Being the son of a class clown and a real clown, JUSTIN GIGNAC was destined for weirdness. He managed to harness his genetics into an unpredictable career path. After three years as a professional mascot during high school he followed his childhood dream of making commercials to the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
While a student in 2001, he put his newfound marketing skills to work packaging and selling New York City garbage. What began as an experiment in package design quickly turned into a thriving side project. With prices growing from $10 a cube to as much as $100, his sculptures are now in the hands of over 1,300 garbage collectors in 30 countries.
After graduation, he spent the next five years in advertising creating notable work for IBM, Virgin Mobile and the viral phenomenon, Elf Yourself, for OfficeMax. Seeking more balance and the time to pursue his own projects he left full time advertising in 2007.
This freedom and abundance of spare time enabled Gignac to expand on his own brand of nonsense. He created Wants for Sale with his wife, Christine. A project where they fulfill real world wants by painting things they desire and sell the painting for the price of the actual item. They’ve sold everything from “A Slice of Pizza” to an entire Las Vegas vacation. The site’s success led them to create Needs for Sale, which is based on the same structure except all proceeds go to charity. He has recently expanded beyond his comfort zone of handmade products by launching festive QR code wrapping paper, QRapping Paper, and SECURITY!, a gold and diamond security tag pin.
A functional procrastinator, Justin is motivated by idea envy and an obsession to get in the New York Magazine Approval Matrix and MoMA. He lives in downtown Manhattan with his favorite person, Christine Gignac, and their pet ping pong table.
Justin can be reached for freelance, collaborations & speaking engagements at justingignac@mac.com.To find out the latest on all of his projects join themailing list.
