Art history skates the halfpipe with Jimmy Simpson

Illustration seems to come naturally to Brooklyn-based artist Jimmy Simpson. His easy-going line work defines clear, simple forms anyone can relate to, with flat colours and intelligent palettes giving his images impact and appeal. Meanwhile, he shapes the setting with lines that flow across or into the image for perspective or twist their way around the other forms, playfully conjuring an abstract sensation.

His portfolio is as cohesive as you're likely to encounter in the illustration game, and his style is flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of clients from the LA Times to Nike to Spotify to the Philadelphia Art Museum. That last one was a wildly creative project, making the most of Jimmy's talents and a neat hat tip to his hometown.

"I would say my aesthetic sensibilities were defined at a pretty young age through skateboard culture," says Jimmy. "One of the first decisions you make when you start skateboarding is what artwork is on the bottom of your board. I was always drawn to the clean, bold graphics of brands like Habitat Skateboards and Alien Workshop."

He has developed a playful and surreal style, thriving on '90s nostalgia while borrowing from art and design history. Jimmy cites the legendary Push Pin Studios and the American artist John Alcorn as further influences.

"I have found that I'm an artist that responds really well to a brief. I think this is because I get pulled in too many different directions creatively when I don't have parameters. That's why commercial art suits me pretty well. It gives me enough structure while still allowing for creative freedom and authorship. I adapt my stylistic approach to best suit the assignment. I keep it interesting for myself by sneaking easter eggs from personal work into the project," says Jimmy.

Jimmy's style provided the aesthetic for Spotify's recent campaign, encouraging users to discover new features and content added to the platform. Taking inspiration from the New Age movement of the early 1970s, he worked with a team to draw and animate a series of badges used within the app and promotional pieces for social media.

Other portfolio favourites also involve music. In 2020, Jimmy was selected by Sony Music to pitch for the chance to animate the video for the Elvis Presley track You're the Devil in Disguise. Again, Jimmy chose retro sources for his inspiration – this time, 1930s animations by Walt Disney and Fleischer Studios. The resulting video has over 20 million views on YouTube.

"Many of these early shorts were quite sinister and spooky while still being silly. I thought this juxtaposition worked well for such a novel song like Devil in Disguise. It was quite a sprint once the project was awarded. I ended up storyboarding, illustrating and animating the entire video in a little under two months. Fortunately, there was enough budget to hire some talented friends to help me animate," says Jimmy.

When there's downtime, Jimmy works on personal projects such as prints, zines and animations, using the opportunity to play with semiotics. He likes to take symbols preloaded with historical meaning and subvert them with ambiguity or add new perspectives. He's currently using self-initiated work to explore 3D modelling and animation.

With the animation experience he has built up, Jimmy would like to move into directing, working with other artists to bring projects to life, and taking on branding projects in music or fashion. "The idea of creating the album art, directing a music video and working on live visuals sounds like a rewarding challenge," he says. "A few of my studio mates have started working for fashion brands. They tend to have really whimsical briefs that I think would be a good fit for my work."