Rising Stars: Meet Jules Everson of Central Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jules Everson

Hi Jules, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always been “the art kid.” I have my parents to thank for that, who always encouraged creative pursuits, and especially my dad Elliott Everson, who, as a renowned colored pencil artist himself, taught me my art fundamentals when I was very young. I’m still learning from him to this day!

I studied graphic design at Northern Arizona University, but I never stopped drawing and painting either, and I’ve always looked for opportunities to apply that mode of thinking to my work in design and branding. I worked at a few print shops and such where the occasional client wants something more illustrative and that’s where I’d raise my hand and say “I could do that, actually!”

I continued to pursue freelance work as well, doing a mix of graphic design and painting/illustration work until I connected with Steffan Stewart at Bridge PHX. He and I are very much of the same mind with where the intersection of good art and good design is, so I’ve been working with Bridge since. It’s an awesome and passionate team!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The biggest challenge for me has always been my own internal compass. There’s so many directions you can go in the realm of graphic design and illustration work. Do I drop all the branding work and go all-in on painting? Maybe I should be focusing on my video editing skills? Web development? Game development? Every branch goes so deep, and you could focus on just one specialty your whole life and never run out of things to learn.

What I’ve come to realize is that there’s no shame in spreading out and learning a bit of everything. You’ll find the areas that click for you. Plus, skills in every discipline affect the way you do everything else. I’m not worse at branding for having spent so long drawing and painting, for example, it just gives me new angles to look at branding.

Still, it can be paralyzing when you want to do everything. I’ve had plenty of slumps where I wasn’t lacking motivation, but rather focus. You can get yourself stuck that way, and just have to force it in one direction or another.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love the whole spectrum of art and design that I get to do, but I admit that I have the most fun with my fantasy and sci-fi illustration work. I really want my work to be evocative above all else. Realism, clarity, composition, brushwork, all of that is in service of making you feel something first and foremost. With my fantasy illustration, I really want it to take the viewer somewhere else and invite them to imagine that world fully for a moment.

That said, I am a firm believer that art is intrinsic to graphic design and branding as well. I think all of us designers can lose sight of that as we interrogate the purpose of every choice we make. We can get very scientific, very engineer-y about it. Sometimes it’s as simple as “this choice benefits the brand because it’s really beautiful to look at”. I’m always looking for opportunities in my design work to inject some pure, human creativity into the project. People want art, and to feel like they’re engaging with another human’s work. You can’t undervalue providing that.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I would say that nothing is more powerful than the combination of unearned confidence and good listening skills. Make stuff even if you don’t know what you’re doing, proudly put it out into the world, and then really, REALLY pay attention when people give you feedback or advice. Both of these traits can be actively damaging on their own. You don’t want to be arrogant or overpromise to clients, but you also don’t want to try to please everyone – or worse – lose confidence in yourself. It’s a hard balance to achieve, but you can accomplish so much by being unafraid to make bad art while still truly and honestly trying to improve.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://juleseversonart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juleseversonart/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jules-everson-a24760315
• Other: https://bsky.app/profile/juleseversonart.bsky.social