We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephon Atuti. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephon below.

Hi Stephon, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I’m not where I want to be in life yet to consider myself successful by any means but there are a few things that have been helping me get closer. To me, I believe success requires faith, discipline, consistency and a solid team. As I get closer to what I consider success for myself I’ve noticed the process is the most important element.

I also believe you need to always be honest and aware of yourself. What am I doing for my mental health? my physical health? how am I making sure my spirit is whole. Am I on the incline or decline? I like to have real conversations with myself and hold myself accountable because if I can’t do it, how can someone else?

Being a first generation Kenyan-American I’ve seen how hard my parents have had to work to achieve their version of success in America. Being the first born, I’ve seen the highs and the lows they’ve gone through trying to make a better life for my brothers and me. I know it wasn’t easy for them starting a new life in a country where the odds were stacked against them. Especially being alone and having their families on the other side of the globe. It’s a blessing to be able to have gone to Kenya and see where they’ve come from, to where they are now. It’s the reason I think that anything is possible. You have to be resilient. You have to believe in yourself and put in the work. No matter how hard life got they always had consistent faith and work ethic.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Stephon, a Creative Director & Designer at Skntones™, a brand and creative label that I co-founded in 2020 as a response to the tragic events surrounding George Floyd’s murder. At the time I was managing and designing for my homie Antione’s brand Antz Creationz. Being overwhelmed with the need to have a voice in our city. We went uptown and he painted a mural in front of Spyhouse coffee which sparked a lot of attention with news outlets and eventually the owner of Spyhouse. He came to us asking how we can collaborate and show up in the community in a real way and that’s when the AC cooler was born. We had the opportunity to develop and design our own limited-edition signature drink where the proceeds go to Juxtaposition Arts. It was then that we realized there was a space for creative professionals (artists) in commercial business.

My journey into design began in 7th grade when my homie Chad created a dope poster graphic of my name in Photoshop. Inspired, I bugged him into sharing his techniques, and once he did, the spark was lit. This early experience laid the foundation for my passionate dive into design, leading to diverse projects such as billboards, packaging, cover art, logos, posters, menus, tattoos, websites and a variety of apparel and products.

I’m very intentional about each client and project I undertake. I hold a firm belief in not letting money solely dictate my work, but I also don’t short myself of my value. Some of my favorite designs were born out of passion, while I’ve also navigated the difficulty of being fairly compensated for my skills. In my design process, “Simple is difficult” resonates deeply. I typically create over 20 variations before presenting the final 2-3 options to my clients. Although it sounds tedious, this approach always ensures that the final design not only looks good but, more importantly, feels connected to the client’s identity and vision.

What sets me apart as a designer is my ability to research and translate a client’s vision into a design that feels real. The joy of witnessing clients’ ideas materialize and contribute to their success fuels my passion. I always value having a healthy balance between creativity and accomplishment.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Yes, our team is on a mission to light the way for more Creative Professionals and hobbyists. Growing up I never knew I could be a professional designer or creative director. Art was always treated like a hobby or pastime. It wasn’t until I saw the money behind being a professional that I knew there was real careers to be had. With that being said I want to use my position and company (Skntones™) to inspire Creative Hobbyists to become Creative professionals like i was blessed to do. I really believe life is about turning your passions into profit.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

It all started with instagram. I had a community of people who supported me and my artistic journey. I started posting work on my personal page. Once I started traveling and going to industry events like Rolling Loud, ComplexCon, fashion week, etc. I always had a film camera with me to document my experiences. In doing so I got a lot of reposts from celebrities, influencers, and blogs. It was sort of a finesse to get people to look at my page and my work. I built a really good network of people through instagram. I had a lot of surprising celebrities, influencers, and industry heads following me at one point. As well as a few designs going viral on twitter earlier in my career.

Last year though on Thanksgiving my Instagram was hacked and later banned. This really affected me mentally. Not because I lost “clout” but because the clients, credits, influencers, relationships that I built through my page were lost. My instagram at the time was bringing in a lot of capital for me because of the identity I built as a designer with my followers. It taught me a defining lesson though. I learned that I needed to create art & relationships deeper than a digital post, follow, or DM. I took a big step back from social media and have been pretty private and reserved about sharing my work. I’ve gone viral a couple times on TikTok this year but I plan to stay hidden for now and start sharing more work in 2024 as I plan a rerelease of my site.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.skntones.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phon.dope
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/stephon-atuti-skn