Rising Stars: Meet Jerm Valentine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerm Valentine.

Hi Jerm, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
A year into taking classes at Wake Technical Community College here in Raleigh, I started to recognize a bigger admiration for the ways that I could create my own brand of music & art: In tandem with a way of life focused on attending to creative projects all the while. I thought to myself a lot at that age, deciding to immerse myself into the “digital world” of file manipulation as a graphic designer; which did help me understand how to operate better as an art student – coming from using paint & pencil to make any content that I thought was worthwhile. I incorporate a lot of mixed media into my digital & physical creations: Like digitizing photos I’ve taken & editing their contrast or color just for fun. I make album covers this way! I assemble words together in the fashion of tracklists that you’d see paired alongside an artist’s album of music (in the form of physical packaging or by promoting an advertisement). I’ve used my affinity for illustrating to draw up really cool ideas based off of mine & other’s artistic influence. I try to bring new things into the creative atmosphere regularly as an artist myself – Through my own variety of music & artwork displayed especially. I still work towards obtaining my degree in Advertising & Graphic Design as of now, though I do find time to reach out to creative-minded people looking to collaborate artistically almost everyday.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My creative path in life has lead me through turbulence before without a doubt. I am reckless, emotionally susceptible, and all too full of heart at times. My own naivety has strained the prospect of a better mental health situation for myself: When you’re that dumb, young, and in love with everything around you, a tendency to skew your vision is always plausible. I’m disciplined enough to know not to get into trouble, but my consciousness does act against me – like when I feel my heart breaking all the time. I can dissociate and still experience a depressive episode to this day just like everyone else. A growing dislike for inadequacy coming from myself made me want to pursue becoming the artist I wanted to see & embody. I’m grateful that some roads were a bit rocky retrospectively: Especially when my heart was in the right place, but the pieces to the puzzle were missing so to speak. I continue to elevate myself & fortify who I am and who I’d like to be wholeheartedly.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I offer my services as a freelancing graphic designer & creative artist for the most part! This helps me establish client relations with other artists, creatives, & entrepreneurs seeking help to promote their businesses. I specialize in digital artwork assembly which I implement to arrange album covers together, produce promotional graphic artwork, & illustrate designs made for merchandising and branding (For musicians/bands, smaller collectives, initiatives, etc.). I’m known for my creative nature & willingness to invent more than anything: My own resolve as an artist (& how I choose to refine it) would definitely set me apart from others at this point in time. I’m most proud of how I intend on honing my artistic capabilities through the people I’ve met & the endeavors I’ve been able to be a part of as well. My digital & artistic creations aside, I do want to utilize music somehow to promote newer messages in how I express myself (and for who I express myself towards): I think the way that I write notes down into poems or lyrics is so powerful that it really does fuel me to become more devout in how I operate as a musician & creator working in tandem.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I’ve got an email address ([email protected]) that acts as a professional/accessible way for other artists, creatives, & like-minded people to reach out with any serious business proposals & artistic inquiries that they might want to extend. I utilize limited social media platforms & services to help my collaborators get a glimpse at my portfolio of mixed media-based artwork that I love to design/curate (through social networking sites like Instagram & YouTube, to music services like Spotify & Bandcamp).

Pricing:

• The artwork assembly sessions I host in order to create any digital artwork/graphics for a client usually takes between 2 to 3 hours at least to prepare. While also mindful of the number of revisions made coming from the client, and depending on how many days/weeks/months it takes to arrange & complete the artwork/graphics, the lowest amount of money I charge (hourly) for my digital/physical creations, designs, & illustrations starts at $10 to $30.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: dweebkiljermmerch.bigcartel.com/
• Other: smarturl.it/DWEEBKILJERM

Image Credits

All images were either created digitally by myself (Jerm Valentine) or captured with the help of friends.