CJ Jones

In most of my portfolio and exhibition-based work you will likely find logotypes and style pages for these logos, package designs and mockups of these packages, web design, and other relevant things to showcase my technical skills. However, outside my professional aspirations, my life revolves around creating art of all kinds for myself. I mostly work in digital illustration, but I make a goal for myself to be as multi-disciplined as possible, using different traditional mediums such as markers, paint, prints, sculptures, and more anything to help my vision, or yours, come to life. The most important factor about my art in any sense, however, is color.

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I would close my eyes to see colors. I would close my eyes to see colors. As a child, I actively sought out the most pleasing color combinations as possible a kaleidoscope was one of my favorite toys to have. I would spend hours simply gazing at colorful illustrations in picture books, rewind scenes in movies to see colorful moments, and most importantly, close my eyes to see the colors. I’d screw them shut or blink rapidly, and in midst of the inky blankness of my closed eyes, I’d see the most wonderful, vibrant colors. Bright colors mean a lot to me. To me they can be both jovial as well as intense, exciting as well as anxiety inducing. And I happen to be a very anxious person, so this dichotomy became an intrinsic part of my character.

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Incidentally, dichotomy is what I’m all about as an artist. I like to make things that are both cute and pretty but on the other side of it, you can always sense beneath the bright colors and sparkles, that something is a bit off. Picture the most adorable pink little bunny rabbit you’ve ever seen, and then put spider eyes on it or make it hold a knife. Picture a rainbow, and then it’s suddenly dripping with its own prismatic blood. That’s an astute comparison to what my art is like. I create art just about every day, and if I’m not creating from being busy with other matters, I’m thinking about what I’ll create once I get back to it. This intense fascination of art derives from my anxiety and mental health in general, as it’s how I’ve learned to cope. Art has given me an outlet of self-expression so I can disturb the comforted and comfort the disturbed. From having a serious personality disorder, being autistic, having gender dysphoria, and more, I try to channel these intense emotions of mine into something I at least consider beautiful.

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Now, how does this fit into graphic design? Graphic design is a lot unlike me, it has structure and rules and trends that need to be kept up with. But with that, I see a challenge that I’m willing to take. I simply learned the rules to break them, like any good artist. This falls back into dichotomy- and so, I implemented my previously mentioned style into the crux of my graphic design work. Cute logotypes and colorful packaging are my own personal watermark to the industry. With this, I hope to create a more individualized sense of identity in the graphic design world, starting from the inside out. I wish to take my love of color and somehow make it a staple of something big that everyone could see. If I can’t change the world entirely however, I at least can start small with freelance clients or any employer kind enough to have me. I want them to know that they don’t have to adhere to the status quo if it means wanting to make their dreams a reality. Sometimes being different is good, and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with the current wave of minimalist trends, it’s just good to know there are options.

        

While I’m committed to being the best graphic designer I can be, my goal as an artist and person in general is that I want people to understand the beauty of colors as I do. Composition and my own personal style is one thing, but at the end of the day, I can leave those behind for a compromise in changing aesthetics as long as I get to use bright colors. Perhaps its due to the sensory input it gives me while being on the autism spectrum, but such visual stimulation is something I have and will continue to seek out as long as I have working eyes. I’m uncertain if I see the world differently since I don’t have any other point of reference, but I just know that what I create brings me a prolonged sense of joy that makes my own life worth living. If I could leave any legacy behind, I hope it’s that I at least tried to put a bit more color in the world with my art, and wherever life takes me, I hope to leave a bleeding rainbow behind.