Dollar ReDe$ign Project: In Profile : Kyle R Thompson : Winner : Dollar ReDe$ign Competition

The winner of our July 4th Dollar ReDe$ign competition was 25 year old Kyle R Thompson. Kyle’s greatest source of inspiration he says is “designing for good causes” and firmly believes that “conceptual design can really transform the way people deal with their communities.”

Thompson, whose design heroes include Seymour Chwast, Pushpin, Big Active, Marian Bantjes, the artists of Die Brücke, and Michael Schwab – to name just a few – graduated from Atlanta’s Portfolio Center in 2008. Now living in Venice, CA, Thompson freelances for various Los Angeles agencies including Deutsch, 30sixty Design, Droga5, World-Wide-Mind, and Wingman Media and has worked on projects for clients ranging from HBO to Hornitos Tequila.

His winning Dollar ReDe$ign submission was actually created during his final year in Atlanta: “my concept flows from my education in politics and American history, and my belief that there are innumerable reasons to be inspired by America’s genesis. I wanted to take a step back from the people who founded America and look at the thinkers who inspired them. Working on the project got me inspired about my own take on America's future; and yes, I think the American Dollar is in dire need of a redesign; the bill feels cold and outdated, especially when you see it next to the Euro.”

Thompson is also a huge J.R.R. Tolkien fan and is currently working on a range of covers and posters for Tolkien’s ‘The Silmarillion’ series of stories and myths (http://tinyurl.com/pgj4s). He also recently completed a rebranding scheme for the UK based charity M.E.N.D.: “more and more we're finding that if the message of bettering your community and giving to charity etc is fun, hip, sexy, and joyous even, then people's attitude and likelihood of participation increases dramatically. Although working on this project was both challenging and fun, in the end it was very fulfilling for me.”

You can view more of Kyle’s work on his website http://childoftheboar.com