Behind the Design

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Justin A Leonardo was born in 1993 in Lakewood, NJ and now currently lives in Toms River, NJ. He first discovered his love of art around the age of seven by doodling on assignments in grammar school. Finding it intriguing, Justin decided to delve deeper into his discovery of art by drawing whatever came to mind in sketch pads throughout high school. He found his inspiration at the time from comic books and originally planned on becoming a cartoonist.

As he got older he realized that being a cartoonist wasn't quite what he wanted. He was soon introduced to the Arts High program for gifted youth and enrolled. He was accepted and took trips to Ocean County College during his senior year in high school. There he learned many fine art principles such as color theory, and traditional materials used on the canvas. The general direction was better but still Justin felt this wasn't quite it.

After graduating high school in 2012, Justin turned his attention to Ocean County College. Since he was already familiar with the campus from the Arts High program he figured he'd research their degrees. He found one that he was interested in and in 2015 graduated Ocean County College with an associates in computer graphics. It was then that he realized graphic design was what he wanted to do in life. Justin continued his education at Kean University at Ocean in Toms River, NJ. There he was thrown full force into the world of design. He learned a great deal such as advertising strategies, typography and design fundamentals. Justin graduated from Kean University with a B.F.A. in Graphic Design in 2018.

He continues to pursue his passion of design and is eager to put his skills to the test. He enjoys creating stunning visuals and illustrations and overall loves to let his creativity flow onto the canvas, whether traditionally or digitally.