Nick Freeman is a graphic designer specialising in digital illustrations particularly in character creation, animation and game development assets and visualFX designs (Freeman 2017). From his LinkedIn profile, Freeman is an African American designer from Orlando, Florida; and first graduated in 2006, with an Associate’s degree in Design and Visual Communication, from the American InterContinental University. Then later, with a Bachelor’s of Art specialising in media arts and animation at the Art Institute of Atlanta, in 2010. Since 2005, he has worked at several companies (Linkedin 2017). The first, at Atlantic neon, as a Graphic artist, the second, at Humouring The Fates, as a clean-up artist, then as a lead graphic designer at Fending Signs Inc, in 2010, and finally as two dimensional (2D)- and visual effects artist, at n-Space (Linkedin 2017). At present, since 2014, Freeman works as a character- and clean-up artist at Secret Sauce Studios, and freelances as a character designer (Freeman 2017). Freeman is relevant to my practice as create, design and illustrate man of colour cartoon characters.
Figure 17 shows Leon, one of Freeman’s characters on the left is an illustration of 2011, while on the right of 2015. In the one of 2011, the African features are not evident; however, on the right the African Themes are evident, as features of the face and Voodoo symbols. Vodou, better known as Voodoo originated about six thousand years ago, in mainly three Western African countries: Togo, Nigeria and Benin; and was brought to New Orleans, Haiti and other West Indies islands by the slaves (Robinson 2010). In the Leon character (see figure 17), Freeman makes use of the Voo symbol of Ayizan; Ayizan is the loa (pronounced lwa) – spirits of Louisiana Voodoo and Haitian Vodou (Pinn 2005: 229) – of the French marketplace, commerce and herbal healing, that represents love and the initiation of the Voudou rites (Alvarado 2016).
AMA DIGIAFROPRENEUR 