Picsart’s design team invited me to design their Proud by Design campaign for Pride Month 2022. The goal was to create a visual identity that felt cheeky, cute, celebratory, and full of color.

Pride Capsule Collection Collaboration

Sam and Wenter, the owners of Third Culture Bakery, approached me for a playful collaboration. For Pride that year, they partnered with my brand Peens to create a capsule collection featuring a t-shirt, stickers, and a tote bag.

The designs highlight Sam’s quote from an incident in which a customer told him he shouldn’t be “exposing people” to rainbow stickers on their pastry boxes. We transformed that negative moment into a powerful reminder for everyone to live their truth with pride.

Personal Project

I created my own rendition of the Pride flag, inspired by Daniel Quasar’s design that centers inclusivity for the queer Black and trans community.

This was made in collaboration with my talented motion designer friend, Sabrina Curry💖

Branding and Illustration

I was asked to design the branding for a chili oil company that Cindy, my friend’s cousin, was starting. While the chili oil itself was delicious, the branding needed a stronger identity.

Cindy emphasized her wish to feature her Shiba Inu, Haru, as the inspiration and central character for the brand.

Illustrations

A series of pencil drawings created during my first year in the MFA Illustration/Animation program. The work explores my fear and love of men, the anxieties of contracting and imagining sexually transmitted infections, and the myths and stigmas surrounding sex, all viewed through my perspective as a gay, biracial man.

Toy Design

An interactive illustration inspired by the classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood.

The installation featured a wolf tent ribbed with bones, a handmade grandmother and Little Red, a skeleton pillow, and even a fully functional “stomach” sleeping bag, hungry for food!

Photo Credit to Romana Vera

A sleeping bag that I illustrated, fabricated, and quilted, inspired by a dream I had about my long beard.

Illustration and Typography

I had the pleasure of creating a pride illustration for Joey Espina, owner of All Time Plants in Long Beach California. We took Joey’s favorite plant, Alocasia Dragonscale, and made that into the shape of a rainbow heart.

This project includes the initial sketch ideas presented to Joey, ultimately choosing the heart-shaped plant drawing I made.

Poster series and marketing collateral

Series of posters for CSULB California Repertory Spring 2019 theatrical plays with political and social themes which reflect on the issues that are happening in America.

The idea was to reflect the plays’ content through the self-portraits, using colors, illustration & photography to tie the series together.

Experimental Animation

Morning wood is about dreams, butterflies, puffy clouds and tall trees, Enjoy!

Book Layout and Illustration

My partner Huan and I were approached by the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital to work on a sex-ed book for queer and trans youth.

Huan worked on the type layout and composition, while I was in charge of the illustration and art direction of the book.

Illustration and Animation

I was commissioned to do a series of illustrations for an experimental product at Google.

Hypothetical project for Target Holiday Signage

Putting my own take on classic Halloween monsters, I created my own characters. This project consists of in-store signage, gift-wrapping paper, bowls, and character designs.

Branding, Icon Design, and Marketing

I was approached by the Engineering, Business, and Art departments to create a new logo and secondary icons for their annual competition. the Innovation Challenge.

The challenge requires students to form groups with members of each department. They have to create a project that showcases all 3 majors and create a business plan that promotes sustainability for the earth.

Art, Business, and Engineering elements are all showcased in the secondary icons, while the Innovation Challenge logo highlights the “i” as a stylized lightbulb to represent ideas.

Art direction, set design, and photography

I shot a variety of enamel pins for the enamel pin production company True Metal Works. Ranging from soft and hard enamel pins, each pin ranged from drag queens, cute animals, deserts, and that healthy fruit smoothie that helps you go poop. Each one required a different set of treatments, making it fun and challenging to tackle creatively head-on.

Illustrations

I was approached by Ollie to do a series of illustrations for an upcoming project they were working on. Cool trendy pet owners, cute pups, and delicious treats were requested.

Apparel Design

Original Penguin clothing invited me to create an illustration for their Pride Capsule collection. Be Loud and Proud was the theme for that year’s pride event.

The idea I had was based on Harvey Milk’s megaphone, which he used to spread his message of acceptance and awareness to the people who saw him and others differently.

Poster and collateral designed for CSULB Annual Winter Festival Concert.

Album cover design

Andrew Lunt came to us and asked if we could design his first debut album “Lafayette Ben Charlatan", which is also his stage name.

Andrew's music and stage persona draw influence from Southern Jazz, Blues and 20th century American rock, which serve as inspiration for the look and feel of our record design.

I was in charge of creating of the art direction and illustrations, while Huan Nguyen provided the typographic treatment of the vinyl as well as the custom word mark that accompanied it.

Poster Design

The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music approached me to design their Opera play, Candide. The theme of being naively optimistic was the visual for this poster. The iconic smiley face was contrasted with beautifully rendered objects conveying serious themes of the play; religion, death, power, murder, and destruction.