I GOT A CHANCE TO SPIT SHOOT SOME QUESTIONS OUT TO JON DEUS. FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW DEUS IS A GRAPHIC LEGEND IN THE GAME. CHECK OUT THE JEWELS THAT HE DROPS ABOUT JERSEY, LIFE, GRAPHICS AND NEVER BEING NUMBER 2....
Out of all of the places that you have worked at where has been the
most influential?
Mecca USA/International News. The people I met there and the relationships we have maintained I cherish and I am so proud of all their post Mecca accomplishments. I learned the right way to make apparel and prepare artwork for factories to work with. That is probably more important to know working in fashion than making cool things that look rad on a monitor or a print out. I have to thank Debbie Bresler for that.
How was life growing up in Jersey?
When we were young, it would take a long time for the trends that were happening in NY to make it to Jersey City. At least 6 months to a year back. Actually, Newark was more on time with NY than Jersey City back then. After I turned 15, I really didnt hang much in Jersey. We were in Washington Square Park in the summer at night. It used to be like a club complete with fights and drugs and sex and open till 4 or so. We used to be up in Latin Quarter on club night too (not the Hop Hop nite that it was renown for). Or up on the Deuce chillin hard. Or if it was cold out we would hang at the Cortland Street stop on the 1 @ the World Trade Center and watch trains all afternoon. And always in the Village. So those years when I wasn't relegated by my mom to only be allowed certain places in Jersey City, I was mostly in NY. Sometimes I was hanging with people my age, but for the most part in these years I was the youngest that hung with cats that were top-of-the-food-chain dudes in Jersey City.
Where did you get the name Deus from?
This girl I was dating when I 1st moved back to NY in 88 said this song from the Sugarcubes, "Deus" reminded her of me. I liked the song and how the letters combined when I would write the tag. I wrote Seme One before I moved to Cali. Well Seme was one of my many names. I was fascinated by how letters combined with each other when you tagged or did pieces. So I got infatuated with various names over the years. I was really aggressively bombing and did a few pieces when I came back from Cali. So all the new people I was hanging with on both sides of the Hudson River knew me as Deus!
What event lead turned our head toward graphic design?
My Mom moved us to Cali in '86 and in my senior year, I took an independent study class for airbrushing. This guy I was in the class with kept clogging the airbrushes and he broke them all! I was able to talk the teacher, Mr. Wood into getting us 2 of the large sets of Design markers. He was fascinated by graffiti & that NY/Hip Hop mentality that I was marinated in. After a while I was getting graded to do pieces of my friend's names! Mr. Wood was the one that put the jewel in my ear that a career or vocation that can stem out of graffiti is graphic design. He explained how every product has a logo and every publication has a layout and all that. I didn't know what medium I wanted to design in yet, but I graduated knowing I wanted to be a graphic designer.
Where did you come up with the idea of Cliché?
Cliché is an idea. It is not a brand. I call the project “Cliché” because of my observations on retro fashion within the popular culture.Over the last few years I have been seeing people out at parties, in the garment district, Downtown, Uptop and in Brooklyn that were wearing alot of 80's retro looks. I remember in the 90's, people were doing the same with 70's fashion. This observation had me thorize that retro style is based on fashion items that are easily recognizable as something that was popular from an era that the culture of today deems cool to emulate at the moment. Cliché pays homage to the Hip Hop culture by taking different items and accessories that were popular back in the day and finding ways to "remix" them and make them more applicable to how today's fashion trends are growing and evolving. This gave me the idea to do this project. I wanted to do something that creativity would be as relevant as the sellability of the product offering. The 1st item I wanted to offer was the Pro-Black leather medallion.
What do you do in your personal time to unwind?
I spend so much time in front of a computer screen, that sometimes I yearn for human interaction and contact. From hanging with my friends and their kids or on a date or hanging with my peers in the industry that I have love and respect for. I LOVE engaging in intelligent stimulating conversation. But I love to bug the fuck out too. I am not an intellectual snob but I cant fuck with ignorant people. I love to cook healthy food. I love to dance. Ask anyone that knows me well. I am a dancin, dancin, dancin, dancin machine! Certain movies I fuck with but I am not a cinema buff. I follow the NFL and the NBA too. I am a very affectionate person so if there is someone in my life that has my attention like that, I love being affectionate even if it is just giving a massage or spoonin and chillin.
What does Graff mean to you?
My school of graf was about innovation, getting up, developing ill styles and consistently evolving. I am severely influenced by the mentality and styles that crews like TC5, FC, FBA, IBM, CWK, RTW & TAT drilled into my head in the years that my exposure grew outside of what was going on in Jersey City. In my opinion graf started as a visual manifestation of ego and a voice for people of the inner city that felt like they didnt have a voice in Eurocentric influenced American society. Now it is a standard urban influenced form of rebellion (I skate, I get fucked up, I write, etc)
What are some of the most memorable creative differences that you
have had with a client?
I am gonna leave names out of it but, when I figure out a client really doesn't know what they want, or when I know WAAAAAY more about their target consumer than they do, or they aren't familiar with technical constraints or the right way artwork needs to be prepared for factories and silkscreen printers to work with. Then there are stupid things like arguing over the meaning of opaque and translucent with very stubborn people in front of other people while in Hong Kong (and I KNOW the difference between the 2, AND I am the type to admit if I am confused about the meaning of something)
If you had the ability to talk to one type of animal what would it be?
Man I like that question! Dolphin. Without having to think twice about it! I would love for dolphins to be able to share their knowledge and understanding of nature and the ocean with me.
What is your favorite breakfast food?
Anything omlettish or breakfast burritoish that got veggies and cheese involved that I can douse in hot sauce or dribble in some fresh pico de gallo. (not salsa, PICO DE GALLO)
Where do you think the youth culture market is heading?
There is always going to be an influence of the past and retro motifs in the youth market place. The irony of this is that this generation couldn't care less about the legacy of movements in hip hop or rock at all, but visually there are influences of styles from the past ALL OVER THE PLACE. From punk rock artwork and skinny jeans to the retro fashion influence that you see in most of "streetwear" and its walking dead older brother "urban wear". I see style influences from the golden era of hip hop on deck now (1992 party, The Cliché Project) and mid 90's influenced looks are coming. Whether it be very Neville Brody looking graphic play or grunge, or that feeling Tim Burton movies tend to have and at worst, emulations of early "urban fashion" looks will be played with too. There will always be sprinklings of designers and brands that are trying to push the envelope and put a new twist on familiar things (TYO, Public School, FiberOps, Cassette). They will probably stay offerings for people with a keen sense of style and a very individual sense of fashion. The brands I listed are true reflections of the personal style of the people that make them. In my head they don't apply when discussing the state of the industry as a whole because these are unique individuals with unique visions and have always been ahead of the style curve.
If you could meet some one dead or alive who would it be and why?
Stevie Wonder. Stevie has made the most beautiful music that has ever graced this planet and I would be honored to be able to engage him in conversation about life, love, being creative and growing as a human. I would have said James Brown too but I know if the conversation got all deep I would be asking him to repeat himself frequently because of his distinct style of speaking and I would be embarrassed.
What would you tell Jon Deus of '97 right now if you all were faced
to face?
You cant control anything in this world other than yourself, and if you don't get a grip soon, you will have been the worst example of Dave Chapelle's "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong" that ever lived. (Then 97 me would just yes me to death, roll the next blunt and ask what the Chapelle reference was about. THEN he would get offended that the now me would even reference the 97 Deus in that context!)
What is your design mantra?
To be creative with a precedent. Firstly, it is easy to come up with some obscure shit that you and your small circle of "I'm cooler than you because I got this many kicks, or blah blah denim, or I was listening to so-and-so way before anybody" friends will think is dope. Very rare you are going to come with an "original" with an idea. Don't kid yourself. Its all how you flip it. Especially when you are designing something that has to have a degree of commercial viability to it. The more to the left it is, the less people there are with dollars in their hands standing over there.
Explain your personal style.
Deustyle. No explanation needed.
What is your comparison of the state of urban culture when you were
growing up versus now?
Thats a loaded question. It was a lifestyle that wasn't being marketed to. For the most part, it was a culture of adaptation that took elements of the world's culture and flipped how it was utilized to make it our own. Now there are urban market specialists and all types of other people that formulate new ways to pump stereotypes of the hood into the burbs. Now there are people that are born into privilege and opportunity that confuse embracing ignorance and emulating what they see in the videos, in the magazines, on the "urban driven" television shows and movies with living a "street" lifestyle or truly embracing the culture that the "urban" culture is born from. And that is the Afro-American and Latin culture, the culture that evolved from populations of people that for the most part have had to exist in a mode of "struggle and strive" for generations because of the lack of education, lack of opportunity and lack of access to wealth in post-slavery America
What did you want to be as a kid?
Didn't have aspirations of being anything until my senior year in High School. I knew I wanted to be a graphic designer.
If you had a million dollars how would you spend it?
Pay off ALL my debt. Legally lock down the trademarks and domain names of all the projects I intend on embarking upon. Set up the bi-coastal living situation then invest whats left.
Who was the biggest impact in your life so far?
My last girlfriend. I never had someone in my life I loved and cared for so much. I think she came into my life at a time that I thought I was ready to be a boyfriend in a solid relationship, but I didnt understand how to respect her or our relationship as much as I idealistically wanted to. So I never have felt so much pain as the pain I felt from losing her and realized that I have no one to blame but myself. That pain has in turn made me start to grow and change into a better man, leaving counterproductive behavior and emotional oscillations in my past. But more than that she is a very talented designer with an incredible work ethic. She is well versed about business practices and how to be professional. I am so much better about my work ethic and practices after the time I spent around her.
Drop a jewel for the people about freelancing?
I'll drop 3 because you are my dude 1st You best to be "user friendly". Don't be all uptight over what you are being asked to do. If its only changing the colorways or editing the construction of a flat, shut up and do it. You aren't always gonna get paid to create and do things that serve your purpose by being portfolio-quality work. Smile, shut up, P.Y.P. and get the check. 2nd They can get any old mouse clicker to go up in there and expedite the workload "well enough", probably for less than you are charging. Be up in there with the bubbly personality and enthusiasm. Give your 2 cents and CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM about anything they ask you about. Positive attitude goes alot farther than the work you are being asked to do. 3rd, If you don't have a real good personal relationship with who you are working with, be very very specific about workload, calendar and payment schedule with them. THEN GET IT IN WRITING. Potential freelance clients will do anything to be vague about what they need you to do in an attempt to get more bang for their buck. And best believe cutting the check for the freelancer is at the bottom of the priority list if they don't know you personally or if they didnt sign anything that keeps them to net terms of cutting and applying a signature to a check.
tell a friend to tell a friend so we can BUILD!!!
