When I started designing my site and thinking about how I wanted to represent my brand, type was a big question mark. Whatever font I used would need to convey just the right feeling through a lot of nuance. I was able to land on several options that I felt were about right... but as I started designing, I kept finding things I didn’t like about each of them. Some were great in all caps, but had wonky lowercase characters. Some just had odd-ball characters that made no sense. Some didn’t have all the weights I was looking for. Some didn’t have special characters. Without boring you any further, I found reasons to not like any of them through this process of designing my brand (over 2 years.)
After a lot of churn, I knew I didn't want to compromise on a font– its just too important. With the prospects of going independent, I began to fixate on just how much more important my personal brand will be going forward. Eventually I came to the conclusion that compromising on a cornerstone of my brand was a shitty yield for the effort already poured into it. Out of frustration, I basically thought “fuck it, I should just make it myself”... without any experience or understanding of actually making a font myself. So... I got the trial of FontLab. It kinda made sense. Made characters. Bought FontLab after the trial lapsed.
...and here we are: JW.Sans® (V1.0).
Having done that churn on my personal brand for years, I had a pretty good idea of the look I wanted going in. While my tastes have certainly evolved over the years, I feel I've always had these through-lines in my personal preferences:
After reading that list, you might (rightly) point out that some of those things are at odds with each other– or at least have friction. Such as 'clean' and 'imperfect' (amongst others). Two opposing characteristics can co-exist in fonts, but it's definitely a balancing act. There's a lot of different ways in which to achieve a balance within type design, and none of them appear to be an exact science... how a font generally 'feels' is still a bit arbitrary to me. There's a lot of people who want to create a font entirely within a quantized system mapped to some golden ratio... but I think will create something sterile, or kitschy depending on the base unit. Like most of my design, I systemizing most core components, but found opportunistic (and purposeful) places to divert. It's a generous comparison, but it's like J Dilla's drums... there's soul and character in imperfection. I'm sure purist will shit on it and call it lazy, but I really don't care.
Knowing that I didn't want everything mathematically perfect, I would draw characters using a lot of math-based shapes and curves, but ultimately trust my eye as I modified them. In analyzing other fonts and understanding typography in general, you come to learn that different types of shapes sitting next to each other can optically effect each other. A prime example is the rounded shapes that duck below the baseline to look level with flat bottomed shapes sitting on the baseline. Things like that reinforce my belief that that I should basically trust my eye since even the fundamentals of type design already diverge from mathematical parity.
In most fonts, there's a lot of semi-common characters that I would like to use, but don't always remember how to access. A lot of time, I'd have to google "XYZ character" and copy/paste the resulting character in order to actually use them. This is a huge pain in the ass, and is enough of an inhibiter for someone as lazy as myself from ever using those characters. Or if I really really wanted to use them, I'd start guessing different combinations of shift + option + characters + numbers, and promptly waste a ton of time. It seemed like a dumb problem to have. Was that "copyright" character option + c? (Of course not, you moron... it's obviously option + g because that makes the most sense.) I wanted to understand what I could do to make this a non-issue.
While I was familiar with ligatures in common letter combinations (like ff, etc), I didn't know it was the solution to my problem. My first indication was remembering a font I had that would somehow change “-“ and “>” into →. I really didn't know how it was technically done, but I knew that it was something I wanted in my font... and it seemed tangental to my issue at hand. And yea, after a quick look around the web of how something like that was done in FontLab, I came to understand the realities of ligatures, and how I could use them to more practically access more characters.
The idea that ligatures are created by conditionally substituting specific combinations of characters for one (or multiple) was a new concept. I always thought it was a universal set of rules where, if 'character x' and 'character y' are used next to each other, the software would have an option to over-ride that set for something else. While that is pretty close to how it works, the key differentiation from reality is that those substitutions are all manually added to the font, and not some pre-determined set of combinations. That manual component was key.
With that in mind, I set out to create a custom syntax/short-hand that I could use to make a lot of uncommon characters more readily accessible. I was elated that with just a little bit of work, I could permanently end my google searches and random key-combo quests. As someone who processes things visually, I started thinking of what characters I could use that resemble the character I was digging for. For example:
Another important factor to consider when developing this syntax was to make sure I didn't accidentally trigger unwanted ligatures. Naturally this is something I found out in testing, but it helped inform decisions to develop a syntax that is both obvious, and a reliant on combinations thatI would never input in any other scenario. Seeing how the syntax was starting to take shape for pre-existing characters, my brain naturally started seeing characters as modifiers for ones thats didn't exist yet.
After that first exercise in developing an actionable syntax, I saw an opportunity to bake-in character variants via ligatures. I know there’s typically options in character panels to toggle on/off style alts, but I (rightly or wrongly believed) that’s applied to text blocks as a whole. With the system I wanted to build, I could readily toggle style alts in-line without having all alt style triggered at once. This would also enable me to have multiple style alts of the same character based on different characteristics, and easily find the combination best suited for that specific instance.
The real origin for style alts as a whole came for stretched alts by adding an "=". Originally it was using a dash as the combination to activate stretch characters, but as mentioned previously, this triggered a lot of unwanted ligatures. A "-" or "–" or "—" + "X" character are all common, especially in the way that I write. An equal sign plus a character, however, that isn't something I could ever see happening unless I got back into calculus or something (which contrary to popular belief, you don't actually use in real life). Seeing as my entire site navigation was based on a horizontal movement, I alos thought stretched characters could be a nice addition to play into that lateral movement. As with anything, things quickly escalated and my brain started going a little wild with it:
In further working with my font, I started to see a lot of reoccurring styles in my formatting, and I again saw a way to make my life easier. With things like numbered lists, or attaching numerical values to text via super and sub-positioned numbers, I opted to make those accessible as well. This would allow me to bake common formatting needs directly into the font, such as:
There's a lot more that I'm hoping to add in with regards to formatting– I feel like I'm just scratching the surface. I full realize my SEO is going to look like jibberish, but I think thats an acceptable trade-off for what the yields are. I'll also probably bake in some ligatures to mess with anyone who tries to pirate this font :)
The whole purpose of me making this font, was to have something that I felt was uniquely mine.. and because I didn’t want the headache of worrying about the nuance of complex licensing. I don’t feel like that should change for anyone else either, so I’ve tried to make this as simple as I can.
I don’t have the interest to police nuanced licensing (although I will be eyeballing pirating 👀), so I dont want you to have to worry about it either. Here’s the easy terms of JW.S font licesning:
I don’t want to create complex licensing terms/distribution, but if there is gross misuse of the fonts, I might adjust course and amend the licensing terms at any point. I also try to make the fonts affordable as a means to make them more accessible.
*If you are caught re-distributing any font, your license becomes void. You may re-purchase a license once, after that I will totally be mad at you.
If you’re not interested in either of the paper or matte acrylic prints, or want a custom size or arrangement tailored for your space, I’d be more than happy to further discuss those things. I can’t promise I can/will accommodate all requests, but I'm always open to have a dialogue about it to find something that'll work best for what you're looking for– even if it means pointing you to a photographer better suited to your interests.
I’m sorry, but returns on fonts are not currently available. If you feel you have some extenuating circumstance, please reach out and let me know. I’m human too, and don’t mean to be unreasonable.
In building my mock-ups, I prefer to keep edits as non-destructive as possible. While essential image clean-up is flattened into the image, all color grades and supplemental adjustments are added via adjustment layers. The benefit is the flexibility to color grade the image to match your need. Depending on the mock-up, there will additional compositing layers that add things like additional atmospheric haze that can toggled on/off to taste. My goal is to make these as flexible as possible.
As is the case with most all photoshop mock-ups, my mock-ups are built with smart objects as a means to include your design work. Please be sure you’re familiar with how smart objects work before opting to purchase any of my mock-ups.
Returns on mock-ups are unfortunately not available. The nature of returns on digital products makes it impossible to accommodate without the risk of piracy/abuse. I encourage everyone to familiarize themself with what this product is/isn’t before purchasing to avoid any confusion. If you feel like you have a valid reason for a return, please reach out to discuss.
Every photo print on this site is a limited edition, 1 of 10. These works are only being sold because I believe them to have value, and by choosing not to broadly commoditize them, I won't undercut that worth. When all 10 are sold, prints of that image will never be brought back or re-issued in print form. Any and all of these images, however, may be featured in JW.S® digital products, or publications such as books and editorial features. In the instance an image has been licensed, featured, or has been printed in a different form, I will make an effort to annotate that on this page. (but cannot guarantee it will always be up-to-date)
While this helps each image retain its value, it also substantiates my view that photography is a continual journey forward. I don't want a small set of images, subject-matter, or styles to perpetually define me as a photographer. Maybe for a small time they will, but I hope to keep progressing, and evolving to something new.
Each image is also shot and edited as an individual piece– entirely different from any other on the site. I don’t use presets, or do bulk editing– in many instance, each image will have 1-15 unique edits before the final one is settled upon. Similarly, these images are also likely to also be updated as I continue to refine my editing techniques. If there's a significant change to a purchased image, I'd be happy to replace the previous edit at cost.
* It is important to note, that signatures will temporarily be withheld until I get my own printing up and running.
All paper prints use Epson Hot Press Bright Paper– an acid free, 100% cotton rag media with a bright smooth finish. This paper has an extremely-high color gamut and black density.
Each paper print size includes a ~1/4" white border to allow for easier matting . If you do not want this included, please follow up with an email within 1-2 days of purchase so I can accommodate.
‘Matte Acrylic’ prints are first printed on Fuji Crystal DP II paper, and then placed behind a 1/16” piece of matte acrylic glass that is lightweight, shatter proof, and reduces glare while offering UV protection. Then a silicone seal is used for protection before adhering to an aluminum dibond backing with aluminum rails– making it ready to hang. There are also options to add framing, in which case please send me an email with the exacts of what you’re looking for, and we can make it happen.
If you’re not interested in either of the paper or matte acrylic prints, or want a custom size or arrangement tailored for your space, I’d be more than happy to further discuss those things. I can’t promise I can/will accommodate all requests, but I'm always open to have a dialogue about it to find something that'll work best for what you're looking for– even if it means pointing you to a photographer better suited to your interests.
If you're interested in licensing any photos from this site, please reach out and let me know. At the moment, all of my photos are exclusively licensed through Stills.com– they handle the legal bits, payment.. everything of my photos.
Please allow up to ~10-15 days for your print to ship. While this might seem like a generous window of time, it's to account for the print shop's production time, and any potential travel, or crazy work schedules. I promise, I want to get you the print as quickly as possible, so if I can send the order to the print shop 5 mins after the order is place, I certainly will.
If for any reason you are not satisfied with your order, please contact me so we can sort out a solution. I will be accommodating as I can, but I can only accept returns / exchanges / refunds if there is a defect or some technical issue where I or the printers are at fault– not for a change of heart :/
While my photographic prints have both paper and acrylic options, I wanted to keep the spirit of the traditional posters, and keep these simple. They're meant for whatever purpose you see fit. If you want to use thumb tacks or scotch tape to hang them, they're good for that. If you want to go the longevity route, you can matte and frame them.
While the photographic prints are also limited editions, these are meant to have more of a mass appeal– meaning a more accessible price point. The paper of choice is meant to keep printing costs down while retaining a high standard of quality of image quality and longevity. As I do more test prints and explore papers over time, paper stock and price-point might shift.
All posters will be printed on Kodak Lustre paper, which will have more of a matte finish. This paper features a true photographic resin-coated base paper and e-surface finish with "pulp of unsurpassed quality.
This screensaver consists of a wide range of my photo work, displayed in HD. The repository of images it pulls from will be regularly updated with new work, and it will push dynamically to your device. In general I'm very protective of my work, but this screensaver uses encryption to protect my images from being pirated, so I can confident distribute high-res imagery.
Many people have only experienced my work in the diminutive form-factor that is Instagram™, so this also gives them a chance to see more. There will also be shots that just don't work on instagram, but will be found in the screensaver.
We also recently added the ability for you to control what categories you'd like to see. (Not everyone likes surfing as much as me, I get it). Here's a list of the current categories:
While I want to keep this product free, I want to continue to improve it with more features, more reliability, and more exploration. Unfortunately all that costs money– including hosting/distribution, and hiring additional developers to help to make it happen. As a way to potentially offset those costs and enable further development, there's an option to invest via paid options.
At the moment, running it for free isn't going to put me out on the streets, so if you enjoy it but you don't have the funds to support it right now, thats ok. Please dont stress, I'm not.
*For some insight, some possible additions/improvements I'm looking at are ways to integrate video and designs, more customizability, additional info, transitions, etc.
A couple house keeping bugs with this one. The screensaver is fully compliant with Big Sur and M1 chipped Macs. A small by-product is that the screensaver will continue to show as you enter your password after being away (previous version would show system default images). Another big fix is the way random images are shown– the full catalog of images will play through before you see a repeat of an image.
We added the ability for you to choose which categories you'd like to see. All images are now tagged, and you can control what you'd like to see. I have a penchant for dark and moody images, but maybe that not your thing. Or maybe you think surfing is dumb. Thats alright– you can create your own little safe space.
I also went through and re-edited ALL images. After doing some testing on various screens, it became clear there was some gross stuff going on with many of the images (odd color banding, odd coloration, over-saturation, weird contrast, and over-bearing grain). I do use the screensaver myself to regularly look at things to improve.. so there will be regular re-edits.
A couple minor bug updates, nothing too major. Presentation is bare bones, but it works!
Enjoy the (JW.S) Screensaver? Please consider donating to my Patreon to further its development (done by my brother so far). I have a lot of ideas for ways to make this better/ more visually interesting, and a better experience for you, the user. There's only so much that can be done with regards to functionality... it is a screensaver after all.. but visually I think we can do some pretty cool stuff.
Beyond the time spend exporting, tagging, and uploading– there are costs associated with hosting this service. It's not breaking the bank, but its just another thing in a long list of services. So the screensaver will remain free, but as it scales, it might need to be more dependent on donations.
Don't have enough room for a print? Don't want a print? Well, this app can turn your TV into a lot of prints. The app pulls from a repository of high-res images that is constantly being updated, and then pushed dynamically to the app.
This app consists of a wide range of my photo work, viewable in HD, and will be expanded upon semi-regularly. Most people experience my work in the diminutive form-factor that is Instagram™, so this will give a chance to see more details at a much larger scale. There's also some shots that just don't work on instagram, but will be found in the app.
At the moment, Apple doesn't allow third party apps to be set as screensavers– unfortunately you'll have to go into the app every time you want to use it. It's not ideal, but what can you do. If that ever changes, I assure you we'll start working on implementing that feature... don't hold your breath though.
While I want to keep this product free, I want to continue to improve it with more features, more reliability, and more exploration. Unfortunately all that costs money– including hosting/distribution, and hiring additional developers to help to make it happen. As a way to potentially offset those costs and enable further development, there's an option to invest via paid options.
At the moment, running it for free isn't going to put me out on the streets, so if you enjoy it but you don't have the funds to support it right now, thats ok. Please dont stress, I'm not.
*For some insight, some possible additions/improvements I'm looking at are ways to integrate video, and my designs.
After some initial bugs in 1.0, 1.1 fixes a few things.. thats it really. There's still an issue with aspect ratios... this drives me bananas, and hopefully is something we'll release an update for sooner than later.
As a side note, the TV app does not support the same categorization filtering that the screensaver does. It's a bit more of an undertaking in tvOS... if there's enough demand/Patreon support (ahem), we might be able to make this make this happen.
Enjoy the (JW.S) TV App? Please consider donating to my Patreon to further its development (done by my brother). I have a lot of ideas for ways to make this better, more visually interesting, and a better experience for you the user... and those all take time and/or money to make happen.
Beyond the time spent exporting, tagging, and uploading– there are costs associated with hosting this service. It's not breaking the bank, but it's just another thing in a long list of services. So the screensaver will remain free, but as it scales, it might need to be more dependent on donations... but I think thats a ways out.
Presets are very useful things. They help facilitate consistency, and greatly increase efficiency. But like all things being applied in bulk, it's important to understand that presets are fundamentally NOT one-size fits-all solutions. While I've tried to cover off different scenarios and make them as flexible as possible, they will still require some modification to taste.
If you purchase them and find severe issue(s) with how they're applied to your image, please let me know I'll try to revise, or advise as necessary.
These presets have been created and tested on the latest version of Lightroom Classic. (11.0.1). This means that they should also work on Lightroom CC and mobile. Backward compatibility has not been fully tested, so for best results, please make sure your software is up to date.
Installation is pretty simple, here's the gist:
• Download the .zip file. (from checkout or from your emailed receipt)
• Unzip/decompress file.
• Lightroom → Preferences → Presets → 'Store Presets with this catalog'
• Click 'Show Lightroom Presets Folder'
• Place presets in said folder.
• Organize presets to taste.
* These + additional info will be included in a .txt file when downloaded.
You may use these products for personal or professional use. You may not share, loan or redistribute/sell or copy any of these files in any way. This license extends to the single, individual purchaser. This license does not extend to companies or partnerships and may not be resold, loaned, and/or gifted to another individual and/or party. All presets, brushes, templates (and any other digital product) by JW.S are copyright protected.
Figma is software that most designers use today in some capacity for designs of all purposes. This product is meant to only enhance that.
If you purchase them and find severe issue with how they're applied to your image, please let me know I'll try to revise or advise as necessary.
This product will work on both free and paid accounts with Figma.
It has not been tested on any legacy versions of Figma... because I'm not even sure you can technically run a legacy versions since it's so cloud-based. I'm highly confident this will work with what you have.
Installation is pretty simple, here's the gist:
• Download the .zip file. (from checkout or from your emailed receipt)
• Unzip/decompress file.
• Open Figma.
• Click the 'Import file' tile in the file browser. You can find this in the top section of any file page in the file browser.
• Select the file(s) from the dialog window and click Open to start the import process.
• Open the file, and read the Read Me page within.
You may use these products for personal or professional use. You may not share, loan or redistribute/sell or copy any of these files in any way. This license extends to the single, individual purchaser. This license does not extend to companies or partnerships and may not be resold, loaned, and/or gifted to another individual and/or party. All presets, brushes, templates (and any other digital product) by JW.S are copyright protected.
Mock-ups are visual representations of a product or design that are used to communicate ideas and gather feedback. They can be used to present designs to stakeholders, clients, and team members, and are an powerful tool for selling through designs. Using mock-ups allows designers to present their ideas in a relatable way, making it easier for others to understand and provide feedback on the design.
One of the other benefits of using mock-ups is that they allow designers to test and iterate on their designs before committing to the final version. This can save time and resources by catching potential issues earlier in the design process.
Installation is pretty simple, here's the gist:
• Unzip/decompress file.
• Find the decompressed file
• Either Drag the file into file into Figma's Project view, OR click 'Import File' from the same project view.
• Go nuts.
* These + additional info will be included in a .txt file when downloaded.
Installation is pretty simple, here's the gist:
• Download the ZIP file (from a download link provided both in check out, and in a follow-up email)
• Decompress the ZIP file.
• Read the Read-Me.txt (if included, or interested)
• Open the included PSD file.
• Go nuts.
[ Personal ]
You may use these products for personal or professional use. You may not share, loan or redistribute/sell or copy any of these files in any way. This license extends to the single, individual purchaser. This license does not extend to companies or partnerships and may not be resold, loaned, and/or gifted to another individual and/or party. All presets, brushes, templates (and any other digital product) by JW.S are copyright protected, and any breach of these terms will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
[ Studio ]
You may use these products for personal or professional use for you and your your business/studio. You may not share, loan or redistribute/sell or copy any of these files in any way, EXCEPT for with the people of your studio. This license does not extend to companies or partnerships and may not be resold, loaned, and/or gifted to another individual and/or party. All presets, brushes, templates (and any other digital product) by JW.S are copyright protected, and any breach of these terms will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
These wallpaper packs... well, they're sets of images for your cellular device. Each collection is put together based on various thematic through-lines. Each image is also typically available as a print.. so if there's any that you like, check the prints category for availability, or feel free to reach out.
I primarily put these out because I get a lot of requests for them, and I'm terrible about getting people images since my head is always in the clouds somewhere. (I still owe images all over town... some from 2 years ago. It's bad.) I've also had a lot of people want to support this creative endeavor of mine, but don't want a print, don't want to be on the hook for a Patreon sorta deal, or wouldn't mind something tangible in return. Well, hopefully this solves some of that, and if not– no worries. I really do appreciate the support, and hopefully these will offset some of my costs to create this work, but I'll be fine whether or not people actually download these.
If you're curious about how the process of getting the wallpapers to work on your device, here's the basic process:
This process may change as I will continue to look for ways to make this better. Unfortunately there isn't a native way to download sets of images on a mobile device... so I understand its seems a little painful right now, but the list looks worse than it is.
Once you have the images, there will also be step-by-step instructions on the downloads page for both iOS and Android. If you also want to download the image to your desktop, and then transfer the images to your phone from there, there will be instructions for that as well. Setting wallpapers is something I believe most people are already familiar with, but in the info I've collected doesn't suffice... ask a friend?
You might still have some questions, so here's some answers that may help things along if you're not sure about something...
Can I share these images with others?
Please do not share these images with anyone. I understand there is nothing technically stopping you from doing it (beyond violating the agreed upon Terms and Conditions), but it would be appreciated if you didn't. Send them to this site instead to keep these going.
I don't see the shot I want as a wallpaper, can I request images for wallpapers?
Absolutely. I can't promise I can/will accommodate, but I am putting this together for others, and I don't pretend to have the greatest read on that at times.
Can I download these multiple times?
Sure, if you'd like– just keep them only on your devices. It's recommended to keep the original safe as I can't promise these will be available online indefinitely (hosting changes, products cycling out, etc)
I have a work and personal phone, can I put these on both?
You bet.
I can't figure out how to get the wallpapers working, what should I do?
Re-read the instructions, ask a friend, say a prayer? Unfortunately I don't think I'll have the bandwidth to offer installation support on this, so please be familiar with the process beforehand. You can ask if something weird comes up, and I'll respond if I have time... but I believe in you. You got this.
Are there any refunds?
The short answer is no, sorry. Once you have access to the download link, there's really no going back. If you feel you have just cause for a refund, I'd like to think I can be pretty fair, so please contact me and we'll get you sorted.