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HI, MY NAME IS JOE.
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I make art about technology and technology about art.

My day job is making digital products, and I really love it: you can see that portfolio here.

My clients include Microsoft, Starbucks, SubPop Records, Nickelodeon, Disney, Adobe, the Democratic Party and many others. I've spoken at SXSW, San Diego Comic-con, the Seattle Interactive Conference, the Seoul International Cartoon Festival and many other venues about interactive art and creativity. My work has been featured and lauded in the New York Times, The Boston Globe, The LA Times, The Seattle Times, The Atlantic, Art Forum, Tin House and many other publications.

I have a newsletter in which I send weekly comics, ideas, podcasts, talks, and sometimes even merch. You can subscribe here.

Reach out to me for speaking engagements or interesting project ideas.

I am not currently taking on new freelance projects at this time.

XO, Joe

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Ruppersberg at the Walker, MPLS. Image credit: Tim Lillis
JOE ALTERIO
ABOUT
MORE
PROJECT
The Total Inventor's Manual
DESIGN NOTES
The publisher Weldon Owen approached me to create the cover and title pages for the Popular Science imprinted book, Inventor's Manual. This was one of my most fun jobs I've ever done, because of the level of creative freedom afforded to me by Weldon Owen and art directors Lorraine Rath and Lucie Parker. Like most projects that turn out great, the base ingredient is trust; they trusted me to make the right creative decisions, they helped me correct my errors where I was wrong, and they helped suggest and guide when I was stuck. I can't say enough about the creative power of this duo.
The brief was wonderful in that was a broad on purpose and shallow on solution; there was a concept of "innovation", but after that, it was rather mum. My brain immediately went to work that I stumbled upon when I was 13 at my local public library: Rube Golberg. Prentiss Hall's 1978 release made a huge impression on me, and I jumped at the chance to finally interpret some of work I pored over years ago. For me, "innovation" was embodied as the symbol of the blank cube, a shape of endless potential. In these chapter heads, the cube moves through the various states, from Conception, Production, Distribution, and Selling, all illustrated in the overly complex manner of Rube Goldberg machines.
RESULTS
It also happens to be a super awesome guidebook for how to launch a product. Order it here.
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All work copyright Joe Alterio © 2023 unless otherwise noted.