Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Best.
So, before we jump into specific questions about your career, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m from Brooklyn, NY. I remember starting to draw for fun when I was seven years old. It was all I wanted to do alongside playing video games, and basketball. When 8th grade came and I was asked the question, “What do you want to do?” Drawing or basketball were the only options I saw, but school for art made more sense. I attended the high school of Art and Design in Manhattan. There I learned art foundations, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and majored in Animation. Senior year, that question came up again and Fashion or Animation were the only answers I had. I took 3, 7-week courses at FIT in Sewing, Public Relations and Drawing for Fashion Design. The Drawing course went well and PR was weird as heck. But I failing incredibly hard at sewing an apron told me to go for Animation at SCAD Atlanta. The summer of 2013, a friend influenced me to make an Instagram, and the Doodlejor account was created. Freshman year I started posting drawings to my Instagram and got my first few paid commissions. Sophomore year, 2014, I got my first job at DSW. 2015 summer, I lucked out of jobs and only made money through commissions. Junior year I filled the most important sketchbook I’ve ever drawn in. That summer 2016, I got my first art related internship doing unpaid bag design at Sacatelle. Senior year, 2017, I finished my first animated film to graduate. That summer stayed in Atlanta, splitting rent with my girlfriend by way of small commissions. By 2018, I got hired as an embroidery associate at Zeus’ Closet and represented by Illustration Ltd. Fall 2018, I was juggling a full-time job and a graphic design internship until I finally quit my 9-5 to work on the Adidas x Bape Super Bowl LIII ad campaign as an Illustrator and Character Designer. Now, I’m developing my brand as a professional Street style Illustrator with a marketable aesthetic, profitable merchandise and respect from a network of creative peers including extremely talented Designers, Art Directors and even aspiring artists.
Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not. I had no professional work experience until 2014. The only thing I could put on my resume was perfect attendance in high school. I’ve had four internships that didn’t result in a hire or payment of any kind. I learned things about business and professionalism, but I also learned that in a business you may find the least amount of professionalism. I graduated with three BIG FAT PRIVATE LOANS worth $200k. Luckily, the biggest one got paid off and my mom only had to sell our house in Brooklyn to do it. I was not getting hired anywhere because my resume was amateur even though my career advisor thought it was good enough to approve. When I did get that job, it took so much out of me. I made JUST enough to pay for food, my bills, rent, and the lone monster. Loans just seem like a different species than a bill. They don’t care where your life is done or what your life goes.
What else should we know about your work and career so far?
I am an Illustrator specializing in Character Design that highlights Street style. All my characters are styled in clothing that I have designed or clothing that has been designed by other brands that I creatively connect with. As an artist, I am most proud of the network I have built and that has built me. I’ve run into extremely talented and supportive people who have opened opportunities for me to shine or to highlight my work even when they have their own work to think about. I can’t think of anyone who has discouraged what I do, even before I had the work to show for it, and that’s something not many creators can say.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I like that at a lot of the events, I see the same faces. The artists here are so eager to connect and create something. Almost every person I meet has a goal of ownership and entrepreneurship. I least like transportation. I can walk gracefully and passionately for three blocks, and then suddenly, my sidewalk just disappears to a spot of ignorance, where they gave you clues to a sidewalk being there but just never did it.
Contact Info:
- Website: doodlejor.com
- Email: doodlejor@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doodlejor/
Image Credit:
Kameron Brown
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