Skip to content
Home Audio Cey Adams

Debbie Millman|Audio

April 29, 2019

Cey Adams

If hip hop is the soundtrack of America, the visual language of hip hop, grounded in graffiti and wall murals, also saturates the culture. One big reason for that is Cey Adams. He starte din New York’s downtown graffiti movement of the 1970’s and 80’s and came of age along with Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. He was the founding creative director for Def Jam Recordings, and he created the visual identities for the likes of The Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, and Notorious BIG. He’s also worked on advertising campaigns for HBO, Nike, and more. Over the years he has put together an extraordinary body of work that explores brands, pop culture, race, and gender.

Debbie talks to Cey Adams about how his days writing graffiti led to a major career as a designer for hip hop acts and as an artist. “I have always been an artist my whole life. I’ve never wanted anything else. So everything was about, ‘How do you get better?’”

They also discuss his collaboration with Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer on the launch of the first ever National Mural Day in the US.

For more information about Design Matters or to subscribe to the show newsletter, go to DebbieMillman.com. If you love this podcast, please consider contributing to Debbie’s Drip Kickstarter community. Members get transcripts of every interview, invitations to live episodes, Q&A sessions with guests, and a brand new annual magazine. You can learn more about this at https://d.rip/debbie-millman. And if you like this podcast, please write a review on iTunes and link to the podcast on social media. Design Matters is produced by Curtis Fox Productions. The show is published exclusively by DesignObserver.com.

Subscribe to Design Matters with Debbie Millman on iTunes, your favorite podcast app, or follow on SoundCloud.