My work is rooted in the things that have shaped me the most: music, sports, culture, and family.

Before I ever thought about design as a career, I was the kid flipping through CD booklets, studying every photograph, illustration, font choice, and detail, trying to understand why it all felt the way it did. Music was my first creative language. I grew up playing trumpet, eventually picked up a guitar, started writing songs, and spent years fronting a band. That instinct to build a feeling, tell a story, and connect with people never really left. I just found another way to do it visually.

Sports came next. I became obsessed with logos, uniforms, crests, colors, and the history behind them. What pulled me in was the loyalty in it all. The way a symbol can represent a city, a family, a generation, or a moment that people carry with them for the rest of their lives. There is something powerful about creating work that becomes part of that larger story.

That same sense of connection comes from my own family. I grew up surrounded by a big, close-knit family, Mexican food at my grandma's house, Dodgers games on with my uncle, backyard BBQs, Luaus, Hawaiian food, Hula, music, and cousins running around everywhere. Those experiences gave me an appreciation for heritage, nostalgia, community, and the small details that make something feel like home.

Becoming a dad has only sharpened that perspective. I think more about time now. What matters, what lasts, and what is worth offering into the world. It’s made me want to communicate more clearly, strip away what is unnecessary, and get to the heart of an idea.

Whether I am building a brand, creating a graphic, or making something by hand, I want everything I make to have some soul in it. I want it to feel lived in, nostalgic, a little rough around the edges, but intentional. Something that connects to a memory, a place, a person, or a feeling.

And there is still nothing quite like seeing something I created living out in the world. An athlete wearing it. A graphic showing up on the field. Someone walking down the street in a shirt I designed. Knowing that something that started in my head became a small part of someone else's life is what makes it all worth it.