WorkGraphic Design

SUNday Suns: Graphic designer produces a little ray of sunshine every week

With so much negativity in the world right now, sometimes it's difficult to filter out the cacophony of noise to focus on anything good. It's still going on; it's just obscured by atrocity after horror. It's become more important than ever to take some downtime and focus on oneself, even if it's just a day a week.

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Person wearing a large smiling sun head with radiating yellow rays, dressed in a white shirt and black tie, standing in front of white shelving filled with books and decorative objects

This notion has formed the basis of an incredibly positive project by Tad Carpenter – a designer, illustrator, author and educator based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Carpenter co-runs the design and branding studio, Carpenter Collective with his wife, Jessica Carpenter where they focus on bringing powerful messages to life through branding, packaging, illustration and design.

They have worked with clients ranging from Target, Coca-Cola, Macy’s, Old Navy, Conan O'Brien, Adobe and MTV among many others. Carpenter has worked with numerous bands on posters and tour campaigns for over 10 years, including John Mayer, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Paul McCartney and Dave Matthews Band to name a few. He has also written and illustrated over twenty children's books, alongside teaching graphic design at the University of Kansas.

For his SUNday Suns, Tad explains: "As a graphic designer, a big part of my career is making things for other people. My SUNday Suns project began with a very simple rule, make a sun each and every SUNday for yourself.

"Draw it, sculpt it, design it, whatever just make something and share it. With my series, I wanted to create a platform for making something for no one else but myself. I wanted that platform to give me space and permission to play, to practice and ultimately, a space to explore what visual communication really means to me.

"When creating this project I wanted it to be an exercise in exploration first and foremost. I wanted the opportunity to examine my own personal process and how it could improve. But in the end, like all art and design practices, these SUNday Suns true purpose might just be to better the lives of the people who view them. In an uncertain and troubling time in our country (USA), I hope these little suns are a little ray of sunshine for anyone who sees them, each and every week."

It certainly brightened up our day. Discover more at sunday-suns.com / carpentercollective.com.

Person wearing a large smiling sun head mask with yellow spikes sits on a grey sofa reading a magazine in an industrial loft space
Person wearing a large yellow sun mask with spiky rays and a smiling face against a blue sky with white clouds
Figure wearing a large yellow sun head with a smiling face stands on a city street lined with buildings and parked cars
Hand-painted sun with orange and white radiating rays and a smiling face, surrounded by autumn leaves and white flowers on green foliage
Character with turquoise and brown geometric patterned head wearing denim shirt making a peace sign with their hand
Illustrated sun character with a smiling face surrounded by pink letter Ms and colourful flowers and foliage on a dark background
Hand holding a white card with black hand-lettered text reading "Milan Italy" and a smiling sun illustration, with an ornate Gothic cathedral facade in the background
Sculptural sun with lime-green spiky rays, painted face with blue eyes and pink cheeks, wearing a blue striped garment, topped with delicate green flowers
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