“I grew up drawing, skateboarding, and listening to punk rock music,”
Digital Madness
Written by Ashley
Digital
artist and San Francisco native
Jono Boyer draws from a jack of all trades
career experience to enrich his graphic
design career for both branding and apparel
design. Boyer’s introduction into the
branding industry began at a young age as
his creativity was nurtured by a multitude of
influences that inspire him to this day.
‘‘moment
of truth’
and knew I
had to get
this job.”
said Boyer. “My love for art and my love for computers eventually became
intertwined, paving the way for my future career.”
“It started around 1997 with Adobe Photoshop 4,” said Boyer. “I would
tinker around with making graphics. Design just came naturally to me.”
In high school, Boyer began to experiment in the clothing design business
with a close friend. While the clothing design business tanked, it granted him
experience in screen-printing. It was thanks to his previous experience with screenprinting that he began to work for the skateboard industry.
“I started working at Point Distribution in 2006,” said Boyer. “The company
sells custom skateboard products to skate shops who want to start their own brand.”
Boyer designed custom goods, created logos, digital illustrations, type
treatments and other related skateboard graphics further complementing his art
skills.
While working full-time at Point Distribution in 2006, Boyer attended The
Art Institute of California - San Francisco. Soon after learning he would have to put
his education on hold because of finical reasons, Boyer landed his first job with the
agency MKTG.
“MKTG is experiential marketing agency with a fair amount of ‘high profile’
clients,” said Boyer. “I nailed the interview and was working on a project for NIKE
30 minutes later.”
Boyer had the opportunity to work with clients such as: Nike, Google, CNET,
YouTube, TRX, and Levis.
Boyer’s determination would eventually lead him to his dream job: working
for Rebel 8, a street wears company.
“I have been a huge fan of Mike Giant’s work for almost half my life,” said
Boyer. “One
day a friend of mine sent me a link to an ad Rebel 8 posted looking for a graphic
designer. I assumed this was my ‘moment of truth’ and knew I had to get this job.”
After receiving an email from Rebel 8 asking Boyer to create a sample line,
Boyer started sketching and ended up going beyond what the client requested.
“Then they dropped the bomb on me,” said Boyer. “They could only pay me
1/4th of what I was making and I had to bring my own computer from home.
I made what I knew was a reckless decision and decided to take the job despite the
financial crisis it would eventually cause.”
Boyer continued to work for Rebel 8 but a month later it became apparent
that his career would only force him into a worse financial situation.
Boyer’s current employer, Levi’s, keeps him busy with requests and
deadlines. He still knows how to keep the passion alive and is frequently looking for
new ways to implement his own flare into Levi’s designs. “I am consistently looking
for new, fun things to work on around the office,” said Boyer. “I love what I do.
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