ABOUT THE ARTIST

Reid’s Story

Reid Jacobs is an artist and graphic designer specializing in advertising and campaign design, based in Detroit, MI.

Jacobs has been around art all his life, starting with his mother, who did canvas paintings and painting on found objects in a funky ‘80s/’90s aesthetic. Jacobs found himself in a graphic design class in his sophomore year of high school. He fell in love with creating something from nothing and being able to play around in Photoshop.

With the guidance from his graphic design teacher, Steven Deeb, Jacobs was able to excel in design principles and see a possible future in graphic design. After high school, Jacobs went on to study graphic design at Michigan State University where he graduated with a BFA on May 5th, 2019.

Since 2017, he has had the pleasure of interning with MSU’s College of Arts and Letters, and Newell Brands. After college, he worked at Martin Retail Group, Signarama Troy and Wheelhouse Graphix before landing at Doner Detroit working on their Tishman Speyer, Meijer and Consumers Energy accounts.

Jacobs had gotten into painting in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a way for him to physically connect with materials after only working digitally. Jacobs’ painting style does reflect his graphic design style in terms of floods of solid colors, oversized geometric shapes, and having complexity in the simplicity.

Reid’s Process

How the sausage is made.

Creating a geometric design with repetition and the ability to replicate it with ease. Selecting a color palette of 3-6 harmonious colors. Using one color to flood the entire canvas. Taking the remaining colors and applying it to the geometric design, and alternating the colors on multiple canvi.

This is a Reid Jacobs art piece.

Jacobs’ inspiration originates from his favorite artists such as Andy Warhol, Ellsworth Kelly and Corita Kent. He fell in love Kelly and Kent’s vibrant color palette and oversized, exaggerated elements and paired it with Warhol’s use of repetition to see how the meaning of the work can change when there are many parts to the piece/series.