Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Justin James Colón. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Justin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

While studying traditional film in college, I had the privilege to pivot and work in 2D animation for three incredible women behind a series of children’s books: Fantastic Florence.

Lesley Millard Zafran, the author, and collaboraters Tara Kellogg and Dr. Cinda Kane combined their skills in therapy and education to create Florence the character. She inspires kids as a magical traveling bag, using the power of encouraging words to help young people in their challenges of growing up. (Ages 6-12)

Through meeting Lesley and her team, I learned what Florence stood for and this closely lined up with common values I still live by in Christian faith. Themes of family, hope, kindness, and love. I could insert those tones and story elements into this passion project of adapting the books into animation, very easily attaching myself. Before this journey into animation surpassed my camera-operating and directing, I always sprinkled breadcrumbs of faith in my drawings with a cartoonist background…so it’s no surprise that the next step was moving cartoon characters.

I helped make two proof of concept videos that adapted the books, and would display the potential for Florence to become a kids show on a network eventually, reminiscent of Curious George or Clifford the Big Red Dog. After, this evolved into new animated content for social media audiences: Short-form cartoons that covered heavy topics like bullying and loneliness in graceful and relatable ways. Parents should not have to worry about the media their kids consume, and with Florence I believed early on she could inspire households with positive lessons for the entire family.

Fantastic Florence has a TikTok presence @_fantasticflorence!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a visual storyteller through film, animation, and digital art. But not always in this order.

I took a hobby and turned that into regular work today as a cartoonist. Illustration was my start before college studies, and I thank my father for nurturing my early creativity. Little me constantly drew and looked over at dad (who is a tech buff) for help with scanning every wacky character I had on paper. He bounced between print and graphic design jobs in New York City and Chicago, even learning tips from other illustrators like Ron Barrett (behind the book, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’).

So my imagination is inspired by my dad and his younger self, and I still find worlds to put my original characters in today.

Grown up me studied filmmaking with an emphasis on Branded Entertainment, another outlet for narrative writing to promote brands, sell products, build awareness etc. My approach was often comedy for this, a style guaranteed to pull audiences and provoke their thoughts differently than other genres can say.

Some of my scripts were for Post-it Notes, Virgil’s Soda, Sabra Dipping Company, and more. I also worked on branded crews for Uber Eats, Air Jordan, and Coca-Cola content. The goal I pushed while honing this craft was: Please people, make them laugh, sell a thing.

Then faith massively hijacked my career journey somewhere along the way, in a great way, and the jokes I told in my film stories quickly got balanced out with a more serious call to action: Warn people, bring them hope, and make them think.
Being a Christian now with a digital footprint can be hard sometimes, but compared to where I was before God shook me awake in the pandemic period, I saw how I could repurpose my filming and cartoons to tell a better story than just mine.

Film projects today are credited with my name and then I cartoon for clients under my alias, ‘GreenSpleen.’ This brand name came from a character loosely based on me, who’s vegan / loves salad. Picture cookie monster but GreenSpleen is like an arm to my overall artistic mission, suited for families and young audiences to enjoy. It could become the show runner to episodics like The Fairly OddParents from Nickelodeon, or VeggieTales.

I actively pursue collaboration with musicians in need of album art, and an opportunity to enter the music video space as the perfect Branded Entertainment platform for storytelling and faith.

My favorite movie legends with distinct style are Tim Burton, Guillermo del Toro, and Wes Anderson for bold vision.
My favorite cartoonists are Butch Hartman, Walt Disney, and Dav Pilkey for staying young at heart.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

In high school I found a much better alternative to NFTs before they even started and became popular. Few understand the point of NFTs today and what they can actually accomplish, but there’s a simpler website called neonmob.com that’s been around for years supporting digital artists. They don’t categorize their library as NFTs, and it continues to expand. Yet this place helps artists maintain their creative freedom, and monetize original pieces through a collecting community of trading cards that runs like a game. There’s also an app on mobile stores to keep the momentum going of opening cards with different rarities, from common to extra rare. I recommend checking Neonmob out and doing research on its user testimonials.

I’ve come a long way and evolved technique, but this website was where a lot of my earliest art done on computer landed. There’s something for everybody on this platform very similar to a pocket art gallery or museum.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn what I was told success was. Told by society. A lot of money or your greatest accomplishments isn’t the correct place to root your identity. Neither is your biggest failures.
Making the mistake of seeing yourself as “how well you do something” or “how poorly” results in an ‘up and down rollercoaster lifestyle.’ A performative ‘happy / sad’ way of living that is harmful because we’re not machines. We’re human beings and have our limits. It’s also an inwardly focused drive, not considering anyone else around.

While chugging through the workflow of filmmaking and digital artistry during the 2020 pandemic, I came to an ends of myself as soon as disappointment struck. Burnout came. I wasn’t seeing much juice for the squeeze I put on my studies and jobs at the time. At rock bottom I chose to crack open the Bible, super curious since people in my personal life spoke the world of it, and discovered how success comes from walking in your purpose. In other words doing what you’re created to do: Glorify the Creator who made you by knowing him deeply and obeying. The relationship kept from that is real lasting joy, and motivates how you do good unto other people disconnected from their Creator.

My artwork is one way I serve those around me needing encouragement, representation, knowledge, and more. In it I show how imperfect and flawed I am, we are, and the cross as where to run to for forgiveness.

Contact Info:

• Website: justinjamescolon.com
• Instagram: @green.spleen
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinjamescolon?trk=people-guest_people_search-card
• Other: TikTok @green.spleen