13 Feb 2011

Artist 68: Joseph Gonzalez






It's a funky illustrator with a big heart and great skills now. Joseph Gonzalez is a graphic and web designer hoping to bring his talents to bear in the fight for clean fresh water, with his T shirt label 13lisa's. Joseph has grabbed a great slice of street life in his artwork and serves it up in an original and fresh way. He combines cute and ice cool to give us clever characters with a naughty smirk and more than a hint of cheeky menace. Joseph is a busy web designer as well but its great he can find the time to illustrate and bring us his fun and slick style. His work has been really tailored to being wearable with its clean bold lines and vivid palette. It brings up elements of hip hop and skate style and gives it an overhaul creating something which looks sharp and focused but with a softer side too. With the best of luck for all his projects, here is Joseph Gonzalez.


Who are you:
My name is Joseph Gonzalez, I'm a graphic and web designer for the Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana. I'm also an adjunct professor at South Suburban College teaching Design courses. I'm a freelance designer under the alias Miracletwentyone and design for agencies and large to small businesses. In my spare time, I also own a t-shirt label and soon to be non-profit called13lisa's with a mission to impact the world's water crisis. I also founded and organize the INsight Design Conference, an annual conference that I put on to give back to the design community of NWI. And lastly I have a photography project called Greytown Creations that captures children at play in a unique and memorable way. Most importantly and above all else, I'm a caring husband and loving father of two young boys and a fat dog.


What do you do:
I juggle many different roles throughout the year, at times I'm a teacher, other times I'm organizing a conference and so on. As one ball drops another ball picks up and the cycle continues. I love being active in the community and finding ways to give back through art and design. I'm currently working on making an impact on the global water crisis by raising money to dig a well that will supply clean water for 500 people for 5 years through causelife.org.


How did you start:
I started drawing at an early age. Drawing is the gate-way drug to design but at the time it was unclear to me how the two would connect. I was exposed to silk screening through my fathers t-shirt business more than 25 years ago. Ever since then I've had a love for art and design. It wasn't until 2001, that I went to school for design and made it into a career.


A Personal statement about you or your work:
My artwork is a therapeutic and creative outlet for me. It helps me illustrate ideas and thoughts that I have rolling around in my head. It also allows me to keep my skills up-to-date. Personally, everything I do and create is for a purpose. A calculated purpose. From paper to computer, from projects to relationships. My time is spent doing what I love most and with great passion and drive I'm always willing to see the bigger picture.


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