What do you get when you cross a bartender with a musician and a world traveler? A kickass infographic designer! No, really. It’s true. And we have proof.
Creating an infographic requires taking large amounts of data and synthesizing it into visual bites that are easy to digest. Not an easy task. Allovus was looking for someone who could create some internal business infographics for the company. Luckily, we found a designer who is cut out for the job, Johnny Terlaje.
Originally, Allovus recruiter Jill Morgan reached out to him over LinkedIn for a different job.
“He wasn’t interested in the original role I threw out to him,” Jill said. “A few months later he contacted me and mentioned his contract was coming to an end and he was on the lookout for something new. I really loved Johnny’s portfolio and was more than happy to talk to him. We had such a great phone call, I remember walking away thinking that he’s one of the nicest and most gracious people; which only backed up his already great design skills.”
“Flash forward to a week or so later. The business team was in a meeting discussing an internal project and the visual direction in which we should go,” Jill said. “I remembered Johnny’s resume being one of the better infographics resumes I had seen. I pulled it up as an example. Lo and behold everyone liked it as much as I did! So we called him in to meet and talk about the project… and now he’s working with the Allovus team.”
From Guam to Seattle, and lots of places in between, Allovus designer Johnny Terlaje somehow developed the ability to take something complicated and make it seem simple. It may be because of the interesting way he got into the design biz.
“Back home (in Guam,) my full-time career was in food and beverage. I was a bartender. I got so good at it that I competed in bartending competitions, and was part of the bartender training team for The Hard Rock Café,” Johnny said. “I was also playing in a reggae roots band. The band knew that I dabbled in art, so they asked me to create some flyers and a logo design for our group.”
Understanding the need for consistency in branding, he knew he had to create a “look” for the band.
“I found a tutorial on vector design on YouTube and created our marketing and branding material,” Johnny said. “Everything I learned about promotion, timing, venues, coordinating signage, t-shirts, and sponsorship graphics translated to corporate work for me. I started doing graphics for other bands. That gave me a network of clients to work from. The whole idea of working with people in the band translated to working with people today. I’m a heavy collaborator as well as having the ability to work by myself.”
In addition to bartending, Johnny also had a passion for outrigger racing. “I traveled to Fiji, Hong Kong, Taipan, Saipan, and Belau with the outrigger racing team from Guam.” In his infographic resume, he highlights his travels. “It’s one of the things that make me who I am.” One of his most noteworthy trips took him from Virginia all the way to Eagle River, Alaska. (Near Anchorage.) He and family members drove eight straight days with a U-Haul to help move his dad and stepmom’s furniture to their home. (His dad is with the military.)
Once the travel bug bit, Johnny and his wife were looking to start a new adventure. “We looked at different places where we had family to go stateside. We had family in Washington, so we thought we’d come here. She came out here first, while I was wrapping up things in Guam. I picked up some ad agency work there, as well as continuing to do my other jobs. I was literally juggling four occupations—I was so busy. I was growing in the right direction—not being a bartender anymore. I didn’t want to be that person that had to work so many hours to make that tip money,” Johnny said. “I love high-tech and Seattle is so tech-heavy.”
Johnny was excited about how the information industry was evolving. ”Not only did I want to upgrade my PC at the time, but I also wanted to upgrade my software tools. I started to polish up my portfolio. It made me more aggressive to get out there and better myself.”
Making the transition from print work to more digital work, Johnny pushed his quest for knowledge. “I’m hungry to grow professionally,” he said.
Now the proud father of an adorable 7-month-old daughter, he is happy to be rooted in the Seattle area, and working for Allovus. “My mission is to make a connection with hiring managers that are in need of specific talent.”
Remember how we talked about synthesizing information into bite-sized pieces at the beginning of this article? After reading a little about Johnny’s background, check out his infographic resume, and see how he managed to capture his work background and his personality all in one piece. Well done! Stay tuned for a follow-up on the work he completes for Allovus.
To see more of Johnny’s work, check out his website:
And for those of you who are curious about Guam, take a look at this travel video: