Jennifer Hom
Airbnb Illustration by Jennifer Hom
Jennifer Hom is a creative director and illustrator based in San Francisco, California. She started her design career at Google and worked as a Doodler for over six years, before moving on to lead illustration projects at Uber and ultimately becoming Head of Illustration at Airbnb. Her flexible style has allowed her to create a wide range of beautiful artwork and her love of saturation and meaningful temperature shifts are a consistent theme throughout her pieces.
We spoke with Jennifer to learn more about her career path, the importance of representation in design, and her creative process.
Hi Jennifer! Tell us about yourself - how did you get to where you are today? When did you first become interested in design?
I come from a family of a few artists, so drawing was my only pastime as a child. I knew I wanted to go to art school, but couldn't decide on a major until a recruiter from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) just suggested I'd be a good fit in the illustration department. That passing comment set my path. After graduating from RISD, I started my first job as a Doodler for Google, where I illustrated for 6.5 years. After that, I was the Illustration Manager at Uber for a little over a year, and finally I became the Head of Illustration and Creative Director at Airbnb for over 3 years.
Designer and Illustrator Jennifer Hom
How would you describe your aesthetic and how has your design style changed over time?
I think I've always had the same approach to illustration -- try something new, get bored, try something new, repeat. The foundation of my career was based on the ability to switch styles whenever necessary so that's what I started to enjoy most. I think the only thing that's remained stable is maybe my sense of color. As hard as I fight it, I like saturation and a meaningful temperature shift.
You’ve worked with a range of companies including Google, Uber, and Airbnb. When working with brands, what role do illustrations play in helping define brand identity and telling a brand’s story?
Illustration played a very different role at Google than it did at Uber and Airbnb. For the Google Doodle team, illustration functioned to "surprise and delight." The doodles were this unexpected gift that would pop up at seemingly random times with the intention to bring a smile to our users' faces. It didn't need to follow strict guidelines in order to maintain the brand of "delightful doodles."
Uber and Airbnb's use of illustration was a lot more "traditional." Illustration for them worked to inform and communicate (like a diagram of how to take a photo of your ID) and advertise new features/products (imagine a lush header illustration featuring the magic of traveling to the tropics).
At both Uber and Airbnb, the illustration aesthetics followed guidelines to repeatedly reinforce brand recognition -- like at any other company. Doodles, however, were hyper localized and only really needed to say "GOOGLE" somewhere in it to qualify as a doodle.
At Airbnb, you spearheaded an initiative to not only create a consistent look and feel for the company’s illustrations, but create more diverse and inclusive visual representations overall. What are your thoughts on the power and importance of visual representation in this medium?
Representation is important in every medium, I just thought that illustration should be no different than photography. Casting is very deliberate in photos, so why shouldn't illustration have the same level of rigor? Eventually, we did end up retiring that specific style for a look and feel that was more of a variety of styles. We were then able to tap into a world of artists instead of sticking to strict guidelines. What remained the same, however, was deliberate character referencing and casting.
Airbnb Illustration by Jennifer Hom
Do you have any tips for designers working to create more inclusive visuals?
If you believe in it, then just go for it and have the naysayers construct arguments against it. That sounds kind of rebellious, but really, if someone argues against inclusivity, it should be up to them to justify why it's better to homogenize a world that's naturally diverse.
What’s your creative process like and how do you approach creative collaboration?
As a creative director leading a project, I make sure that either I or my team put together a super tight brief. It always includes copy about the project, the product it's supporting, image references that touch on the look and feel of the final we'd like to see, and examples from the freelance illustrator's own work that we think hit the right visual or conceptual notes for the project. Then it's just a matter of having conversations with the freelancer and stakeholders to make sure everyone is on the same page.
As an illustrator, I have to hope that the client gives me a clear brief. If there are holes in the kickoff, I just ask a ton of questions. It may feel a little awkward to poke at a brief, but it's often appreciated from the client side to be very communicative.
In either case, I usually try to say everything I need to say twice: once with words and once with images to support the words (the images can be photos or scribbles on a post-it note). Communication is really tricky so I try to make sure it's as clear as possible.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration through art history and other creative outlets like sewing and playing music. If I don't feel like drawing, I do something else creative and come back to art when I'm ready.
Do you have any favorite design resources?
I actually don't read or listen to anything related to the arts. I follow a bunch of illustrators on social media, but I most enjoy seeing art in museums or even when just walking past a gallery window.
What advice would you give to designers who are just starting out?
I would say the same thing to both new and experienced creative folks: don't get too set in your ways. Taste is fluid and norms change all the time. I personally like to switch things up, but life and work are a lot easier if you can just evolve as you age. Also, with this approach, you're always learning.
Illustration by Jennifer Hom
What are you working on now and what’s up next for you?
I'm taking on freelance jobs here and there as I go. I had a five or so year run of art directing, team building, system scaling, and creative directing so I'm slowing it down and easing back into image-making. I'm focusing more on my personal creative life (drawing, sewing, playing music) these days and am just seeing where the wind takes me regarding my proper career.
One thing that might be nice is publishing. I enjoy the smaller audiences in children's literature compared to that of tech.
Thank you for sharing with us Jennifer! To view more of Jennifer’s work, visit her website on Cargo and follower her on Instagram.
All images courtesy of Jennifer Hom.