Meet Jonnell Chavez Design & Junction in West LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonnell Chavez.

Jonnell, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I got my start (first time using photoshop) was in high school in an interactive media course. My original plan was to be a sound engineer and eventually thought becoming a news anchor was the perfect job for me. Interactive Media was a course offered at a tech school and you were required to learn the entire adobe suite which including video editing, audio editing and graphic design. Once graduating high school, I went on to major in Broadcast Communications in college. During college I had a full-time job and wanted extra money, so I started designed flyers for fraternity and sorority parties on campus. That’s really where everything started. it wasn’t something I was looking to do full time, just a hobby turned side hustle. During my internship at a local radio station, they learned that I was skilled in graphic design as well and hired me to work in their multimedia department. Design was something that just came natural for me and I really enjoyed it! From there things grew and eventually I relocated to Dallas, TX. In Dallas, I got fired from my job and made the decision to become a full-time designer. I was completely over having to work for someone else doing some mundane job with a dress code and hours I wasn’t thrilled about. I felt like there must be more to life and I am going to figure it out. Taking the leap to become a full-time freelancer wasn’t easy but I have managed to tumble my way through and learn a lot. I continued designing club flyers for a few years and discovered that no agency would take my portfolio serious, which honestly hurt my feelings (LOL). All these long hours of work to not be fully respected by others in the design field was a horrible feeling. I immediately told all my promoter and club clients that I would no longer be designing flyers and started advertising that I was doing logos and websites. I honestly had no idea what I was doing and had only designed a few logos here and there. I had never built a website from scratch but figured I had time and could learn. Building my clientele was a struggle and websites were a little harder than I thought… I had some tough moments, but I appreciate those moments. After about 2 years, I began traveling and felt like I hit a pivotal point in my career and that I wasn’t growing at the pace or rate I felt I should’ve been. I felt stuck and wanted a change, so I moved to Los Angeles. I’ve now been in Los Angeles for 4 years and am very happy that I put myself in situations where I was forced to grow as an artist and business person. I have some of the best clients now, have been a creative director for several projects with major brands, helped start and grow several amazing companies and even started my own lifestyle home goods brand, JUNCTION.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been smooth. I have had times where financially it was a struggle. I would have $10 in my account and not know where my next project was coming from. Having stability was a big struggle. Another struggle was handling clients – not everyone is going to like what you create for them and you won’t love every project.

Jonnell Chavez Design & JUNCTION – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I specialize in graphic design and creative direction. My style is clean and has a feminine touch. People know my work. I pay special attention to fonts and colors. I really love color. I always like to think I have a pretty cool sense of style and good taste. I am proud of all my work. Every project I have completed, there’s something special about each one.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I personally define success on having a thriving brand of my own. I enjoy designing for others, but I love designing and creating for myself and people genuinely loving what I create. I want to build JUNCTION to be something really amazing you know? I want to be in stores all over the world and collab with major brands on products like stationary, home goods, even home office furniture you know?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.JonnelChavez.com | www.JNCT.co
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/jonnellchavez
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jonnellchavezdesign

Image Credit:
Chris Paul Thompson

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