Jack grew up in San Francisco and presently lives and works in Connecticut. After graduating from college, majoring in advertising art and design, at City College of San Francisco. Not long after finishing CCSF, Jack was hired at a small studio Point Studio as an apprentice. Year and a half later, he was hired as a graphic designer/illustrator at MediaWest, a multi-media production company, creating graphics for multi-media shows.

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In 1977, Jack moved to New York City, hoping to work with some of the best people and companies in the industry. After a couple of months getting freelance work, he was hired at McCall's Magazine as the Designer. Jack was hired specially to art direct, design and contribute illustrations to the, "Right Now" section of the magazine. After a few years at McCall's, he was ready to move on and got hired as a Senior Designer by the legendary designer Lou Dorfsman at CBS, Advertising Art Department. Four years later, he left CBS and he was hired as the Graphics Art Director, overseeing the design and executions of all the informational graphics for Business Week Magazines.

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In 1985, he started his own studio, Jack Tom Design. He continues to enjoy for a wide range of projects, including logo design, book design, packaging, posters and illustration. He served on various industry organizations; President for the Connecticut Art Directors Club, Executive Board member for AIGA CT Chapter, and the Book Store Coordinator/Advisory Board Member for the Illustration Conference (ICON3, 4 & 5).

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He is a full-time Professor of Art at Western CT State University in Danbury CT. He a teacher and coordinator in the illustration program. He is also an adjunct professor for the Low-Residency MFA Degree in Illustration at Hartford Art School, West Hartford CT.