This project was a campaign to create social media artwork for sheng.co.ke based on current themes and events in Kenya and the rest of the world. They wanted to stay relevant and also push their brand with catchy content. Sheng is a Swahili based slang influenced by many of the languages spoken in Kenya. Sheng.co.ke is an organization that documents and keeps track of the ever growing sheng culture and vocabulary.
Duncan Ongweno, the proprietor of sheng.co.ke approached me and asked if I could revamp their social media artwork and give it an edge, a new look. I took on the challenge, gave samples and got the contract. A key element was to include the goat, or mbuzi the mascot in the designs.
- Kelvin Shani
The brief had a lot of creative freedom, which allowed me to explore different styles while also building up my own distinct illustration style. I opted for Illustration as a medium as it was a different approach, other than graphic design and layouts.
- Kelvin Shani
There was a list of upcoming events sent at the beginning of every month. If there were any ideas of how they wanted the end product to look, they would include that as well. I would then try to visualize concepts according to these themes, sketch out thumbnails on paper then produce the final artwork in Photoshop.
- Kelvin Shani
I did hand drawn sketches first to get the general idea down then used mixed media brushes in Photoshop to do the final render. All around me, I am an avid sketcher; I document all things I find interesting that happen around me. So for this one it was a normal routine just with a paycheck at the end. Timelines, at times some of the artwork took a bit too long to finish, and since this was an event driven project, it was hard to keep up with some.
- Kelvin Shani
About Kelvin Shani
Kelvin Shani is an artist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has developed extensive set of skills through experience with a collage of media, tools, teams and clients. He is a motion graphics and animation specialist by day, and a photography and art explorer in his spare time. He has over time understood and mastered various art forms to produce work in great speed, detail and excellence. He lives to inspire the world through stories captured in words and pictures. You can find more of his works on his Behance profile.