Story & Lesson Highlights with Justin Velasquez of Queens

We recently had the chance to connect with Justin Velasquez and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Justin, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Well, since I last did an article with Bold Journey, my main focus was Graphic Design. I still work on designs but they’re few and far between. I’ve actually shifted my focus to Motion Graphics, as I’ve now grown as a Youtuber/Content Creator! Ironically enough, I always had a knack for making videos, I just didn’t want to take a risk and get to work but one day I just woke up and said, “I got this, I’ve got stuff to tell the world!” and decided to pursue that dream. It worked out for me greatly! I’ve gotten a lot of views, nice (and mean) comments, and nowadays, people are starting to notice me and care about what I’ve got to say. It’s really nice to have that sort of recognition when for years, no one cared about your space.

I do want to get back into Graphic Design again, especially since my content creation goals are starting to be met. That just means more eyes on me than ever before! Hopefully it just works out for me in the end.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello, My name is Justin Velasquez and I am a Graphic Designer/Motion Graphics Designer. I’ve been in this field for over 8 years now and I’ve done work for a variety of brands like SHEIN and PepsiCo. I think what separates me from other designers is my hyper focus on quality, fast design skills, my originality, creativity, and overall focusing on being myself and demonstrating my love and passion for the arts. I wouldn’t want to live a day without sharing what I love the most with the world!

My brand is JV Designs, where I post and create characters/logo designs for brands or my own portfolio. I’ve always loved designing cute characters and being able to make them come to life and show so much expression has always been a key thing for me. A lot of my work can be influenced from stuff designed by Sanrio, Tokidori, and Nintendo with a combination of retro futurism from the 50’s.

I’m currently focusing hard on my Youtube channel and creating content for my gaming centric life. I’ve honestly gained quite a following by now, so It’s been a lot of work but I’m doing good!

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I think the moment that really shaped how the world worked for me was when my mom passed away. I didn’t know what to do in that moment, frankly it was scary to begin with. My mother was my world, my soul, and a lot of the reason I kept pushing to be a better man but when I lost her, my life spiraled. Everything just seem to get worse and on top of that, my home had been hit with several floods, I was unemployed, no one was hiring me, and my family’s health conditions just kept getting worse.

I think back to my lowest points in life and reflect. Sometimes, it hurts to think about the way that everything just came crashing down all at once but I think back to when my mom was around. My mother also experienced the same level of lows, if not worse than me. She went through such a hard life, trying her best to put me through college and pushing me to be a better man. Often, I feel as though I could never amount to what she would have wanted for me because of my own selfish impression of myself but I never had a doubt in my mind that she was proud of me.

It took me a while to start loving and appreciating my own efforts, especially now that I’m becoming more popular online. I always appreciated my mom for her efforts and in doing so, her actions and words of wisdom reflect onto me. So it is my duty as I go on in life to honor my mom the way she would have wanted me to be; to be a better man and to appreciate the fruits of my labor.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Losing my mother was probably my biggest fear in life but after she passed away, that fear drifted away. I’m scared of a lot of personal things I can’t really get into here but I’d say the ones that do hold me back are the ones I must overcome with patience, resilience, and the same love and appreciation my mom passed down to me.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
“Ai will be the future of Graphic Design” is probably the biggest lie that these companies have said. Ai can be used as a tool to help the artistic process, not replace the entire process. The people that say this will replace art are the same people who are lazy and willing to fund things that ultimately destroy our environment in the end.

Usually when I see a company use Ai in their work, it’s usually a cost cutting measure or even if it isn’t, it’s a reflection of the company’s management being as humanly lazy as possible. It’s honestly embarrassing to see that children will grow up in an era where creativity is forcibly killed, never allowed to blossom, and ultimately used to spread hate and misinformation.

Graphic Design is a craft. It’s a skill you don’t learn in 5 minutes or from a few prompts and a button click, it’s the soul of an artist. Graphic Design is about making a quality visual that represents brands and companies but also is a self reflection of the designer with a clean presentation. It’s something that I don’t think a lot of people understand takes YEARS to get down before you feel like you’re even CLOSE to mastering the skill, that’s why people appreciate industry veterans such as myself to discuss and teach future generations!

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I’d hope that If I were to spontaneously die tomorrow, let my legacy reign through. I was a passionate man who loved the arts, cared for his family, and stood loyal to his friends and allies. It’s one of those things I think about often, especially since I’ve struggled to keep my impulsive thoughts to myself.

I’d hope people remember me for my art, the way I talked about things, how educated I was on various topics, how I carry myself in conversation, how much work I put into my hobbies, how well I take care of my family. and how often I just tried to be unapologetically me.

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