Discover the Best Books Written by Jon Contino

Jon Contino (born; January 26, 1983) is an Italian-American creative director, graphic designer, illustrator, lettering artist, and author best known for his identity work for brands such as Nike, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Hulu, Chicago White Sox, and 20th Century Fox. On October 23, 2018, Abrams Books published Brand By Hand, a graphic-design retrospective showcasing his work, career, and artistic inspiration.

Contino grew up in Nassau County, Long Island, NY, minutes away from Jones Beach and about 30 minutes from New York City. He spent the majority of his childhood drawing and practicing various forms of lettering and calligraphy. Contino credits his early interest in creativity to his family, who he states were also uniquely creative as well. As a teenager, Contino began playing drums in various New York Hardcore bands and discovered his love for art was useful in creating merchandise, promotional material, and album covers for local independent bands and record labels. It was at this point he decided to focus on graphic design as his primary career.

Contino started working as a freelance designer in 1997 and continued through high school and college. He graduated from Adelphi University in 2005. He opened his first independent design studio, Onetwentysix, in 2006. In 2009, along with business partner Matt Gorton, Contino started CXXVI Clothing Co., an independent menswear brand known for its use of nautical imagery and New York and Americana-based themes. Over the course of the next few years, CXXVI faced numerous unfortunate and destructive issues that caused it to shut down in 2014. Rather than abandoning what appeared to be a cursed career at that point, Contino decided to continue forward in the years to come, starting several new clothing brands and eventually a creative consulting agency aptly named CONTINO, which he is still the creative director of today.

As a designer and consultant, Contino is known for infusing a great humanistic personality into everything he does. His work is commonly described as earnest, gritty, and filled with a "New York spirit" while sparing nothing when it comes to attention to detail.

Known to be a tireless and prolific creator, Contino has worked closely with some of the world's best know brands such as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Disney, Nike, Kiehl's, American Eagle Outfitters, 20th Century Fox, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Anthropologie, Chicago White Sox, Sperry, Jack Daniel's, Hulu, Campbell Soup Company, Whole Foods Market, Netflix, Sports Illustrated, Victoria's Secret, Miami Dolphins, Google, Stetson, Gatorade, Sony, Boston Red Sox, and Ozzy Osbourne to name a few.

Contino has been a vocal presence in the creative community as a keynote speaker and lecturer at events and schools alike. Also, it hosts a podcast that focuses on honesty and realism in the design industry known as The Nose Knows. He advocates for accepting and embracing the "weird" and the "ugly" things typically discouraged by mainstream society. He consistently rallies against the current state of a desire for perfection and speaks candidly about the need to appreciate all facets of life, regardless of norms or perceptions.

He has received some of the industry’s most prestigious honors, most notably the rare Decoration & Design Building Stars of Design award, a Clio Key Art Award, a Cannes Lion award, and an ADC Young Guns award.