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12 Questions with Mikaela Jane
questions : Gracelyn Barton
I’m an illustrator, graphic designer, and art director originally from Australia living in Chicago. I am currently the Art Director at Audiotree as well as working freelance in the music industry as a graphic designer and illustrator
First off, read you are nominated for Best of Chicago! That’s so cool. What was it like finding that out?
It was pretty cool! It’s my second time being nominated, and nominations/ winners are voted for by the general public so it felt really nice to be recognized.
What is the Chicago music scene like? I’ve always been interested to know.
It’s really diverse and wonderful. We are lucky to have a bunch of wonderful small local venues that help young and upcoming artists of all genres come up. The indie scene here is particularly strong.
Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands? Also if you have any local shout outs put them here.
Green Day and Silverchair are my favorite bands of all time. But as of right now some of my favorites would be Fiddlehead, Mil-Spec, Lurk (local Chicago legends), Buggin (best hardcore band in Chicago), Spiritual Cramp, and Making Meds
I know that you are the art director for Audiotree, what is it like working there?
It’s busy, and a lot of work! But our team is pretty small and we all have a great working relationship with each other and have a lot of fun.
What is a daily workday like at Audiotree?
I work for both Audiotree and our two venues- Lincoln Hall and Schubas.
My work varies per day but on any given day I will be editing photos from live sessions, creating album art and social graphics for the live sessions and our various playlists, localizing admats for shows coming through the venues, creating branding for our venues and our festival (Tomorrow Never Knows), liaising with artists teams on artwork needs for promotion, curating merch collections and screen printed posters. Basically, anything related to visual art across the venues and live studio- I do it.
Has working at Audiotree changed your life in any way?
Absolutely. Before I started working for this company I was working as a bartender, and just doing graphics design and illustration freelance. This is my first full-time job in both graphic design and the music industry
How has your experience been with freelancing?
Freelancing is how I got my start, and I’ve been doing it for almost 8 years now. I relied on it heavily over the pandemic, and that was a really stressful time as I never knew how much work and income the next month would bring. Now that I have a full-time job, I still love doing freelance work but I am able to be much more selective in terms of what projects I take on.
What have been some of your favorite projects you worked on (im biased and I think about your Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie poster about once a week)
That Postal Service one is definitely one of my favorite projects I’ve ever done. Due to some issues before I got involved, I only had 10 days to complete those three posters. I don’t think I slept for that whole week. I don’t recommend ever giving yourself that tight a deadline if it can be avoided, but it was an opportunity I did not want to pass up, and somehow it’s like some of the best work I have ever created.
Another favorite would be the NBA/ Toronto Raptors-themed poster I made for Pup. They’re friends of mine and it was such an honor to get to make a poster for their hometown show, and also combine my love for basketball with my love for those guys.
A huge one for me was getting to design all the merch and album art for The Starting Lines live album series. Working closely with Kenny, who I had listened to since I was a teen, was so rad. The ideas they had for each design were so interesting, and so much fun to bring to life. That project led to a bunch more work with The Starting Line, they’re probably one of my favorite clients I’ve ever had.
What made you decide that you wanted to be a graphic designer? Any influences or things that happened in your life that put you on the trajectory you are in now?
I have always been interested in art and drawing, ever since I can remember. When I was a kid I wanted to be a cartoonist or animator and work for Ren and Stimpy. I have dozens of sketchbooks just filled with cartoons. I went to art school after high school and got really into realism and stippling. I ended up dropping out, but the love of art stayed. I considered being an art teacher, and gallery owner, I don’t think graphic design was ever really in my trajectory and I just kind of fell into it thanks to the music industry. I did one merch design for Against Me! And then it just snowballed. Once I got an iPad and did a lot more digital illustration, my skills just kind of developed and I found myself more interested in graphic design alongside illustration and just kept teaching myself more and more skills.
What would you tell young designers trying to break into the industry?
I feel like parents/ older generations would probably yell at me for this but firstly art school is a waste of time and money. I learned more from playing around on programs and via YouTube than I ever did in art school!
I would also tell young designers- don’t be afraid to show your work! No one can hire you or know what you’re capable of if they can’t see it. Do fan art and tag the artists. Make a website. Experiment with styles. Don’t be too caught up and focused on developing your own style- that will happen naturally without you even realizing it!
Also, don’t work for free. Ever. Just don’t do it. Art contests are predatory, the ‘exposure’ isn’t worth what you think it is in comparison to hours worked and time put in and you need to learn your own value as soon as you can. Even if you just charge a low amount when you start out- still charge. Show and know your worth as an artist.
How have you felt the industry has changed in the last few years?
I think the industry is just always evolving. I have found that I do a lot more motion graphics these days at Audiotree as TikTok and IG stories push those forward, they’re kind of necessary in terms of promotion. Screen Printed posters have recently become the hottest merch item for shows which is awesome for us designers as they offer so much more creative freedom!
Unfortunately, algorithms have also kind of killed visual art outside of photography. We have to push so much harder to get our work seen on social media, and the rules are always changing so it’s almost impossible to keep up. The slow demise of Twitter is a big blow too, as it has always been the easiest way to connect directly with musical artist’s teams. But us creatives are resilient!
If you have any last questions, comments, etc put them here!
Thanks so much for this! And lastly, bands- tag your artists ;)
Thanks for stopping with me Mikaela! I have been a fan of your work for a long time and am always interested to see what you do next.