Today we’d like to introduce you to Antoine Jamal.
Antoine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Oh Gosh! I’ve been a creative person since I was a kid, honestly. I started out singing and wanting to be the next somebody famous doing that and somewhere down the line, I discovered that music (though it will always be my first love) it didn’t fulfill me as it once did. I began designing professionally ten years ago, starting from a previous church I was apart of in Hampton, Virginia. From there, I was able to produce work for different churches and organizations in the area as well as artists and etc. As a self-taught graphic design artist, my personal ambition is to continue to grow my purpose and my range as an artist.
When I moved to Atlanta in 2016, my business took off in a way that I wasn’t expecting. It was an eye-opening experience that motivated me and propelled my work and my desire to be better within my designing capacity. Where I am today, after years of working on me and working on my business more consistently, as a published graphic design artist who also was blessed and fortunate to do something I have been wanting to do forever, which was to start an apparel line. My line, Avenue Black (@aveblackapparel), was created to be an extension of me versus being a whole “fashion line.” I wanted to be able still showcase my aesthetic as an artist and designer and create simple but bold statement pieces that allowed me to be able to explore a different part of me as an artist. This has not been an easy journey by ANY means whatsoever but it has all worked together in the end and I am grateful for everything I have been through that has made me the person and entrepreneur I am today.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The most challenges I have personally faced have been probably with myself, honestly. I think I spent more time scaring myself out of seeing my own greatness than anybody or any situation ever could. I think a lot of people go through that, not just artist or creatives and its something that you just have to push past and understand your purpose and find your why in order to be motivated to pursue your purpose without fear and distractions. Most of my struggles came from the usual financial battles most entrepreneurs probably encounter starting out but what I will say is that your gift will make room for you and it has. I am not where I want to be yet however, I am very proud of where I’ve come from to where life has bought me thus far in this genre of work.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
What I have been mostly known for is graphic designing. I have been working in this a field for about ten years officially and was blessed with the opportunity to become a published designer around 2016 by being selected to do a few movie poster/advertising and book cover projects that really placed me in a different aspect of designing. As my skills and business grew, I wanted to challenge myself by doing something different and investing into my brand more and I decided to develop Avenue Black as a way of expressing my art in a different way that is more tangible to people that are maybe not looking for a designer for a flyer or logo, etc., but for their fashion aesthetic. I am very proud of the outcome of not only that work and the products produced from that but also my general work as an artist. Graphic design is art! and is just as vital, expressive and impressionable as any other form of it.
For me, graphic design is more of a calling. It’s my purpose. There is someone out there in the world that has been sitting on a business idea, a clothing brand, a non-profit… and have been in search for someone or in need of someone to help them in branding or a logo and then boom I come along and am able to help with that. Not only did I complete an assignment/project for a client but I just helped someone set up what could be the next stage of progression in their livelihoods. That logo design could have been just the thing that someone needed to be able to launch their brand so that they can provide better for themselves or their families… that right there is BIGGER than the “job” or the “project” that reaches beyond that. That’s doing something bigger than you and that’s what I am most proud of in my life as a graphic designer.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Hmm… charge more! LOL. Like because I am passionate and particular about the things I attach myself to, in the beginning, I didn’t look at as a business and that this business was a reflection of me and my prices were a reflection of my WORTH and not my SKILL. That is a big mistake. Though they go hand and hand because obviously, you can’t charge astronomical prices for mediocre work, they should compliment what you think of yourself. I underpaid myself by charging low prices because I didn’t have enough confidence in myself to know better and to realize my worth to be able to compete or charge more appropriately.
The skillset was there, the confidence wasn’t and I used to be out there in them streets charging $25 for a logo that not only was hard but probably took me like 3 to 4 days to do… and only being able to buy gas and a some oodles and noodles, LOL. Had I had an opportunity to do anything differently, it would have been to take a step back, see what my capabilities and know that I was/am worth more than what I was charging for my service. And don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly NOT all about the money but at the end of the day, it IS about taking your business and yourself seriously and presenting yourself accordingly. I know that now and I wish I had that knowledge and confidence to tell my younger self back then these things.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.avenueblackapparel.com
- Email: bookantoinejamal@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookantoinejamal
Image Credit:
Brandon “GUMBO” Sampson
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