Today we’d like to introduce you to Alfonso Muñoz.
Hi Alfonso, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi, thanks for inviting me, I’m very excited to be here. Like you said, I’m Alfonso Muñoz a graphic designer born in Queretaro, a very beautiful and colonial city in Mexico. After a couple of years, my family and I moved to Tijuana.
Since I can remember, I always loved marketing and graphic design. When I was kid, I was drawn to anything with colors and pictures, but what kid isn’t drawn to that? I on the other hand, was particularly interested in the ads in magazines, my dad’s newspaper, TV or wherever. I remember going to the supermarket with my mom and walking through the cereal aisle and just looking at the packaging. Looking at all the work that went into designing does boxes. My favorite by far was Trix cereal, I loved how it had so much detail compared with other cereal box design. Every time I looked at that box, I thought, “I want to learn how to do that.” I didn’t know then that was a profession.
When I was in my second year of college, I started an internship at top marketing agency in Tijuana. Even though I had designed before, I did not feel ready. On the other hand, I didn’t want to say no either. It was a great opportunity. Two of the designers I worked with made an incredible impact in my career. I don’t think they know how much they helped me evolve as a designer. Most importantly, they saw my potential, encouraged me ,and helped me become a confident professional. Thank you Alex Viveros and Billy Larios!
I have a kind of funny / sad story. This happed when I was just starting, and I’m always hesitant to talk about because it’s a bit embarrassing. There are some brands in Tijuana that we know could use a re-vamp. Those brands that do not want to invest in redesigning their brand, because they think it’s a waste of time and money. But every designer wants to be the one that redesigns that brand, because if you did you could brag about it forever. One of does brands in Tijuana is local milk company. Back then the only milk company around, family-owned, but still very big. I was very young and didn’t have much experience, but I had seen that brand for years and wanted to be the one that redesigned their logo, since it had been the same for over 30 years I think. So I decided to call them. I wanted to be the designer to finally convince this huge local brand to change their logo. So I called. I got a name and email. I prepared my portfolio with a quick explanation of how I could change their brand and sent it… and I was immediately dismissed.
A few months passed, and I got a call from the company asking if I could stop by. I was so excited! I thought, “This is my chance.” I went to the meeting and was received by the owner’s grandson. He said that he also wanted to redesign the company but his grandfather didn’t care much about changing their image. He explained that he didn’t have a budget for the project, but that he wanted to see if I was willing to work on them for free. If his grandfather liked my work I would get paid. Remember, I was young and wanted a big brand in my portfolio.
I, of course, accepted and brought in a great illustrator and friend Jesus Pedroza (El Kartun), to help me with some of the work. After a couple of weeks working on the project, we were ready to present our work to the grandson of the owner. He was very happy. Eventually I was asked to present the work to the owner of the company. He was very courteous and asked about the project, but at the end he said, “Thank you for your work, but why don’t we start with this other project” and pushed my work to the side.
After the meeting, his assistant pulled me aside and asked me if they owed me anything. I explained the arrangement with the grandson and since the owner wouldn’t use my designs I wasn’t owed anything. He insisted in offering compensation for our work eventually I accepted. “Ok, just $100”, I said and I went on my way.
A year went by, when a friend of mine called up and asked me if I had sold the new logo to the company after all. I said no, since they didn’t use the material. I remember my friend just said “Go to a supermarket after work.” As soon as I got off work I rushed over to a supermarket and there it was, my redesigned logo. I had sold one of the most sought-after graphic design projects in Tijuana for only $100!
The silver lining is that someone saw the work I did for this milk company and called me to see if I was interested in a position in a marketing agency called Brandingroup, they were opening a new branch in San Diego and offered me a position as a graphic designer. I was thrilled. Branding became my thing. Honestly these guys were amazing, Jürgen Klaric and Eduardo Caccia are had an incredible way of looking at projects. My work definitely evolved after working there. Branding group eventually became Mindcode.
After Mindcode, I went back to work as a freelance in Tijuana. Shortly after, I opened a marketing agency with a colleague called Zirculo. We did great for a while, but we decided to go our separate ways. I made a lot of contacts and it helped me open up my current agency Fonzo Marketing. We are a small agency with very personalized attention that supports businesses in both USA and Mexico. It’s been a great experience.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would definitely say that one of the biggest struggles of opening your own marketing agency is acquiring new clients. In college, they teach you how to design but not how to get projects. That, I think, has been the biggest challenge. Motivation is another one. It’s very important that you know how to push yourself. I think every designer gets creatively stuck and it’s scary, but you have to know how to push through. You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to find it whenever you need it because the work won’t wait.
The pandemic was a great way to push myself and show what I am made of! Since a lot of businesses scaled-down because of how the economy is right now, work has been scarce, but during this time I’ve needed to pull myself together and be smarter about every decision and really strategize to get through this and show people what I’m made of.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I really love what I do. I love graphic design and marketing, seeing how the creative side of a business impacts people’s lives. Just by looking at their reactions to new products and campaigns, you can see how this becomes a part of their life.
I specialize in corporate branding, websites, logos, print, packaging, etc.
I started designing since I was 17, so now I have over 20 years of experience as a graphic designer working with different companies. Everything from a small local business to global brands. I have contributed to each company by helping them better understand their target audience and updating their communication tools. My goal with every project is to build modern, simple, and creative solutions.
What are you most proud of?
I have to say that I’m very proud to still be doing what I love, and to help people grow their business with what I know, that is something that brings me great joy.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Risks are the way you grow in life. Anything worth having will require risks, sacrifice and learning something new.
There is a phrase I heard that I love, “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”
Contact Info:
- Email: fonzo@fonzomkt.com
- Website: fonzomkt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fonzo.marketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fonzomarketing
Contact Info:
- Email: fonzo@fonzomkt.com
- Website: fonzomkt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fonzo.marketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fonzomarketing
