Jēkabs Mucenieks on building brands, mockups and creative freedom

For Jēkabs Mucenieks, the Riga-based brand designer behind JAM, creative fulfilment comes from dividing attention deliberately. Winter months are dedicated to freeride snowboarding in the mountains, summers to surfing in Peniche, and the spaces in between to beatmaking and brand work. This compartmentalised approach keeps boredom at bay and brings a fresh perspective to his practice. As one-eleventh of Colortime, a creative alliance of independent designers who collaborate without hierarchy, Mucenieks has built a career that prizes autonomy above all else. In this interview, he unpacks how Colortime’s organic structure functions, why he’s separated his mockup brands, and how time away from design ultimately strengthens his creative output. TBI: Hi Jēkabs! How are things in Peniche? JM: Hi, T-BI!  Peniche WAS great – lots of surf and sun. I’m currently in my home base in Riga, Latvia. Looks like I need to automate my location to my website, although I love manual labour, haha.