Graphic Design
Wander through the below examples of JJ’s work; a garden of clean lines, and chaotic scenes.
This design was created for use in my own business as a one-pager quick style guide. I wanted to include this design as a solid indicator of my overall organization skills. By showing that I know how to use and create one-page style reference sheets, I felt like I could showcase my professionalism perhaps a bit better than just wrestling flyers could!
This design was created for use as a full-page, full color flyer. We used the bright colors and frenetic design principles to present the chaos that is professional wrestling. In particular this event. We wanted to showcase the talent involved with the show, but not in a traditional way. By showing these performers in action, it gives the viewer a sense of the product they are buying tickets for. In sticking with the theme of 1990’s action heroes, each of the characters has been made into comic book styling, with deep blacks and bright highlights.
This design was created for use on social media, as a full color, three panel advertisement. We used the more home-centric tans and natural tones to unify the design. The branding is in regards to a company called “Fresh Fare Farms.”
This design was created by me, for printing on an actual, physical object. This photo is of
the actual object printed and assembled. I chose this wrestling belt to showcase my ability to
create things outside the realm of the digital world. I have created the merchandise and belt
design for each of the belts in use at my promotion.
This design was created for use as a portrait of myself for my portfolio. As it is rather
bizarre, this captures my approach to design very well! As a lover of vintage and all things Chicago (the greatest city in the world!), I wanted to capture these elements in my portfolio
portrait.
We inset and superimposed the smaller images over the farm fields to give the design a sense of scale. We really wanted to emphasize the quality of the products, and that they are farm-to-table. We really wanted to give a grandiose sense to the design, of a wide-open field to really draw the viewer in. For the superimposed images, framed in the same cream color as the background, we really wanted to emphasize the farm-to-table concept; the seeds and farmer images serve as a subtle timeline, from the hands that grow the seeds to the end product.
This poster was created to display the spectacle that is professional wrestling in a way that draws upon nostalgia. Professional wrestling is a lot like a video game; it combines the “buy in” from the viewer with the emotional state at the time. Even more so, if the performers are doing a good job, the spectator is almost “playing” as the individual performing. When designing this flyer, I really tried to keep a fine line between nostalgia and more modern elements of design.
This design was created for use in a 3D modeling introductory course. The assignment was to create three standard objects, and present them with realistically-lit angles and shadows. Not one to create just the bare minimum, I tried to take the assignment further by creating an absurdist “picnic” at sunset. The light of the cell phone plays with the warmer tones of the sunset. I believe you can never have too many tools in your proverbial “tool box,” and this is just one of many cards I have up my sleeve to bring design ideas to life.
This design was created for use as a tattoo. I started as an apprentice tattoo artist while travelling, and this design was created for a client who wished to remember key elements of their life. Each element was selected by the client, who tasked me with creating a singular, semi-symmetrical piece for their shoulder. They also wanted each element to stand out, but not distract from the others. This design was created in Photoshop, with the original draft being done by hand with traditional pencil and paper, then scanned and digitized. This design is almost a decade old now, and really shows my progression and acquisition of skills since then.
This is the Show Schedule for Third Coast Wrestling, also known in shorthand as 3CW. It is a basic display of each show’s theme and approximate date. This design was almost entirely made in Canva, which is a new, online-only media editor and compositor. I include this piece as a skill presentation; I have worked in Canva, and some companies swear by it, as it reduces software costs and provides a single, online repository for branding and marketing materials. It does have its limitations, but it makes up for those with its social media integrations and built-in templates. One word of advice; don’t stick to the templates. Canva has a lot of hidden tools that have a steep learning curve, but once understood, allow one to do much more on the platform than Canva advertises. For me, I still rely on the good ol’ Photoshop and Illustrator.
This design was simply created for experience and enjoyment. At the time it was created, I was reading the “Dune” series of books by Frank Herbert. This design was made in 2017, before the remakes of the book/movie hit the theaters. I was experimenting with layers of texture here; the smooth texture of the stillsuit superimposed over the course details of the moon in the background. I was also attempting to incorporate art deco design principles with the moon acting as a sort of “halo” around the woman’s face, and the detail being surrounded by clearly framed negative space. She appears to be popping out of the frame, a technique often used in stained-glass art.