Jose Ontiveros

PRATTMWP COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

My bio is different from my classmates in the sense that I’m ten years older than most of them. When I graduated high school in ‘08, I got into CCA to study graphic design. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to drop out before I even started. I went to a community college and ended up with an internship that eventually became a job as a photographer with a branding/design startup firm in the Bay Area. That job gave me the opportunity to travel all around the US and Japan for about 6 years. It was in Japan where I really was exposed to different types of radical and modern design concepts. I realized that as much as I loved documenting things other people created, I wanted to design things myself. Initially I wanted to major in industrial design before realizing I could combine my love of design/type/art into one if I pursued art direction. I’ve loved fashion ever since I was a kid, so that’s my interest going forward.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?
Chihuahua, Mexico / Mountain View CA

MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Both, depending on how much work I have to get done

FAVORITE SOCIAL PLATFORM?
Instagram

FAVORITE TV BINGE WATCH?
RuPaul’s Drag Race

FAVORITE PODCAST?
99% Invisible

FAVORITE BOOK?
Less by Andrew Sean Greer

FAVORITE MOVIE?
Kill Bill Volume I

FAVORITE FINE ARTIST?
John Singer Sargent

FAVORITE CAUSE/CHARITY?
The Trevor Project

FAVORITE FREE TIME ACTIVITY?
Going to the beach

FAVORITE DESIGNER WORKING TODAY?
Virgil Abloh, Alexander Wang

AREA OF SPECIALTY?
Graphic Design

IF YOU WERE NOT A DESIGNER, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Photographer or stylist

THE BEST THING ABOUT DESIGN SCHOOL?
Having the freedom to try my hand at multiple mediums while studying a foundation of traditional fine arts which have had a profound impact on the way I develop my style in a way that I can then channel into anything I’m doing.

A MANTRA OR SAYING YOU LIVE BY?
“If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you going to love anyone else” – RuPaul


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