By Design: Cymone Wilder

Consider this a PSA: If you share a cool lettering design you find on social media, do not pass go without crediting its creator. Artists like Cymone Wilder will thank you ever so much. By day, Cymone is the Senior Art Director for Global Brand Creative at Amazon Web Services. By night — and all the other times in between — she’s a muralist and a lettering artist, collaborating with household names like Netflix and New Belgium.

The eye behind the beauty on the side of Nelson’s Greenbrier Distillery, Cymone has been involved with Nashville Design Week for years as a panelist and community artist. She debuts this year as a programming content curator, so — if you plan to attend this year — you’re likely to find the talented Cymone at the back of the room, ready to lend a helping hand. 

She spent her high school years during the Tumblr era — when graphic tees, posters and other forms of artwork started showing up en masse. Cymone remembers thinking, “Yeah, I really want to do what these people are doing.” Although the artist went to school for graphic design, she admits that most of her education came from platforms such as YouTube, and later from “being pushed into the deep end at my first job.”

Going with the flow is Cymone’s strategy, and she looks to accomplish a lot: “to build stronger connections with people in Nashville — especially in black creative circles — and to continue providing support to creatives coming up behind me via mentorship, job opportunities, and donations of tools and supplies.” 

Voices like Cymone’s have positively influenced Nashville Design Week. “I think Nashville is packed with a lot of incredible talent,” she says, “but businesses and other programs and opportunities tend to highlight the same folks over and over again. So, I’m especially excited that Nashville Design Week makes a concerted effort each year to highlight diverse and hidden voices.”

Still, just as Cymone has become a center of influence within Nashville’s design community, she finds her peers to be her personal muses. Take Clarksville artist Lorenzo Swinton, otherwise known as Mr. Trombone. Cymone — who played trombone growing up — remembers: “I first saw his work at the closing party at Nashville Design Week last year and was instantly addicted. So, when I saw the piece go up for sale, I knew I had to have it. It perfectly represents the intersection of the things I love, and it’s a beautiful pop of excitement in my home.” She also says that she’d count herself lucky to acquire an original Gordon Parks photo.

If you’ve found yourself enamored with Cymone’s work, head over to SimonAndMoose.com, or keep up with her on Instagram @SimonAndMoose.