“I’ve seen the interest in the sports arts grow as well, so hopefully it keeps going up.”
Serrano mentioned he attracts a number of inspiration from the game for his artwork.
“The game of basketball has a narrative — teamwork, individual performances, come-from-behind victories, etc.,” he mentioned. “These events can be a great source of inspiration for artists to create visual stories, illustrations and a series of artworks that capture the essence of the game.
“The design elements in basketball like the courts, jerseys, logos can serve as inspiration for artists exploring design, illustration and lettering.”
Both Serrano and Wan each began working with the league by way of the NBA Creators Project, a collaboration between Microsoft and NBA Canada that includes designers and creators who’re folks of color.
They’ve now moved on to NBA Represent, which launched at first of the 2023-24 season to showcase the league’s Canadian expertise and supply followers with new assets, merchandise, and contests. That contains digital wallpapers and prints that includes the work of artists like Wan and Serrano.
Working with the NBA launched Wan to basketball tradition and now she sees many connections between the game and the world of artwork.
“I started seeing a lot of illustrations or posters for basketball, and they were all so amazing,” mentioned Wan, whose work might be discovered on Instagram @kkaerii. “Half my time before starting the project was just going through all the different art, posters or even just like photography and collages.
“I didn’t know there was like such variety, and there’s so much you can do with basketball.”
Wan and Serrano’s contrasting types underscore the inventive variety inside the NBA Represent challenge.
She does “very whimsical” artwork impressed by Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli and its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki in addition to American youngsters’s illustrator Mary Blair. Serrano cites letters and graphic designers Seb Lester, Tobias Saul and Corbs, one other member of NBA Represent’s roster of creators.
“What truly got me into hand-lettering and illustration was my love for the game as a young kid,” mentioned Serrano, whose work might be discovered on Instagram @markserranostudio “I bear in mind my household adopted the Lakers and the Bulls and that’s once I began copying the workforce’s logos.
“I’ve at all times beloved the colorful branding and I’ve carried this all through my design profession. “
The NBA says that there was a 13 per cent development in common Canadian viewership final season and that the league had over 238 million video views throughout its social channels.
NBA Represent additionally contains every Canadian gamers’ upcoming video games, together with the date, time, and what tv channels carry the matchup.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Nov. 30, 2023.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
