Jason Martin (Tranq.com)

Name: Jason Martin
Age: 19
Location: Allentown PA / New York NY depending on the time of day
Site: www.tranq.com
Interests: music, cool art shit, computers
Education: Year and a half of Syracuse University (mad ups to the extended Day 6 crew)

The Interview

GFXartist: A small description of yourself.
Jason: shady

GFXartist: What is the purpose or idea behind Tranq.com ?
Jason: Originally, to make me rich and famous. What can I say? Sometimes nothing goes as planned.

GFXartist: How long ago was it that you started to get into graphic design and/or webdesign?
Jason: Well, I started on the web in '95, and set up my first page a little while later. I didn't really know any graphic design at the point, so it was your standard "Hi, this is a picture of me" kind of deal. I don't like to talk about it much.

GFXartist: Do you consider yourself as a graphic designer or web designer?
Jason: Graphic Designer. Web designer is a subset of Graphic Designer and just saying "Hi, I'm a Web Designer" limits you. It limits what other people think you can do, what they want you to do, and after a while, you start to think that Web Design is the only thing you're fit for. I like to stay as broad as I can.

GFXartist: What tools do you use to make your creations?
Jason: Whenever I can get away with it, I use Corel Photo-Paint. I also use CorelDraw, Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, Homesite, and whatever else is lying around.

GFXartist: What are some of the things that inspire you in your creations?
Jason: Recently I've become a huge fan of modern European design, especially of some of the stuff coming out of the Nordic countries. Very clean, and being retro and futuristic at the same time. Also inspiring: interesting people, good music, and people who design better than I do.

GFXartist: Do you think you a true artist now that you have done so many great works?
Jason: No. In my personal definition, an artist is someone who creates without regard as to how other people will view the creations. An artist creates for him/herself alone. I create with the express intent of making my stuff look good to others, so I don't count. Quality of work doesn't come into it.

GFXartist: Do you have any plans for the future?
Jason: Well, I recently landed a job at Underline / Context Studio (www.underline.com), and I absolutely love it there. I'll stick it out there as long as I can. On the personal side of things, I'd like to expand more into the realm of "high design", the cool design-for-design's-sake stuff that the real web gods are putting on their experimental sites. That and advanced Flash ActionScripting.

GFXartist: What would you like to learn apart from what you already know now in the web?
Jason: Like I said above, Flash ActionScripting is something I really want to get into. I also have a hankering to pick up Director.

GFXartist: Who do you believe is the best graphic artist you have ever seen?
Jason: Oh fer crying out loud. Just pure, flat-out graphic design? That's a broad category. I've seen WAY to much good stuff to nail this one down, and any names I give would be an insult to the ones I temporarily forget. I'll have to decline here.

GFXartist: What kind of technology do you think will rule the internet 5 or 6 years from now?
Jason: XML, assuming the browsers ever support it. It looks to be an insanely powerful tool for binding together everything else that's out there. While I'm making wishes, can we please see a working DOM? And a universal vector graphics format? No more web colors? Erm, sorry. Got carried away.

GFXartist: You have a very unique style of design. Do you mind telling us briefly what it takes to get such uniqueness?
Jason: Try not to emulate any one person in particular. Design-wise, I'm pretty much self-taught, with only a couple of formal classes here and there. In some ways that's helped me, I get to express individuality without forcing it through pre-conceived channels.

GFXartist: Do you have any tips for my viewers or words of wisdom that other designers would like to use to become as good as you?
Jason: Get yourself into a good design school. I went the long way around, but I honestly wouldn't recommend that. At least get a couple of years of study under your belt, just to help focus your energies. Secondly, watch the design community. There are people out there who will amaze and astonish you on a constant basis; learn from their successes and failures. Always bounce ideas off of people you know, and always sleep on something before going public with it. Changes of perspective are your friends.

GFXartist: You did Not all Planets and Work that code, some nice works of yours. Would you like to add something to say to about them?
Jason: Well, to start off let me say that I love making wallpapers. It's about as freeform as digital design gets; you have a blank canvas and can do anything you want with it. Unfortunately, I haven't had much of a chance to do anything in that field recently, but I hope to get back to it soon. Both of these wallpapers were done with very simple premises. In Planets, with was the graphical feel of space and computer imaging, with a little bit of "teenage angst text" thrown in for good measure. Code is a much more lighthearted piece. There's nothing more satisfying than wrestling some super-evil HTML into submission. Beating the machine is one of the great joys in life, and I wanted to convey some of that sense of light-hearted achievement there. Those blue guys… I love those blue guys. One of these days I'll pick up some skeletal animation and make them dance for me.

GFXartist: What kind of hardware or software would you recommend my viewers to use?
Jason: I'm a PC guy myself, but most people in the design business use Macs. It's a question of personal preference and convenience, really. I think that PCs are versatile and powerful enough to make me use them over Macs despite the compatibility problems that can sometimes crop up. Your mileage may vary. It's important to learn and know both platforms, though, as you never know when you'll be forced to use one or another. As for software, I'm a rogue there, too. I'm a huge fan of Corel Photo-Paint. I swear by it. I think the way it handles image objects (sprite-based) is the greatest thing since sliced bread. That being said, Corel is also notoriously buggy and downright weird sometimes. Learn and know everything Adobe, if you can. Knowing Flash is also, of course, almost required in today's web.

GFXartist: What are some of your favorite sites that you absolutely dig?
Jason: I visit www.k10k.com on a daily basis (sometimes more). It's the launchpad for all things design, and the stuff they post is often mind-bending in its coolness. www.praystation.com www.yugop.com www.industries.de www.superbad.com I could go on and on and on and on and on, but I won't. Most of the sites I love are listed here anyway: www.shotdead.co.uk/links.html Do you have any upcoming projects that you would like to mention to us? Well, I don't want to get too in depth, but I'm currently planning a complete overhaul of tranq.com, plus another, much more secretive, community-based, project on the side. The latter won't be around for a while yet, though.

GFXartist: Thanks Jason for all the time you have given us.

 - Interview by George Matthew aka Sagen