My folio highlight: Jean Jullien

With a hugely diverse portfolio that spans illustration, photography, video, costumes, installations, books, posters and clothing, it’s no surprise that Jean Jullien’s influences are similarly eclectic. Here, he discusses what inspired a recent commission for Byron Hamburgers...

What made you pick this as a highlight from your body of work?
I think it encompasses a lot of the things that I do: graphics, commercial illustrations, humour and installation-type things.

What do you love most about it – how does it make you feel now, looking back at it? Is there anything you’d change?
I love how massive it is! It’s really gratifying to change scale with illustrations. You see what works and what doesn’t. It also changes the perceptions and extent of what you can or cannot do. Retrospectively, I’d love to have gotten rid of the text, aside from the huge PROPER letters. I think the more cryptic it is, the better.

Where did you draw your inspiration?
I was always a big fan of old-school food graphics, American junk food particularly. I always loved the way products of consumerism can bring a bit of creativity to your daily life. Especially when it involves eating on the cheap! I grew up with the McDonalds characters, Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar and so on, and that has definitely influenced me in one way or another. I love looking online for old packaging and things like that. The Byron hamburger hoarding was an attempt at that, I guess.

What’s the most unusual, unconventional thing you’ve ever been inspired by?
The internet. I keep a very large image library made of random images found online. Very very very random. Most of the time it involves random animals wearing human items of clothing. To be precise I think it has to be a duck wearing flip-flops. I love that image.

Nantes-born Jean Jullien has worked with a diverse client list including The New Yorker, Channel 4, BMW and Nike. He’s also one half of the Jullien Brothers duo, specialising in moving images.

Discover 15 brilliant examples of billboard advertising at Creative Bloq.