Whether you’ve been following me from the beginning or just discovering me, “Hello there!” It’s been a while since I’ve been active in this little space called “happymundane.com .” I thought now would probably be a good time to re-introduce myself.
So, Hello (again). I’m Jon, Jonathan Lo, legally and professionally. I live in Irvine, California, a suburban community in “the OC”, where I have my small design and consulting agency, J3 Productions. My career has been a weird voyage, starting with being the art director for the apparel brand Mossimo (way back in the mid to late 90s.) After that, I started J3, and have been doing creative work for brands ranging from Quiksilver/Roxy, Target, and DKNY to toy and entertainment companies, like Mattel, Hasbro, Nickelodeon, and Sanrio.
So that’s what’s been going on (and still is) in the background. In 2006, I randomly started this blog just as a fun side thing. At that time, it was the primordial era of what would become the “blog-o-sphere” portion of the interwebs (ahhh such simple times…) The word “blog” was such a new thing. Most people didn’t know what it was or what would happen with it, but it was an exciting time to be able to share things with others and feel a sense of “community” with people worldwide. I virtually met so many incredible and talented bloggers, some of whom I eventually met in real life (“IRL”), and have since become dear friends. The blog was a fun way to share things that interested me, like home décor and “good design of any kind.” It became a great outlet unrelated to my client/day job world.
The blog also became a great way to share my aesthetic regarding decorating and design. My home has been featured in 4 books and several magazines. I even had the opportunity to be an editor for Apartment Therapy in its early days.
Then in 2011, a new thing called “social media” really started to infiltrate our lives. Instagram became a way for me to explore photography, and Pinterest felt like a more direct way to catalog things I loved and discover new things. Both became extensions of what I was doing with the blog, but I found I started devoting more time to those platforms. I was fortunate to have both my Instagram and Pinterest accounts featured by Instagram and Pinterest, and my following grew. I was lucky to be featured by other outlets like Mr. Porter, West Elm, Domino magazine, and Refinery 29. J3 was still my priority, but suddenly words like “influencer” started being thrown at me.
Now, fast forward 10+ years, and I feel like we’re at this weird tipping point. Social media has become the new “blog,” in a way, and most of the bloggers I started with have either evolved into much larger entities or stopped blogging altogether. The world is now literally and figuratively on fire, and social media platforms have changed so much from their humble beginnings. Every one of them struggles to find ways to stay “relevant,” resulting in random changes nobody asked for. I feel it’s discouraging a lot of really talented voices since It takes a lot of time to create a post, only to find their followers aren’t even seeing them anymore due to uncontrollable algorithms. As a result, I start to wonder the importance of even having a following on these platforms? Does it even matter? Obviously social media isn’t going away, and it’s not all bad and horrible. I think I’m just still trying to figure out what it means for me and how best to utilize them.
So now and back to this little virtual space. I don’t know where I’m going with this, but I’ve just been missing the fun I had doing simple posts. If you haven’t already, I would love for you to sign up to my newsletter. I feel like a newsletter is an excellent way to take back the algorithm’s control and let me know who is actually interested in my mundane shenanigans. Plus, I plan on trying to merge my worlds a little more. Maybe share more of my J3 side, but still champion that #mundaneaesthetic. If you’ve made it this far, I’m so thankful you’ve chosen to spend a few minutes of your precious time with me. I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to DM me on insta (@happymundane) or email jon @ happymundane dot com.