Iconic Artist and Graphic Designer Cey Adams Inspires RISD Community

Visual artist and graphic designer Cey Adams visited RISD during DESIGN WEEK RI—an annual showcase of Rhode Island-based designers promoting innovation and the economy across the state, presented by local arts nonprofit DESIGNxRI. Adams arrived ready for two full days of engaging with the RISD community.

Monday began with a breakfast roundtable talk in 20 Washington Place with a dozen students and President Crystal Williams. Adams told the group, “I’ve been an artist my whole life. When I was growing up, art was a bad word. You couldn’t make a living as an artist. But I believed in myself. It made my parents scared, but I never wanted to be anything else.”

Adams recounted his nonlinear path to making a living through art. As a teenager, he was a graffiti artist in New York City, which is how he met the iconic hip-hop trio the Beastie Boys and ultimately kick-started his career. “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them,” he noted. He went on to become the founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings and the label’s in-house design firm, the Drawing Board, which carved out the visual culture of hip-hop. In addition to the Beastie Boys, he has worked with Mary J. Blige, LL Cool J, the Notorious B.I.G., Public Enemy and Jay-Z, among other seminal artists, designing logos, posters and album cover art.

A student asked for advice about keeping their art fresh and new. “What is new is you,” he responded. “You have the opportunity to put your stamp on history and put something out there that wasn’t there before. Whatever you choose to do, keep creativity in your life. For me, It’s like having two hearts, and they're both beating all the time.”

Adams also stopped by RISD’s Project Open Door (POD) studio, a community arts program that helps local high school students develop artistic skills through free art and design programs. He guided the group through a collage project using paper, markers and glue sticks.

“Don’t think too much,” he advised. “Just let your hands start moving, and that will inform your next step. Mistakes inform excellence.”

Adams went on to meet one-on-one with RISD students, including Printmaking grad student Tony Torres MFA 25 PR, providing informal feedback on works in progress and plans for the future before preparing for his keynote in the RISD Auditorium later that evening.

During the two-hour event, Adams took attendees through his four-decades-long artistic career, beginning with his early days as a graffiti artist, when his goal was to evoke emotion through his work. “I’d load up my bag with bright blues and yellows and oranges because I really wanted to make my art pop,” he said.

He went on to tell the stories behind the iconic album art he conceived of while at Def Jam Recordings and showed examples of his other work, including a line of apparel for boxer Mohammed Ali with Adidas, a group of collages called Trusted Brands and a series of LOVE murals in cities across the US, including Boston, MA and North Omaha, NE.

Following his presentation, Adams sat down with Provost Touba Ghadessi  for a conversation and took questions from the audience. A student from the Met High School in Providence said she wanted to be an artist when she grows up and asked Adams for advice. “The most important thing is to learn your craft and be as confident about what you’re doing as you can,” Adams said. “The future is right now. And enjoy being young, because damn, it goes by quick.”

RISD alum and DESIGNxRI Executive Director Rue Sakayama 06 FAV reflected on his presentation after the event. “Having a force like Cey come into the Rhode Island design and art scene is invaluable, inspiring us all to stay true to our creative voices,” she said. “From iconic album covers to vibrant murals, Cey’s message was clear: create work you love, and let that passion shine through.”

Kaylee Pugliese / top photo by James Jones
September 26, 2024