JAY KASLO
DESIGNER + ANIMATOR + ARTIST + PHOTOGRAPHER + VIDEOGRAPHER +
Army brat
Preacher's kid
Pop culture junkie
Spelling bee champion
Introvert (of course)
New Yorker (in Philly)
Agnostic ex-christian
3rd culture kid
Audiophile
Music producer
Entrepreneur
@WorstIndianEver
Swing Dancer
Philosopher
Curator
Freedom of Speech Advocate
Vitals
- Name: Patrick Jay Kaslo
- A.K.A.: “Jay Kaslo”, “PK”, “PKSTYLE”, “PJ”, “JAYKAZ”, “YO PAT”, “JAYPAT”, “The guy from introversion.com”
- Other monikers: Slackluster, Wetmilk, Singlepixel, Epset
- Age: 40+ (From here on out, my age will be known as “40+”)
- Height: 6’2″ (~189cm)
- Weight: 175-180 lb (~80kg)
- Blood type: A+
- Tattoos: 2
Personality+
- Myers-Briggs Personality Type: INTJ / INFJ
- Enneagram:
- Type 4: The Artist. (Intuitive, reserved.)
- Type 5: The Thinker. (Perceptive, cerebral.)
* Only 2 percent of the population is INTJ.
* Only 1 percent of the population is INFJ.
Unique Snowflake
Other than my sister, I’ve never encountered someone who’s all three:
- 1st generation Indian American
- Preacher’s kid, and
- Army brat.
If you are one such unique snowflake, I would like to buy you a coke.
Religious Views
*Subject to change.
Raised Christian from day one (**preacher’s kid**). Got deep into Christianity in my 20’s. Long story short, finally “woke up” to reality and left the church around age 31. Currently identify as “Agnostic”… since I cannot make the absolute claim that there is in fact “no god” / “no higher power”.
I found that religions are at best… man-made systems of belief that attempt to explain the unexplainable, provide structure & rules to adhere to, and help people cope with the inevitability of death. At worst… religions are man-made systems of belief that are used to empower and enrich the few while profiting off the masses who are in fear of hell or some form of punishment if they don’t comply.
I felt so strongly about leaving Christianity that I created CONFUSIANITY… a brand and podcast devoted to sharing my (and others’) religious experiences… both good and bad (though let’s face it, mostly bad).
Philosophy
On August 4th, 2010, I tweeted:
Life is an experiment. Test your hypotheses.
This is how I’ve approached life these last 10 years, and I continue to do so into the 2020s. I’ve also recently started gravitating toward stoicism, minimalism, and essentialism… all 3 philosophies interrelated but each having their own characteristics.
Education
- Northwestern University (B.S. Industrial Engineering and Management Science)
- General Assembly (Digital Marketing)
- Self-Taught (Graphic Design, Video Editing, Motion Graphics, Music Production, WordPress… basically everything that matters in life.)
Work
Agency Life:
- R/GA
- Frog Design
- Leagas Delaney
- Loyalkaspar
- Brooklyn Brothers
- Euro RSCG
- The String Theory
- Phoenix Pop
- Piranha NYC
- Charlex
- Core 77
- Huge
- JWT
A few clients I’ve worked for:
- The New York Times
- Adidas
- Nokia
- OK GO
- Gilt Groupe
- Fuse TV
- Levi Strauss
- IBM
- Verizon
- BET
- Mercedes
- Hard Rock Hotel
- Paramount+
Interviews & Features
- Kaliber 10000 (K10K)
- Design Is Kinky
- Webzine 2000 (panel speaker)
- Digital Vision / Getty Images “Infinity Series” (Invited to design two titles, 2001-2002)
- AAFilmLab 72 Hour Film Shootout (2005): Directorial debut “Make or Break” screened at AAIFF (Asian American International Film Festival)
- Cut & Paste design competition (2006)
- HGTV “Freestyle” episode (2006)
- Featured in IdN Magazine
- “300: Maximus Rectus Abdominis” short film finished in Top 15 films in MTV’s Movie Spoof Competition (2007)
- Speaker at A.D. Agency (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2008)
- NYIT 2010 Film Festival (“The Twitter Film” screening + panel discussion)
- TAKT Artist Residency (Berlin, 2011)
- Toca Me
- Guest lecturer for “Holistic Interaction Design” mini-course at General Assembly (2014)
- Guest on “100 First Dates” podcast (2015)
- Animation Career Magazine interview (2017)
- Guest on “Your Friends Podcast” (2019)
- Guest on “Tommy Danger Experiment” podcast (2019)
Projects
That’s what shirt said.
Eat my video shorts.
For Mature Audiences Only. (Podcast / talk show hosted by Jay Kaslo & Tommy Danger.)
This is what happens when a preacher’s kid leaves Christianity.
All the pop culture things.
An irrational football obsession.
How I spend my days
- Pushing pixels.
- Building brands.
- Turning the side hustle into main hustle.
- Making art.
- Making music.
- Blogging on introversion.com. Duh.
- Drawing.
- Podcasting.
- Listening to music (constantly).
- Watching films. Binge watching series.
- Photographing signage and strangers (from a distance).
- Traveling the world.
- Swiping left.
- Observing the clusterfuck that is humanity.
- Watching the world burn.
- Saying something “offensive”.
- Not giving a fuck.
- Being a total hermit. (Classic introvert.)
- Quoting Seinfeld. Or Simpsons. Or Star Wars.
- Exercising the gaskets.
- Singing in the shower.
- Obsessing over KPOP.
- Updating playlists.
- Thermostat: 75+ degrees year round.
- Making smoothies. Making salads.
- Eating smoothies. Eating salads.
- Avoiding Twitter.
- Working out. (Mostly weights.)
- Being a good stoic.
- YouTube tutorials.
- Duolingo: German & Japanese.
- Watching Premier League & Champions League.
- Watching Arsenal blow a lead to end up with a draw.
- Also… watching Arsenal come from behind to get a draw.
- Betting on football (“soccer”).
- Amusing myself. (Interpret as you will.)
- Plotting world domination.
- Making lists. (Classic INTJ.)
- Becoming the best version of myself.
- Making the world a better place.
Yes Please
- Dogs! (especially 柴犬)
- Helvetica
- Football (A.K.A. “Soccer”)
- Pop culture
- Snickerdoodles
- Tacos
- Riesling
- T-Shirts
- Cosplay
- Art
- Design
- Photography
- Gifs
- Memes
- Travel
- 日本
- Deutschland
- NYC
- Fitness
- Pancakes
- Robots
- Graffiti
- Michael Jordan (G.O.A.T.)
- Fashion
- Audrey Hepburn
- Neon
- Helmets
- Triumph the Insult Dog
- Gangnam Style
- Karaoke
- Dance
- Penguins
- Freedom of Speech
- Minimalism
- Lists (obviously)
No thanks
- Censorship
- Virtue Signaling
- Nose Rings
- Racism
- Bullying
- Cold Weather
- Baseball
- Slow Walkers
- Caterpillars
- Comic Sans
- Cantaloupe
- Eggplant
- Mushrooms
- Poor Customer Service
- The New England Patriots
- Tom Brady
- Conformity
- Nazis
- Feminazis
- Partisan Politics
- “My Utmost for His Highest”
- Ad hominem attacks
- Antifa
- Marxism
Favorite...
Movies
- Star Wars (original trilogy)
- Swingers
- The Matrix
- The Princess Bride
- Amelie
- Office Space
- L.A. Story
- Groundhog Day
- Quick Change
- Lost in Translation
- Aladdin
- Spaceballs
- Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
- Kamikaze Girls (下妻物語)
- Battle Royale
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Team America
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
- Back to the Future (I and II)
- Her
- 500 Days of Summer
- Avengers (Infinity War)
- Beetlejuice
- Happy Gilmore
- Before Sunrise (+Before Sunset & Before Midnight)
- Exit Through the Gift Shop
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- CB4
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Clash of the Titans (1981)
- Top Gun
- Days of Thunder
- Fight Club
- Mulholland Drive
- Idiocracy
- Kickass
- Kung Fu Hustle
- Labyrinth
- Lord of the Rings (original trilogy)
- Major League
- Love Strikes! (モテキ)
- My Fair Lady
- Not Another Teen Movie
- Reality Bites
- Run Lola Run
- Snatch
- Sliding Doors
- The Lego Movie
- The Naked Gun
- The Wedding Singer
- Three Amigos
- Tron: Legacy
- Top Secret
- The Devil’s Advocate
- Vicky Christina Barcelona
- When Harry Met Sally
- White Men Can’t Jump
- Young Frankenstein
- Zoolander
- Airplane!
- Vivarium
Shows / Series
- Game of Thrones
- Seinfeld
- The Simpsons
- Family Guy
- Californication
- Dexter
- The Wonder Years
- Black Mirror
- Twin Peaks
- The Boys
- Flight of the Conchords
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- In Living Color
- South Park
- True Blood
- Stranger Things
- Living With Yourself
- The Office
- Mystery Science Theater 3000
- The Mandalorian
- Mr. Robot
- Daredevil
- The Punisher
- Beavis & Butthead
- Futurama
- Scrubs
- Robot Chicken
- Homeland
- Crashing
- The Flash
- Transformers
- G.I. Joe
- Gobots
- M.A.S.K.
Books
- The Fountainhead
- Animal Farm
- Essentialism
- Third Culture Kids
- Military Brats
- The Pursuit of Perfect
- The Poisoning of Eros
Typefaces
- Helvetica (duh)
- Chalet
- Raleway
- Futura
- Gotham
- Vaud
- Baruta Black
- Canarsie Slab
- Alte Haas Grotesk
- Questrial
- Bourbon Grotesque
- Brandon Grotesque
- Avant Garde
- Isidora Sans
- Mrs. Eaves
- Antipasto
- Novecento
- Particle
- Plateia
- Poppins
Bands / Singers
- Radiohead / Thom Yorke
- Nine Inch Nails / Trent Reznor
- LCD Soundsystem
- The Smiths / Morrissey
- Cannons
- The Cranberries
- Queen
- Rage Against the Machine
- Abba
- AC/DC
- Psy
- Momoland (모모랜드)
- Prince
- Michael Jackson
- The Bee Gees
- Ben Folds
- Benny Benassi
- Cake
- CHVRCHES
- Daft Punk
- Dave Matthews Band
- Depeche Mode
- Elise Trouw
- Eminem
- Girl Talk
- Guns N’ Roses
- Hall & Oates
- James Brown
- Jamiroquai
- Jodeci
- Justice
- Kool & the Gang
- Led Zeppelin
- LL Cool J
- M83
- Madonna
- Netsky
- Notorious B.I.G.
- OK GO
- Peaches
- Perez Prado
- Phil Collins
- The Police
- Richard Cheese
- Smashing Pumpkins
- Snoop Dogg
- Sublime
- Superorganism
- Tears for Fears
- Tom Petty
- Travis
- U2
Visual Artists
- Edgar Degas
- Chuck Close
- Yoshitomo Nara
- Egon Schiele
- Lisa Yuskavage
- Fafi
- Banksy
- Chris Ware
- Mark Rothko
Comedians
- Dave Chappelle
- Chris Rock
- Patrice O’Neal
- Bill Burr
- Kevin Hart
- Louis CK
- Norm Macdonald
- Zach Galifianakis
- George Carlin
- Steven Wright
- Demetri Martin
- Jim Jefferies
- Ricky Gervais
- Russell Peters
- Patton Oswalt
- Jay London
- Sebastian Maniscalco
- Anthony Jeselnik
- Jim Norton
- Todd Barry
- Taylor Tomlinson
- Jon Stewart
- Jim Carrey
- Jerry Seinfeld
- Larry David
- Conan O’Brien
- Craig Ferguson
- Dana Carvey
- Bill Maher
- Jeff Ross
- Gilbert Gottfried
- John Cleese
- Greg Giraldo
- Charlie Murphy
- Garfunkel & Oates
- Kristen Wiig
- Melissa Villaseñor
- Nikki Glaser
Respect
Early creative influences
Chris Cunningham
I never hear anything any more about what Chris Cunningham is up to, which makes me sad… because back in the early 2000s I salivated over anything and everything he created. I certainly hope he’s still alive (and well) today, and I look forward to seeing whatever he conjures next. It would be a great honor to meet him some day.
Jonathan Leong
Jonathan Leong was one of my very first creative influences. This is one creative hero who I actually had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with (when we were both living in NYC).
Bradley Grosh (GMUNK)
GMUNK was a beast (and probably still is). The insane amount of brilliant content this guy put out in the early 2000s still blows my mind, to this day, especially with how slow and weak computers were back then.
Matt Owens (Volume One)
Matt Owens’ “VOLUME ONE” project played a significant role in inspiring my Introversion.com site & format. He used to create 4 animated / interactive design interfaces per year (corresponding with the 4 seasons). So random, so playful, so experimental… it always left me wanting more and I hated that I’d have to wait another 3-4 months until I’d get to see his next installation.
I thought I could do something similarly, but yet on a smaller scale… and more frequent… basically DAILY. A gargantuan task, but I pulled it off for several years in the 2000s. Really refined my design aesthetic and Flash skills in the process. No Flash any more (hence not as interactive & experimental), but I’m back at it again with Introversion.com in the 2020s.
Other creative heroes
- Thom Yorke (Radiohead)
- Trent Reznor (NIN)
- Michel Gondry
- Mike Winkelmann (Beeple)
- Mike Young (DesignGraphik)
