Check Out Carlos J. Hernandez’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos J. Hernandez.

Hi Carlos J., thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Graphic Designer based in Austin, TX born and raised in Puerto Rico. I started drawing at an early age, and I guess that’s where it all began for me. I remember always being complimented on my handwriting from a very early age and finding myself doodling, even though I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time. I was too young but knew there was something there to be explored. Unfortunately, I have a horrible memory. I don’t recall what I started drawing, but I remember drawing NBA mascots in first grade. My friends loved them and wanted me to draw mascots of their favorite teams. I guess you can say those were my first clients.

My first love was drawing, and painting started to become my mistress. Painting gave me a new kind of excitement, a new creative outlet that let me play around with colors, and all sorts of ways to be creative. My mother always supported me and helped me grow my creativity. I was enrolled in drawing and painting classes, and my mother even set up her work computer with Microsoft Paint so I could use it. I spent hours glued to that monitor. Many years later, I’m still doing it.

As I grew older, my interest started to go elsewhere, but my love for design grew. Fast forward to my last year of high school; I started contemplating what my future might look like. I wanted a fancy job, get a fancy title attached to my name. I wanted to be an Architect, and maybe that’s what I should have pursued, but I think I always knew that wouldn’t make me happy. I started looking into Graphic Design, and lo and behold, and I enrolled in Visual Arts, Painting, and Graphic Design. That was something I knew I could be good at and enjoy. I always find this saying cheesy but accurate, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life,” and that was always my goal.

Midway into college, I already had a few clients. I was trying to make a career by designing flyers, business cards, and logos, creating anything I could get my hands on, trying to get as much experience as I could. Thanks to that mentality, I got my first job as a Graphic Designer, with the help of one of my clients, no less. I was thrilled to get my first job as a Designer while I hadn’t even finished my bachelor’s. I started in a Print Shop, and that’s exactly what I needed. There, I learned many things. As a Graphic Designer, I learned about marketing, color theory, digital media and pushed my creativity like I never had before. Working in such a fast-paced environment, I designed day in and day out. This skill has helped me always design on the spot and listen to my client’s needs, as I’m already shaping their design in my head.

I managed to create a healthy clientele, designing everything from marketing material, illustrations, and what became my strongest area, logos. I had the pleasure of designing logos I could see when I went out for a drive. It made me feel so proud to see my work out in the wild. I also started working on branding, which became one of my favorite parts of the job. Working in the print shop for four years, my wife and I (my girlfriend at the time) decided to move to Austin, TX. This was one of the best decisions I could have made, personally and professionally. Shortly after, I started working as a Designer in a company that allowed me to work with creative properties. I even got to go to Spain to work side by side with a painter, and we would ship her paintings and create an original product with her fantastic work. I also designed an original card game where I designed all individual cards, packaging, and promotional materials. Overall, it was an amazing experience that, unfortunately, was short-lived. To be exact, it was one year, but I gained so much from it. In my second job, I went back to my roots and got a job in another print shop. This was where I grew the most professionally; I started as a designer, became the lead designer shortly after, and then became the Creative Director for the company.

At this point, I’ve been doing Graphic Design for more than 14 years. I kept thinking that I needed to add something more to my professional career, something different, which would give me a new challenge and get my creative juices going again. But I didn’t know what that would be until I met someone who grew to be a very close friend. My friend Giancarlo Martinez is a very successful Developer who started as a Graphic Designer and always encouraged me to use my skills in designs and branding to pursue a new career in UX/UI Design. After much thought and waiting for the right timing, I decided to enroll in a Bootcamp to get Certified as a UX/UI Design. This Bootcamp was nine months long and not easy by any stretch of the imagination. For the first time in a very long time, I started learning something completely unfamiliar. It was both nerve-racking and exciting. I owe so much to my wife for her love and support. We indeed are a dream team that constantly encourages each other to learn and improve.

Today, I’m proud to say I finished the Bootcamp, and one month later, I started working for a great company as a Product Designer. I’m happy to say this is the happiest I’ve ever been. Professionally I’m in the best spot I’ve ever been, and that was only because I dared to change career at 36 years old, something I never thought I would do at this point in my life (not that I’m that old). The fact is I’m happy I still wanted to push myself and not feel complacent about what I could achieve.

Since I’m now doing graphic design on the side, I’ve found a love for designing again and found a brand-new passion in UI/UX Design. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The path to success is rarely a smooth one; every good thing comes with struggle. It started in Puerto Rico, and it didn’t end there as I had my fair share of struggles when I moved to Austin. I started having early success in Graphic Design when I started my first job in Puerto Rico. I had a contentious gain, many clients in my freelance, and I also had a steady job in the print shop; business was booming. Soon after, Puerto Rico got hit with a financial crisis. That’s where my struggles began. My clients stopped calling, my work hours were cut off, and I went through much hardship for one to two years. I had to start bringing my design fees down to get any work I could get my hands on. That’s when I saw the opportunity to move to Austin, looking for the fresh start I desperately needed.

It finally looked like I had found what I was looking for in Austin. I got my first job, and everything seemed to be headed in the direction I wanted. My future seemed brighter than ever. Unfortunately, the company had to close due to financial issues and I was back to square one. I found myself unemployed for almost an entire year and refused to take a step back. I continued looking for an opportunity that would be a fit. It wasn’t easy; I looked and looked only to find myself thinking I might need to take any job that would have me.

I finally got the opportunity to start working at another print shop. It wasn’t the ideal situation, but it was an opportunity I desperately needed. I had a fantastic experience; they treated me very well. I managed to go from Designer to Creative Director. That sounds amazing, but I was highly underpaid. I stuck with them because I was learning so much and had a very comfortable situation at work. But being as underpaid as I was started to take a toll on me. My wife was carrying both of us. I realized I needed to get back out there and look for what I thought I deserved. I became complacent for many years and felt it just wasn’t in the cards for me to have more success than what I already had. My freelance was going great, but that just wasn’t enough. For the first time, I felt in a dark place and thought maybe I wasn’t good enough to achieve what I always thought I could.

That’s when I started listening to my wife and friends, whom all believed in me more than I believed in myself. Like I mentioned before, I saw an opportunity to change careers. It was time to move to more incredible things and rechallenge myself. But how would you do that with no money? A boot camp wasn’t cheap, and I didn’t have the time to balance my freelance and a full-time job. It seemed that as much as I wanted to move forward, I just couldn’t. It didn’t seem possible. That’s when the world got turned upside down; COVID hit, and it looked like the slight hope I had was gone.

As COVID continued, I saw an opportunity in all the chaos. I was unemployed and finally had time to pursue what I wanted. I found the money to enroll in a UI/UX boot camp to get certified. I was excited, but I was juggling so many things at once for an entire year that I found myself working most days from 8:00 am till past midnight. But I knew it was going to be worth it, and finally, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I never worked so hard in my life, but it did pay off. I finished my boot camp, and in less than two months, I got hired at a fantastic company, starting a new career and being in a professional and financial position I never thought I deserved.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
For the past 16 years, give or take, I’ve always had a blast designing things that people love while also connecting with and understanding people. I love solving problems with delicate and engaging designs. I have experience in brand identities, digital design, illustration, product & marketing design, and art direction. I’ve worked on a wide range of projects, collaborating with different scales of clientele, from big companies to small ones. I’m more known for my logo design skills and brand development. I also love creating original designs with photomanipulation. For example, one of the last designs was the Mona Lisa holding baby Yoda. I love working on unique designs like that. That was printed to make it look like an actual painting and displayed on Wonder Bar’s secret room door here in Austin, TX. Graphic Design is not my full-time job but my side gig as a Freelancer.

However, as a UI/UX designer, I’ve learned to bring strategic thinking into every project I get my hands on. My focus has been on making users the center of my design process while simultaneously ensuring the outcome is compelling to clients and consumers. Currently, I’m working in ZenBusiness as a Product Designer. My focus is to create user interfaces for websites and app screens, to facilitate user interaction. I also lend my expertise as a Graphic Designer and on branding from time to time.

I believe what sets me apart from others is the range of what I can do because of my background in Graphic Design, and now in UX/UI Design, and other skills like drawing and sketching illustrations.

Fun fact, besides my passion for my work, I like to stay active in boxing and kickboxing. I’ve been doing it for the past ten years, which has taught me discipline and an outlet to release stress after a long day of work. I’m also a massive movie fan.

How do you think about happiness?
Spending time with my wife and my friends makes me happy. I love hosting friends at my house, usually for a special occasion or to watch boxing or UFC fights. I also love going to the movies, attending concerts, and enjoying a relaxing drink while having a good conversation. I used to love and want to get back to painting. I remember enjoying sitting in front of a white canvas, eager to express myself. Also, when I lived in Puerto Rico, I enjoyed having a day at the beach.

Contact Info:

• Email: cj@designercj.com
• Website: www.designercj.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/designercj
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/carlos.CJ.javier