Meet A.J. Moore, Jr.

Today we’d like to introduce you to A.J. Moore, Jr.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m an independent author and promotional graphic designer specializing in brand marketing collateral, image retouching, photo manipulation, and social media content creation. Owner of AJ Moore Jr and Company.

Born and raised in Dallas, TX, to a household that promoted media and the arts heavily, it was almost inevitable that I would be doing what I am today. My parents met in an art class at Mountain View College. Growing up, my mother was a fantastic artist. My father freelanced as a DJ while in college and had a passion for carpentry as well. Seeing their creative pieces displayed throughout our entire house was a driving force to my initial love for being creative. In elementary, my sister and I would mimic our parent’s creativity in so many ways such as building makeshift furniture from just cardboard scraps and duck tape or even record a radio show on my favorite toy, the Talkboy Cassette Tape Player (yes, the one from Home Alone), anything to be creative. We also did a lot of drawing but my first time editing anything on the computer was my junior year in High School. I realized my laptop had an editing software called Windows Movie Maker. It allowed me to take images or clips and turn them into videos; I was hooked immediately.

I graduated from South Grand Prairie High School in 2010, where I lettered in both football and track & field. My athletic abilities would eventually lead me to Texas A&M University-Commerce in Commerce, TX, in the fall of 2010, on a track and field scholarship where I initially studied Radio/Television. While at A&M-Commerce I was initiated into the Zeta Tau chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated as well as the National Broadcast Society. It was here where I would begin to develop not only a passion but a real skill for graphic design, photography, and video. I taught myself these skills not only from the passion but from the simple concept of supply and demand. Most college students need money, and I realized people would pay me for these skills. I began to develop the skills more and started taking graduation pictures for the seniors and made event flyers for some of the student organizations on campus. These opportunities led me to the Mass Communications department where I was offered a position to work as the student graphic designer for the entire school. I believe this experience would later play a part in my decision to focus more on graphic design ultimately.

After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in May of 2014, I moved back to the DFW Area in pursuit of continuing my education online as well as help my cousin and business partner Timothy Walker, Jr. establish a brand for his company Highlight U Productions, a media production company based initially in Arlington. While with Highlight U I had the opportunity to work with companies the likes of Aramark, DeMarco Murray Foundation, TechMedia, Hyundai Capital, Barclays and even produced content for the Dallas Digital Summit. In November of 2015, while still working on projects for Highlight U, I received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Media Design from the entertainment media based institution, Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. My experiences with Highlight U and Full Sail University served as an apprenticeship that molded me and guided my steps to where I am today.

After graduation, I briefly worked for Bailey Lally and Company as a graphic designer, photographer, and videographer. While with the company they allowed me to play a significant role in the brand development of their virgin hair subscription service, BundleBox™. When I left the company in 2016, I began to discontinue my videography/photography services and decided to dive head first into freelance graphic design.

Has it been a smooth road?
Being a child of addiction and domestic abuse, you see and hear things you shouldn’t, but if you use the energy that comes with those experiences in the right way, an extraordinary person can evolve from it. Growing up in my household was not easy, but my mother taught me to use everything as a learning tool, the good and the bad. She showed me what it looked like to be a rock and how never to use excuses, just get the job done. The lessons from my childhood experiences would help get me through some dark times as an adult as well.

In my new book “Six Figure Design: My Keys to Achieving and Sustaining High Profits in Graphic Design”, I have a section discussing the importance of knowing your value and worth as a designer. This section briefly highlights my journey:

“It became easy for me to demand my value when I started thinking about the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on my education, the 10,000 hours of mastery and ten plus years spent on developing my craft. Even remembering eviction notices, lights off while working odd jobs from delivering pizzas to late night janitor jobs, even washing dishes at a local restaurant. All to stay afloat while working towards getting to this point.”

So to answer your question, no it has not been a smooth road. I’ve learned that usually, the road less traveled is a bumpy one but at the end, the destination is worth it.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
AJ Moore Jr & Company is a media design firm established in 2017. We have grown from one freelancer to a team of experienced media designers ready to take on your design needs. No matter how big or small your business or brand may be, having an in-house digital content creator could be the missing piece to your puzzle of success. Whether marketing collateral for business owners, image retouching and manipulation for photographers or custom Instagram stories for social media managers, we value creating consistent digital content that can promote your brand on a new level.”

We take pride in promoting productivity and comfortability for our team members while creating consistency and reliability to our customers. I believe a comfortable designer is a productive designer. My team consists of individuals who work from the comfort of their homes or personal offices all over the country. They help take care of the workflow of our smaller clients which gives me the flexibility to provide more attention to my more prominent clients. Even though I do have an office base, my business does not require the traditional brick and mortar. Most if not all work is done virtually.

My team and I produce visual identity design such as logos, marketing & advertising graphic design such as flyers and billboards, as well as publication and packaging design for companies all over Dallas-Ft Worth and surrounding areas.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Our city is an excellent place for businesses like mine and others. There are still over 20 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Locally we’ve seen a recent boom in development of commercial real estate in my area of Frisco/Plano from Legacy West to the Dallas Cowboys world headquarters “The Star,” which has made room for a lot of businesses and owners that need help promoting their services via print, web and social media. There are also some great things happening in downtown Dallas. Our city traditionally has been overlooked, but I think we are witnessing a fast growth of commerce and talent that will affect the way our country looks at the industries of culinary, fashion, sports, music, television/film, real-estate and more for years to come.

Contact Info:

• Address: 6160 Warren Parkway,
  Suite 100 Frisco, Texas 75034
• Website: www.ajmoorejr.com
• Phone: 9724182962
• Email: info@ajmoorejr.com
• New book: https://ajmoorejr.store/products/sfd

Image Credit:
CJ Cannon

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