http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz Jonathan Williams Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:23:42 +0000 http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz en http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/Music-Tribes http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/Music-Tribes Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:23:42 +0000 Jonathan Williams 3064601 Little Monster Since she got a Blackberry for her 13th birthday, this rabid teenager has dedicated every spare moment to obsessive popstar devotion, BBM-ing her fan-forum friends as soon as their shared object of worship tweets/posts/sniffs/sighs. Before school, after school, in between lessons, and whenever the teacher's not looking, she encourages her early-onset RSI with aggressive Twitter-based street-teaming, all conducted under the banner of her star-bestowed fan-nickname, be it as part of the Heartbeats or Barbz or Navy or Beliebers or Rampant Hormonals. The internet is her battleground, a place to pour love on their object of pop desire like 1000 times a day OMG and to eliminate any perceived competition, be it fans or rival acts, using smear campaigns conducted with the kind of vicious precision politicians can only dream of. Do not provoke. Provenance: shopping centre, school canteen Age: 14 Heroes: Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, One Direction Villains: Madonna Distinguishing marks: Mascara, streaked from sobbing Most likely to: post video of sobbing on YouTube under the username MRSRIZZLEKICKS4EVA69 <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_little_monster_640.jpg" width="640" height="862" width_o="670" height_o="903" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_little_monster_o.jpg" data-mid="15632087" border="0" align="left"/> Bro-Stepper Squeezing his muscular moobs into a tight white top for his weekend shifts at his local sports centre, this dude has his way with the gym's soundsystem whenever his supervisor pops out for a fag. “It's the drop!” he shouts at the baffled treadmill army, waving his fingers out of time, secretly unsure what exactly the drop is (though he suspects it's the good bit when everything goes mental!). At the end of the day, he scrubs up and goes out to the club in the next town along with the lads, where he spends hours body-slamming to the beat. The head-hammering womps rattle his brain and make him stick out his tongue and salute the air with devil horns. It feels good to let loose and bump bare chests with his bros, all sweaty and rubbed in neon paint. Sometimes they cup each other's balls. You've got the wub. Provenance: gym, dancefloor Age: 23 Heroes: Skrillex, Skream, Chase and Sk-atus Villains: Dubstep purists Distinguishing marks: happy grin, perforated eardrums Most likely to: perspire on you <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_bro_stepper_640.jpg" width="640" height="981" width_o="670" height_o="1028" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_bro_stepper_o.jpg" data-mid="15632090" border="0" align="left"/> Earnest Pitchforker By day, this librarian bohemian is both gentle and brutal, much like her death metal-themed cupcake business. She loves nothing more than a beautiful folk ballad, ideally one with harmonies gleaned from the natural call of a rare troop of Appalachian mountain lions, but is swift to gobble up blog posts on obscure new techno acts, simply so can she reject them with a swift, “over it”. Her default homescreen is Pitchfork – she sighs dismissively when anyone mentions it, because if there's one thing she's most over, it's Pitchfork, ever since they gave her beloved Gallant Panda Tent's last EP 4.7 – but still checks it 215 times a day. When she is not mulling over the big issues, such as whether Lana Del Rey's post-backlash backlash cancels out any future backlash, she is scouring Tumblr for well-lit pictures of Bon Iver, taken with extra-grainy Hipstamatic effect. She is thinking about buying cassettes again. Provenance: bedroom, coffee shop with wifi Age: 29 Heroes: Psychedelic Horseshit, Evian Christ Villains: popular music Distinguishing marks: horn-rimmed spectacles (without the glass) Most likely to: roll eyes <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_pitchfork_7_640.jpg" width="640" height="1036" width_o="670" height_o="1085" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_pitchfork_7_o.jpg" data-mid="15633506" border="0" align="left"/> Bus Kid Bus Kid's life is on hold until he's 17, when he's going to get his car fitted with the biggest bass bins in the town, so everyone can hear him blasting out 1Xtra. (He'll turn it down when he listens to Fearne Cotton, though, but sometimes the Live Lounge amazing.) Right now he has to settle for the next best thing: the tiny tinny speakers on the Samsung Galaxy his mum got him so he can tell her when he's leaving afterschool club. He sits slumped in his seat, staring out of the window from beneath his hood, nodding to the beat. Sometimes, he'll rapalong to the mixtapes his brother tells him to download, but only when there are no bigger boys on the top deck. In his car there will be no bigger boys. Provenance: public transport Age: 14 Heroes: Tupac, Notorious BIG, Cher Lloyd Villains: bus inspectors, the rest of the bus, headphones Distinguishing marks: menacing acne Most likely to: freestyle his English homework <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_bus_kid_640.jpg" width="640" height="628" width_o="670" height_o="658" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_bus_kid_o.jpg" data-mid="15632093" border="0" align="left"/> Old Raver As he rocks the baby for the fifth time that night, this new dad drifts off into a sleep-deprived dream of the good times he once had with the gang: Ibiza, Ayia Napa, Gatecrasher,Cream, now dinner parties topped off with a dessert dab of MDMA. He worries about his struggling web consultancy start-up as he wanders into the spare room to look at his 12” collection, saved from an eBay fate by his insistence that he'd stick it in the garage once the baby arrived, and remembers the night they stole a boat and tried to get to Formentera, until Fran passed out and they thought she'd OD-ed and everyone panicked and ran off. He'd never admit this, but he's glad he's too old to do it all again. Provenance: nursery Age: 41 Heroes: Underground Resistance, Richie Hawtin, Raf Rundell Villains: age, CD decks Distinguishing marks: tired eyes Most likely to: fall asleep by 10.30pm <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_new_dad_rev_640.jpg" width="640" height="977" width_o="670" height_o="1023" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_new_dad_rev_o.jpg" data-mid="15632108" border="0" align="left"/> R&B Queen Long of leg and healthy of bosom, this diva-in-training practically lives at the late-opening bar she works in. By day she lives in her Beats By Dre headphones, rotating Usher, Ciara and Azealia Banks, removing them under duress only to serve the afternoon drunks. At night she sticks around and hangs out – literally, for evening clothes are made to be small and tight – on the dancefloor while her boyfriend the DJ plays the tracks she's turned him on to, accepting the odd glass of champagne from her many admirers. But only if she's in the mood. If you interrupt her while she's dancing with her girlfriends, she will cut you with her razor-sharp stiletto, or perhaps just her gaze. Unless you're J Cole, of course. For you she's very, very ready to make an exception. Provenance: the bar Age: 21 Heroes: Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Cassie Villains: bouncers Distinguishing marks: hoop earrings, precision eyeliner, girl gang Most likely to: bust out the Single Ladies dance <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_rnb_girls_640.jpg" width="640" height="988" width_o="670" height_o="1035" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_rnb_girls_o.jpg" data-mid="15632115" border="0" align="left"/> Pop Fiend Taping the Top 40 off the radio as a child made this popsessive the man he is today, when Bananarama's dungarees stirred strange feelings that he's spent 30 years trying to recapture. His dedication to the deadly serious business of the charts means a double-pronged attack of collecting tat (he's got two Nadine dolls, in the faint hope that he can one day swap one for a Cheryl) and preaching to the unconverted, for whom the realisation that Will Young is the natural heir to George Michael does not come so easily. Through hours of lengthy posts in grown-up pop forums, he will convince them. He wears his Janet Jackson lanyard underneath his shirt at the office, but when he gets home, he swaps it for his The Saturdays T-shirt. People think he means it ironically, but he knows it’s for real, always. Provenance: eBay Age: 38 Heroes: Lady Gaga, Take That, Pet Shop Boys Villains: Noel Gallagher Distinguishing marks: alphabetised Madonna collection, on every format, sub-filed by year Most likely to: outbid you on that rare Britney keyring, circa ‘99 <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_pop_fiend_640.jpg" width="640" height="1127" width_o="670" height_o="1180" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_pop_fiend_o.jpg" data-mid="15632113" border="0" align="left"/> New Metalhead When goth and metal had a threesome with pop and conceived an emo-shaped baby, this sensitive creature emerged blinking into the world, emaciated, dressed entirely in black and sweeping his asymmetrical haircut out of his eyes. In his first week of university, where he is studying sociology, he threw away his old puffa jacket and spent a terrifying amount of his student loan on a long leather coat. He is devoted to vegetarianism, even more vocally when he is talking to the pretty girl with multi-coloured dreads from the Vegan Soc he will definitely join soon. His faded, torn Iron Maiden T-shirt once belonged to his dad, who is secretly proud that his son is carrying the flag, though doesn't see why this has to involve eyeliner. Provenance: currently, the entrance to the local shopping centre, smoking. One day, hopefully, London’s Crobar rock pub. Age: 19 Heroes: Jared Leto, Gerard Way Villains: sport Distinguishing marks: insta-regret tattoos, hair dye Most likely to: mope about it <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_nu_metalhead_640.jpg" width="640" height="911" width_o="670" height_o="954" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_nu_metalhead_o.jpg" data-mid="15632109" border="0" align="left"/> Trust Fund Troubadour Daddy wouldn't let him take his gap year until he'd done a resit of his history A-level (that C would mean Durham was off-limits), but it was worth the wait: while at a full moon party in Thailand, the TFT had a life-changing epiphany. There's more to life than the fascist ratrace, he decided, as a 66-year-old rat-tailed cockney called Aurastarbeam handed him a pair of bongos. On his return to civilisation, weighed down not only by the total harshness of the modern world but also by an arm full of ragged festival wristbands, the TFT decided to dedicate his life to travelling the nation's parks, serenading sunbathers with his heartfelt ballads about economic meltdown and wars and bad stuff. “Stop the banks, halt the tanks,” he trills, strumming his battered acoustic guitar, as a stray frisbee hits him on the head and knocks him into a fountain, extinguishing his giant spliff and ruining his iPhone. Provenance: parks, festival campsites, Oxfordshire Age: 21 Heroes: Bob Dylan, EdSheeran, Newton Faulkner Villains: “The Man”, his dad Distinguishing marks: We Are The 99% henna tattoo Most likely to: nap against the machine <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_troubadour_640.jpg" width="640" height="565" width_o="670" height_o="592" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_troubadour_o.jpg" data-mid="15632116" border="0" align="left"/> Mod Dad He can still squeeze into his mohair suit strides (because for the past few years, he’s been paying for tailored trousers to accommodate his widening hips), and with his Italian loafers and Laurel Wreath Collection knitted Fred Perry, he reckons he can still pass for the handsome fella who featured on the cover of Direction Reaction Creation fanzine as an “ace face” in 1980. Obviously, he had lovely feathery Rod The Mod hair then. And cheek bones. Still, Mod Dad has been wearing the very latest variation of the same outfit with distinction to every Jam/Style Council/Weller gig in the South East since 1979. He’s not adverse to new stuff like Noel Gallagher too, but old soul singles are his real passion. A few years ago he spent £300 on a mint 45 of Jack Montgomery's Don't Turn Your Back On Me. His marriage has never recovered. Provenance: under your sink, fixing your overflow Age: 52 Heroes: Paul Weller, Martin Freeman Villains: high streetdenim Distinguishing marks: Fred Perry T-shirt (tight) Most likely to: host a monthly northern soul and mod revival night down his local pub <img src="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_mod_dad_640.jpg" width="640" height="1058" width_o="670" height_o="1108" src_o="http://payload38.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/3064601/q_mod_dad_o.jpg" data-mid="15632106" border="0" align="left"/> Text by Q magazine. Art direction by Daniel Knight and Salman Naqvi. http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/Lube-logistics http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/Lube-logistics Fri, 13 May 2011 15:37:48 +0000 Jonathan Williams 303040 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/303040/depot3.jpg" width="670" height="397" width_o="670" height_o="397" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/303040/depot3_o.jpg" data-mid="1310207" border="0" align="left"/> Illustration for Shell Globe about the Lubricants Delivery Promise, commissioned by Beetroot Publishing. http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/Job-Prospects http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/Job-Prospects Fri, 13 May 2011 15:35:43 +0000 Jonathan Williams 1440401 Predictions about the future always tell you most about the time they were made in. Let’s say a Brylcreemed futroscoper from 1961 was trying to soothsay what kind of jobs would exist in 2011. His imagination would naturally dwell on Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s recent space flight. I can just see him hammering the typewriter now, the excitable fool: Sputnik Commander! Rocket Bus Conductor! Space Warrior! <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/1440401/space_architect_640.jpg" width="640" height="662" width_o="670" height_o="694" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/1440401/space_architect_o.jpg" data-mid="7016437" border="0" align="left"/> My suspicion is ... the future could well be, you know, a bit meh. Technology will astonish us, but it will still fail (did our 1961 guy foretell the forehead-thumping evening I recently spent defragmenting my hard drive?). Metropolitan couples watching the 2061 equivalent of Mad Men, set in a 2011-era internet start-up, will find some of our workplace attitudes appalling (‘To think how ageist we were!’), some laughable (‘Look at the size of that BlackBerry!’) and some, perhaps, admirable (‘Remember social security?’). They’ll still probably be trying to pull the girl in accounts, angling for a promotion and moaning about the Tube. With any luck, they’ll recognise us as humans, just like them. So what would you rather your grandchildren became – a vertical gardener, a space architect or a geeky A.I. guy? <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/1440401/transolympic_640.jpg" width="640" height="447" width_o="670" height_o="468" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/1440401/transolympic_o.jpg" data-mid="7016491" border="0" align="left"/>The Trans-Olympic Athlete At Istanbul 2020, the Paralympic Games drew larger audiences than its Olympic equivalent, as developments in prosthetic limbs led to an astonishing series of records. By Mumbai 2028, performance-enhancing drugs were so common in everyday life (from the miracle ‘Jet-Lag’ drug to executive ‘creativity enhancers’) that the IOC legitimised them. By Dhaka 2040 developments in human cell production made Paralympics redundant – and a new games took shape with no bans on genomic alterations or nano-medical enhancements. As the Trans-Olympics graced Europe at Milton Keynes 2062, British hope Victoria Sayal (above) is close to the seven-second mark for the 100 metres. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/1440401/artificial_640.jpg" width="640" height="760" width_o="670" height_o="796" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/1440401/artificial_o.jpg" data-mid="7018070" border="0" align="left"/>The A.I. Guy Jackson (above) is one of three humans who works at the Centurion retirement home in East Finchley. His job is to service the A.I. machines who do the caring. ‘Charlie… wakey wakey Charlie,’ he’ll say, waving his hand at the robot’s preceptors. Then he’ll turn to you with some inscrutable diagnosis: ‘That’ll be your mood interfacer’ or ‘the nano-drive’s totally screwed’. His abrupt manner unnerves the centagenarian residents, more used to the predictable service bots. There is a rumour that Jackson shares his basement office with an interactive sex doll named Pearl. The rumour’s true: Jackson doesn’t really care for humans. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/1440401/vertical_farming_640.jpg" width="640" height="855" width_o="670" height_o="896" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/1440401/vertical_farming_o.jpg" data-mid="7018147" border="0" align="left"/>The Vertical Farmer Laura (above) is passionate about the local produce she grows on her high-rise Bow allotment where developments in aeroponics and hydroponics allow 20 storeys of vegetable production. The food industry has become split between traditionalist and ‘sub-molecular gastronomists’ who have revolutionised food production (and high-end restaurants) with their ability to engineer taste on a molecular level. Laura sees her brand of hi-tech, low-carbon production as the ideal middle way between technology and tradition. Text by Richard Godwin http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/Health-Safety-Card http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/Health-Safety-Card Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:35:41 +0000 Jonathan Williams 873813 Brake Brothers food logistics company asked me to create a series of clean colourful spots towards a health and safety card for delivery vehicle drivers. <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/873813/brakes_640.jpg" width="640" height="2443" width_o="670" height_o="2558" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/873813/brakes_o.jpg" data-mid="4180181" border="0" align="left"/> http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/The-Perfect-Dinner-Party http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/The-Perfect-Dinner-Party Tue, 26 Oct 2010 10:12:02 +0000 Jonathan Williams 732018 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/732018/dinner_party_640.jpg" width="640" height="661" width_o="670" height_o="692" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/732018/dinner_party_o.jpg" data-mid="3447400" border="0" align="left"/> What's On magazine (Dubai) commissioned this cover illustration in the style of an Airfix kit for 'The Perfect Dinner Party', a feature about chefs competing with each other to host the best possible dinner party. Art direction by Louise Browne for Motivate Publishing. http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/BMX-Bandit http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/BMX-Bandit Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:40:31 +0000 Jonathan Williams 305447 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/305447/bmx.jpg" width="670" height="1022" width_o="670" height_o="1022" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/305447/bmx_o.jpg" data-mid="1320346" border="0" align="left"/> From a distance, people often think there's something seriously wrong with Benjamin's face. It's only when they get up close, and look past the baggy jeans, hooded top, and low-slung BMX, that they realise he's 43. Benjamin works for a design agency in East London and carries a record bag. He rides on the pavement, and if people get in his way he'll shout something like “gnarly!” or “yo!” At the weekends, Benjamin and his friend Jeremy used to like going to London's South Bank, to hang out with teenage skateboarders. They haven't been for a while, though, ever since Jeremy caught a gnarly air and wiped out, big-time. The doctors say he might need a new hip. Commissioned by The Times to illustrate a selection of biker tribes for The Great Outdoors supplement. http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/Don-t-Panic http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/Don-t-Panic Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:42:56 +0000 Jonathan Williams 303953 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/303953/dunn2.jpg" width="670" height="764" width_o="670" height_o="764" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/303953/dunn2_o.jpg" data-mid="1314297" border="0" align="left"/> Poker Player magazine commissioned this portrait of columnist Nick Wealthall (in the style of Lance-Corporal Jones) about the importance of keeping calm under pressure. Against all odds Nick holds up the six clubs for a winning straight. http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/A-hole-in-my-heart http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/A-hole-in-my-heart Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:33:55 +0000 Jonathan Williams 303124 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/303124/hole2.jpg" width="670" height="465" width_o="670" height_o="465" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/303124/hole2_o.jpg" data-mid="1310563" border="0" align="left"/> The evil Mexican Mr Ramirez! Commissioned by GQ Russia. http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/Two-step http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/Two-step Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:27:21 +0000 Jonathan Williams 302043 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/302043/2step_rev.jpg" width="670" height="436" width_o="670" height_o="436" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/302043/2step_rev_o.jpg" data-mid="1304895" border="0" align="left"/> Prospect magazine commissioned this illustration for Two Step, a short story by Maile Meloy from a new collection called Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It. “I wanted to write about love and adultery in such a way that the nature of the story changes, as you read it,” she told Prospect, “in which the power shifts among the characters and what you understand about them turns, and turns again.” Maile Meloy’s first novel, Liars and Saints was shortlisted for the 2005 Orange prize. She is also the author of the novel A Family Daughter and the short story collection Half in Love. Her stories have been published in the New Yorker, Granta, Prospect and other publications. In 2007, she was named one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists. Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It (to be published by Canongate in March) was selected as one of the New York Times Book Review’s Ten Best Books of 2009. She lives in Los Angeles. Art direction by David Killen. http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/Lead-your-pack http://www.jonathanwilliams.biz/following/jonathanwilliams.biz/Lead-your-pack Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:56:43 +0000 Jonathan Williams 260369 <img src="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/260369/lockertalk_670.jpg" width="670" height="464" width_o="670" height_o="464" src_o="http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/7195/260369/lockertalk_670_o.jpg" data-mid="1115038" border="0" align="left"/> On the field or in the office, you need to get the best from your team. Men's Fitness magazine asked England rugby union captain Steve Borthwick to share his expert advice. "Any team is home to a number of very different personalities, and as captain your responsibility is to get to know each man personally so that you can manage them individually and as part of the team," says Borthwick. For this double spread I've illustrated a range of locker room personalities: the prima donna, the nervous newcomer, the jaded veteran, the volcano, the mistake maker ... Art direction by Donovan Walker.