Graphic designer renald Louissaint has “the desire to create visual systems and break them”

Brooklyn-based graphic designer renald Louissaint has an incredible eye for nostalgic trends infused with a new, modern edge. Focusing mainly on branding, book design and editorial typography, renald draws out dynamic shape, colour and texture wherever he can. However, he’s not just an adept graphic designer – he’s also an incredible illustrator. “My illustration work centres ideas of isolation and introspection,” he tells It’s Nice That. “And both of my practices are rooted in capturing the nuances of identity as a Black individual.” That's a key part to his practice in an industry which, more often than not, feels saturated by white designers.

Interestingly, renald has recently pivoted his talents to working with collage, a “way to express tactility in design after years of working digitally”. It’s a great return to practical form and shows off renald’s impressive command over graphic design, as he crafts wholly realised pieces that feel unique and cohesive whether they’re digital or artisanal. “I also have the desire to create visual systems and break them while documenting the human experience as it stands today,” renald says. His insurgent spirit and desire to disrupt the baked-in norms of our visual systems becomes apparent in the way he flips graphic design stereotypes on their head. Brands have taken notice too, as renald is now brand designer at Cash App. As for what’s currently keeping renald’s well of inspiration alive, he lists off an eclectic mix: “Right now, I’m an avid cyclist, amateur interior decorator and compulsive art book collector.”