Kerry Roper ‘Time Waits for No Man’
My brain is busy creating rather than over-thinking. It’s a way for me to communicate
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Kerry Roper
Graphic designer and artist Kerry Roper had a successful career when he came up against severe depression at the age of 24. Despite having work displayed in the V&A, and having designed apparel for Nike, Topshop, and the Science Museum, he explains that none of this mattered when depression took over. Naturally, Kerry’s experiences with mental health became infused in his artwork. He points to one piece in particular, ‘Time Waits for No Man’ – a screen-print from 2009 that is part of the V&A’s permanent collection. The print explores a juxtaposition between birth and death, realised in Kerry’s graphic, street style. For Kerry, his background in commercial graphic design plays a significant role in the reason why he believes people are able to relate to
the themes in his work, explaining how it helped him hone his skills in communication – taking lessons from the techniques needed to capture and hold people’s attention when you only have them for a brief moment. Of course, graphic design is a huge and varied field, something that Kerry knows all too well as he moves between commercial pieces, album covers,
and personal work. But challenge and change are exactly what Kerry needs to keep his brain active in “the right kind of way”. “My brain is busy creating rather than over-thinking. It’s a way for me to communicate. The art of creating is a beautiful thing on so many levels.” kerryroper.com
May 2019 • happiful • 89