Danny Jose

Danny Jose: What I do for a living is visualizing. That’s what I consider my core service to be; providing relevant imagery. The entity looking for this service could be an individual, a food brand, or a tech startup. My work involves looking closely at the brand and understanding what it is trying to achieve through these visuals, as I try and weave a story into it.

Danny Jose: I’d like to think of myself as an ‘illustration supermarket’ because I have different illustration styles to offer. Through understanding the requirements of the client, and taking into account other factors like time, budget, etc I recommend one of my styles to them.

Danny Jose: A lot of the homework involves getting to know the client and the brand better. Conversations lead to questions, questions lead to insights and insights lead to doodles and thumbnails.

Through these conversations I try to understand a bit of history about the company, and where it wants to head in the future. I also try to understand what clients think my service would do for them. Is it functional, are they just purely aesthetic, will this image leave an imprint in the viewer’s mind about the brand, etc?

Danny Jose: The first one would be a few illustrations that I did for the catalog of a paint manufacturer called Nippon. This was the first time I did something independently for an agency as a freelancer. This is also the first time I got to work on very stylized illustrations commercially, and the style has stuck with me ever since.

Another one would be a project that I just wrapped up; a dozen illustrations for a design think tank called Obvious Ventures that helps startups in India develop and scale apps. I particularly liked it because the founders were closely involved with me in defining the style of the illustrations and had a flair for storytelling. It is easier for me when clients know exactly what they want.

Danny Jose: I like the brief enough, I adapt. Since I have a variety of styles to offer, I don’t mind doing something outside my signature style. It is more about what’s suitable for the project than it is about my expression of the brief.

Danny Jose: My personal work is usually me goofing around. It helps me tell stories and explore visuals that I can’t necessarily tell or explore with client work. Personal explorations sometimes turn into projects and that helps gain some traction on portfolio platforms. It also helps me warm up and stay in touch with the craft when I don’t have client work.

Danny: I’ve been an automobile enthusiast since childhood. I enjoy reading, writing, and talking about them as much as I love drawing them. Although I don’t understand them much from an engineering viewpoint, I enjoy them from an aesthetic sense. Although a car is just material to most people, I consider them alive. Danny’s Garage is a series of artworks where I explore cars and their nature of being.

Danny Jose: I have been dipping my toes in 3d design tools. I’m very new to it and it already is giving me new perspectives on solving creative problems. I feel it is much closer to photography than sketching or painting. You virtually have an entire studio setup on your computer. Eventually, this would be an addition to the ‘illustration supermarket’ I mentioned earlier.

Danny Jose: Well, the creative needs differ from client to client. That’s a variable.

Something I find constant across all clients is their search for someone accountable, and someone who understands the brief. Oftentimes brands and freelancers engage with each other without entirely knowing what they’re getting into. When I agree to work with someone, I make sure I’m accountable, I make sure they know what they’re getting into, and make them feel comfortable and rest assured that their work will be taken care of. This avoids conflict and they’ll often come back to you for more work.

Danny Jose: First, I’d want to drive with Dwight Schrute in his Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. The car almost plays a character throughout the series.

Second, my first job ever was that of a car salesman at a Mercedes Benz dealership and I got to drive almost every model they sold at the time. I’d like to keep the C 63 AMG for myself, thank you very much.

Danny Jose: I do believe it is important to celebrate and represent people from all backgrounds. It drives home the point that we ought to work with each other shoulder to shoulder for our own sake and it also sends a message to the viewers about the kind of company or brand we strive to build.