Episode 348: Jackson Gee

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·12m 21s·analyzed·Aug 31, 2022

Analysis

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TL;DR

Artist Jackson Gee discusses pinball art, design influences, and aspirations to work on official playfield design.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Jackson Gee, a Calgary-based graphic designer and illustrator with 20-30 years of design experience who has recently pivoted to illustration and pinball art. Jackson discusses his work on Yagpin poster/shirt designs, his new Tilt and Destroy shirt line, previous work with Multimorphic on P3 cabinet art, custom rethemes including a Walking Dead variant, and his aspirations to design official pinball playfields. He cites Zombie Yeti and Christopher Franchi as top-tier artistic influences and emphasizes the technical complexity of pinball art design.

Key Claims

Jackson Gee has worked as a graphic designer for about 20-30 years before transitioning to illustration
high confidence · Jackson directly states: 'I'm in a graphic designer for about 20 30 years now and uh i got bored of graphic design so i'm kind of just dabbled started dabbling in the illustration scene'
Jackson created artwork for Multimorphic P3 cabinet including alt side art for Lexi Lightspeed and Cosmic Cart
high confidence · Jackson states: 'I did some alt cabinet side art for Multimorphic P3. Did some alt side work for Lexi Lightspeed and Cosmic Cart'
Jackson is launching a new shirt line called 'Tilt and Destroy' with approximately eight original IP designs
high confidence · Jackson explains: 'I'm taking my guess my passion for pinball and working it into a new shirt line called Tilt and Destroy. So that's what I'm working on right now. And I'm looking to launch maybe about eight designs, and they're all original IP'
Jackson designed the Yagpin poster and shirt artwork for the tournament
high confidence · Jeff notes: 'I think we all first saw your artwork when we saw the graphics for this year's Yagpin poster and shirts' and Jackson confirms involvement
Jackson's primary goal is to work on an official pinball playfield design
high confidence · Jackson states: 'I would have to think, my goodness, get on a play field. Yeah, I would love to work on a play field'

Notable Quotes

“I'm in a graphic designer for about 20 30 years now and uh i got bored of graphic design so i'm kind of just dabbled started dabbling in the illustration scene”
Jackson Gee @ early — Explains his career pivot from graphic design to illustration and how it led to pinball art focus
“I'm a pinball player and collector myself. So it was great to have that opportunity.”
Jackson Gee @ early — Establishes authentic passion for pinball beyond just commercial work
“I'm a big fan of Zombie Eddie, Christopher Franchi, like those two guys. I mean, those are the top tier guys, and I totally respect their art.”
Jackson Gee @ mid — Identifies Zombie Yeti and Christopher Franchi as major artistic influences in pinball art
“I would love to work on a play field... If there's an American out there or a Stern, it would be great as well.”
Jackson Gee @ mid — Explicitly states ambition to work with major manufacturers (American Pinball or Stern)
“I took the alt, the Walking Dead. And the reason why I did the alt is because it was a personal project for my son. I have the machine at home and he actually scared of the back glass”
Jackson Gee @ mid-late — Explains motivation behind custom Walking Dead retheme as personal project to make game more family-friendly
“There's a lot to it and a lot of moving parts to it, like plastics you got to worry about and how that stuff's going to sit. And then you're working with inserts as well.”
Jackson Gee @ late — Demonstrates understanding of technical complexity of pinball playfield design beyond just artwork
“My passion really is like pinball and arcade and like gaming and all that stuff there so i'd rather stick to my lane and focus on that and branch out from there”
Jackson Gee @ late — Clarifies focus priorities: pinball/arcade over comics despite having commercial skill set

Entities

Jackson GeepersonJeff TeolispersonYagpineventYegpineventMultimorphiccompany Zombie Yetiperson Christopher FranchipersonStern Pinballcompany

Signals

?
business_signal: Jackson launching new merchandise business (Tilt and Destroy shirt line) with original IP designs as expansion beyond commission/print work
high · Jackson: 'I'm taking my passion for pinball and working it into a new shirt line called Tilt and Destroy... I'm looking to launch maybe about eight designs, and they're all original IP'
?
community_signal: Jackson actively engaged in pinball community: plays in Calgary local league, attends major tournaments (Yegpin/Yagpin), takes commissions for custom rethemes and live sketches at events
high · Jackson: 'I'm a pinball player and collector myself... I played in the local league in Calgary as well'; 'I do like live sketches here and there when I feel like it... I did a couple sketches for a Paragon commission'
?
event_signal: Yagpin tournament 2024 features Jackson Gee as official artist for poster and merchandise design; successful vendor presence with ongoing commissions
high · Jeff confirms Jackson created Yagpin poster/shirt artwork and Jeff observes: 'So I'm curious an artist like yourself when you look at pinball art... you probably look at pinball machines different than most of us'; Jackson mentions: 'I've been approached a lot for different projects as well'
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design_philosophy: Jackson demonstrates deep understanding of technical complexity in pinball art design beyond aesthetics: plastics, inserts, typography, layout, playfield mechanics
high · Jackson: 'I have a background in UX and design as well. So watching those guys work the play field, I get where all the effort and layer, all the layering effort, the layout, even typography... There's a lot to it and a lot of moving parts to it, like plastics you got to worry about'

Transcript

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0:00

Okay, Doors. Swing. It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teels. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com. We're on Facebook. We're on Twitter and Instagram at pinballprofile. Email pinballprofile at gmail.com. As you can hear in the background, I'm on location somewhere. This time in Edmonton, Alberta at Yegpin. It is a great tournament. It is a great free play area, but they've got some incredible vendors too. And one that pops immediately when you walk in is when you see this beautiful art collection from Jackson G. Check out jacksong.com or listen to him right now. Hello, Jackson. Hey, how's it going? It's good to see you. My goodness, you have so much here. It's not just pinball art. It's all kinds of different art. But I think we all first saw your artwork when we saw the graphics for this year's Yagpin poster and shirts. Yeah, we could just take on that task. And it's great to work with the team at Yagpin as well and given the opportunity as well. That's the thing. I'm a pinball player and collector myself. So it was great to have that opportunity. You're out of Calgary, Alberta. I know there's a lot of great pinball players. That scene seems to be blowing up. So the fact that you love pinball and you're such a great artist, it seems to tie together very nicely. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, even I played in the local league in Calgary as well. Shout out to them. And yeah, it's been excellent. I got a miss out on the tournament because I'm working my booth. But it was great to play the new games here and come up and travel up. It was excellent. Well, if your pinball playing is anything like your art, you're going to be like the next Canadian champ. No, not at all. probably pinball playing not so good so but uh we'll see what happens so you get a lot of experience and there's a lot of locations in calgary so that's a big scene but let's talk about this art this is just unreal how did it start for you where to begin where's the passion where's the inspiration sure uh art wise uh i'm in a graphic designer for about uh for about 20 30 years now and uh i got bored of graphic design so i'm kind of just dabbled started dabbling in the illustration scene and yeah, as a hobby. And now it's kind of blown up into a full-blown thing. Just working freelance for like board game companies and different other properties and obviously I have my interests like pinball. But yeah, I like to draw, when I do illustration, it's a lot of, we're all stolen from the same cloth. I guess we're all the same age group, but around the 80s there, we're all 80s kids. Sure, I'll go with that. Yeah, so I draw a lot of 80s property stuff. A lot of retro throwback stuff. That's pretty much my inspiration and I'm drawing what I love, right? That's what you know hits that target market for I mean pinball convention It's we're all this kind of around the same age root range group there But it good to see like younger generation as well when I do like a comic or a comic show You know you see the parents introducing like the younger generation into this stuff as well I watched you here I mean you got your prints you got some nice vinyl stickers and of course the shirts that we see with Yagpin And we should talk about the shirts because that's kind of the next thing, isn't it? Yeah, so I'm taking my, I guess my passion for pinball and working it into a new shirt line called Tilt and Destroy. So that's what I'm working on right now. And I'm looking to launch maybe about eight designs, and they're all original IP. Yeah, and it's just kind of this illustrative style. That's a different business. I mean, you're used to obviously canvas and prints and whatnot, but shirts. Then it's about inventory and that kind of management and the quality. Is it going to wear? It's probably a little tough, but I'm sure you've got some good experts out there. And maybe they're listening to this podcast that can help out Jackson G. Again, go to jacksong.com. What's the big goal for you? I would have to think, my goodness, get on a play field. Yeah, I would love to work on a play field. I've done some previous work for some other companies out there, like Multimorphic as well. Tell us about that. I did some alt cabinet side art for Multimorphic P3. Did some alt side work for Lexi Lightspeed and Cosmic Cart. And I did their main, they have a main, I guess, a main artwork for their, if they wanted just a stock version of the cabinet itself. So I did the version for that as well. So they've given me the opportunity. It's been great to work with Jerry and team on that. And maybe there'll be more future work with them. But I also would like to just branch out as well. And if there's an American out there or a Stern, it would be great as well. I've done some rethemes. I'm working on some rethemes experience with just private customers. I'm doing rethemes of different play fields as well. And that's all fine. That's all fun. I mean, people retheme all the time. This isn't mass produced. I know we were talking to Cameron and some of the things he did. I think you did a, it looked like a Silver Ball Mania. Was that what it was? Yeah, it's a Silver Ball Mania based on a video game from NES called TNC Surf. It's like, I think everybody's seen it in the rental stores. It's basically got a, the NES cartridge when we all walked in to get these games rented, it was a NES cartridge with like a monkey on a surfboard. So yeah, that's what it was based upon. So hopefully we'll see that in the future with a complete re-theme. Yeah, after coming to the show as well, it's been exciting. So I've been approached a lot for different projects as well. A lot of people want to do like re-themes and different back classes for their personal machines. So I'm excited to see what happens for just contacts coming out of this thing. Just being here has been excellent. And yeah, Yagpin's been great. Are you listening, George Gomez? Are you listening, Greg Ferreris? Jackson G is a guy you want to maybe add to the roster because you have to see this stuff. You'll see it on Instagram and I'll post it on Twitter and also our Facebook. But I'm just so impressed. I see a little alt design for Walking Dead. That's kind of fun. You have a unique style for sure. Yeah, for sure. I took the alt, the Walking Dead. And the reason why I did the alt is because it was a personal project for my son. I have the machine at home and he actually scared of the back glass And the animations are pixelated so you could get away with like pixelated cute animations but that back glass is kind of almost scary for my son so we kind of i kind of took it made it kind of semi pg there's still some blood and guts in there but uh a little bit more cartoony i guess so i like the pg version of walking dead you know and tell your son it's okay to be scared of the back glass i'm scared of the playfield you played it my goodness yeah i've i've played it it's it's a great game awesome great game it's like one of my top 10 i'd say so so i'm curious an artist like yourself when you look at pinball art i mean you certainly appreciate it as a player the game the playfield the rules but you probably look at pinball machines different than most of us we are definitely drawn to the art maybe it's a theme you like but maybe it's just some of those beautiful 80s 90s games that didn't have themes what are some of your favorites oh man it's gotta be like everybody says this one it's got to be the goonies i mean the goonies hands down would be probably a great dream theme of mine also fifth element and big trouble little china would be great um gremlins would be great as well that's another one robocop i mean there's so many great themes out there regardless of that or even like yeah there's different themes out there based on anything on based on the 80s basically I mean, you could probably do a mishmash of different things together. Like 80s different properties, you know? Jackson, I think we're going to get there because we might be running out of those 70 rock bands and things like that. We want things that are pop culture, but you're right. The 80s is kind of the big void, so that could be around the corner. But when you look at what's already out there, what is some of the art you go, holy cow, they nailed it on that machine. Oh, okay. I'm a big fan of Zombie Eddie, Christopher Franchi, like those two guys. I mean, those are the top tier guys, and I totally respect their art. And even the way that I have a background in UX and design as well. So watching those guys work the play field, I get where all the effort and layer, all the layering effort, the layout, even typography. Not just the layout art itself. There's a lot to it and a lot of moving parts to it, like plastics you got to worry about and how that stuff's going to sit. And then you're working with inserts as well. You don't have control over that sometimes. So a lot of respect and a lot of props to those guys. But those two artists, definitely a look up to. I've actually seen you draw here at the table. It looked like you were working on some sort of sketch or something. Yeah, I was working for a sketch or just some commissions for somebody. I can't really say who it's for. But yeah, I've been doing sketches all weekend. I did a couple sketches for a Paragon commission for one of the organizers here. And there was a couple other ones with like a Sailor Moon, just some pop cultures. And then maybe Tales of the Crypt as well. That was fun to do. So I do like live sketches here and there when I feel like it. When there's some downtime. But this show has been great. It's been constantly a good flow of traffic. So it's tough to get those quick sketches in.