Brooklyn-born, Philly-made graphic designer and illustrator
Nice to meet you!
Hi, I'm Jordan! You can find me in Philadelphia pointing out improper kerning to annoy my friends. I'm drawn to physical craft and hands-on materials in my design process, and I make a particular effort to look for unique perspectives when I work.Design is not only a passion to me—it’s a philosophy, a part of my lifestyle, and an always-evolving perspective. I’ve been experimenting with digital design for almost a decade and working for clients since high school, but making art has been essential to my livelihood since I could hold a crayon; often, I create to process my environment, express my thoughts, share what I feel, and preserve memories I treasure. Lots of my inspiration comes from my background in choral and orchestral ensemble settings, the comfort I find in everyday life, or the drive to live authentically as an out and proud transgender person.Keeping my sense of curiosity is unfathomably important to me. I never outgrew my childhood love of exploration and I make my way through the world with an open mind; every day gives us an opportunity to learn something new. Though we’re only human, I believe that we make our best work when we try something we think we’re not capable of—as long as we appreciate ourselves and let our shortcomings keep us humble.
I look forward to showing you what I’ve learned so far. Let’s continue to grow in the future.
ART
(Click images to enlarge.)
OBSERVATIONAL
Plein air, figure drawing, still life
Sketchbook pages/highlights
I've been keeping a sketchbook on my person for about a decade; here are some of my favorite pages from the most recent books I finished. See if you can match any of these thumbnail sketches to my finished design projects!
Selected work: model studies
I have a soft spot for observational drawing, so I went out of my way to take the recommended figure drawing course for my bachelor's degree twice: once with traditional parameters, and once to study the industry standard for fashion model sketching.
ANIMATED
Looping GIFs, motion graphics
Frame-by-frame
Traditional frame-by-frame animation is where my passion for motion work truly began; it's the catalyst that pushed me to open Premiere Pro for the first time.
I'm largely self-taught in this particular field and always looking to learn more.
Keyframes and video editing
My enthusiasm for audio and video editing is largely due to my love of animating, but the past decade or so has given me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the importance of videography skills in the business and advertising worlds.
illustration
Digital drawing and painting, sequential art
Commissions + zine work
I first offered commercial illustration in 2018 working on one-off projects for small businesses, fellow artists, and fans of my work. Since then, I've worked with over fifty clients.In my free time, I occasionally sign up to participate in fan-organized digital zine projects with varying numbers of contributors (I’ve worked with teams as small as 15 and as large as 80), focused on celebrating a particular franchise or piece of pop media.
Personal projects
I started using a drawing tablet—a little Wacom Intuos with a desecrated pen nib and a connecting cable that only sometimes worked—in 2017, and since then I've experimented with a handful of tools for digital drawing. The examples you see here are done in Photoshop using a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet, and iPad and Apple Pencil, or some combination of the two.
DESIGN
LOGO & BRAND
The Tileworks
A logo design project with a focus on
collateral application and cohesive color.
Ensemble Arts
A branded program for the 2024 concert season,
adapted for print and screen.
Drexel Esports
A pair of logos for partner competitive esports teams.
PRINT & SEQUENCE
OBI: Tie Your Kimono Outfit Together
A book of facts about kimono outfits, accessories, and patterns.
remembrance: a memoir
Customized excerpts from Rainer Maria Rilke's
"Letters To a Young Poet".
INTERACTIVE
SEPTA E-Learning Modules
In-house work for the center of public
transportation in Philadelphia County.
Splatfest Concert Scroller
A fully-interactive site for concert tour information
and reserving tickets.
PHYSICAL CRAFT
My Little Gamer
A commercial package design for techwear-inspired baby toys.
Sailor Style
An exhibition model depicting the history of tattoo practices.
the tileworks of bucks county
(2023, logo and branding design)
The Tileworks of Bucks County prides itself on its rich and storied history, as well as its commitment to the art of tilemaking. With that in mind, I imagined that a hypothetical rebranding of the Tileworks could feature a pictorial logo adapted from one of the factory’s best-selling designs. The finalized logo is depicted here on social media promotions, product packaging, and a variety of business cards, customized for every employee.This project was originally an exercise to reimagine an existing company’s logo with a single character, a word treatment, an abstract symbol, and an image. I ended up pushing my image- based logo the furthest, but I incorporated the Clarendon typeface from one of my word treatment concepts as a secondary branding element.
drexel esports logos:
wyrmwind and soulblaze
(2023, logo design)
I designed a logo for a Drexel Esports team, upon my acceptance into their roster, by incorporating the first letter of our team name with the lowercase delta symbol we use as an in-game signifier. Shortly after we made the logo public, our predecessor team reached out and asked me to design something for them as well!It was a delight to collaborate with the members of Drexel Wyrmwind and receive their feedback; until the start of this project, I’ve communicated with only one client at a time, so it meant the world to me that all of the team members took the time to add their opinions at least once over the course of the revision process. One of the most gratifying aspects of freelancing to me is the privilege to see a client using or appreciating my work.
remembrance: excerpts from
"letters to a young poet"
(2024, 24-page booklet)
My main inspiration for this project was a trip I took to Western Australia with my choir in high school: cellphone usage on the trip was banned, so I brought along a small digital camera to take photos with instead. Every image in this project is a treated photo from that camera.More than half a decade later, I don't remember the finer details of the trip well, and that loss of clarity became my driving focus for the design of this booklet. I tried to align the monochromatic palette and dreamlike quality of the imagery to passages that captured Rilke's sense of vulnerability and reminiscence of his past.
fest500: steel vs. sand tour
(2022, single-page scroller site)
Welcome to the world of Inkopolis, where every major concert is celebrated with a nationwide paintball fight!This single-page scroller set in the world of Splatoon (a popular Nintendo game series) encourages viewers to “pledge allegiance to your favorite city setting, and battle it out across the globe” in the spirit of the Splatfest events that take place in-game. Interactive elements throughout the page show off the featured bands, venues, dates, and ticket registration opportunities for an accompanying concert tour.You can view and navigate the working prototype HERE.
SAILOR STYLE
(2024, museum exhibition design)
This concept for a museum exhibition follows the history of the American Traditional tattoo style, key elements and figures that led to its popularization, and the stigma of body art over multiple generations of U.S. citizens. Several historic artifacts and images accent the information to provide its audience with an engaging walkthrough experience.This project was truly a labor of love; I hand-illustrated every visual element in Photoshop, sourced the research, and put together the scaled-down physical model within a timeframe of two weeks.
ensemble arts philadelphia
(2024, single-page scroller + mailer advertisement)
Featured are a folded mailer and CD cases for a theoretical Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Cultural Campus program. The cases are designed to include space for program details on the inside.
obi: tie your kimono outfit together
(2025, 48-page book)
"It takes more than a single garment to compose a traditional Japanese kimono ensemble; the design and structure of the obi belt is just as important as the kimono itself."
septa: enterprise learning technology
(2023-2024, learning modules + videography)
It was my pleasure to work in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s training department last fall and winter for
a six-month co-op experience. From September 2023 to March 2024, I joined a five-member team to create digital education modules in the Articulate software suite. These modules are reviewed by the departments at SEPTA that requested the work, then packaged and published for internal use.During my time at SEPTA, I familiarized myself with software I’d never heard of before, worked comfortably in utilities with which I had minimal experience, and expanded my knowledge in programs I already knew. Overall, my favorite memories involve the people I worked with; our inter-department relationships mimicked those found in contract work, but our close-knit team worked so well together that we stayed in contact after the co-op was over.
my little gamer: entertainment
for the next generation
(2024, package design)
“Support young health from birth to bosses,” proclaims the latest voice in the infant toy market. My Little Gamer: Entertainment For The Next Generation strives to stand out in the toy aisle with their techwear- inspired graphic packaging and unique toys that promote safe play alongside new, modern interests.As my design work evolves, I find myself becoming more meticulous with the physical craft involved in projects like these; the branding design was a lovely challenge on its own, but I feel even more satisfied with the end result because I took the product photos and put the box together by hand.
