DJ Javier - Graphic Designer / Artist

DJ Javier is a Graphic Designer and Fine Artist & Art Director at SeaVees. A Santa Barbara, CA native, DJ was drawn to the creative— painting, drawing, graffiti, surfing and counterculture influences growing up. These influences are still seen in his work that uses bold graphics and colors, a flow in design, and succinct look. He’s worked with brands Adidas, Innocnts, Sanuk, painted one of the murals at Industry City in Brooklyn, and participated in gallery shows. And while art was a different path from what his Filipino immigrant parents have taken, DJ’s drive and focus led him to a career in art, a career where his “unique background, perspective, and artwork would shake the scene, and start to carve a path for other Filipinx people and any person of color to not only get a seat at the table but to make sure people know they are there.”

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How did you carve out your career path?
I’ve always had an interest in different creative pursuits. Growing up I was a terrible student and just had zero interest in school; most of my interests were based around art-related things, whether it be painting, drawing, graffiti, etc. It wasn’t until I narrowly graduated high school and went to my local community college where I had a close friend download me a pirated Adobe Creative Suite 6. It was then when I began to realize I could take my creative pursuits and turn them into something I could make a living on. I then transferred to Azusa Pacific University to get my BA in Design. While in school, I started designing t-shirt graphics for different surf/lifestyle brands. I would have a running list of people I wanted to work with, and would guess their emails and cold call them trying to pitch work. My professors would consistently get frustrated because I would be too busy working on freelance to work on my actual assignments. I knew I didn’t want to work a normal college job on campus, so I focused on creating opportunities since I knew no one would hand it to me. I went out and pursued after the work and clients then and it help build my foundation and mindset for where I am now.

Were you always interested in creating art?
I always had an interest in creating art. It was a little bit of an uphill battle growing up though. I never felt like my parents really understood what I was doing. Which I totally understand in the sense that my parents immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines in the early 80’s to give a better life to their family, to then have their son want to be an artist? Not a doctor, lawyer, businessman? Probably not the most ideal career path in their eyes. My freshman year of high school, I convinced myself that I should be an architect because it merged creativity along with something that would probably make my parents proud. I then found out in my architecture class that I was terrible at math and couldn’t draw a correctly proportioned house to save my life. As I mentioned before though, once I discovered graphic design, and realized that it could blend in seamlessly with my art passions, I knew I had something I could really pour my heart and energy into. I’m lucky and grateful to be able to make a living doing it now.

How has growing up in Santa Barbara influenced your art, style?
Growing up in Santa Barbara has had immense influence on my art style. My work is an overall blend of different themes and interests all based around my home. Growing up, a lot of my friends were Hispanic, and so my work naturally picked up inspiration from Chicano / Southern California themes. Along with that, my work is heavily inspired by my passion of surfing and some of the rebellious countercultures that lie buried within that. And having an interest of graffiti growing up; going out to catch tags with my friends, experimenting with different mark making tools, observing and absorbing the influence of those I looked up to in that field. There’s a wide variety of things that continually inspire me, but I would say those 3 general themes are directly tapped into my personal life that continue to inspire me now.

Have you always been a surfer? What drew you to surf culture?
For how involved I am in the surf industry, and how often I surf (3-4 times a week), I surprisingly was not always a surfer. I learned how to swim at the age of 16. Then a good friend took me out surfing, and I was hooked from that point. I attempted traditional team sports growing up but was no good. I think I had set pressure on myself growing up to join a sport knowing my dad was good at sports. When I discovered surfing, I was drawn to the fact that it was no one else, just me and the ocean. There was no competing, or score, it was merely the activity of riding a board on the ocean. There really isn’t any feeling that can match surfing. And now surfing has found its way into my work whether overtly or discreetly tucked in.

What are some of your favorite projects?
I’ve had so many that I’ve enjoyed working on, but I think there are two that have really stood out to me thus far. Last November, I was invited out to Brooklyn to paint a large mural at Industry City, which is a multi-use facility with restaurants, businesses, stores, etc. right on the water in Brooklyn. It was a crazy opportunity to be flown out somewhere to paint, and something I’m hoping to do more of soon! The other would be my recent artist collaboration with Vissla, a well-respected and well known surf brand. It was a full collection from tees to board shorts, that was capped off with an art show. It was a really awesome experience, and am grateful for my relationship with them.

Does your art have a signature look or style?
A lot of people say that my art has a signature style, but I don’t really see it which is funny. I have methods and processes in which I work, whether it be physical steps I take during painting, or when I map things out in my head, which I think leads to having my work feel pretty signature in that sense. A big influence to my style though was reading the book “Wabi-Sabi” by Leonard Koren, which really challenged me to simplify my work and get rid of anything unnecessary. I think that’s why a lot of my work these days is much bolder, and simpler in color palette and overall structure and subject matter. Whether it be fine art or design, something I try to always ask myself is, “How can I say the most with the least” in the sense of making powerful and iconic work.

How important is representation in your work? Maybe not literal, but just being a Fillipinx American in the room.
I think representation is extremely important. There are times where cultural themes are more evident in the artwork, and times where they are not, but I think the big thing for me is people knowing I am different and respecting that. Many times I’ve heard the line “Well I don’t see you as a skin color” or “I don’t see you as different”, which really bugs me, because I think it dilutes who I am, and buries my identity. I think as much as I want my artwork to be looked at and appreciated as unique, I want that for my own identity also. Being Filipnx American within the surf world, especially as an artist, can also be lonely considering that its pretty much white males. As for myself and my work, the hope is that my unique background, perspective, and artwork would shake the scene, and start to carve a path for other Filipinx people and any person of color to not only get a seat at the table but to make sure people know they are there.

Who/what has had a big influence in your life? What is your biggest driving force?
My faith has always been a key driving factor in my career. I know for sure that I am merely a vessel for creativity and I think God is the one that crafts that visual story that I paint. I am insanely blessed to be able to do what I do for a living. The second is driving force would be to make my parents proud. As I eluded to before, my parents didn’t fully get my creative pursuit growing up, but these days they’re beginning to understand it much more. I know my parents worked extremely hard to get to the U.S., and I would be doing them and all the Filipinx’s back home a disservice if I lazily sat by and didn’t do anything with what I’ve luckily been given and blessed with.

What are some favorite pieces of art you have created and companies you've collaborated with?
I did a large painting of a carabao and rice field worker titled “Palayan” which was in a group show at world famous artist Shepard Fairey’s gallery in Los Angeles last year. It was awesome to be able to do a piece of work that resonated with me a lot, and the opportunity to exhibit it on a high level and at a respected gallery. As I mentioned earlier, the surf brand Vissla and my artist collaboration with them from earlier this year was a huge milestone in my creative career. Really grateful for my relationship with them and that they would give a platform for my work.

What brought about the Coloring Pages you offer?
I draw all the time, and when the pandemic really began to hit, I saw a lot of my friends and family with young kids stuck at home, starting to run out of ideas to keep themselves occupied. So I went through all my artwork that could double as a coloring page, and reworked them to be printable coloring sheets. It was a huge hit, and a lot of adults started to download for themselves as well which is awesome.

Do you have any upcoming projects that you're excited about?
I have a magazine feature coming out for two different publications, one in Japan and one in Australia, which I am really excited about. The pandemic has slowed down any big projects planned, but am hoping to take this time to further develop my artwork and grow in my creativity.

Photos courtesy of DJ Javier