Kevin McMahon

Art is a uniquely powerful platform. With art, we can express ourselves, exchange ideas, and even explore new worlds. Art can also help us to influence change. Kevin McMahon is a customer of mine who has utilized his design talents to educate others and lend a hand to those in need.

Kevin discovered my free font “Milkshake” through Mike Skocko, one of his favorite design instructors. Mike was also a fellow member of the Adobe Education Leader program, which highlights the innovative contributions of teachers who use Adobe tools and applications to foster creative excellence in the classroom.

“While there are a number of accomplished script typeface designers out there, as soon as you open up the glyph panel on one of [your] fonts and see there are often 4-5 usable alternates for any given character – you have to be impressed and excited to use [your] work,” he said.

“Moreover, [your] body of work is incredibly diverse,” he added. “There’s useable serif, san serif, and script typefaces that have truly distinct personalities from anything else you see out there – which is incredibly difficult to accomplish and extremely valuable to a designer.”

He first put my font to work in an “Elements of Art” poster series. He said the personality of the script typefaces humanized the subject, which was important since art education can sometimes become impersonal or clinical.

Later on, Kevin used my fonts in an even more personal platform–the fliers and T-shirts he produced for a benefit concert for a dying friend.

“This one was really personal, so it was a big deal for me to try to get the poster and a t-shirt design for this event just right,” he said. “[Your] work played a huge role in capturing a sense of Mike’s friendly personality – and significantly contributed to the success of the event.”

I can’t express how honored I am to have been a part of that endeavor.

Kevin’s portfolio is proof his artistic abilities are as great as his heart. Aside from being a dedicated educator, he’s also illustrated a fully rigged set of cartoon characters for Adobe’s Character Animator Team and designed the animated website for Z Shoes, an organic shoe company based in the Amazon. In addition, he has created motion graphics, logos, and branding designs for multiple other companies. Much of his work has been for non-profits, including his own, Art Heroes, which he helmed for two years.

Oh, and he’s an Olympian too!

“It’s a surprise to most people, but training to compete in the Olympic Games in the hammer throw is not so different from design,” Kevin said. “If you’ve ever obsessed over getting a glyph, logo or photo just right – you have the same sort of focused commitment that an Olympian has when they execute a physical movement. And in the end, both the visual art and athletics have the same goal: to create an experience of something uniquely beautiful.”

Thanks for using my fonts, Kevin!