Conversations with Jillian Verner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jillian Verner

Hi Jillian, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I have always been very expressive and artistic but growing up I didn’t realize that you could be an artist professionally. I didn’t make that discovery until college, when I took my first art class. Up until that point, I was drawing constantly. In high school I got an iPad and I discovered Paper 53, which was a simple drawing app. I loved it and I loved making cards and Valentines for people. After I look my first art class in college, I decided I wanted to keep studying art, and drawing digitally. I chose to study drawing and painting. I really wanted to understand the fundamentals of art and why artists do the things they do. I love the sentiment, “learn the rules to break them.”

So I got a bachelor’s in studio art and I graduated in 2020, right into the insanity that was Covid. I know that finding a job after college is never easy, but I really struggled to figure out where to go from there with so much of the world working at a limited capacity. I didn’t really have many connections from school that I was able to maintain after college and through Covid, which was really hard when trying to venue out into the unknown art world. I do remember heard some statistic in college about how most people who get art degrees don’t end up working in the art and I was so determined for that not to be true for me.

Since I graduated in 2020, I have had a million and a half jobs and so many of them have sucked. But I had a really clear idea of what I wanted my life to look like and I have been really patient and focused on that and looking back I feel like each job was a stepping stone to the next even when I felt like I was moving backward. I worked in coffee for a long time after graduating, but it gave me the opportunity to meet a particular shop that put a lot of trust in me and gave me an opportunity to be the creative director there. I ran their social media, created merch, menus, product labels, headed an entire rebrand which included redesigned the store interior. That job gave me a confidence in my art and myself that has been crucial to the roles I have today. I also met people in that position that I have gone on to work further. Today, I illustrate, manage social media and am a creative consultant to a musician. It has been a process to learn who I am as both a person and an artist and then learning how they interact. It is a journey that I think will always be on.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being an artist is never a smooth road. With social media, and now Ai, we are oversaturated with art and imagery that results in people having a lack of awareness and appreciation for the amount of time and energy that goes into creating. The writer strikes have also had a big effect on the amount of available work and the money available for art.

On a personal note, I have had to overcome many challenges as a woman and as someone who presents younger than they actually are. There is this idea that women are helpful and team players resulting in a lack of boundaries around workload and pay. Many opportunity I have been given have been presented as favors. As a result, they have felt entitled to either free or discounted rates. I have worked really hard to advocate for myself and establish legitimacy.

Last year alone, I had 5 different positions get dissolved due to budget cuts. In one specific position where I was let go, they had communicated that they found someone who was willing to do my job for free. As someone who is financially reliant on the income I make from my art, I can’t afford to work for free. It has been discouraging. This struggle with my work being devalued has resulted in some bumps along the way. Despite these challenges, I am thankful for these experiences as they have taught me a lot about the resilience it requires to be an artist.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
For me, art is about community and connection, and it’s essential that I prioritize those values in my own work. I strive to be honest and vulnerable in everything I create, with the goal of starting conversations around feelings and experiences we all share but may hesitate to talk about openly.

I am an illustrator and a designer. My work is sometimes funny, sometimes a little dark or self-deprecating, but always playful and whimsical. I love to try to balance that line. I love combining image and text, and my hand-drawn lettering has become a distinctive element of my style. Even in commissioned work, I try to maintain that same tone and playful nature.

I also have a passion for creating functional art and collaborating with other artists and companies. I have worked on a lot of designs for merch, product labels, album covers, posters, and more. I love the diversity of freelance work that keeps things exciting, and has allowed me to work on such fun projects with really interesting people.

One of the projects I’m most proud of is a children’s book I illustrated when I was 19. It was a passion project that my mom and I worked on together. She had always wanted to write a children’s book and I wanted to illustrate one, Looking at the book now, I didn’t really know what I was doing and I have grown a lot as an artist, which kinda serves as a cool marker to where I was as an artist at that point in time. We had a lot of challenges making the book, and I was really trying to figure out who I was an artist, but we did it. I am currently working on other books, and they wont be published for a while but I am really excited for what is to come!

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I believe that being a creative inherently involves taking risks. While I wouldn’t describe myself as a naturally risky person—I really value stability—my career has been anything but stable. In the creative field, there’s no corporate ladder to climb or set blueprint for success, which means you’re constantly navigating uncertainty while trying to build something sustainable.

One of the most significant risks I’ve taken was leaving my first full-time job as a graphic designer for a print company that designed sets for major studios. After just six weeks, I realized that I was being significantly underpaid, wasn’t eligible for benefits until nine months in, and was expected to take on double the workload after my mentor quit. Even though the job seemed like a perfect opportunity on paper, I felt deeply disrespected and made the tough decision to quit. What followed were two challenging years of trying to make it as a freelancer, where stability seemed out of reach. But this experience taught me resilience, adaptability, and the importance of valuing myself and my work—lessons that have shaped the creative I am today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://JillianVerner.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillianamanda.designs/

Image Credits
photograph of me- Noelle Johnson