He’s created artwork for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, been commissioned by the United Nations and designed campaigns for internationally-renowned brands.
Now, Eastern Beach graphic designer Jeremy Kyle is adding another success to his list of artistic achievements on the world stage.
He’s just been awarded one of the top 10 international advertising and branding projects of 2016 by online marketing giant Adage for his collaboration with New York Times design department T-Brand Studios.
The compelling interactive project, Roots: A Cultural Force That Changed the Nation, was designed to promote the History Channel’s 2016 remake of the 1977 television mini-series Roots.
Based on the life of an African-American teenager brought into slavery and his family history, the show was watched by more than half of Americans who owned televisions when it first aired.
Today, the lasting impact of the mini-series is still evident in American art, culture and society.
In their commentary on the award-winning project, Adage said: “The clear and concise writing and beautiful illustrations combined with supplementary audio clips and articles makes this easily digestible, yet deep enough for readers looking to further explore the topic”.
It’s these beautiful illustrations that Jeremy was responsible for creating.
Extensive research, art direction and an ongoing conversation with T-Brand Studios senior photo editor Kathryn Roach helped along the way, but it was a hip-hop playlist which proved to be his greatest source of visual inspiration.
“When I’m getting into the feel or mood within each of my works, I normally envelope myself in music that’s connected to the subjects I’m visually communicating,” Jeremy said.
“In this case, it was a lot of hip-hop – in particular Kendrick Lamar for the final illustration.”
Given that other winning collaborations included the likes of The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and Amazon, it’s no surprise the 26-year-old said it was a humbling feeling to discover his project was listed among them – and he’s quick to credit his collaborators for that.
“T-Brand Studios did an amazing job pulling all the visual and textual elements together into a beautiful, elaborate and unified project,” he said.
The praise is mutual – as far as T-Brand Studios is concerned.
“We were dealing with an enormous time difference and our timeline was rather tight [but] Jeremy jumped in, feet first and hit the ground running,” said Ms Roach.
“He was a true partner, bringing our vision to life and creating beautiful illustrations which exceeded our and our client’s expectations…We were so excited to work with [him] on this project.”
By: Laura Brookes
