We recently connected with Jonathan Castanon and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jonathan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Other than the occasional intro classes I took back at home, I didn’t really start exploring my creative outlets until 2020, when I enrolled at California State University, Monterey Bay as a Communication Design student.

I’d like to think I was a pretty active and creative kid. I primarily played baseball, but I tried all sorts of things like dance, flag football, soccer, game design classes, and filming YouTube videos in my friend’s backyard. Once I got into high school, I added theatre and CAD drawing to that list. Other than baseball, nothing really stuck for me. I knew I wanted to do something creative, but couldn’t find the right outlet. That changed when I took my first Dreamweaver class as an elective my senior year. Although I’m no website-building master (nor do I want to be), I can confidently say that my love for layout, typography, and color stemmed from that class. It piqued my interest enough to want to learn more.

When I first started at CSUMB, I came into the Communication Design program with no prior knowledge of design. I explored a variety of classes, ranging from After Effects and Photoshop to web design, project management, and service learning, until I figured out what I wanted to do. I spent nights and weekends watching YouTube tutorials or scrolling Pinterest for the next spark of creativity. By the time I reached my senior year, I had found my passions in the creative space: logo design, marketing collateral, and photography.

My classes over the four years were very openly structured, allowing us to take a design brief and really make it our own. Still, I’d say they taught me only about 25% of what I know. The other 75% came from experimenting, doing projects on my own, getting feedback from peers, and scouring the internet.

I’m grateful for my college experience and, more importantly, appreciative of my parents for helping me through it. Without school, I wouldn’t have had the privilege or opportunity to explore this as a career. But I believe most of learning this craft comes from having the passion to critique your own work, draw inspiration from other art, ask how you can improve, and have the willingness to put in the time to learn more.

As a Graphic Designer, Photographer, and Social Media Manager, I’m constantly learning and implementing new things into my workflow. I like to think I’m always growing and continually finding new ways to hone my craft.

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.

My name is Jonathan Castañon, and I am a Graphic Designer, Photographer, and Social Media Manager based in Pacific Grove, CA. I got my start in the creative field when I began my 4-year Communication Design degree at California State University, Monterey Bay in 2020. Going into school, I didn’t know exactly what field I wanted to pursue, but I knew it had to be somewhere in the creative spectrum. Over those four years, I explored web design, motion graphics, and cinematography, and eventually landed on a hybrid of logo and print design with a focus on photography.

Currently, I work full-time at the Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, CA as a Marketing & Communications Coordinator. This is where I do the bulk of my creative work. Whether I’m covering member events, designing internal marketing collateral, managing our two social media pages, or creating internal newsletters, I’m part of an impressive and skilled Marketing team that’s dedicated to producing some of the highest-quality work.

Outside of the 9-to-5, I take on a mix of one-off and long-term creative projects such as brand identity, photography, website management, and social media. Most notably, I manage and produce social media content for a local Pacific Grove brewery called Hops & Fog.

I’ve made it a focus to provide my services to local, smaller businesses. The Monterey area is full of mom-and-pop shops, contributing to the small-town charm that I believe is second to none in California. In the professional world of marketing, design, and content management, these businesses often don’t have access to creative support since their focus is on providing the best service they can. It’s incredibly rewarding to use my skills to support these businesses and the community they represent.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Conversing and connecting with local shops has been my best strategy for growing my clientele. Most of the clients I’ve earned have come from simply having a conversation with them. One story is with a sewing shop in Pacific Grove, The Sewing Corner. I went in looking for some needle and thread to fix a pair of work pants. The owner, who was running the shop that day, and I started chatting about the local area, where I was from, and how the business got started. Eventually, the conversation turned to what I do for a living. That led to them asking if I provided any services, as they were looking for help with their website.

Another story is with Hops & Fog Brewery. I originally applied to be a dishwasher there, hoping to make some extra cash on the side. Our schedules didn’t line up, so the job didn’t work out. However, at the end of the interview, they asked me a few questions about my background, which led to a conversation about social media. That’s how I ended up helping them with their content.

I understand that striking up a conversation with random people can feel nerve-racking, and there are definitely anxieties that come with it. I think it also depends on the area you’re in. I’ve found this strategy especially useful in my town because it’s so tourist-centric, and people here tend to be naturally more talkative.

Long story short, I’ve found that being personable, talking to people, and making connections with local owners has been the best strategy for building up my clientele. And even if a new client doesn’t come from it, you still get to hear some really interesting stories along the way.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As a creative, I love learning new things. Going out into the field to shoot a scene I’ve never tried before, or experimenting with a new design technique for a specific request, keeps the work from becoming stagnant and almost gamifies the whole process. There’s something I enjoy about searching through 30 different YouTube tutorials or shooting the same landscape from different angles just to see how each one feels.

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is when you finally land on that specific look or design you were chasing after hours, days, or even years of practice.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pnguinzcreative/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-castanon-/

Image Credits
All photos are mine, but some need extra credentials:

Horses & Hacienda Photo:
– 2024-11-06_The Nest and Hacienda Photos – Jonathan Castañon -© Santa Lucia Preserve-12

Porsche & Ladies
– 2025-08-14_ Concours & Cocktails – 195121- © Santa Lucia Preserve – Jonathan Castañon-IMG_5440

Golf Photo
– 2024-10-16_Stocker Cup Round 1 – Jonathan Castañon -© Santa Lucia Preserve-6047

Turkey Trot and Fandango Logos

Note: Please add Santa Lucia Preserve to the copyright, along with my name.