About us

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I’m a Southern California native, a husband, a father, and a born-again Christian. I’m also a graphic designer who genuinely loves what I do.

My introduction to design started in high school, but it wasn’t until 2009 that I really discovered what design could become for me.

At the time, I was working as a salesman selling ATVs, dirt bikes, scooters, and just about anything with an engine. One day, I was asked to create some Craigslist listings to help sell the products. I asked if they wanted the ads to look professionally designed. The answer was essentially, “We don’t really care.”

I cared.

I downloaded Photoshop and started making my own advertisements. What started as a way to make better Craigslist listings quickly became an obsession. I found myself coming to work with a completely different goal—not just to sell something, but to make the next advertisement better than the last one.

Eventually, I realized I was spending more time thinking about Photoshop than I was thinking about selling.

I had no formal education in graphic design. Instead, after work, I would go home and teach myself. Night after night, I practiced Photoshop, experimented, made mistakes, and tried again. I was fascinated by the idea that I could take an idea in my head and turn it into something people could actually see.

My first real design work came through my church, when I was asked to create their printed materials. That opportunity eventually led to more design work, and over the years, graphic design became my career.

Since then, I’ve expanded beyond graphic design into photography, UI/UX, web design, and packaging. I work primarily with Adobe Creative Cloud, and I’m constantly learning new techniques and finding new ways to create.

I absolutely love what I do. There’s something incredibly satisfying about taking an idea, solving the visual problems around it, and turning it into something that didn’t exist before.

Black Bow Graphics began in 2012 under the name Penaloza DPI DSGNS. In 2015, I changed the name to Black Bow Graphics after realizing that, well… absolutely nobody could remember the original name.

Black Bow Graphics is the result of something that started with a Craigslist ad, a copy of Photoshop, and a genuine curiosity about what I could create.

More than a decade later, I’m still doing exactly that.