We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jon Garcia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

The first time I can actively remember thinking to myself that I wanted to be an artist (a vague job title my 8-year-old brain had) was when I was at Dale’s Planet Comics in Midland, TX. I was browsing the new books and I saw the cover art for X-Men #1. It’s the iconic 4-page wide pullout illustrated by Jim Lee that had all of the X-Men confronting Magneto. The illustration was mind-blowing especially to someone who had primarily been reading Archie Comics up to that point. When I remember seeing that cover for the first-time the memory plays out like a movie where all of the colors are de-saturated and the only vibrant pop of color were those 4 issues of X-Men #1 laying side by side on the shelf. There were 4 separate covers of that particular issue and I purchased the one that featured Cyclops and Wolverine. I took it home, read it about a dozen times, and then immediately began drawing the characters over and over again. It was the first time I can recall feeling control of anything as a kid and I can remember gradually getting better at drawing.

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

Currently, I am an illustrator, graphic designer, and game developer living in Austin, TX. My main style of art is retro video-game pixel art with a big emphasis on video game/pop culture mashups. My main focus at the moment is solo developing a retro-inspired point and click video game called FRIDAY NIGHT 1998. I’m a big gamer so as I started to get better at pixel art, the bug to be a storyteller bit me so I jumped headfirst into game design. Game Design is certainly a new challenge but it’s incredibly fun learning something new that gets you excited.

I also collaborate with Push Start Productions on film graphic design. One of my proudest accomplishments in film is creating the branding and some production design elements for the independent feature films, MONDAY and MILLENNIUM BUGS. At the moment, my creative work is still on a part-time basis but I am very fortunate that I have a great day job as a designer for the Learning and Development Department at Torchy’s Tacos (visit us in Austin, I’ll treat you to the best queso you ever had). Doing design with the sole focus of being used a learning tool is a real challenge that allows me a change of pace and designing with a different focus.

Despite being primarily an illustrator and designer, my career actually began with video and film. My first post-college job was as a news editor for an NBC-station in Midland, TX. I studied mainly video/film production in college so I spent my early career working with video but as an editor at a news station, I was kinda forced to learn video graphics. Once I did that, everything changed. I was pretty quickly promoted to commercial editor and then to the Creative Services Director. I helped with news promos, commercials, but my proudest achievement was creating the branding and standards for our Friday Night football show, GAME TIME. I love football and I loved ESPN at the time so working with sports was something I absolutely loved. Doing that work pushed me into design and I’ve never really looked back.

I eventually moved to Albuquerque, NM and started working at a very cool advertising agency called One Creative. It was there, from my bosses T. Payton and Wendy Spalsbury, that I really learned design and marketing. I’d be underselling it if I didn’t say how much I learned in my years at that agency. It was honestly better than anything grad school could have taught me and my work carries their stamp on it for sure.

Back in 2016, I moved to Austin, TX and everything just starting moving in a positive direction for my work. Something about this city just inspires people and I was no exception. I think had I moved here when I was younger, it might not have worked due to my cockiness and competitiveness. As I get older, I don’t feel like I’m in competition with anyone but myself and I’ve really learned to love collaboration. There isn’t a finite limit to creating cool stuff and you learn a ton working with other people. It also helps to have a wife who is a fan of your work and actively encourages me. It’s my wife Jen’s support that allows me the flexibility to not have to take any job that comes my way. I’m able to work on projects that I really love because there isn’t this burden to grind and hustle which ultimately can just grind and hustle the passion out of you.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Go to conventions, artist markets, independent films, live shows… It’s easy to say but just show up. It really matters. Even if you’re just buying a sticker for $3, an artist truly appreciates it. Buy shirts and merch from sites like TeePublic or Redbubble. The art and design on those site are world’s better than most mainstream places, are incredibly unique, and most importantly, give money directly to artists. It’s tough out there for everyone so we all need to lift people up. A place like Austin has so many great conventions and markets, it really helps the city stand out and attracts creatives. You get cool stuff and an artist gets paid for their hard work… it really is a win-win. I’m just now getting back into the convention scene after the craziness of the past few years and I’m really looking forward to meeting people and hopefully, selling them something cool. I love getting photo or messages from people who were gifted my work. It never gets old.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I really wish I had reached out fellow creatives way earlier than I started to. While Twitter and the like can be a time suck and a cesspool at times, I can say that I love that it’s allowed me access to writers, artists, comedians, and filmmakers that I enjoy and admire. And I’m not talking about mainstream people necessarily. It’s very cool to read an amazing article and then reach out to the writer to let them know what you thought or to a person who designed a very cool poster for an independent film. While it’s true that toxicity gets the headlines and can sometimes seem like it’s the only thing social media is good for, it helps to remember that we can use the access we have to people to make a connection and let them know you admire their work. There are so many amazing creative people I’ve reached out and a few have turned into genuine friendships. Last year, I found this really great artist doing some incredibly creative and haunting music covers. His name is Bloom/Pool and I reached out to him to let him I loved a particular cover he did. Fast forward to now and he’s contributing music to my video game and I’ve done a couple of animations for him. A lot of time, sharing work to the world is nerve-wracking because anything that a person creates will ultimately carry a little piece of them with it. Don’t hesitate to reach out with encouraging words… I can guarantee that nearly all will appreciate it. There’s so much content we have access to so letting someone know that something they made means something can be the world. And you might just make a new friend.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rokrjon.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/rokrjon
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RokrJON