CHARLIE

Charlie Hinojosa in full colour, wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses, a white t-shirt and a two-tone 1985 denim jacket with the sleeves rolled to show the paisley lining, black wide-leg trousers and white Nikes with red swooshes, seated on the yellow Back to the Future plutonium case, his left hand on top showing a black wedding band. Hover to suit up as his music avatar.

Taste as a service
Since 1999

Sightbox®
est. 2011

From Webmaster
to Tastemaster

See the work
IG in X
First-person view from Charlie's glasses: his hands clasped over his knees, denim jacket sleeves rolled to the paisley lining, black wide trousers and plain white leather Nikes with red swooshes, like Marty's, in Doc Brown's garage lab. A wild-haired man in a white lab coat crouches to photograph him beside a shaggy sheepdog, with walls of clocks, a Marshall amp and a DeLorean, headlights on, in the back.
00:00 Ray-Ban | Meta

“Hey Meta, record.”Listening…

Through my lensesDoc’s lab, from where I was sitting.

In 1999 I was a webmaster . Knowing the tools was rare. Now AI hands everyone the tools , and the internet is filling with slop. What's scarce is taste.

Creativity is subjective. Taste is a point of view you can be held to: knowing what's good, what's off, and what to cut. Twenty-seven years across tech, music, film, brand and startups built mine. I know the tools, so I can make almost anything, or take what you've made and turn it into a work of art.

See the work

THE WORK

+ Shown where it ships: the companies I run

WORK WITH ME

+ Taste, as a service

01 · Fixed price

Taste Audit

A straight teardown of your brand, product or campaign: what's working, what's slop, and exactly what to cut or change.

  • Recorded walkthrough
  • Marked-up deck
  • Priority fixes
Book an audit
02 · Per project

Slop → Art

Send me what you've got, AI output included. I bring it to the standard you can't quite name but know when you see it.

  • Image, video, sound, web
  • Built with the tools you already use
  • Ship-ready files
Send me your slop
03 · Monthly

Tastemaster on retainer

A fractional creative director for teams building with AI. Every launch, prompt library and piece of output gets a second set of eyes.

  • Weekly reviews
  • Direction your team can follow
  • On call for launches
Talk retainer
Cisco · Intel

Systems

Taste for things that have to work.

Chozen · film

Sound & frame

Put a record on ↓

Startups · AI

Speed

Tapp That App, Stacado, Xoomo, Flux.

2011 — Now

Brand

Sightbox: fifteen years of making things look right.

ON THE DECK

+ Sightbox Records · picture disc · drag it to scratch

[ now playing ] Scored, Vol. 1 · 01 / 090:00 / 0:44
SeveranceCharlie Hinojosa — Scored, Vol. 1

    [ drag the record to scratch · ← → nudge · space plays ]

    THE MAKING OF A TASTEMASTER

    + Every stop sharpened the eye · Career above · Life below

    2026Destination time
    1997Present time
    1997Last time departed
    1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2008 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025
    1. Career: Cisco, 1999 to 2008. Intel, 2008 to 2011. Sightbox, founder, 2011 to present.
    1. 1997Texas All-State WrestlerWrestlingPhoto · 19971997Texas All-State Wrestler
    2. 1999MarriedFamilyPhoto · 19991999Married
    3. 2000Musician with ChozenMusicPhoto · 20002000Musician with Chozen
    4. 2001Anyssa bornFamilyPhoto · 20012001Anyssa born
    5. 2006Cianna bornFamilyPhoto · 20062006Cianna born
    6. 2007FilmmakingFilmPhoto · 20072007Filmmaking
    7. 2016Tapp That AppStartupsPhoto · 20162016Tapp That App
    8. 2022StacadoStartupPhoto · 20222022Stacado
    9. 2024James bornFamilyPhoto · 20242024James born
    10. 2025Xoomo Wrestling LeagueFoundedPhoto · 20252025Xoomo Wrestling League
    11. 2026Flux Intelligence GroupNowPhoto · 20262026Flux Intelligence Group

    Scroll → to move through time

    From webmaster to tastemaster.