4 year old me playing with a Kenner Super Powers Superman Supermobile
Hi hi! My name is Jerome Lu! I'm an illustrator and toy designer. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ever since I was little, I loved playing with toys and drawing superheroes! I graduated from UCLA with a degree in Design / Media Arts. After college, I landed a job as a graphic designer at The Dupuis Group and learned the ins and outs of graphic and package design. My next job would be at MGA Entertainment designing packages for Bratz, Shrek, and Little Tikes. After that my journey took me to Spin Master, where I worked on packaging design for some really fun toy lines like Yo Gabba Gabba and Zoobles and eventually made my way over to the product design team in the Action Figure Division.
But my journey didn't end there. At every job, I would go home after work and dream of fantastical worlds filled with Kung Fu and Ninja Monkeys. Just like how Peter Parker becomes Spiderman at night after working as a photographer during the day. After a while I decided to make actual products like books and toys with these magical characters under my own company name, Hyperactive Monkey. I came up with this name because my parents always called me hyperactive, and I was born in the year of the monkey. With name and product in hand, I started setting up my booth at conventions all over California.
3 year old me as Spiderman saving the world with my older brother E.T.
The man, the myth, the Hyperactive Monkey
In 2012 I decided to leave my fulltime job at Spin Master toys and focus on Hyperactive Monkey and freelance toy designs. I'm honored to work with so many amazing people and companies. It's been a wild and rewarding ride so far. It continues to be an adventure every day. Thank you all so much for stopping by!
EAT YOUR CEREAL AND BE HYPERACTIVE!