SFi by JESS3
Vita *
Name: Jesse Thomas
Profession: Creative Director + Founder
Did you know?
My family is originally from New Zealand. My parents moved to the U.S. in the ‘70s, but after I was born in 1982, we moved back to New Zealand for five years. We then returned to Washington, DC, where my parents have since worked for the Embassy.
_______
Professionally, I have always been interested art -- collage art in particular. I used to covered my bedroom walls and various other things with collages. It’s funny, looking back, my ever-changing perspective on life is reflected through this art.
From a branding standpoint, JESS3 is a brand name I was using even when I had day jobs. Before that, I was "jessesaves."
Once I started expanding my interests and skill sets into web design, using Photoshop, I started making digital collages. I found it fascinating -- this idea that the workflow was the same: sourcing images, then cropping them, then composing, then editing -- it could be emulated and enhanced with all the amazing new digital tools and effects I had to work with. And in the end, that is what helped me be a better web designer, because I had already pushed the limits of Adobe with my art, and printing it, etc.
As I started to master this art, and started making more money, I quickly hired the best guys I knew to join my team, and the rest is history.
My life and company realigned in a more focused direction when I met Leslie Bradshaw, my partner and President & COO of JESS3. Leslie is my better half in the sense that she truly complements my skill sets -- she’s good at all the stuff I'm not, such as operational aspects of the business, strategy and PR.
When the Twitter and Facebook APIs were released, the company decided to take head-on the innovative projects that had never been done before.
Social media was our avenue to enter the world of Data Visualization.
What we brought to the table was the ability to work with the social media feeds directly, as well as understand the higher level marketing theory behind brands’ use of the platforms. We then went on to work for all the major social networks (Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc) and most of the smaller ones too, from web design to large-scale interactive installations using social media feeds and other content sources to display dynamic data visualizations.
Expansion is never ending -- we also got into another form of data visualization, specifically motion graphics and short data films. We work with a lot of world-class amazing illustrators and animators.
As for future goals, we’re looking at turning ourselves into a product company. Overall, we think of ourselves as more than an agency, but instead more broadly as visual storytellers.
10 Works / projects
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
_______
3 questions
Biggest hurdle overcomed?
I think the biggest hurdle is undeniably having no start-up money or loans to get the company off the ground. Growing without financial capital is very hard, but it teaches one amazing lessons of strength.
_______
Greatest moment?
We have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with Google's Gmail and Translate teams -- I am extremely proud of both. For Gmail, we produced a stop-motion commercial in papercraft form. For Translate, we created their "About" video, and also a series of videos about the things Google Translate can't translate.
Another "great moment" came just the other day when I received a call from one of our amazing NASA clients, astronaut Ron Garan. He was calling me from the International Space Station. It was a surreal moment -- so much flashed in front of my eyes as I realized where he was. While Google has been an amazing client accomplishment, getting a call from space was the greatest single moment of my career.
_______
What next?
JESS3 is going to shift from a service business to a product business. We will begin rolling out new products over the next year, and we couldn’t be more excited.
< back to SFi
Search for inspiration and/or talent in Netdiver Mag.
pinterest / medium / linkedin / X / rss
/ Tools we use
Affinity Suite
Our little studio owned Adobe Master Suites—invoking security issues our perpetual licenses were nulled. Undone? No!
I can open all .pdf, .psd or .ai files in the Affinity apps and the UI/UX is so gorgeous!
See for yourself: test the Affinity suite. Works on all platforms + iPad for—6 MONTHS FREE!
_______
Proton Mail
Connected to the internet's origins, building the internet of the future. We’re building ways to help everyone fight for privacy online. I am a big fan of their services.
Try a month free!
_______
DuckDuckGo?
What a strange name for an independent Internet privacy company. Contrary to G/ who records every instance of their services useage with DDG, no recording of your data, EVER!!!
We use it everyday.
_______
Obsidian
This private (free) app I use daily for taking notes or writing. Back up to the cloud for multi-devices access. Runs locally.
Deep and complex.
_______
I paint abstract with pretty colours ~ I play with mobile apps to create unique generative art.
Look 'Ma no AI.
feed your eyes
_______
Communication Arts 24-25—calls for entries.
Interactive — October 25/24
Illustration — Jan 10/25
Photography — March 7/25
Design — May 2/25
_______
The Smashing Conferences explore real-life projects, workflows and hands-on insights.
SmashingConf - Antwerp
Upcoming: Oct 28-31/24
SmashingConf - Workshops
Online: check dates.
_______
AIGA call for submissions
AIGA’s competitions celebrate exemplary design and demonstrate the power of effective design.
50 Books | 50 Covers: February 26 / 24
365: AIGA Year in Design February 26 / 24
Alt Summit 2024.
It is a conference and a community of thousands of women influencers and entrepreneurs in creative fields.
Upcoming: March 17-20 / 24
_______
YouWorkForThem — Good design needs good fonts! YWFT is privately owned and run by designers.
Rocking it since 2001.
/ Highlighted talents
They LUV design! #13
Mind-blowing visual feats and original designs I recently discovered.
Previously: #12 - #11 - #10 - #9 - #8 - #7 - #6 - #5 - #4 - #3 - #2 - #1
_______
They LUV drawing! #3
Illustration is probably the largest creative area to express (mostly without words) a message.
Previously: #1 - #2
_______
A type of Show #5 – I love typography - these projects caught my eye.
Previously: #4 - #3 - #2 - #1
_______
Moodboards #1 – Branding collaterals staged and served with conceptual brilliance.
/ About us?
A little (www) Story. In 1995, JF and I started a little project — Netdiver mag.
_______
Editorials. Design topics or issues that have impacted me and/or our creative industry. .
Over 50 articles.
_______
Kuvva interview
A short interview on how to build a strong portfolio + self-promotion.
/ Special Feature issues
SFi is a self-curation experiment coupled with a minimalist interview by people in the design industry I admire.
By invitation only
- - -
< back to SFi
Netdiver Mag
#ISSN 1911-866X
Carole Guevin is a founder + editor + design curator ∞ culture creator + online pioneer ∞ featuring the creative culture since '98.
_______
No hype — just beautiful
Reach my inbox °
_______
Netdiver long-standing mini visuals (200 x 115 px) galleries. Each lead to its review. Happy talent discovery!
_______
/ Illustration
Vast array of drawing styles
404 reviews
_______
/ Imaginative
Conceptual designs standing out
358 reviews
_______
/ Industrial
Products / packaging design / spaces +
333 reviews
_______
/ Motion
Brilliant storyboards / motion / vfx
286 reviews
_______
/ Photography
Some of the sharpest eyes shooting today
210 reviews
_______
/ Portfolios
New wave of design / interactive / mobile stars
552 reviews
_______
/ Powagirrrls
Women who rock the design scene with _more_ than pink design
391 reviews
/ Insider info
Visual Brain Gravity is a producer and developer of concepts, products and brand experiences.
Driven by vision.
_______
Special Feature issues
Self-curation experiment coupled with minimalist interviews with people in the design industry I admire.
By invitation only
_______
Terrific product or service or event and wanna reach a fabulous international audience?
Advertise with us
Coming soon
_______
Best Of The Year (BOTY)
Netdiver Best of the Year is a yearly compilation of projects / talents who made a lasting impression the previous year.
/ 2016 edition
_______
Netdiver Vintage edition
What was new in design worldwide—sort of a very unofficial record of web history as captured from {1998 - 2007}.
Over 2.3k+ projects.
_______
Netdiver static
Walk down memory lane: hand-coded news in design from 1998-2008.
_______
Terrific product or service or event and wanna reach a fabulous international audience?
Advertise with us
Dates soon.
_______
Check what inspires me? Follow my Pinterest.
