Design is a way of life: Growing up in all different parts of the world, I got to see many different cultures. With an over-saturation of cultures, comics became an inspiration to me and began fueling my imagination.
In The Beginning
I began drawing my favorite super heroes in my own stories. Mini comics on lined paper while in the middle of class. By the time I was in highschool, I didn't know what I was going to do with my future. One day, my art teacher had suggested that I look into a growing career field known as graphic design. I enrolled myself into R.O.P. Graphics my junior year and never looked back. I graduated in 1999 and continued my education at a junior college and soon found myself at a trade school to learn more.
The World of Freelance
At the age of eighteen, besides for school, I started a freelance career. As I started landing clients, no one had told me the ins and outs of this business. Needless to say that I learned them the hard way. If you want to do freelance work, you need to have a minor in business and accounting. Contracts, other agreements, invoices, reciepts, comps, budgets finals renders, accounting books . . . you name it, I was doing it.
New Venture
My new school was located in Los Angeles, CA. New City and new poeple. After a couple of years, a couple of colleagues and I decided to open a design studio. All of us had full time jobs in our field but wanted more. We Launched "Digital Juice Media Group" in 2004. We hit the ground running and never looked back. The main problem though was the fact that we were so young. When three 23 year olds walk into a board room of a corporation or are dealing with clients who are twice their age, there's kind of an up hill battle that starts. The good news was that we were good at what we did and that we offered so much. We specialized in interactive media, print, web, editing, filming, we were the one stop shop for all your needs. Things were going well and we began to grow but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I was blessed with my little girl and decided I had to leave, all of my partners fealt that it wouldn't be the same if all of us weren't there. Though we look back at all the stress and crazy hours, we wouldn't have changed it for the world.
In The Now
Now, looking back, I had the opportunity to work in every facet of multimedia. Print, motion, web, 3d, programming and the one thing that I must say . . . I really enjoy going back to my roots of illustration. If it wouldn't have been for all those comics, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. Thank god for Stan Lee.