Brandon Breaux first came to fame after he designed the covers for three of Chance the Rapper’s mixtapes: 10 Day, Acid Rap and Coloring Book.

After speaking with Brandon, I got the eerie sense he had somehow anticipated the recognition the two of them would receive. Brandon’s portraits of Chance were envisioning a future where the artist was placed front and center, in vibrant fullness, the artist taken back from the misaligned and misinformed portrayals the industry had given of hip-hop. A future where authenticity mattered more to fans then what the music industry was peddling at the time. As Brandon put it to me, “I wanted the hip hop cover to be something revered.” Today his influence on album covers and artists’ merchandise is undeniable. The two Chicago-born natives created their own world and audiences wanted to be a part of the magic. 

Brandon’s attitude to art and design is so strikingly ingenuous you might miss it if you’re not paying close enough attention: that what is closest to him is what is most magnificent. The people and places that need to have a light shined on them are those that are so familiar we often forget about their powerful influence on us. What is closest to Brandon is Chicago, the real Chicago and the people who make it run in the communities he is a part of. In his first solo exhibition, “BIG WORDS”, he paid homage to the people who made an impact on his life. In 2021, his “28 Days of Greatness” project featured twenty eight digital portraits of Black and often under-recognized creatives for each day in February.

It is Brandon’s rare combination of humility, introspection and confidence in his craft that has led him to be successful in everything from fashion to graphic design. The two of us spoke about Chicago and the changes he has seen over the years in the artistic communities he is apart of. We also touched on his creative journey since blowing up with Chance, mental health advocacy and the transformative power of personifying negative experiences and what it means to speak your own authentic truth. 

It’s great to meet you. You’re a graphic designer, a painter, a fashion designer, I mean it feels like you’ve done it all. I wanted to start with what are you working on most these days? What does a day look like for you? Is it painting and designing first thing in the morning?

I've been curating events and doing design work for promotion as well as this mural project that the council has been planning.  I’m also working with an organization to promote the value of land in Chicago. We do events in these vacant areas in Chicago to activate the land and bring the community together. Were doing a bike ride this weekend to raise awareness for land stewardship. 

Tell me how you got started with design?

I was always making art, man. I was always drawing. My earliest memories are of me drawing. Images of my family pictures of my mom and pictures of people. I got really into comic books as a kid and from there went into graphic design. Learning programs for things I couldn’t do with my hands. 

How much does your community inform your artistic practice and do you think the environment of Chicago defines your art? Do you ever think about how it might be altered if you lived somewhere else, if you had grown up in California or New York?

Absolutely. I mean, if there was no snow where I grew up, I would have a different perspective.  This is not a major city [Chicago], it was not a widely known and respected city when it came to the things I was interested in. It wasn’t the place you go to make it, but it’s the place that shaped a lot of the people who have made it. In the 60’s and 70’s, you got to experience the blues which was a total reality of what black life was. The reason I say black is because I grew up in a black neighbourhood and I grew up around black people because Chicago was segregated. But growing up I was also influenced by Californian culture because MTV was around, alternative culture, Chilli Peppers and Nirvana, it was sort of an eclectic blend of everything at home. All of this informs you in ways you don’t even realize until years later. 

Do you feel that Chicago has become more of a hub for artists now?

Growing up in the 90’s in Chicago there wasn’t much interest in these things. If I lived in New York I could find it in every borough. In Chicago, everyone who was interested in art ended up in the same place, it was this concentrated intensity of culture and music. A friend I met at 16 ended up being the DJ on Kanye’s Watch the Throne tour.  We didn’t grow up in Kanye’s age range. But he was a DJ from the city and he climbed that ladder, almost organically from being in a familiar circle and making noise. I did a couple album covers for a few people and ended up on Pharrell’s blog and that’s how Chance’s manager saw my work. At the time I was working at an ad agency and I felt it gave me a leg up, being the very best at what I do while also seeking professional work. Growing up there was no middle ground. I didn’t have enough money to go to Parson’s. So I started making my own t-shirts, we found people that can make patterns and we started making shit. That’s how I started with fashion. That’s just how it’s always been, from the ground up. 

What I love about your work, and I feel this with the Chance albums, is that nothing feels manufactured. It’s so rare to see a work of visual art or painting like that on an album cover these days. Often, it’s a photograph with some crazy typography. Were there any album covers that influenced this style?

Thank you, man. This is how I see it. When rap came along a lot of people thought it was a fad. Then the music industry had their way with it because a lot of these kids who were getting popular from rap didn’t know a lot about music. They didn’t know everything that went into making records. The industry just had its way with rap, how it was marketed and what they were talking about. I don’t think they saw it as art and so I wanted to bring the attention back to the visual, back to the artists. With the Chance projects we centered the entire album on art and the artist. I wanted the hip hop cover to be something revered. Before then, mixtape covers sucked because everyone was trying to design like Kanye. I was so intentionally focused I wanted the project to be undeniable when you first saw the cover. It worked because nobody was doing it, man! And you know, to be impactful and creative you must be daring but you also have to know your craft so well. I really feel like I am a creative strategist. The Acid Rap cover looked like the title and what the album really sounded like.  

If your comfortable talking about it I was hoping you could speak a little about how mental health has informed your artistic practice?

I learned very early that if you don’t acknowledge the things that are going on in your life they become a problem. How you see and interpret your world determines what your experience is going to be like. My Dad had his mental challenges and I had this fear of having the same challenges or not knowing if it is genetic or inherited, you know? I had to turn these fears on their head a bit in order to be able to really see what’s there and face it. I found power in talking about it and not repressing emotions. I saw in my environment how not talking about it could lead to breakdown. If you can see it and materialize it outside of yourself, give it a name, then you kind of relate to it in a different way. It’s not being a part of you. This is something I can separate from myself and deal with in an abstract way. The characters I did on the Decadent album cover reflected this, it was my way of personifying my fears and my negative emotions and turning them into a positive. There is a certain amount of fulfilment in that. 

I know for the ‘28 Days of Greatness’ series you painted portraits of inspiring locals in the Chicago community. How do you choose your subjects for portraits and is that the medium you like working most in?

I kind of found myself in a bit of a bind after I did this portrait for Chance which got more popular than anything I had done. It was really big and people started copying it. Drake’s cover for Nothing Was The Same was pretty much a direct rip off of the first cover I did for Chance. And it’s great seeing that but you know I don’t want to build a career that looks as if I’m on Instagram like painting people that are already famous trying to get more attention or make myself famous. I started to think about how you could champion people in your own world that mean a lot to you. It’s introspective because it stops looking at what everybody else cares about and instead is about people in your own life who have moved and inspired you, folks that you might not know about. For me, its like, how do I get those people some shine? 

Tell me about your process when you’re approaching a project, what does your creative approach look like when your approached by clients.

I get requests from brands, but I am kind of moving away from that a little bit as I dive more into my personal experience. I make art to understand myself and understand how I see the world and also to share my perspective with other people as a means to connect and also just help people, you know, help people through a moment. Brands want to latch on to you because they want to amplify their footprint and culture in a real way. So whenever I have a project that pops off or something these brands ask you if you want to do this or that and you know it’s cool, but I am very intentional with what I do. Whenever I am offered something in some commercial capacity I ask myself, “What does this look like through my lens? What does this look like through my perspective to my approach?” Were always being sold an idea, an item, a philosophy. And sometimes you need to step away and say, no, I am going to value what I bring to the table and who I am already. When something is so close you forget to see how magnificent it is. I just met with somebody and they wanted me to do some work about Chicago. I don’t want to draw the Willis Tower. I don’t want that shit. But then I really have a look and think it doesn’t have to line up with everybody else’s perspective of Chicago. I did an art show about Chicago, about my experience growing up where I highlighted businesses and landmarks in my neighborhood. That meant a lot to me. You show me your Chicago and I’ll show you mine. You’ll learn something if I show you my Chicago and not the thing you anticipated. That’s how I approach projects. 

What’s next for you?

I want to tell more stories. I want to use these murals as a network as well. I like art that not only entertains but teaches people something as well. You know, that’s what I love about Pixar. A lot of the really good animated films leave you with a lesson and you grow a little bit more. We already have art that entertains people. If I am making something and putting it in front of people, it has to serve more of a purpose than to just entertain or sell them a product.

See more from Brandon, here.