess what we have some answers for you. We thought it might be fun to do a little Q & A with our designer, Jen Lu.
First off tell us a bit about where you’re from.
I’m from New York City, where the bitches are skinny and black people look like Kanye.
How would you describe your style?
Fun, whimsical, colorful style with perfect outlines and strong geometrical shapes.
Where / when did the inspiration come, that has lead you down your creative path as an illustrator / designer?
My inspiration came from Saturday morning cartoons and Disney movies. I was the kid that colored in the lines and sharpened all my crayons. My obsessiveness towards perfection led to graphic design.
Who are your influences?
My main man is Takashi Murakami with the anime pop steeze, bright colors and thin outlining. I also like Kaws for merging fine art and pop art with graffiti. I like Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek and Michel Gondry because at one point, I wanted to direct music videos. I like Alexander McQueen and Galliano, and is it overrated that I like Lady Gaga?
How / why did you make the transition into advertising agencies as an interactive creative?
I started designing and building simple html websites during the AOL boom of late 90s. I was always into digital media but it wasn’t something that other 14 year olds were into. I had no one to teach me and no one to look up to that I knew personally until I started going to art schools and through interneting, teacher ramblings and Art Directors Club trips, I became aware of current designers / directors, advertising agencies, digital design blogs, conferences etc.
Have you made conscious efforts over the years to become involved in the music business?
Every kid wanted to be on or work for MTV. I had a stash of 100 MB zip discs (remeber them?) full of mp3s from Napster, Kazaa and SoulSeek. I listened to a lot of everything from En Vogue to Green Day to Atari Teenage Riot to Wu-Tang. I wanted to style and direct music videos! Right out of college, I worked for an indie record label / production house called Decon in the Soho part of NYC. I designed album covers, flyers, packaging, logos, dvd menus, bus wraps, websites, pretty much anything they wanted. I worked on Pharrell’s ice cream skate team DVD packaging. I worked on Aceyalone branding, and this was way before “A Beautiful Mind” became Mad Man’s theme song. I worked on a bunch of advertising for 2K Sports NBA2K7, MLB2K8, NFL2K8 soundtracks with Dan the Automator and Z-Trip. Also met Diplo, Dan the Automator and Pharrell’s protege, Teyana Taylor. It was a cool job for sure.
How do you balance both endeavors?
I work full time in advertising on corporate accounts like Unilever, and Johnson and Johnson. I’m so lucky to have the best of both worlds, and I like to change my steeze to accommodate both parties. Having time is a challenge but I really try to do as much as I can after work, on weekends and holidays. After all, I really truly love what I do.
Now that we have a bit of background about you lets move onto some questions about the label.
Where have you been drawing inspiration from to create the face of the Slow Roast brand?
When I was asked to design a pig mascot, I immediately thought of Porky Pig. I like classic black and white Steam Boat Willie and merged the two styles together to create Louie with a bad ass Fonzie look.
Tell us about Louie and the process from conception to reality.
I started off creating a mood board of illustration references from varies cartoons like Porky and Disney’s Three Little Pigs. I sketched a variety of pig facial features, pig ears, bodies, jackets and accessories for the Fool’s Gold camp to look at. Then the character was traced and outlined in Illustrator.
From your perspective, what value and place does visual art have in the music business right now, especially considering major changes to the medium. (mainly the death of physical media, and the exploration of digital media)
The music business needs digital visual art to $ELL, and of course to heighten the experience of a live concert, a music video or just laying on your couch with an iPhone. A good example of digital visual art in music is OK Go’s “WTF?” music video and iPhone app. People who didn’t know OK Go were downloading the app just because it’s fun. Same goes for Mad Decent’s annoying ass sound effects iphone app. I got my 88 year old grandpa working the fog horn like an asshole. These digital tools are so simple and so effective, and perks your interest. I also like augmented reality, projected visuals and live graphics from Quayola, Dark Room, AntiVJ etc. Music in the ear holes is just so much better with eye candy. And if you can interact with the visuals by touching it, walking in front of it, calling in or texting a number… this will make the experience like no other!
What other projects are you working on that you can tell us about?
I just finished DJ Craze’s dubstep Dirt Dawg mascot and typeface. I’ll be doing another round of skateboard decks for Jeremy Klein’s Hook-Ups. I’m redesigning Http://Jen.Lu v2, which will integrate music and visuals in ways that you can interact with. I’m also on a super secret interactive iPad project.
Plans for the future?
Take over the world.
Follow @jendotlu on Twitter!
Check out more art from Jen Lu here: Http://Jen.Lu
