Okay I’ll admit it: my first love is music. I ended up in art school because after playing in punk bands in Peru since I was a teenager and later in San Francisco, my parents weren’t too keen on my becoming a musician. Of course by then, it was too late, but I liked making art and I liked computers so I conceded to go along with their plan and enroll in a Computer Arts program.

The truth is, I wanted to sign up for 3D Animation but I made a mistake while filling out the registration forms and found myself in Computer Arts New Media instead. It wasn’t long before I realized that this was possibly one of the best mistakes I would ever make. I learned that I had a natural knack for web design, layouts and illustration, which I was able to put to good use almost immediately. I composed the layout for my band’s first record, and soon after I was asked to do layouts for local record labels. I was incredibly fortunate to benefit from a word-of-mouth reputation that spread like wild-fire.

As it turned out, a lot of people needed record and zine layouts and websites created—and not just local punk bands and labels. My clientele quickly diversified, necessitating a wide array of mediums, genres and classifications that have been rewarding and challenging. I have worked with some of my heroes. I have been pushed to learn, grow and develop a level of mastery I would have never thought possible.

I now know that possibilities are endless, and I have the ability manifest them.

Best Regards,

Mark Reategui