Meet Sydnei Berry | Illustrator and Product Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sydnei Berry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sydnei, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I chose to be an artist because I love to draw and create. Art was the thing I kept gravitating towards. As a kid, I played sports and attended various after-school clubs and summer camps. While I had fun and learned some cool things, none of these subjects seemed to stick or provide me with as much of a challenge as creating. I grew up on arts and crafts, making beaded bracelets and collaged pictures with stickers, stamps, and colorful abstract hearts and flowers. In school, you could always find me in the art room creating or just being in the environment. Creating always brought me happiness and allowed me to explore on my own terms. I told my mother I wanted to draw for the rest of my life and never look back. It was one of the scariest and best decisions of my life.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am an Illustrator specializing in Editorial/ Fashion Illustration, Product Design for footwear and toys, and Surface Design. I like to create within a graphic style, letting my energetic linework dominate the art piece. I prefer to work traditionally because of how intuitive the style of my linework is transcribed into the paper. I use pen and ink to not rely on erasing and spend most of my time fixing minor mistakes. In this process, if I’m adding color, I will use traditional mediums like watercolor, acrylic, markers, etc., or scan my drawing and color digitally.

I think the things that set me apart from others are my style and my career path in Illustration. When people think of Illustration, it’s typically children’s books or film and TV production. I’m one of the illustrators who want to go in the opposite direction. In undergraduate school, I didn’t know the proper name for surface design or anything about fashion illustration. I enjoyed applying my art to different objects and looking at fashion illustration books. I figured out how to marry the two concepts and used it for my senior thesis project. Subconsciously, I was doing a lot of self-directing because while my teachers were knowledgeable about figure drawing, they didn’t know about the technical aspects of fashion illustration. I was at an art school that art students went to for a career in TV and film production, so in a way, I felt like I was navigating the how-to’s alone. It was challenging, but with meditation, YouTube, and fashion books, I came out with an illustrated clothing collection that sparked the evolution moving into the journey of getting my master’s.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons within my art journey, but the most important thing I have learned to do is pivot and how to do it quickly. Throughout the years, I have developed this sense of delusional optimism with creativity to stop thinking myself out of doing things. I’ll see something that inspires me to create, and instead of thinking it’s out of reach, I break down the steps in my head as a checklist and start creating. This has led me to the path of designing footwear. I’m proud of myself for switching my mindset and having the confidence to venture into an unknown territory I never knew would become my thing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
For a nice chill vibe, I would take us to the Salty Donut to get some donuts, matcha lemonades, coffee, etc. If we’re in the mood to get cute and dress up for dinner, we’ll go to Le Colonial, Ray’s on the River, or J. Alexanders. But, there is always RA Sushi, Jinya Ramen Bar, Bartaco, or Grana for a more casual choice. Then we’d end the night at a Player 99 event.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to God for guiding me through so many seasons and having a bigger and better plan in store for me. I want to give a shoutout to my supportive and encouraging family, especially my parents and my brother. My parents have always encouraged us to go for what we want in life and excel. I’m very grateful that they have supported my journey every step of the way and looked into different events and classes to help expose me to the art world. A huge shoutout to my brother for being one of my biggest supporters. I always appreciate his encouraging talks and optimism. Much love and appreciation to my friends for always being supportive, loving, and encouraging. I pray we all continue to inspire and support each other.

Website: https://www.syddiesyd.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emeraldcavities/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydneiberry/

Image Credits
Header Image: Parkour Soars Illustration by Sydnei Berry © 2023 Image 1: (Left) Subversive Croquis by Sydnei Berry ©2022 (Right) Subway Gleams by Sydnei Berry © 2023 Image 2: Dramatic Croquis Line up by Sydnei Berry © 2023 Image 3: (Left) Gnawing Gnasher Sneaker Illustration by Sydnei Berry © 2023 (Right) Gnawing Gnasher Sneaker by Sydnei Berry © 2023 Image 4: Eighty-Cr Lows Sneaker Illustration by Sydnei Berry © 2023