Altpick.com Artist Spotlight: Jib Hunt

[ December 21, 2004 ] Illustrator Jib Hunt grew up drawing and creating artwork in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, earning his BFA in graphic design from the Granite State's Plymouth State College. For someone who spent his formative years in the country, it's surprising how easily he adapted to New York City. But not really. "At the end of high school and all through college I was a sponsored professional snowboarder," he says. "I traveled all over the country and Canada, so I was never in one spot." Immediately following college, Hunt spent five years managing and design all of the artwork for the Softgoods Department for Burton Snowboards in Burlington, Vermont, which gave him even more travel exposure. "Even when I worked for Burton I traveled to their European offices and we would travel out to the West Coast frequently," he says. Hunt relocated to New Jersey to redesign Virgin Mobile's brand before going freelance in New York City. "I left after about four months because it was way too corporate for me," he says. Among his influences, Hunt includes action sports, music, and traveling. "I am always trying new things in my work, and taking it one more step." Over the years, Hunt's distinctive style - clean, graphic, and, at times, technical - has evolved to include even more smoothness and detailing. "I'm using a lot more textures these days, and I tend to do a lot with shadows." he says.

His experience at Burton, as well as his time spent snowboarding, has kept him on the pulse of the youth culture and its style. Just witness his client list, which includes: Men's Fitness magazine, Loaded Magazine, Stuff Magazine, Essex Accessories, and Sony Electronics. Hunt spoke to altpick.com from his studio in New York.

What are you working on right now?
Right now I am working on core drawings for Rome Snowboards that show all the different wood grains and technical features that are inside their different board lines. Depending on the type of board, there are different constructions of the wood. I am drawing the internal drawings of that, and I'll be drawing some bindings for their 2006 catalog.

When you start working on something do you sketch, then scan, or do you work directly on the computer?
A little of both. It depends on what the client wants to see. Some clients know my style so they just say go ahead and do it. I can do a quick pencil sketch, show some photo references, or do a quick collage. I do a lot of on-line research and take a lot of my own photos, so I do send a lot of my own photos for reference - just so they get an idea, so that they can look at examples of my work, and the perspective that I'm thinking about, before I go ahead and do it. I do have Men's Fitness that I've been working with for the last five issues. They just send me briefs, and I rarely have to change anything.

You talk about your style evolving, how you're beginning to use a lot more texture and shadows. Can you give me an example of that?
The job I did for Lee Sweatshirts where I illustrate a BMX halfpipe rider airing on a ramp. There is old plywood texture on the ramp, and then a shadow on the ramp, and the shadow of the guy, and the bike itself. Essex's is another example of the texture in the background. A lot of people just have shadows cast from them, but I am trying to make it more stylized. A lot of people, at least a lot of people I know, aren't really doing too much with shadows. I also do a lot of cast shadows when I do portraits of people, as if there is a bright light being cast on them.

Do you still snowboard?
Yes, every weekend. This is my 17th year.

Do you still compete?
No, it is more for fun now.

Do you still do clothing design?
I do a lot of graphics, some of which are illustrative for clothing lines like Rusty Surfboards, Fox Racing, American Eagle Outfitters, Rocawear and Nixon Watches. I am working on stuff now for Atomic Snowboards, Essex Accessories, and a lot of graphics for apparel companies. I am also doing a lot of technical drawing for clothing lines where they roughly pencil sketch what they want. I draw all the specs in the computer, making it symmetrical and correct.

Was Burton your first big break?
JDK and Burton were my first break as far as Graphic Design. My first real break with illustration was with Stuff Magazine. They were the first magazine to give me a shot. The first project they had was an emergency project where the illustrator they were using had to bail out, or his computer broke, or something. They called me up because I had a similar style and wanted me to fix/continue an illustration. I did it in a day or two and from that point they constantly used me. I went and did six issues in a row. I did three to four sections in those issues.

What was the most significant time in your life?
Before this year, I think it was my years in Burlington, Vermont. Working at JDK - I did an internship there- and Burton definitely set the tone for quality, innovation, and creativity. This is a big year for me because I will be marrying my dream girl, Diane Hughes, in October, 2005, and I've been getting a lot of work since being located in New York City. I'm excited to push the limits with my illustration work and to launch a new design firm in New York City called Enormous Design on January 3rd, 2005. I am very excited that Diane will be along for the ride.

- Contributed by Mary-Beth Holland

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