bio

Jonelle Demby is a Senior Graphic Designer at the Intrepid Museum, a position she has held since October 2021. In this role, she assisted with the museum’s major rebranding. Previously, she led a creative team of four designers at an Anheuser-Busch distributor. Each of these designers received their initial design training from Demby, who streamlined their workflow by creating a library of assets that could be easily accessed and implemented while fitting into strict brand identities.

As the lead designer at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA), Jonelle oversaw every imaginable and unimaginable creative task. Taking on many unstaffed roles, she worked with every facet of the museum, from ADA compliance to exhibition graphic design, giving her a wealth of knowledge she applies to new projects. At MOCA, her efforts helped maintain the museum’s stature in South Florida’s growing art capital, a city that welcomes innovation and hosts Art Basel. Jonelle ensures a cohesive vision is translated and accessible to all visitors, creating exhibition collateral such as print invitations, gallery guides, banners, and wall text. She also oversaw the production of digital content for the museum’s website, email list-serve, and managed their social media, which required innovative approaches during quarantine and remote work. Her photography and animation skills have consistently enhanced many projects.

Jonelle’s creative approach weaves innovative storytelling and visual branding through impeccable and purposeful design. She graduated from Howard University with a B.F.A. in Electronic Studio Art and a Minor in Photography (2004), and has completed coursework towards an MFA at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) (2006). Her education at Howard and SCAD immersed her in African, Caribbean, and African American art and culture, enriching her technical expertise and informing her design perspective. One of her first design jobs after graduating from Howard was to design history kiosks for the NAACP National Convention. Her recent designs for the AfriCOBRA exhibitions allowed her to honor the heroes of her Howard University experience, having studied art where Jeff Donaldson had been Dean of the College of Fine Arts. Jonelle carefully created the exhibition logos to bring this important period of art history forward, maintaining the legacy, aesthetics, and intent of the Black Arts Movement as expressed in the AfriCOBRA manifesto. She modernized the drawn logo from their 1970 “Ten in Search of a Nation” exhibition, echoing patterns seen in the artworks. The AfriCOBRA exhibition was invited to Biennale Arte in Venice, Italy. Jonelle’s logo design was lauded by the original AfriCOBRA artists and Jeffreen M. Hayes, Ph.D., the curator of the exhibition, who included it as a mural within the exhibition itself as a nod to the presence of emerging Black designers today. Additionally, she occasionally serves as a design consultant for Threewalls, a Chicago-based art organization.

Jonelle is based in New York City, living with her husband, a music producer and street photographer, and their 6-year-old son, Lev. She continues to pursue photography as a passion project, honoring the beauty and forms of all women, and the colorful patterns of strength and vulnerability in the Black community. Jonelle is also a major advocate for the global awareness, funding, research, and treatment of keloid skin.