Meet Raw Toons | Artist & Graphic Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Raw Toons and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Raw, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started in the streetwear clothing business in the late 1990s. I always wanted to create something original and never been seen before. For me it’s always a good feeling seeing people wear my designs. I always hoped that I would be able to turn this into a fulltime job.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started out as a Graffiti Artist. They rules back then were be original, don’t copy other peoples ideas and get your name out there as much as possible. Hardwork and perseverance will get your name out there. Respect comes to those who are original. I may not be making a living off my art and designs, but I feel that I am respected for my perseverance and creativity. My goal is to keep creating new concepts. ‘Be Original and the rest will follow’ Just recently developed a concept called Graff-A-Bet. It incorporates all the various styles of graffiti art that is painted on the walls and freeways of Los Angeles. I use the traditional NY graff, LA Block Letters, Hand Signs, LA Gang graffiti all styles combined into one word. My current brand Plug The City specializes in making Everyone’s city shine thru my apparel. I put a lot of time and effort to make the designs for all the different cities and areas through out the US. I have made designs for The Bay Area, San Diego, LA, Denver, Houston, Florida, Bull City (North Carolina). Some of the challenges in the clothing game are some of the other brands copy my concepts and probably make thousands of dollars of my ideas.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am based in the City of Gardena. We are about 25 minutes from the beach, 30 minutes away from Downtown LA, and about 2 hrs from the Mountains.

There ae a lot of good places to eat in Gardena. We have a lot of Japanese, Mexican, Korean, Chinese, Hawaiian and Italian Mom and Pop Restaurants. Currently have 2 Casinos in the city, and several local bars such as Donnas and Bruddahs. Our neighboring cities are Compton, Carson, South LA, Lawndale, and Torrance.

For shopping there is the Galleria in Redondo Beach, Del Amo in Torrance, Indoor Swapmeet on Rosecrans in Gardena, FashionTown Cali in Torrance, Southbay Pavilion in Carson.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Over the years I have had tremendous support from many of my friends and family. My Wife and Kids, Mom and Dad, Sister and Brother. First got into the graffiti art and streetwear game through my friend Grown624. I was in graff crews with some great artists Peter Tran, Carlos Torres, Zoer, and Greg Simkins to name a few. After awhile I started concentrating on graphic design for mostly streetwear. I became a partner in a well known brand in the LA area, called 110 South Streetwear (Rest In Peace Eric Hirokane) during that time I learned a lot and met the Boo-Yaa Tribe. They would have a huge impact on my development as graphic artist. (Rest In Peace Godfather, Ganxsta Ridd, and Monsta O). I still work with the Brothas to this today. I have been fortunate to work with Kaze Jones, Stylie Ray,Big Brandoh, D-Boy223, Smog City Streetwear, Graphic Prints Industries, Slim400 (RIP), Mausberg (RIP), Stylie Ray, Kujo the Savage, Baby Bounce, Muddollaz, The Creatives Brand, Gardena Originals, Boobie Soprano (RIP), Straight Outta Little Tokyo, HP Streetwear, Rosemead Raised, Sweet Venom, ShowGudda, Spit Fiya, Dj Hectik, R3L Entertainment, Vinyl Cutz, Ariano, Roadium Radio, Tim Burton (Stainboy), Adam Sandler (The Peeper), and Nike. Shout Out to my 110 South Fam Danny Agena, Darren Shinohara, Laurie Hirokane, Tony Chris, Tak Tanaka, Sonada Sam, Ceez Gonzalez, Koji Corpuz, Brian Ing, Tony Agena, Barry ‘Bear’ Tanaka (RIP), Bryan ‘Brydog’ Lee (RIP), and Bengar Productions and the Empire Packaging and Design team.

Website: http://www.plugthecity.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rawtoons

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rawtoons

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Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/rawtoons

Image Credits
All Images created by Rawtoons© 2022