Jota de Jai - Printler

Meet the outstanding Jota de Jai – the industrial designer, whose artist career got boosted in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Moving to a new city just in the beginning of the pandemic, Jota was, like many cultural professionals at that time, struggling to find a new job. This led her to questions like "… and now what? What else do I know how to do? What can I learn?” – resulting in her taking up drawing and painting again.

We were really curious of what triggers her creativity and inspires her. It shows that bad vision can be a good thing – who knew?

What’s your most creative state and source of inspiration?

Well, I'm inspired by the genius and absurdity of the human being as a person in their daily life. I'm inspired by the sense of humor and irony of the modern lifestyle. And above all I'm inspired by women. I love to draw women.

And oh, I'll tell you my secret. I have vision problems and I should wear glasses all the time (I suffer from astigmatism) but I get overwhelmed when I go outside seeing everything so defined (I get dizzy with so much information) so I go outside without glasses, as I don't see very well I see things where there aren't and THAT’S my creativity booster.

"I'm inspired by the genius and absurdity of the human being as a person in their daily life."

We’re curious – tell us what a day in your life look like?

Depends on where I am and the season we are in. I usually wake up around 7:30 am.

I do yoga or pilates in my living room or if it's summer, a quick getaway to go diving or swimming in the sea, then I go into concentration mode and work non-stop until lunchtime. In the afternoon I continue working a bit more chill and around 18:00 (if I'm on track with my project deadlines) I go for a walk, meet up with friends or whatever comes up. Around 10:00 I'm in bed (I have a children's schedule).