Life & Work with Justyce Icart of Pasadena

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justyce Icart.

Hi Justyce, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
During the COVID quarantine as an 8th grader, I decided to take a digital art class as an elective just for fun. Through the class, I learned the basics of Photoshop, graphic design, and the process of creating your own original work. At the same time, I was addicted to NBA 2K and especially fascinated by one game mode that featured incredibly detailed player cards.
With not much else to do during the pandemic, I decided to try recreating those cards in Photoshop and making custom versions of my favorite players. To my surprise, they turned out much better than I expected. Realizing I had some talent for design, I quickly became one of the more advanced students in the class and continued improving my skills. Over the next few years, graphic design remained a hobby. Most of my time was spent taking inspiration from NBA 2K graphics and professional designers, then challenging myself to recreate their work from scratch. Before long, friends started asking me to make edits for them — some for fun, some for their basketball teams, and some featuring their favorite players. Eventually, I started asking friends how much they would pay for a graphic. Unsurprisingly, most middle schoolers said around $5, because realistically, what 8th grader wants to spend a lot of money on a basketball graphic? Still, that was enough to start my first side hustle. I began offering graphics to friends at school and teammates on my AAU basketball team, BTI College Prep Club, for $5 each. Before long, I had made enough money to buy the very thing that put me in that position in the first place — the next year’s NBA 2K. Little did I know, that would be the last NBA 2K game I’d buy. As my schedule became busier, I found myself spending less time playing video games and more time pursuing my growing passion for graphic design. That passion eventually led me to officially launch my graphic design business, JI.GFX, on Instagram in 2022, with a starting price of $15 per graphic. I followed every friend, basketball player, coach, mutual connection, and high school I knew while posting some of my favorite work. Starting with just 14 followers despite following over 200 people, growth was much slower than I expected. Just when I thought the page wasn’t going to take off, I was hired by my AAU basketball program, BTI, as a graphic designer for its social media pages (it definitely helped that the director was my dad). From there, people started seeing my work and the page slowly began gaining traction. With the help of BTI, coaches, friends, and basketball players I knew, my graphics started getting shared and reposted across Instagram. Soon, people were messaging me for commitment edits, team graphics, and custom basketball designs. For a while, I kept my prices the same because I genuinely didn’t think people would pay more. Eventually, demand proved otherwise, so I raised my prices — and the rest is history. Since then, I have had the privilege of serving as a graphic designer and/or social media director for BTI College Prep Club, MESH Academy, SMU Barstool, Western Reserve Academy Basketball, and TheSecreTrainer Basketball. I’ve also created graphics for more than 300 athletes across multiple sports, including high school, collegiate, professional, and five-star athletes. Over the years, my skill set has become much more versatile. What started with simple commitment edits has evolved into the ability to create nearly anything in Photoshop. While I can work across a variety of design styles and projects, sports graphics remain my specialty and the foundation of everything I’ve built through my business.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I touched on some of the roadblocks I’ve faced in the previous slide, but one of the biggest challenges today is the recent emergence of AI. With things like ChatGPT and Gemini, anyone can create a graphic from a simple prompt at no cost. While these designs can sometimes be visually appealing, they often lack the creativity, originality, and personal touch that come from working with a real designer. AI will always continue to evolve and get better, but I believe the creativity, experience, and actual connection that graphic designers bring will always be super hard to replicate.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the founder of JI.GFX, a sports graphic design business I launched in 2022. I specialize in creating visually appealing sports graphics, including commitment announcements, game-day posts, player edits, recruiting content, team branding, and social media marketing materials for athletes, teams, and organizations. I’m most proud of how I started my brand from scratch and have been able to make graphics for prominent sports figures. I believe what sets me apart from others is my combination of creativity and firsthand understanding of sports and basketball. As an athlete myself, I understand what players, coaches, and programs want to communicate through their branding or content.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Although I specialize in sports graphics, I am willing and can do graphic design/Photoshop work for anyone, any occasion, any style!

Pricing:

• All Graphics – $55
• Graphics with Jersey Swaps – $65

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jigfx.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ji.gfx/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justyce-icart-9980b5303