I love writing, that's pretty clear to you all by now. One of my favorite things to write about is up and coming talent. I first met Ryan Prado by scrolling through Instagram and I knew I had to profile his work! I want to introduce you all to him and his amazing artistic journey.
Ryan Prado: Reimagining the World of Emojis
Prado, better known to the world as Rymojis, has been passionate about art for his entire life. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Prado now calls the Big Apple home. A proud graduate of the University of South Florida, Prado has a passion for art that is unmatched.
"I was one of those kids who was in college forever. I really had no direction or idea of what I wanted to do. I'd always been an artsy kid, art class was my favorite class in school. I always got really great feedback from teachers throughout school, but I never really thought it was a viable career option," Prado said.
While in college, Prado owned his own small coffeeshop in the south Florida area. He was his own one man business. While he thought business was the right path, he admits that he absolutely hated the experience. After hating the business major, he decided to take just one art class. That art class changed his life forever.
Ryan Prado
From that one art class, Prado threw himself into every art form that he could find. He developed a love for photography, but with photography, it was a field that required depending on tons of other people to make shoots work.
"It's not just you in photography. It became exhausting trying to track down makeup artists and models, and having to be the scheduler for everybody. It got to be too much. I knew I needed to find something I could do that just required me," Prado said.
After dabbling in red carpet photography for a while, Prado decided to get creative. Using his love for pop culture, Ryan wanted to help recreate some of pop cultures most iconic moments. A major fan of Janet Jackson, Prado had come up with an idea to make a shirt for her that he would toss on stage during her next concert.
"I didn't know the first thing about making shirts or designing things. I knew enough about Photoshop to get by, but I wasn't like anywhere near where I am now. It was a black t-shirt with white letters that said 'Penny, Charlene, Cleo, Justice' (her first four actress roles) because those shirts were very popular at the time."
He contacted a friend who knew a lot about making shirts and the next thing he knew, Prado wore his custom shirt to Janet's show in Orlando, Florida in 2015. During the next night, he saw the Unbreakable tour again in Tampa, Florida and he ended up in the front row, dead center.
"I had two shirts; I was wearing mine and then at the end of the show, I threw the second one on the stage and she held it up and draped it over herself. It kind of became this thing where people were contacting me about it. I was in the newspaper, it was on the TODAY Show, and it really got traction," Prado said.
He was bummed that he had to depend on someone else to help him make the shirt. Being on a high from the attention that he received from Janet for the shirt, Prado started to wrack his brain on what other things he could make for her. The next time Janet was on tour was just after she had her son and Prado decided to make a onesie for the baby.
"That right there was the birth of Rymojis. I wanted to do something on the base of emojis and everything started off very simple. I stayed toward the very simple and easy side of things. I was drawing a lot of inspiration from emojis, so I made this little onesie that said 'my mom is the queen of pop, and I'm the prince of poop' and I put a little poop emoji on it. I also made stickers for her dancers. I heard through the grapevine that she loved the stickers and the onesie, but never heard anything directly," Prado recalled.
Rymoji creation of Michael Jackson and his pet monkey, Bubbles
What started out with Janet Jackson has now turned into a huge business venture for Prado. He's since launched Rymojis and it has truly taken on a life of its own.
"I get a lot of requests for 'oh can you do this person' or 'oh can you do that person'. I would always keep this running list of people and things to do and people would reach out to me an ask about custom creations for their dogs or their families. It's turned into this fun little side hustle," Prado said.
Prado's inspiration for art came innocently enough, from his loving mom and aunt.
"I was always surrounded by art. My mom and my aunt were artsy people and my parents especially were always really encouraging. There was never anything about 'don't do that' but I always knew there was something creative inside of me," Prado said.
While Ryan loves music, for him, it's the visuals that go along with the music videos that he loves more than anything.
"The art and animation was always something that drew me in. Everything from the visuals, the colors, the creation. I was always dreaming about how when I grew up, I wanted to do something in animation," Prado says.
His niche area of recreating these pop culture icons is his true love. According to Prado, pop culture consumes his entire life.
"Pop culture consumes my life, it's my favorite thing. I love music, TV shows, movies. Growing up, my brain is full of movie quotes and knowledge that most people would be like 'how do you remember this stuff?' and I would honestly say it's because I've watched these movies and videos 55,000 times. I can't imagine pop culture not being a part of my life. Being able to create something that reflects that, it makes me happy and the fact that people respond to it and like it, that's the cherry on the top," Prado said.
Rymoji creation of the cast of the hit TV show, Friends
For Prado, being the big time concert goer that he is, of course he buys a t-shirt and a concert program, but he's always wanted to have something more. That's why he's created his Etsy shop, where he sells magnets and stickers of his Rymoji creations.
"I love when the artists have a magnet or a keychain. I like little things that you can always take with you or put it somewhere where you are constantly reminded of that concert or that moment. The magnets and stickers are not overly priced and people can have a unique piece of their favorite band or music artist for their home," Prado said.
With all of these pieces that he creates, he must have a favorite, right? Right. Prado went to see Janet Jackson during her Las Vegas residency in 2019 and wanted to bring her another creation as a gift.
"I had started doing the Janet stickers and it's going to haunt me forever, but I feel like every time I see Janet now, I need to one up the last thing I made for her. I knew I wanted to make a children's book for Janet because her son was a toddler at this point. The onesie was like the gateway to all of this. I wrote out the ABC's and attached something of Janet's to each letter, her career, album title, something. I compiled this book and created a page for every single letter and it really challenged me. It was a lot of work, especially for certain letters," Prado said.
He got the book printed and gave it to Janet himself in person. Her reaction? She absolutely loved it. She knew about his work from all the previous times that he'd gotten her gifts. Even members of her management team enjoyed his work. Within the book, he'd stuck a pack of his sticker designs and a few months later, Janet posted a picture of her laptop and sure enough, Ryan's stickers were all over it.
Rymoji creation, Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat from the Opposites Attract music video
"It meant a lot to me because she didn't just throw it aside. She kept it and kept it with her things and she looks down at her laptop everyday and my designs are there. That to me is the ultimate compliment. My head exploded that day and it was probably one of the best days of my entire life," Prado said.
Ryan hopes that kids who are interested pursuing art and design just go for it.
"Practice and perfect your craft. Don't give up and just keep doing what makes you happy. There are always going to be people who will tell you that what you are doing is wrong, but don't listen to them. It's so accessible and easy to do, find what makes you happy and just do it. Stick with it. If you love it, it's meant to be," Prado said.
Prado is open to ideas for content and is extremely receptive to creating something that is unique to the individual who is purchasing. To learn more about Ryan, visit his Etsy shop or follow him on Instagram at @rymojis.
Ryan, thank you for letting me share your story on my blog. I treasured our time talking on the phone and I know that Rymojis has some big things in store. I'm so glad I met you!
Stories like Ryan's are why I love sharing about the up and coming talent that this world has to offer. I'm always inspired by people and their specific life journey that they have been on. Many times these interviews remind me of why I am so passionate about the world of writing and Ryan's was no exception.
To any young writer out there, remember that these are the stories of your neighbors, your colleagues, your friends, your parents. Talk to people about their passions outside of work and you'll discover a whole other person. These stories are the most important to share and they often help remind people why they chose their career path. You never know who you are inspiring with your writing.
Signing off,
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