User:Gtanime/Tokebi

Juan Bernal Aguilar (born 1981), also known as Tokebi (Korean: 도깨비) is a Guatemalan artist, illustrator, and university professor. He was discovered by Brann Dailor, drummer for the American heavy metal band Mastodon through his social account and requested a poster design for their 2019 UK and Europe tour. Tokebi is known for its bright neon colors and quirky line of work, mixing retro and science fiction influences, using skulls and skeletons as main characters. Thanks to social media, most of Tokebi's career has evolved online, with his artwork sent all over the world including Australia, the Netherlands, Argentina, Korea and Japan. Most of his work focuses on the music scene and is especially popular with rock bands, rappers, and djs. He has created numerous CD and LP covers for bands around the world.

Life
Tokebi was born in Guatemala City in 1981. He studied all his childhood at an Opus Dei Catholic school. His penchant for drawing skulls began after playing the video-game called Mortal Kombat, which caused problems at school, almost resulting in his expulsion on several occasions. It was at this time that his interest in rock music began to grow. One of his defining moments was hearing the heavy metal band Metallica for the first time at age seven. Since then, his taste for music has developed into the Rockabilly genre and Instrumental Rock. Later he would join the music scene, collaborating with bands through his art. In 2003 Tokebi emigrated to Chicago, United States to pursue his dream of becoming a game developer, but at the last minute he decided to study Marketing and Management at Harold Washington College, and later in 2009 he studied Multimedia Design at the University Galileo briefly returning to his native country and whose knowledge he applies in his visual compositions. In 2010 he moved to Seoul, South Korea to study the language and with plans to live temporarily. During this period he completed a master's degree in Public Policy at the Korea Development Institute. Always fascinated with Asia, Tokebi traveled frequently to other parts of the continent where mystique, neon, and cosmopolitan cities captivated and inspired. This together with the old culture of the old west of the United States and the Guatemalan folk culture became the main inspiration in his work.

Career
In the artistic environment, Bernal Aguilar is known by the name of Tokebi, which means "goblin" and refers to a creature from Korean mythology. Tokebi is a spirit that rewards good deeds and punishes bad ones; using this analogy Tokebi rewards people with their art. His artistic career began in 2010 on the streets of Hongdae, Seoul, where he used to sell his pieces on posters and t-shirts. Later in 2014 and 2015, Tokebi founded and participated in an artistic collective space with the aim of uniting international and Korean artists called "Nothing Serious I" and "Nothing Serious II". In 2018 he participated in the "Étereo Estereo" exhibition held in the city of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. However, most of his work is related to branding and marketing in the music industry, especially in the rock, hip hop and electronic music scene creating illustrations for logos, flyers, CD and LP covers, LP covers, posters, and video animations. In a professional field, Tokebi is also a university professor, taught Spanish and English while living in Korea, and currently teaches courses in Graphic Design, Multimedia Design and Illustration at the Istmo University in Guatemala.