Jamala Johns, Senior Art Director for Code and Theory
Jamala Johns is the perfect storm of art directing experience. She's worked for advertising agencies, non-profits, start-ups, and huge corporations (even briefly freelancing for Refinery29). In her spare time (what spare time?), she's developed personal creative projects, including photography, content curation for Pinterest, and popular blog sites Le Coil and Miss Modular. However, it wasn't until a friend at C&T recognized Jamala's strong eye and wide skillset — and just how much of a well-rounded asset she was — that she was referred for an internal position. Since then, Jamala has not only taken the company's content to a whole new level, but made it a priority to help designers enhance their skills and carve out career paths.
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What skill or habit do you think is vital for success?
“Definitely communication and productivity skills. I’ve honestly worked really hard to learn how to interact with different kinds of people and to create organized processes for projects. Ironically, my purse is a complete mess.”
“Definitely communication and productivity skills. I’ve honestly worked really hard to learn how to interact with different kinds of people and to create organized processes for projects. Ironically, my purse is a complete mess.”
What moments on the job do you find most rewarding?
“Can I just note that this is my favorite question?” (Yes!) “I love bringing cool insights and inspiration to the table. Also, the actual act of art directing and leading creatives is
really fulfilling. I think collaboration is key, and when I can guide someone (or a bunch of someones!) towards a great solution, it makes me happy.”
Who’s your working girl inspiration?
“My working mom, who rocked some sassy looks when I was growing up. As for non-
family members, Jenna Lyons is boss.”
Photographed by Sunny Shokrae
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