Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyndall Smith.
Hi Kyndall, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in North County St. Louis in Elmwood, one of St. Louis’s first all-black communities after desegregation. As a kid, I was always into art, design, and creating things. I was an only child until I was 10, So I always had a wild imagination. From a technical point of view, I started drawing my favorite cartoons at the time. I used to beg my mom to buy these “Dragonball Z: How to Draw” books for me. I would spend hours drawing those characters. I used to walk around with tons of them in this space jam trapper keeper my uncle gave me. I even joined this after-school art/drawing program at Meadow’s Elementary school. As I got older, that passion to “create” always stayed with me; it manifested differently.
First, there was skateboarding. I often played “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” and wanted to design decks, being a black kid in low-income housing, skateboarding wasn’t the “Cool Thing” to do, so eventually, I moved on. Then there was clothing and shoes, and eventually, I landed on music. I rode that wave the longest. I started rapping in middle school. Meet Miistro Freeyo in 8th grade and spent much time writing and creating music in his grandmother’s basement. But that’s a different story for another time. Eventually, I hit a brick wall with music and moved into the world of “Graphic Design” when I had just dropped out of college and worked at this call center making decent money, but I hated every second of it. As I said, I was always into the design and creating things. I didn’t know that you could make a living from it. So after some soul-searching, and a big push from my Wife (Girlfriend at the time ), I decided to enroll in an online course for graphic design at FullSail University. I spent the next two and half years working two jobs and trying to jam homework in on the weekends. That was a rough period for me; there were a lot of times I almost gave up.
In 2018 I barely graduated from Fullsail with the lowest GPA possible, becoming the first boy in my family to graduate college. After that, I landed my first internship with the help of my friend and mentored JP Burcks. And the rest is history. I started making print ads for Farmers. I worked on brands like Dekalb & Asgrow, Take Action, and USB, “The United Soybean Board.” Not glamorous work, but I was finally doing what I had always wanted to do since a kid, create things.
A year later, in 2019, I made the greatest thing I will ever create in my life, which was my son Kayden. After he was born, COVID-19 sent the world into a spiral. That had a drastic effect on farmers, which had a drastic effect on the agency I was working for. So I left and found a spot at this cool family-owned agency in Brentwood. While working there, I got to do a few cool things. I worked on a commercial for E&J Brandy that aired on ESPN, and I worked on the New Amsterdam Vodka and NHL Partnership, creating a custom shrink-wrapped bottle for the St.Louis Blues and 17 other teams. Then I got the DM of a lifetime asking me to come to join STL City SC. I know plenty of people that work for sports teams, but none can say they were there from the start. I could pass up on the opportunity to be a part of history in the city I was born and raised in.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Hell No! The journey of just getting my foot in the door was rough, I had to make a lot of sacrifices, and there were a lot of long sleepless nights. Design is subjective; you put a lot of time and energy into creating something just for someone to say, “I don’t like it.” It took a long time for me to get used to that. Because, like the great Erykah Badu said, “I am an artist, and I’m sensitive about my shit.” Once I got my foot in the door, that came with a new set of obstacles. Today 3% of professional designers identify as Black, so you can only imagine what that looks like here in St. Louis. Often I’m the only black designer on staff, and in a few situations, I’ve been the only black employee. Mentally that does something to you, spending 8 hours a day in a room full of people and no one looking like you; they can’t relate to your cultural experiences, your views on the world are different, and you start to feel alone. You can lose yourself if you’re not careful. But f*ck that. I am 100% me, 100% of the time. And I encourage other black creatives to do the same, just be you.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a Husband, Father, Designer, and Art Director. I specialize in Art Direction, and I’m known for the work I’ve done for St.Louis City, SC. I was proud of our “Support Black Dreams” campaign last year.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those just starting.
– Find a mentor.
– Learn from those around you.
– Pace yourself. Its a marathon
– Get yo money – Make sure you’re compensated fairly
– Network!
– Don’t be afraid to ask questions
– Just be yourself
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thestudionine.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/airderrty/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyndall-smith-88436214a/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/airderrty
Image Credits
Joe Martinez, Nyara Williams, and Ken Early
