Meet JJ Typography | Digital Illustration & Typography Artist

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

Hi JJ, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I’m more of a calculated risk taker. I believe in being strategic and playing the long game. I weigh out my options out with the goal of what would benefit my future self more in the long run in mind.

Risk taking has played a huge role in my career, especially as a freelance digital artist who is still in the process of building my own dream career. I’ve learned the hard way that playing small and safe will only get me small and safe rewards. Risk taking has been crucial part of my process. However I do believe in taking my time to decide what risks I can afford to take and trying my best to avoid being impulsive and reckless with the risks I take.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is a reflection of my healing journey. I have always used art as a tool to express and release energy. Since I was a kid I had a hard time communicating with my words and it wasn’t a skill I learned til I was a young adult.

My journey to getting to where I am today as a professional is quite a long journey because to be frank it took me a while to fully commit to being a professional artist because I was t0ld from a young age to always play it safe. And the uncertainty of a professional art career would make my loved ones very nervous, so they never encouraged me to be a professional artist and instead just saw art as a hobby. That really impacted my view on my professional life when I moved to San Francisco to attend college because I spent majority of my college experience having no idea what I wanted to with my life. I tried all different kinds of careers and have professional backgrounds in the Education and Healthcare industries. I even ended up really liking all the careers I had but I did not enjoy the lack of freedom and space to be creative and authentic. Intuitively I knew even though I loved serving and helping folks, I couldn’t see myself in any of those careers for the long term. I knew my soul could not thrive in those environments. So when the pandemic hit and my hours got cut, I was gifted the opportunity to focus more time on my art. I was able to save up enough money so I could quit my 9-5 job and become an artist full time.

There were quite many bumps in the road, lots of rerouting, a couple flat tires, but I am slowly making it to exactly where I want to be. When I chose to fully commit to creating and moving towards the life of my dreams I knew it wasn’t going to be easy or done overnight. Because I have been taught since a young age the old saying “easy come, easy go” and part of the dream is that I build a sustainable career. So I continued to stay focused on the big picture of building a life that aligns with my soul, brings me joy and sustainability. And that takes time, it’s not something that I got to overnight. And that would be the lesson I would want to share with the reader is that growth is not always linear and it takes a lot of time. So please stop quitting before you give yourself a real chance to grow 🌱. But also if it doesn’t feel aligned with your soul, leave so you can make room for something that does align with you.

I would want the world to know that my brand is essentially out here to with the mission to contribute to collective healing by teaching folks how to become self-loving through my art. As a former teacher, youth worker/advocate, and social worker I have seen first hand and in dealing with every age group from K to end of life, that time does not heal all. With personal and professional experience I know that loving oneself can be very difficult in our world and everyone can benefit from doing their own healing work to become self-loving. Though the process of healing can be very daunting because to some it’s so unfamiliar, my art is here to provide another perspective. A visual representation of the beauty that can come out of the darkness.

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 would take them to beach, my favorite is Windansea. If I wasn’t in the mood to get sandy I would take them to Kate Sessions to lay in the grass and see one of the most incredible views in San Diego. Food wise there is so many place and I love to try new places. The neighborhoods I normally hit up are Hillcrest, North Park, University heights and more.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Wow I have a lot. Shout out to my family and friends. My community that I have around the world that constantly checks in on me and supports me. All my mentors I have had since I was a kid who helped shaped my trajectory and made sure I never gave up on myself. And all the folks I have met along the way.

Website: https://www.jjtypography.com/

Instagram: @jjtypography