Today we’d like to introduce you to George Moss.
Hi George, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Since I was about six years old, I liked drawing cartoon characters. I was inspired by cartoons like Thundercats and GI Joe. I was also inspired by the fashions from R&B and hip hop music videos on BET and MTV. These elements influenced my art and design style.
Through elementary school and High school. I had art classes with an awesome teacher, Mrs. Bailey. She was kind and always encouraging. She taught me to work hard, to finish my projects, and to be humble.
After high school, I had the opportunity to go to college in downtown Miami, Florida. My college is now known as Miami International University of Art & Design. When I applied there, I was thinking about taking fashion design to be able to make cool clothing with cartoons on them, but I thought to myself, “I don’t know how to sew.” I studied there and received a commercial art degree instead. They taught us well, but after I and my classmates graduated, many of us had a tough time finding a full-time job.
The next tax season after college, I started working at an income tax company doing clerical work. I answered phones and made appointments for clients. On my lunch break, I usually ate Chinese food from Cafe Ruyi, drew art in my sketchbook, and read my Bible. I would sketch and create everything that was on my mind during my break. I did not know at the time, but the art that I created in my sketchbook would become the foundation for my future business. This was not my original plan. I was just drawing and having fun.
After working at the tax business for a while, I decided to take on my own clients and do freelance graphic design and illustrations. I created logos, business cards, brochures, flyers, and T-shirt designs for small businesses. It was tough to make a living, but I tried my best. Around this time, I had a friend tell me, “All you do is color all day, why don’t you go get a real job! Go work at McDonalds or something.” I had a few too close haters/friends that were not encouraging and it really affected my productivity and mindset. My brother, my parents, and my true friends encouraged me to keep trying and to trust God.
My brother told me to continue sending out my resume and to keep looking for work. I sent out around 4o resumes and went to interviews that did not work out. In the last interview, my future boss asked me, “Do you know what you are here for?” I said, “I am here for the black and white illustration job.” That is what the advertisement stated for the job. My future boss stated, “No, you are here to design men’s clothing.” I thought to myself, Great! I need a job!
This was my first full-time corporate job. I did not know anything about fashion at the time, but I worked hard and tried to learn as much as I could. I learned how to sketch clothing to scale and to create technical drawings for men’s clothing. After a year working in this company, I received a phone call from an old coworker who worked at another men’s fashion company. He said, “George, we need you over at this company. We need you to technically sketch our clothing. I took a chance and left my first real corporate job.
At this company, I was mentored by two great people who became my friends. They taught me how to measure/inspect clothing and how to create technical packages for manufacturers. At this company, I would draw in my sketchbook and write stories for fun on my lunch break. I liked my job, but I was still missing drawing my cartoons. In passing, one of my co-workers asked me, “What do you want to do in life?” Without hesitation, I told him I would like to make an animation. He said, “What are you doing in the fashion industry?” I thought to myself, this dude is right! It got me thinking more about my own cartoons and characters.
I started seriously working on my artwork at home during the night. I made a portfolio of my cartoon characters and clothing designs. I was invited by a friend to attend Comic Con in San Diego. She was releasing her graphic novel there. I didn’t know much about comic con or about comic conventions. She convinced to go. She said you need to come out to the show. I took a week off from work, took my portfolio, and booked a flight to San Diego. From start to finish, I was amazing. I was inspired and thought that I need to be a part of this culture and scene. This are my people and this is where I belong.
Eventually, I took a step of faith with my parents and started our company, Gmoss Designs, LLC. I started out doing services for clients in graphic designs illustrations and also creating technical packages for clothing designs. This new venture gave me the opportunity to work on my personal designs. I launched my own art, accessories, and clothing brand called “gmoss seek eternal purpose” at an event called “Flavor Fest” in Tampa, Florida. We then took my brand to the first Florida Supercon, a pop culture and comic book convention and other conventions in Florida. We exhibited at many comic book conventions and made many many friends/fans.
During one of the Florida Supercon events, I met Allen Bellman, a golden age Captain America comic book artist who worked with Stan Lee. He was so kind. One day I should him my portfolio again and this time he said, “George, you always show me your artwork. Stop playing around and get your book done”. I thought to myself, Book? I don’t know how to write.” But then, I believe God reminded me, “You’ve been writing on your lunch breaks for many years.” With all of the stories that I had written in my sketchbook, I had enough material to make a spec script and a book.
After I finished illustrating my 112 page novel, “THE CHRONICLES OF ANN & LO™”, I launched it along with my art, clothing, and accessories at Florida Supercon. My new mentor, Allen Bellman, my friends, and also new fans were very happy and supported my work. These times were exciting to see people liking my work enough to want to buy it, read it, wear my clothing, and put my artwork on their walls. It was amazing. I was thankful to God for these opportunities, but things started to slowing down. My sales began to slow down at conventions. I needed to do something different and started looking for another place to sell my work along with the convention scene.
On my parent’s wedding anniversary, I took them to Bayside Marketplace in downtown Miami. I wanted to take pictures of them by the water to celebrate. We walked in front of the Hard Rock Cafe and saw a patch of grass with many artists and crafts people. I asked the first lady I saw there about their event. “How much is this space to be an artist?” She said, “It’s free.” I said, “What, it’s free. Seriously?” That day we met Mark Weiser the director of the show. He gave us the opportunity to sell my work there. We stayed there for many years and did well there with my work. Some days were not so good, and I had haters laughing at me and telling me that I was wasting my time at Bayside. One day at Bayside, I met a couple who saw some of my Jazz art in my booth. They suggested that I show my work to WDNA Jazz Radio Station in Coral Gables. The radio station liked my work and ended up giving me a whole exhibit and a Jazz concert for the exhibit opening. All this happened because I was present at Bayside with my work. We made so many close friends at Bayside Artist Square and Mark became a lifetime friend and family. He is also a great supporter and encourager of my work.
Years later, I went back to work the fashion industry. It was very tough for me to adjust back to the culture. I was used to doing my own work and having different types of freedoms.
In 2020, the covid pandemic hit and my family and I were thinking about our future and our next plans. I dusted off my old goals and added it to our business plan. We had an idea of putting together our own show for many years to encourage people to use their talents and to help their community.
In 2021, my Dad said let’s start planning our show. I started inviting my artists and designer friends to be a part of the show. When I asked my friend Jordan, he was excited about it and partnered with us to create our event called Beyond Comicon. Our show is a creator-focused, community-centered, and family-friendly event in North Miami Beach. We launched our first show last weekend, February 19th, 2022. We had over 700 people in attendance. It went very well. Many friends came together and also many people that we did not know helped us promote our event. We are very thankful to God that many people believed in us and our vision. Beyond Comicon was a success! I also released my animated trailer for THE CHRONICLES OF ANN & LO™” during my 11am panel called “FASHION To COMICS.”
I just want to say that our goals and dreams can still happen even after many years pass by. It was my dream to have an animation and also to make our own show to encourage our community. Both dreams happened last weekend. One of my favorite scriptures sums it up – “Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been smooth. I struggled to have consistent income in business, but I learned to create many different streams of income. I learned how to create different types of product with a small budget or without money. I believe that when I lacked resources, I became more creative.
During my struggle, I taught art, design, and fashion at schools, colleges, and libraries.
I also struggled with being paid what I am worth. Some clients wanted top quality art but were not willing to pay for it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Professionally, I am a fashion designer who specializes in creating fashion technical packages for sportswear. These technical packages are sent to clothing factories to mass produce clothing. I create the line sheet with the different clothing styles in color with their descriptions for a buyer to review and choose the garment for purchase. Once the garment is purchased, I create a technical package (tech pack) with the garment technical sketch, garment spec sheet, trims sheet, fabric information, and graphic art. This tech pack is sent to the factories to be produced. When the samples come back, I inspect them to ensure they match my instructions and I communicate this information to the factories.
I believe that I am known for my Jazz and cartoon illustration, my comic/novel story “The Chronicles of Ann & Lo”, and also having a cartoon character style clothing line called “Gmoss” for short.
I am most proud of my parents. I have this great opportunity to spend more time with them at our events and I also have the opportunity to learn from their wisdom.
I believe that my original ideas and background set me apart from other people. I truly believe If you are genuine and true to who you are, you will be set up apart from everyone.
What’s next?
My plan at this moment is to continue to grow Gmoss Designs, LLC, create more stories for my Gmoss characters, and to continue to develop our show, Beyond Comicon.
Contact Info:
- Email: gmoss@gmossdesign.com
- Website: www.gmossdesign.com
- Instagram: gmossdesign
- Facebook: gmossdesign
- Twitter: gmossdesign
- Other: www.beyondcomicon.com
