Meet the visual artist combining street culture with portable tech

From Jean-Michel Basquiat to poetry to graffiti on toilet walls, Jada Bruney finds inspiration everywhere, and she brings it to life using a Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.

The 22-year-old Croydon artist, illustrator and animator caught the creative world’s attention with two books she wrote as a teenager – Southside Story and Slangphabet – and is now in hot demand for her bright, wildly imaginative design skills.

“I sold the books I wrote myself across Brixton and Lambeth, and I think along with the power of Instagram, that got me in front of a lot of people who work in the creative world,” she says. “I was studying graphic communication and design at Central Saint Martins and I started getting commissions. It was tough to balance both things, but I’ve found it really fulfilling.” Work for big name brands and several awards have followed.

Jada’s projects about London life

Positivity is central to Jada’s work. For instance, Southside Story, a ‘zine full of true stories, aimed to counter negative reporting about life in south London.

“It’s about stereotypes,” she says. “At my school there were some kids who wouldn’t go to a certain area because of its reputation, and nobody is pretending there aren’t bad things going on. But what about all the great stuff in south London? There is a light-heartedness that I wanted to explore. I asked people about what was the ‘most south London’ thing that had ever happened to them, and we got lots of funny stories.”

The AZ of slang, inspired by art and poetry

Slangphabet was conceived while listening to friends chat in a school library. “Everyone was using so much slang, and I realized it wasn’t in any of the books around me,” says Jada. “And I encountered different attitudes from teachers about it. One of them wanted people to use ‘proper’ English, but another teacher was very curious about it, and the evolution of language. Why not try to understand it? So I wrote about that.”

Now Jada uses the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra to capture current stories and new ideas, with her S Pen in tow. It is her visuals that really jump out and they are brought to life on the vibrant screen of the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. “I was inspired by a Basquiat exhibition at the Barbican when I was younger,” says Jada. “That changed my perceptions of using colors and typography, and I got thinking about Maya Angelou and adding in poetry too. I made my own font for Southside Story based on graffiti from a school toilet stall. It’s great to be inspired by everyday life as much as other artists.”

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Series: ideal for creatives

This is where the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra comes in handy. “Tech is important now, if you are going to communicate with as many people as possible,” she says. “I used it for drawing rough sketches, collecting reference photos, working out how to draw people. It’s a great tool for creativity and I use it everywhere. Quite often I will sit on the train sketching on it, and people will be watching over my shoulder. I don’t mind that, although it puts me under pressure not to make any mistakes!”

Jada adds: “But I always enjoy being creative. I feel like I have a lot of things going on in my head at one time, and art helps me to focus.”

Discover more about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 at Samsung.com.