"Are you going to design a line for women?"

I’ve actually been asked this question quite a lot. My expertise is in menswear, but I think somewhere down the line (possibly sooner than later), a casual womens line might pop up where you least expect it!

"so how did Forever 21 get access to your design and isn"t this just a clever way to get publicity? I mean a present for your wife? and then what Forever 21 saw her on the street?"

I’ll only answer this one time: The design is clearly posted on my website and has been published in several magazines and books. It has never been for sale because of the fact that it was a gift. Please do your research before trying to stir up controversy.

"Contact a lawyer. F21 cannot steal designs like that and if they have sold *any* of those shirts you can be entitled to money. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen, artist have rights."

You are absolutely correct. My attorneys have already been contacted!

"Jon, I admire all the work you've done with CXXVI. I'm starting my own menswear collection as well, mirroring that same vintage aesthetic you perfected. What calligraphy books did you start with? And is there any advice or direction you can offer?"

I actually started with pretty basic calligraphy books; ones that came with a set of pens. It’s a great way to learn and an awesome way to understand the organic movement of letters and how they help communicate ideas. As for running a clothing company, my best advice is to try everything yourself first so you can understand the processes that go into making clothes, then gradually take steps up and never let yourself plateau.

"Hello! I LOVE your designs! Ive been wanting to develope a few logos/images for my vintage line and your style is right up my alley. Do you do freelance work? If so, may I please get in touch with you? Thank You!"

Thank you! For any requests, please contact me at my email address: joncontino@gmail.com

"can you speak at SVA too?"

I’d love to! Any requests should come from faculty, so if you’re interested in having me speak, you can ask a teacher or administrator to get in touch and work out the details.

"You should speak at Parsons again!"

There may be more coming up. I’ll post about it as soon as I know!

"How do you finish your work? Do you keep it pixel-based...or do you bring it into Illustrator/trace etc.? How much tweaking do you do on the computer, or is it all perfected on paper? How do you do what you do!?!? ;)"

It’s all experimenting! Some of it remains as vectors, others move into pixels, others are perfect on paper. There’s no one, true formula.