This seemed like a fun project to do a case study on, so I will take you through the design process:
I was approached by Columbia One, the public art commission for Columbia, SC to take part in a public art project the city was putting on to commemorate Columbia hosting some of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament this year. The final shape that the project took was a nine-foot basketball sculpture painted by me and five other artists.
This was the rough layout I gave them. The only stipulations for the project were a positive theme and basketball-related imagery. I wanted to create something that was eye-catching, feasible to paint on a giant sphere, and easily readable from across the street.
I also gave them these mockups of what the piece would look like installed on the ball to show the wrapping, and how the design was made to be viewed.
They liked my design so much that the sponsor of the project, First Citizen's Bank, chose my piece to tie into their non-profit: Teen Cancer America. It's a fantastic organization supporting often-overlooked teens and young adults who are battling cancer. After doing research into them I came up with the idea to put key terms and statistics about the organization in the negative space of the design.
And here is the final piece installed on Main St. in Columbia. All of the lettering was done by hand with just a couple of buckets of exterior paint. It was the center of a big marketing push by the city for the tournament and was even featured on CBS during the games in Columbia.
These photos are from near the end of the sculpture's run so they show some wear and tear from the environment, but it held up pretty well considering, and it definitely served its purpose.