In May 1906, young Aragay signed his first joke, published in the weekly children's magazine En Patufet. In the same year, Eugeni d'Ors started to publish the Glosari in La Veu de Catalunya newspaper, where the word "Noucentism" was used for the first time. Aragay, therefore, appeared on the art scene during the period when Catalonia began a cultural and political renewal, one of the most important moments in Catalan history. With a drawing published in 1908, in the satirical weekly magazine Papitu, Josep Aragay was, from the outset, one of the leaders behind the cultural initiatives and linked to the Noucentism movement. Thus, in 1911, d'Ors gave him the position of artistic director for the Almanach dels Noucentises (The Noucentism Almanach), and in 1912 he founded the magazine Picarol with Xavier Nogués and Manuel Humbert. The world of graphic press pushed forward other satirical weekly magazines such as Cuca-Fera (1917) and Borinot (1923). He also contributed sporadically to Cu-cut! (1906), La Mainada (1933) and Jordi (1928). Aragay used various pseudonyms: Jacob, Jacob de Martell, Cop de Martell and Últim cop de Martell. He signed with his surname or the initial "A".
The charcoal drawings Aragay made are also very popular. They were made during his studies at the Francesc Galí School of Art, and are a clear testimony of his baroque period. In the Museum in Breda you can see a sample of these drawings.