Kerry G. Johnson

Kerry G. Johnson is an American cartoonist, graphic designer, art director, caricaturist and children's book illustrator. He specializes in caricatures but has created cartoons, illustrations, and digital content creation in his career in brand development, strategic communications, and publication design.

Kerry G. Johnson
Kerry G. Johnson \ Artist and Illustrator
Born	Nashville, TN
Occupation(s)	caricaturist, caricature artist, cartoonist, children's book illustrator, writer, graphic designer, art director, author, webcomic artist, arts educator
Known for	illustration, caricatures, children's book illustration, cartoons, webcomics, black cartoonists, African American cartoonists, Spectra (laser superhero)
Spouse	Tawanda W. Johnson

Early life and education

He was born in Nashville, Tennessee on September 30, 1966. He attended Hillsboro Comprehensive High School, Columbus College of Art and Design and Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Johnson is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He currently resides in Columbia, Maryland.

Career

Other career milestones include his role as a senior graphic designer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and working as an adjunct professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) also located in Baltimore.

He has worked for various news outlets including:

• The Baltimore Sun
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Johnson's Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson caricature

In April 2022, Kerry G. Johnson designed a digital caricature illustration honoring Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and her historic confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. The popular caricature by the artist became widely shared and reproduced on the internet. Kerry G. Johnson retains the copyright to the artwork © 2022 - All Rights Reserved ^[1]

In 2005, he illustrated a coloring book about famous physicists for the American Physical Society. In 2005, he designed the official logo for the American Physical Society.

In May 2008, he debuted his webcomic, Harambee Hills.^[2] Harambee Hills is a diverse webcomic that follows the life observations of Gerard and those of his modern African-American family, co-workers and wacky neighbors of Harambee Hills, a fictional suburban neighborhood outside Washington, D.C. The webcomic’s characters often provided commentary on pop culture, entertainment, sports and top news stories.

He is the co-creator of the science-based teen superhero SPECTRA. Spectra, the main character, is also the mascot for Laserfest 2010, a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the laser. In 2011, Johnson worked with writer Rebecca Thompson and published their third comic book, Spectra, The Original Laserfest Superhero, for the PhysicsCentral.com web site.

In August 2018, he was interviewed by Al Jazeera America regarding the 50th birthday of Peanuts comic strip. Franklin and he provided commentary on the status of modern-day African-American cartoonists.

List of contributions

His cartoons, illustrations, and graphics have appeared in these newspapers:

• The Nashville Banner (defunct newspaper)
• Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
• North Hills News Record (Warrendale, PA)
• Valley News Dispatch (Tarentum, PA)
• New Pittsburgh Courier
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
• Greensburg Tribune-Review
• The Baltimore Sun
• The Baltimore Examiner
• The Los Angeles Times
• Chicago Tribune
• N.Y. Newsday
• American Physical Society News
• The Muskegon Tribune (Michigan)

Additionally, his work has appeared in magazines, web sites and other national media outlets including 60 Minutes, USA Today, KRT (Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics) (closed), and Gannett News Service.

Awards and honors

Kerry G. Johnson has won over 20 Awards for his work in graphic design, illustration, and community service, including:

• 2023, Career Profile: PrintTalk Blog - Adaptive Art: Kerry G. Johnson’s World of Graphic Design^[3]
• 2023, Alpha Man of Merit | Howard County (Maryland) Chapter^[4]
• 2012, Graphic Design Magazine (GD USA) Award for InHouse Design^{[citation needed]}
• 2010, Glyph Comics Awards nominated in the Rising Star category, presented by the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC)^{[citation needed]}
• 2008, first place: the National Arts Program for Illustration^{[citation needed]}
• 2002, 2001, 1996, first place: Press Club of Western Pennsylvania’s Golden Quill Award for News Illustration^{[citation needed]}
• 2002, Society for News Design Award of Excellence for Photo illustration^{[citation needed]}
• 2001, judge: Pittsburgh’s 2001 ARTWorks Competition^{[citation needed]}
• 2001, 1998, 1994, 1993, first place: Pittsburgh Black Media Federation’s Robert L. Vann Award for Feature Illustration^{[citation needed]}
• 2000, second place: National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Heritage Award for Editorial Cartooning^{[citation needed]}
• 1996, first place: National Association of Black Journalists NABJ Award for Art and Design^{[citation needed]}
• 1994, first place: Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association’s Award for Graphic Illustration^{[citation needed]}

He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ) fraternity,^{[citation needed]} the National Cartoonists Society (NCS),^{[citation needed]} the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI),^{[citation needed]} the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ),^{[citation needed]} the National Caricaturist Network, American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA)^{[citation needed]}

He currently lives in Columbia, Maryland with his wife.^{[citation needed]}

Books

• Is He Still There? by Monet Clements (illustrator) 2020
• I Am Love: A Book About The Meaning of Love by Alero Afejuku (illustrator) 2020
• Little Brown Baby Nursery Rhymes (illustrator) 2020
• Believing In Myself! by Erica Pullen (illustrator) 2018
• Princess Tyler Meets the Big Storytelling Fsiry (illustrator) 2015
• You Can't Move an Elephant in One Day (illustrator) 2012
• Soap & Bubbles (illustrator) 2012
• PhysicsQuest 2008: Nikola Tesla and the Electric Fair (illustrator) 2008
• SPECTRA #1: The American Physical Society introduces, SPECTRA (illustrator) 2009
• SPECTRA #2: SPECTRA'S Power (illustrator) 2010
• SPECTRA #3: SPECTRA'S Force (illustrator) 2011
• SPECTRA #4: SPECTRA Heats Up! (illustrator) 2012
• SPECTRA #5: SPECTRA Turbulent Times (illustrator) 2013
• SPECTRA #6: SPECTRA'S Quantum Leap " (illustrator) 2014
• Color Me Physics Coloring Book, First Edition Illustrated by Kerry G. Johnson; text by Alan Chodos, PhD, Jessica Clark, PhD and Kendra Rand (2007)