Black Out the Ballot is an LA-based non-profit committed to encouraging the black and greater BIPOC community to vote and contribute to change locally & nationally. Draya Michelle is a renowned tv & internet personality supporting the urgent importance behind voting. I was commissioned in September 2020 to animate logos, info, & assets on top of their sponsored video. This was a grand opportunity to work with an enormous influencer towards a great cause.
Animator
Painkillerz Podcast Logo
I designed the logo and mascot characters, cartoon versions of hosts Daryll Evans and Brett Hinton, for their upcoming podcast “Painkillerz”. I wanted the heads to tell a story before a potential listener clicks on an episode and let them know through visuals that they’ll be in for a good time.
Art Director
Mya Davis, Eliza Glover, Kia McCormick
Haute x Mya Davis Merch Collaboration
USC’s art, fashion, and culture collective, Haute magazine, partnered with yours truly to release a limited hoodie run alongside the launch of their Fall 2020 issue. They were looking for a black creator with a unique style to highlight their semester theme, “Remember This”, which was a call to action for viewers to genuinely internalize what the globe had been through that year. I was motivated to illustrate a memorial of moments in 2020 that would change us forever, but in my cartooning style. The project was a tremendous learning experience and I loved the contrast in how such simple illustration could pack so much meaning.
Creative Director, Art Director
Mya Davis
In the AM with PM logo
The summer of 2021, I designed the logo and flyer for USC radio hosts Pilar Lee and Marlize Duncan. Going for a soft airbrushed scene, I listened to Pilar and Marlize’s requests to fashion the logo after Y2K aesthetics and color palettes. This graphic is now used towards their social media branding (Instagram, Tik Tok) and is thrown up all over their showroom during episodes.
Art Director
Mya Davis
Evans Family Portrait
I was commissioned by an old friend, Daryll Evans, to paint a portrait of himself, his older sister Maya, and his cousin Ryan (the latter two are now deceased). Honoring his request to memorialize his family with a light cartoon style, I produced some of my favorite character work to date. Other relatives of the Evans family were thankful for the emotion I captured and immortalized and it was an honor to be of service contributing this gift.
Art Director
Mya Davis
USC Web Dev. 2 Final
For the final group project in my development class we were tasked with coding a travel website using mysql and php. I wanted to design a parallax background inspired by https://www.firewatchgame.com/ and advertise the beauty of a handful of renowned California landmarks. It was a blast crafting these scenes in almost a paper-art 2D style. I enjoyed the process of sketching then limiting myself by working solely with two tools in Illustrator.
Art Director
Mya Davis, Eliza Glover, Kia McCormick
Hollomon Family Portrait
I was commissioned by an old friend, Taylar Hollomon, to draw a caricature of her family as a Christmas gift. It was super fun crafting this style with minimal toon-shading
Creative Director, Art Director
Mya Davis
Black Out the Ballot x Melrose Trading Post Flyer
I helped nonprofit organization, Black Out the Ballot, advertise their presence at Melrose Trading Post offering free haircuts with voter registration. I modeled the characters and scene after the Schoolhouse Rock aesthetic BOTB embeds in their branding and produced a genuine and warm invitation.
Creative Director, Art Director
Mya Davis
Distorted Self Portrait
For a solo project I wanted to exercise myself and draw a self portrait using colored pencils. Rather than producing a portrait that was 100% accurate, I was more interested in opting to distort features and employ a frenzy of near psychedelic colors. The intent is not to resemble a druggy filter but rather to symbolize the natural auras and emotions I cannot control.
Art Director
Mya Davis
A Black College Show Premier Flyer
I designed the flyer promoting the launch of a passion project helmed by my dear friends and USC Drama students Wynton Jones, Dara Adedara, and Kennedy Hill. Their webshow revolves around six black college students and their adventures, conflicts, and growth at a PWI. Wynton & Dara really enjoyed my previous portrait work so I drew stylized snapshots of the main characters to drive intrigue towards the best element of this series, its cast. The promotion led to a packed lecture hall the night of the release!
Art Director
Mya Davis
Black Out the Ballot x Crenshaw Skate Club Collection
In fall 2020, I had the opportunity to mentor a high school activist from North Carolina and collaborate on designing a t-shirt that promoted the importance of active voting. I took my mentee’s concepts and turned them into a streetwear graphic reminiscent of Crenshaw Skate Club’s style (the brand launching the shirt). #vote4me is a national movement fueled by youth who want to see change and therefore encourage those of voting age to get involved. We listed a qr code on the back of our shirt that linked anyone curious to a custom voter registration site. It was amazing to see a creative project like this generate measurable impact.
Art Director
Mya Davis, Miliani Smith
Luv Leek Cover Art
In combination with the visualizer (found in the Animation gallery), I designed the cover art for rapper Luv Leek’s single, “Don’t Leave”. This project gave me an opportunity to stretch my character design skills and pull inspiration from anime inspired by artists like @yalocaloffgod. I was enthusiastic throughout the entire process from sketching the wardrobe to picking out a color palette for a branded rollout. Thank you Malik, it was an honor to produce this for you!
Creative Director, Art Director
Mya Davis
AP Art & Design Breadth Piece
Working with pastels, oil, and q-tips, I illustrated this 27”x22” piece exhibiting chaos in fine detail. Playing off the idiom of “spilling your guts” I thought it would be a fun image to paint human hands offering a mound of pumpkin insides. This blend of realism and surrealism was real treat to work on and a testament to what I enjoy cooking up on my own. Weird stuff.
Artist
Mya Davis
Verkoshansky Logo
For 40 years, Verkoshasky has committed to spreading an elite Russian Olympic training regiment to athletes across U.S. universities. Now in 2022, Verkoshansky needed a modernized logo to appeal to a new generation of athletes. I collaborated alongside their creative team to design a clean lettermark that includes their initials and an abstractified Olympic torch + athlete figure inside.
Logo Artist
Mya Davis