Today we’d like to introduce you to Franky Aguilar.
Hi Franky, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Born in southern California, I moved around a bunch and finally landed in Northern California. I went to middle and high school in a small town south of Redding called Anderson. A few hours north of the Bay Area, I quickly ended up going to college and moving to San Francisco when I was 19, where I started my career and spent most of my 20s. I started doing graphic design with a bootleg version of photoshop in high school. Where I learned how to make logos and banners. I used this as a method of income by doing design for skateshops and local businesses around town. I used this as my creative outlet, where I got to explore art through design. It wasn’t until I walked into an agency office and was denied a job that I realized that this was an entire industry. Which lead me to enrolling into the Art Institute of SF-CA.
I’ve worked with gaming giants such as Zynga as early as 2011 and began developing mobile applications earning millions of downloads. I founded YoShirt Inc. in 2016, a VC-backed venture infusing digital-to-physical clothing distribution, manufacturing, and consumer e-commerce into one single platform.
These viral hits sparked collaborations with clients including Snoop Dogg, Steve Aoki, Major Lazer, Fox Digital Ent. Group, Grumpy Cat, and many others.
I began translating my skills to the emerging blockchain space in 2018 by partnering with Cryptokitties developer Dapperlabs. Which I’ve extended my design expertise to the conceptual and technical art development, user interface design, and product design fields.
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 never really had any adversity, aside from myself. When I was in college, my freshmen year I was super broke. I needed to get a job, since I had experience working in production and manufacturing, I got a job at the Apple store. I was there for the launch of the iPhone on Powell St. A month or two later, I realized that I was doing the same thing I had been doing at home, working a 9-5. So I quit, and with a flash drive of a couple of months of school work, landed a job as a Flash Production artist for a gaming studio in the SOMA.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Being an artist, all the time. I’ve had this battle nonstop between tech and art which I think makes me so unique. Throughout my career, I’ve learned the business of art and also the complexity of technology. Building apps, games, websites, and doing design, has prepared me for the ultimate mastery as an artist. And now with the explosion of blockchain, I’ve hit the nail on the head again. Swandiving into the NFT industry and publishing the infamous SupDucks.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I want to say my first big break into the Art world was when I met the owner from Upperplayground in SF. After building an app with Alex Pardee, I got introduced into the San Francisco street fine art world. Which introduced me into a lot of the relationships I have today. Getting a glimpse into how the business of art for artists like Sam Flores, David Choe, and Monk really opened my eyes into fine art.
This was my biggest risk. I was challenged to leave my full-time position and survive by purely generating my own revenue. Since then, it’s been an adventure.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://frankyaguilar.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/frankynines
- Facebook: facebook.com/frankynines
- Twitter: twitter.com/frankynines
- Youtube: youtube.com/frankyaguilar
- Other: crypto.frankynines.com
Image Credits:
Shot by Rick.RL
