Jaynie and Nathan Johnson are husband and wife and co-creators of Blacklist Studio Prints. Regular readers of this blog will know I’m just a little bit obsessed with typography and nearly everything on my walls contains words in one way or another. So it’s quite clear I’m a big fan of their work, not only because it’s very heavily typographical but because I’m also a big softie at heart and just doing this interview made me feel all romantic…
“We have pretty simple philosophy,” says Jaynie. “We love love.”
She continues: “We just love being dreamers and doers. We love that the mediums in which we work are so tangible, that they are able to manifest from concept to creation quite easily. We love words, we love typography, we love design, and we love music, so we put all of our favorite things into one (or twenty-something) prints.”
This is the ‘About’ page from their website:
Jaynie started out as a primary school teacher, and also worked as a stylist, but was too “gypsy-hearted” for regular hours. “I love children but am way too disorganised to be a teacher. I transitioned into magazines after a couple of years’ teaching. I got an amazing opportunity to intern as a market editor and loved it. A friend worked on the title I joined, and then I ended up full-time there until I had Willow. We accidentally started the prints side of Blacklist and I have done that ever since.”
The business has grown very organically. “We believe in creating for the sake of creating, not for the sake of money, or cool. We want our prints to make people feel loved.”
Their latest collection, To The Sea (which includes wall hangings and cushions as well), is no different. It’s about “falling in love, following love and most importantly: staying in love.”
The pirate vibe comes from an illustration Nathan drew for Jaynie when he proposed titled Love Pirate. “I look at that piece often and I’m a tad obsessed with old sea merchants,” says Jaynie. “When we speak of love, it’s not just romantic love, but a lot of our prints are inspired by our friendships, our paternal love for our daughter and of course, each other.”
(Are you feeling the love yet?)
“Every day I get to work, rest and play with my dearest of dears. It doesn’t get better. I feel very spoilt. We’ve always had a great creative connection and Nathan hates paperwork and accounts so I say he’s the beauty and I’m the brains! We both love what we do, so it works well for us.”
Jaynie sometimes also works as a stylist (although, ever modest, she’s reluctant to call herself one). “We currently work on creating advertising campaigns for different clients so I style and produce those, which is fun. We are also planning on starting up Blacklist Interiors some time in the future. We are insanely passionate about creating amazing commercial interiors, so are working on collaborating with some architect and builder friends to create some amazing retail and cafe spaces.”
Their own Sydney home is small and by the sea. “We definitely bought for the location and are making it our own as the months tick by. It is very open, great for entertaining friends. I think my favorite things about our home are the natural light and the location. My favorite things in it are the artworks, books, my family, and our new cubby-house. I love a good project.”
Who does she admire? “Mr Jason Grant for his bold, bright, sunny, personal approach to styling and Sarah Ellison (her editorial features always spark new ideas and reveal the latest and greatest). Akin, they constantly amaze me. To say I’m obsessed would be a huge understatement.”
Now to really get a feel for Blacklist Studio Prints, watch the video they made for To the Sea.
