Below are some of my favorite personal projects from 2023 that I’ve made for colleagues and friends. Not gonna lie, but the second half of 2023 has been difficult creatively and professionally, but doing fun design/art projects like these have been so exciting to work on and allowed me to really embrace my own motto of “**approaching design unseriously and having as much fun as possible.**”

\
**No pressure from clients, no guidelines, no stakeholders or managers to appease to** - just doing things that make me happy with the bonus of also making people feel appreciated.\
\
I want to continue to design even more goofy, artsy, one off works this year. If there is 1 thing I want to achieve this year, it’s to prioritize *myself* and *my happiness* when it comes to my creative output.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FInnR2J6EJqB7BUQIUFHP%2F7ca15fd7-3184-4a22-892d-ea7f643663c8.png?alt=media&token=25f34c76-c6fe-48c2-9bcb-895eb98760ad","id":"7ca15fd7-3184-4a22-892d-ea7f643663c8","width":2000,"height":2000,"filename":"2023-1.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

*A 24x36 poster I made for my good friend, crowning her dog TIME's Puppy of the Year.*

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FInnR2J6EJqB7BUQIUFHP%2F569e43bb-e35f-42af-959c-afcce45a30d0.png?alt=media&token=d3cbee81-ef44-4c33-b834-e97d0f082608","id":"569e43bb-e35f-42af-959c-afcce45a30d0","width":2000,"height":2000,"filename":"2023-2.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

*A physical CD I designed and made for a friend of mine.*

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FInnR2J6EJqB7BUQIUFHP%2F72eac7b1-0b3b-48aa-ab7b-76701fb2ee39.png?alt=media&token=7e35559a-7553-4960-8b40-48c6451d6f33","id":"72eac7b1-0b3b-48aa-ab7b-76701fb2ee39","width":2000,"height":2000,"filename":"2023-3.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

*T-shirt design for my friends birthday that we wore on a trip to Mexico.*

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FInnR2J6EJqB7BUQIUFHP%2Ff413bc6b-b2bd-4ce2-9373-63335a63daa3.png?alt=media&token=f03d497a-2c5e-41cb-a28b-5376c5213eb5","id":"f413bc6b-b2bd-4ce2-9373-63335a63daa3","width":2000,"height":2000,"filename":"2023-4.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

*Printed booklet insert for the CD I made above, which featured a digital download QR code.*

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FInnR2J6EJqB7BUQIUFHP%2F255d7515-28f0-40ce-98e8-f86fde8f9b0e.png?alt=media&token=6ad044f0-aac5-4cf1-9d33-c1f59e939776","id":"255d7515-28f0-40ce-98e8-f86fde8f9b0e","width":2000,"height":2000,"filename":"2023-5.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

*Birthday card design for a colleague that loved gardening.*

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FInnR2J6EJqB7BUQIUFHP%2Fab246f7c-a301-4f5a-b352-ebd8e658beda.png?alt=media&token=9fbc92c1-8a87-4a52-8413-9f2202dad4da","id":"ab246f7c-a301-4f5a-b352-ebd8e658beda","width":2000,"height":2000,"filename":"2023-6.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

*Logo I made for my best friends and I goof production company called PNJ Productions.*

---

Follow me on: [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/pedropeguerojr/) and [Posts](https://posts.cv/pedropeguerojr)\
My portfolio: [Pedro Peguero Jr.](https://www.pedropeguerojr.com/)\
What I've been listening to: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2r0J8UXW02cAMItqZ2lNXI?si=ff3b75b17d7a42dd)

2024

A couple days ago I deactivated my ~~Twitter~~ (sorry, "X") account with the full intention for it to be deleted completely in 30 days.

I've been on the platform for over 13 years, and after doing mini breaks here and there over that period of time, I finally took the plunge and decided it was time to let it go entirely. I have no regrets or urges to go back.

Initially it felt a bit daunting because I use Twitter for news, current events, the occasional hottest meme that's trending, and getting informed about the latest things in the tech and the design space. It was like being pulled out of the loop was a negative thing.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FQTimvbLXYuCOFe076Q8i%2F84a3db68-d7b1-4308-8088-17365c5031b4.png?alt=media&token=9386da4c-2dd2-49a2-8aa0-c30f273f7350","id":"84a3db68-d7b1-4308-8088-17365c5031b4","width":1200,"height":800,"filename":"the-loop.png","type":"image/png","caption":"The endless cycle","border":false}]}
```

## ***Be*** **out of the loop.**

Why do we feel like being out of the loop is a bad thing? What am I really going to miss from doom scrolling on Twitter? Did I really benefit anything from being so ingrained about everything going on in the world? No.

Instead, I've been spending my time over at [Posts by Read.cv](https://posts.cv/). A platform that aims to "foster connection and growth" for creatives. It feels more niche, but focused on conversation rather than events or engagement bait.

> *"While Twitter's physical-space metaphor has always been the global town square, a more appropriate metaphor for Posts might be a café in the city center. A space to share and debate ideas big and small, grow and learn with friends old and new, and get a pulse on the city around you." - Posts, About Page*

There is no "For You" where the algorithm shoves *yet anothe*r subscription based design agency and how they made a billion dollars in 2 months. There is no engagement bait with blue checks clogging the top replies of posts. There is no "Design Twitter" where I run into the same type of people just circle jerking the same ideas, opinions, egos, and "hot takes." Personally it was tiresome to read, engage in, and was honestly just not good for my mental health.

## **The ability to *over* share doesn't exist.**

On Posts, I don't feel inclined to doom scroll. People seem more tame with what they are sharing, because the ability to over share doesn't exist. It's simple, and I like that. There is no ability to make 3 paragraph long posts, or make a 20 post deep thread about something. There is no trends, ads, or hyper invasive algorithm shoving irrelevant things on my timeline just so I can engage with it.

Funny enough, I think the reason why most of everyone I know and followed on Twitter aren't flocking over here is because, well, it's *not* Twitter. Let me explain.

## **Validation is the killer of creativity.**

As creatives, we sometimes want to feel validated and seen within the communities we're in—even if it's from random people on the internet. We want our work to have this grand purpose to exist and we measure our success in our skills based off engagement. We think the cure to imposter syndrome is to share our work and cross our fingers hoping the right people see it, leave a like, and retweet so that it gains even more traction. When you leave a reply, you hope for a response so you can feel seen.

Twitter caters to this mindset because it puts those numbers front and center for every tweet you put out, and if you want more engagement? You may feel inclined to buy "Premium."

**On Posts? None of that matters.** Engagement is not what's front and center. It doesn't feed into thinking you need to post everything on your mind, "like" everything you see, or reply to every person you come across. You can't see how many followers someone has, or who or how many people they are following—or their likes. **It doesn't matter.**

## **Be proud of your work.**

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FQTimvbLXYuCOFe076Q8i%2F8a222d6a-a06f-4165-add2-ab23f8edb19f.png?alt=media&token=228906a0-a938-4e56-86fe-e7ce4402520e","id":"8a222d6a-a06f-4165-add2-ab23f8edb19f","width":1200,"height":800,"filename":"self-belief.png","type":"image/png","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

I use Instagram because I think every creative person should have an outlet where they can share their work with others, *even if for you that place is Twitter.* You should be motivated to share your work because you're proud of it, *not* for the sake to see how much engagement you get.

> *"There are no mistakes, no worthless projects, because there will always be people who like it and others who don't. No matter how impeccably you launch a French brand of navy blue swimsuits that are eco-friendly, organic, made in France, and have taken all the right steps, there will always be someone who tells you that you should have made them in red. **Let us embrace the art of self-belief***.*" - Margot Lévêque*

Instagram being a visual forward platform in both static and dynamic content has personally benefited my creative output when it comes to inspiration, sharing works in progress and one-off projects, and finding new designers and artists. It achieves this all while still having that layer where I can comfortably keep in touch with my family and good friends. It's not perfect, but IMO it's far better than Twitter and the potential echo-chambers you can fall into.

That's another topic for another day though...

## **I'm staying on Posts...for now.**

With all of that being said, I want Posts to succeed. I love the simplicity of it, plus all of the reasons I already shared above. Now of course, the amount of users Posts has dwarfs in comparison to Twitter. I'm sure as more people join, it could start to feel crowded here, but that's fine.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FQTimvbLXYuCOFe076Q8i%2Fd71e5e93-de0d-4701-a9b6-1ec335f82b74.jpg?alt=media&token=8b6007b7-b54d-4b6c-9862-89a605568ca9","id":"d71e5e93-de0d-4701-a9b6-1ec335f82b74","width":1200,"height":717,"filename":"DSCF3999.JPG","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"","border":false}]}
```

My unsolicited advice to the Read.cv team is to continue to focus on how to make this place more **community driven** rather than engagement driven. The focus shouldn't be on how many creatives you can pull from Twitter. Instead, it should be on how to make your own thing because the world doesn't need yet another uninspiring Twitter clone to add to the list.

*Till next time,*

*- Pedro*

---

Follow me on: [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/pedropeguerojr/) and [Posts](https://posts.cv/pedropeguerojr)\
My portfolio: [Pedro Peguero Jr.](https://www.pedropeguerojr.com/)\
What I've been listening to: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2r0J8UXW02cAMItqZ2lNXI?si=ff3b75b17d7a42dd)

Leaving Twitter, joining Posts, and my thoughts on social media

Hello again! It's been a few months since I've sat down and wrote down my thoughts, but I've been meaning to write more. There is so much that goes through my head these days, that I should truly keep a journal just to log and revisit them later. I've also had some of you reach out since my last write up and say that you've enjoyed my writing style and appreciate my thoughts, to which I say—thank you 💙

---

I wanted to talk about a topic that has been on my mind for a long time—**opening my own studio.** For years I've had people in my DM's and texts (family, friends, and colleagues alike) asking or encouraging me to go freelance full-time and run my own studio in the process. I had a good friend of mine even tell me "*honestly dude you have so much charisma you'd fit in anywhere*” in which I say that I’m blessed to have a supportive group of friends that keep it real with me and my flaws.

It has always been a long term goal of mine to run my own thing. For those who have known me and my work between 2014-2017, you might even remember that I briefly did operate [my own studio](https://www.talkandroid.com/256802-valiant-pixels-makes-its-moonshine-icon-pack-open-source/) named “Valiant Pixels” while I was still in school. At the end of it though, as a fresh new grad I wanted to dive head first into the industry and pursue full-time opportunities—and decided to stop working under Valiant altogether in 2017.

This leads me to where I am now, and why I’ve been thinking heavily over these last couple years that *maybe* it’s time for me to give it another go—just without the previous safety nets of school and living under my parents roof...

## **Perception**

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FdF8wJDE4C6Qz2NM7gm0y%2F62033b08-d5cb-413e-9c0c-e037f3a1206d.png?alt=media&token=992be80e-62c0-4333-ad01-62cc131883e7","id":"62033b08-d5cb-413e-9c0c-e037f3a1206d","width":1920,"height":1227,"filename":"shannon-langrand.png","type":"image/png","caption":"— Shannon Langrand, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Langrand","border":false}]}
```

As a person of color, especially one who wants to be a leader in this industry, the odds are already against me in creating a successful business [where progress seems to continue to be an uphill battle for people like me.](https://adage.com/article/agency-news/agencies-owned-or-run-white-execs-jump-90-4as-diversity-report-finds/2504951)

This isn't surprising to me in the slightest given the history of the ad industry has almost always catered to white men. My 10ish years of being in this industry across full-time, freelance, and personal opportunities have had it's ugly moments. I’ve worked with clients that seem to have preconceived in their head that all hispanic people must be the same shade of brown, being asked to "*add hispanic people*" to a brand concept ignoring the lighter skinned hispanic people in it. I've also worked with brand consultants who said that the concepts I had "*felt a little overweighted with diversity*" saying "*the majority of people in the United States still identify as white, and we want to make sure we are showing this as a general market idea.*" as if white people aren't already the general market(?). The most insulting part of this was that the client was in an industry that already has deep systemic issues with trust among black and brown people.

A friend of mine at an agency he worked at told me that he was working on a Pride related project for a client that involved using the colors of the Pride flag. However, after multiple rounds of concepting, the client decided to remove the light blue, pink, black, and brown colors (colors that represent trans and black and brown individuals within the community) from the final work. It went against the values and principles he and his colleagues stood up for among the community, and when brought up to his supervisors, they did not put their foot down hard enough and gave the work a green light. This was probably just to keep the client relationship alive as they didn’t want to cause any tension. I guess if the client has deep enough pockets, all values fade away.

I'm not even going to get started on the interactions I've personally had with people in this industry who have used racially charged slang and have made genuine claims that they "relate" to the struggles black people face. They were white.

It is experiences and stories like these that give me hesitation in building up my own thing today. What will clients think of me and my work? Will they want to work with me? Am I only going to win this work solely for the fact that my studio is minority-led, and they want to use me as a way to validate their DEI efforts? Why is diversity being treated like it’s show and tell?

All of this also revolves around the perception of risk as well.

## **Growing up and the definition of "risk"**

Opening up any business involves risk, but I believe the reason why people of color may be more risk adverse is due to cultural upbringings.

```cv
gallery
{"layout":"hscroll","images":[{"src":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/maitake-project.appspot.com/o/pages%2Fe4F3qTUKtkbw8HP0qa80MMejX5R2%2FdF8wJDE4C6Qz2NM7gm0y%2F91eaaa34-e5ae-44bf-84e3-ad63876c312f.jpg?alt=media&token=02fcf865-1f71-480f-aab7-0ead9337823d","id":"91eaaa34-e5ae-44bf-84e3-ad63876c312f","width":2272,"height":1704,"filename":"p1200017.jpg","type":"image/jpeg","caption":"Me (left) and my little brother","border":false}]}
```

I grew up in an immigrant household where my father came over to Brooklyn from the Dominican Republic when he was young. He joined the military shortly after high school, and took a lot of those upbringings and lessons into his household when he became a father. My mom was born and raised in Brooklyn with my grandparents who immigrated from Puerto Rico, and they both raised me and my little brother in the suburbs of Long Island.

My dad always wanted me to be in a successful and technical industry, specifically engineering. Even though that was something I wasn’t super passionate about at all, I tried all the ways and avenues to see if it was possible. It wasn’t until the summer of my senior year in high school in which I decided to go into the arts and pursue design. I still remember the day I went into his room and told him I wasn’t going to do engineering and that I wanted to go to college for graphic design. I was so nervous, because it felt like I was going against everything he and his family sacrificed to be where he is today. Ultimately he was happy for me and supported me, and eventually came around in saying that he didn’t want to push something on me if it was something that I truly wasn’t happy doing. Today he still stands by that, and is proud of the career paths his children have taken.

I tell this because it demonstrates what it’s like growing up in a household where you have high expectations and that anything “risky” (like starting your own studio) is deemed going off the wrong path. My parents pushed higher education, as not going to college was simply not an option—otherwise I had to get a job and move out. “Quitting” was not an option in anything no matter what the context, and there was a regime in everything you do. My brother and I were taught to be planners and that you had to have a plan in everything and anything you do in life if you ever wanted things to work out. No exceptions.

Now that I’m grown, this is where I sometimes can struggle with what is good risk vs. bad risk. I can have 24 months of savings stocked away, and I will still hesitate on whether or not it’s “right” to pursue something like running my own studio—that failure is scary and is not something to learn from but to avoid. That you need to have a plan or else nothing will ever come into fruition.

## **Being a leader, and what's next for me**

So with all of that being said, I’m sure you may be asking “So Pedro, are you gonna do it?” in which I say…**yes—but not in a way that makes me drop everything I'm doing.**

I am so damn ***proud*** of where I'm at today. In the last six years alone I've been able to rapidly climb the industry “ladder”, starting out as a "Junior" Designer (*which btw I really dislike the term junior because it's such a subjective title that is almost always used as a way to pay people less for the same type of work...*) at an in-house media company doing sell sheets and mailers, to becoming an Art Director at a creative agency where I'm designing and collaborating with incredible teams—launching campaigns and brands for companies like Uber, Chase, and Johnson & Johnson.

Over the years of working in an agency on a small team of extremely talented and diverse individuals, I’ve fallen in love with mentorship, deep collaboration, and striving for an environment that is full of transparency, growth, responsibility, and learning for those who work with me. This is crucial to me, as I want to be the person that I would've loved to go to during my early years dabbling in this industry \~10 years ago.

I am taking these learnings and am exploring ways that will allow me to start the foundation of creating my own studio so that one day I *can* drop everything I’m doing and pursue it full-time. I want to continue to grow and be a leader in this industry, and this avenue of starting my own brand studio is just one of the ways that I believe will allow me to reach the heights I want without being just a number on *someone else's* DEI report.

*Till next time,*

*Pedro*

---

Quote from: [Letting the light in: Diversity in advertising agencies](https://www.thinklangrand.com/top-of-mind/diversity-in-advertising-agencies#:~:text=Women%2C%20people%20of%20color%20and,create%20meaningful%20connections%20with%20them)\
Follow me on: [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/pedropeguerojr/) and [Posts](https://posts.cv/pedropeguerojr)\
My portfolio: [Pedro Peguero Jr.](https://www.pedropeguerojr.com/)\
What I've been listening to: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2r0J8UXW02cAMItqZ2lNXI?si=ff3b75b17d7a42dd)