Meet Bones Mohr | Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bones Mohr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bones, the decisions we make often shape our story in profound ways. What was one of the most difficult decisions you’ve had to make?
I want to talk about mentorship and the world we live in today. I always wanted to have a mentor; someone to guide me, push me, and console me. I think it’s incredibly important for creatives especially to know someone has their back. I can only speak from my experience but I know that it would’ve helped me through the lowest points of my creative journey. I want to make a distinction between someone who supports you and a mentor. A mentor is someone who has lived the path, understands where you are headed and can help push you to know it is possible. This is a lost art within our time.

The most difficult decision I had to make was coming to terms that if I want to be better it’s up to me. It’s a terrifying and freeing realization. I feel like many other creatives have had to come to this realization. It’s up to you, you carve your own path. You will struggle you will fall and at some point (maybe multiple times) you will question the path you have chosen. You need to find a mentor. A mentors job is to let you experience these moments but always be there to guide you and show you it is possible even when you struggle to believe it. Being on your own you have to understand you don’t know it all but want to be better.

My mentors don’t even know they are my mentors, but I know everything about them. I have studied their interviews, articles, and any source of knowledge they have shared. In this day and age you need to find people you really respect and believe in. Quite frankly those who have done what you want to do or are currently doing it. Digest everything about them, learn their methods, and grow from their pitfalls.

I don’t want this to be a blanket statement. Everyone’s journey is different. I wanted to talk about this because of my own experience and conversations I’ve had with my peers. This spans outside of a creative career obviously but I find a career path in art is exceptionally difficult. A lot of times at low points I would just watch videos of the people I respected to hear how they dealt with moments like mine. If you are able to hear the bigger message between their sentences and apply it to your own life I promise it will help.

TLDR: Mentorship is a dying art. It’s incredibly important to find mentors to carry you forward and show you what is possible (maybe even exceed their own abilities). Finding a mentor in today’s world is hard, but you need mentorship to grow. You can’t do it all by yourself but it’s up to you to seek out growth. Find your mentor anyway possible.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Of course. Something I want people to know about me is the color black. Even my profile thumbnail I wanted to be a silhouette. Much of my graphic or 3D work consists of black, and I wear all black everyday. This is actually the first time I’ll be speaking on my reasoning which is pretty neat haha.

So I imbed black into everything I do. For one I just love it haha but why I really use it is because it is an excellent tool. Black works as more than just a color, it can hide things, it can make you look closer at things, it can make other things stand out, it can make people fear it, it can make people want to know more about it, it is the absence of light. It’s incredibly versatile when you think about it.

The reason why I love black the most is because it is a symbol of hope to me. How is that possible? Well to me black represents the ability to overcome. Light shines brightest in the dark. Anyone who has faced their demons knows what it’s like to stand in the dark. For me standing in the dark but shinning the brightest light is what I’m trying to do. So yes I work in the dark, in the black, the unknown but I want to show people it is a sign of hope, if I can do it so can you.

That is why I use black so much. I also try to be very conscious of whenever I use black there should always be some sort of light or object that represents hope. The message is not to be consumed by the abyss. The message is never to forget no matter how dark it seems that you still hold a light within yourself.

I like to play with shadows and light, and use black to quiet everything else besides what is in focus. I also like to use dark objects within black environments. I do this to use reflections to shift the scene and reveal what may seem hidden. It is very much a part of me and the art I create. I don’t think it will change anytime soon but maybe when I am 75 over looking a mountain range I’ll start wearing white hahah. I really just want to be used as a vessel to create and help others.

Black is a fascinating color to me and I still haven’t learned all of its secrets yet haha. Also I encourage people to check out my socials for more context. The images I picked to show in this article are just a fragment of a much larger body of work.

To briefly touch Cell Ops, I want to build a guerilla consulting/design firm. Cell Ops is the inception of that. I want to bring a roster of talented individuals together to work on a project we all are passionate about then disperse until the next one.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Haha, I’m such a hermit. I really am not the person to ask for things like this. What I really like to do with my friends is get an Airbnb for the weekend and work on projects. My niche is more so finding awesome Airbnbs and bringing people together haha. I think more people should do that.

Going to a different city and getting a cool Airbnb with some friends with an intention of working together on something or even working on separate projects but sharing the space. I really love it because it’s so much easier to bounce ideas off each other whenever. Half way thru breakfast “hey i just had an idea” haha just feels more organic than “alright at 6:00pm on Tuesday we are all going to go over..” because we all know that’s not how the creative process works best lol. So sorry for no recommendations but get some homies and do a creative work trip!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Errolson Hugh the founder of Acronym I owe everything to. The way he thinks and how they approach design is on another level. One day I hope to run into him.

The support of my friends is everything, just Robyn recommending me for this made my feel so appreciated Haha.

Everyone directly involved in Cell Ops I love all of you. (Ethan, Robyn, Skylar, Nick, Kendall, Angela, Brian, Brennan, Ben, Alejandro, Joe, Hector, Andre.)

The homies that helped and coached me on my first music video shoot. (Zach, Jesse, Addison)

Everyone that has given me opportunities along the way because they believed in me. Anyone who was down to help on some crazy idea however I needed haha. I mean made it this far. Truly cannot wait to see what happens over the next few years.

Instagram: bonesmohr

Twitter: bonesmohr

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