AWOL JAY has been drawing since he could hold a pencil — first cars, then sneakers, then the ads his friends would tear out of SLAM magazine and ask him to redraw. He designed his first t-shirt in sixth grade. He never really stopped.

His design school was COUVER, the streetwear brand he founded and ran end-to-end: every tech pack, every screen pulled by hand, every drop, every package. That education led to his first client, FELT NYC, then adidas capsule work, and a client list that now runs from Vince Staples, Bad Bunny, and TDE to television design with SQUID — the artist-led studio behind title and motion work for Hulu, Disney+, and Apple TV+ documentaries.

He believes the best design disappears into use. Nobody remembers who designed the straw — and that's the point. Make something so right it becomes invisible, and it will outlive every trend.