Club posters. Athletic banners. TV graphics. Try-out forms. Homewood High’s library and hallways are filled with the multitude of media created by Brad Keim.
Keim’s official title at HHS is instructional assistant, however, that undersells his role in the school. He is the graphic designer, announces football and basketball games and even makes large coloring sheets for students to enjoy in the library on special occasions.
One thing most HHS students might not know about Keim is that he hand-draws the football illustrations that hang in the concourse for the All-State players. Of the fifty-four currently hanging in the hallway, Keim has drawn fourteen.
“When I first started here, I went to the athletic director and asked them if they needed someone to draw the first-time all-staters,” Keim said. “He hadn’t seen anything I had done, but said ‘Ok great!’ and I have done them ever since.”
Because drawing comes so naturally to Keim, it was a no-brainer to take on the illustrations, and he said it was his favorite project he has completed at HHS. 
But graphic design is Keim’s passion, and has been for a long time.
“I was a graphic design major in college,” Keim said. “I spent 24 years as a graphic designer in the business world, but wanted to try to segway out of that and possibly into teaching. I started substitute teaching and continuing graphic design.”
After three years of subbing and doing graphic design work at Hewitt-Trussville High School, Keim met previous HHS principal Zach Barnes, who noticed and greatly appreciated his work.
“He loved my work and knew I had a good relationship with the students,” Keim said. “When he came to Homewood, he called me and said he wanted to create a job for me here. He gave me the opportunity to come and do what I do best, so I took it and have been here now for 13 years.”
His work at HHS has covered an array of different projects. He makes the graphics for the TV monitors in the library, designs posters hanging on the walls and in classrooms, makes graphics for students committing to colleges for athletics and is heavily involved in Homewood’s athletic department through making the We Are Homewood banners and designing merch for many HHS sports.
The athletic banner is displayed in multiple areas around the school as well as in Waldrop Stadium. Keim also creates the senior banners and varsity letters for most HHS sports.
Making the banner is a long process requiring precise detail. Athletes chosen by their coaches to represent their respective sports went to the Bailey Theater to have their pictures taken. The set-up was intentionally the exact same for each athlete so that the lighting would create an effect where the athletes look as if they are all together on the banner.
Following the photo shoot, Keim chose the poses he thought would work best for the banner. He took each photo and individually cut around each one to strategically place the athletes.
“I physically go on Photoshop and cut the backgrounds out of all of them,” he said. “It is the most precise method. It is a long process, but it is super cool in the end.”
Fridays during the fall at HHS are usually filled with excitement and dress-up days in light of the football game that night. A student favorite activity on these days, besides the pep-rally shortened-class schedule, is the large coloring sheets displayed across the tables in the library available for students to stop by and color on at any point during the school day.
While the idea was not originally Keim’s, it was something he enjoyed at HHS, and he wanted to continue allowing students to have the opportunity to partake in a relaxing activity at the end of a long week or during the stress of exams.
“We started making [the coloring sheets] based on the themes of the game or the season we are in,” Keim said. “The homecoming sheet had Homewood Patriot pictures on it; we will have a Halloween theme and one for Christmas.”
Making the sheets is an activity Keim enjoys doing for HHS students.
“I go on Google and will type in clip art based on the theme for the week,” he said. “I will pull those pictures onto Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. From there I can put it onto a ten-foot-long poster, I put all the images onto one side of the poster, and then copy them to repaste them upside down on the other side.”
When asked about his favorite part of his job, it was difficult for Keim to settle on just one answer.
“One great thing is that pretty much everything I do people like,” he said. “That is pretty unusual in the business world. But here, working with kids and faculty, they give me feedback and are appreciative of my work. It is very rewarding.”
His relationship with the kids is the most important aspect of his job to him. The students are what make the school, and Keim said it helps him to stay in touch with younger generations to keep his work up-to-date.
Keim also touched on how students and faculty at HHS have started to create their own posters to display around the school, something he has been encouraging since he started here.
“With Canva, teachers and students can make their own graphics which I think is great,” he said. “It allows them to bring out their creativity and use their own tools.”
Homewood High would not be the same without the art, creativity, and engaged student body. Keim has continued to contribute to the school with his graphics and illustrations, inspiring students to tap into their own ways to be involved.
