In 1995, while I was a student at ArtCenter, a group of us formed Contraste to create a stronger community for Latin American students across the school. Our annual Día de los Muertos celebration was the biggest expression of that effort: food, music, art, calavera face painting, and months of fundraising to make it happen.
For our second event, we wanted Ozomatli to perform. We knew they were special, but our $700 budget didn’t come close to covering their fee. I offered to design a logo for the band as part of the payment, and they agreed.
I developed several directions and presented them to Will Dog and other members of the band. Cut Chemist immediately connected with one of them. He described it as tribal, modern, simple, and unique, and said he could already picture it on his turntable scratch pads.
After the show, the logo began appearing on stickers around Los Angeles. Then on merchandise, album covers, stages, and eventually in places far beyond the city. Years later, Ozomatli offered to formally pay me for the rights. I reminded them that they had already upheld their side of the deal. In return, they gave me tickets to their shows for life.
The logo has lasted for more than thirty years, but what stays with me is where it began: a community of students, a Día de los Muertos celebration, and a barter agreement with a band we believed in.
