Illustrator Kai Johnson brought Kansas City to life with massive banner and flip card display for 2024 NWSL Championship

Illustrator Kai Johnson has been drawing all of their life. For Kai, drawing has always been a release, a way to express their self, and also find joy in their imagination.

When Kai was asked to work on a project with the help of Google Pixel ahead of the NWSL Championship, they knew embodying Kansas City, where the Championship was held, would be essential. Kai is also a local of KC, so naturally felt connected to the project and the mission.

Kai's artwork was displayed in Kansas City's CPKC Stadium, the first-ever women specific soccer stadium. Ahead of the match, USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe introduced Kai's to the stadium over the jumbotron, and then Kai's work was revealed as a 10-by-20 foot banner and flip card for everyone to witness.

Kai spoke to INDIVISA, and expressed their process and connection to the stadium art.

Kai's inspiration was sparked from "lots of nineties cartoons," they said. "Early 2000s cartoons and I'm a fanatic of SpongeBob, Dexter's Lab and Courage the Cowardly Dog."

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Despite drawing from a young age, they only got serious about it in 2017. "My mom's my biggest supporter," Kai said. "She's also really creative and I just watched her do her thing, and I'm like, I want to do that too."

The collaboration at CPKC stadium was a moment in Kai's career not to be forgotten. It wouldn't have even been possible without utilizing Google Pixel's Gemini to learn what the fans of Kansas City would like to see on a massive piece of artwork.

"It was a conversation with Gemini," Kai said. "I didn't know that there were 200 fountains in the city. I knew there were a lot, but not over 200."

Kai also learned through Gemini to include classic of KC like barbecue, jazz music, and of course women's sports. Kai enjoyed bopping around parks, smelling and eating all of the local barbecue, plus listening to lots of music to cultivate the art.

For Kai, their connection with women's soccer wasn't as deep as a passion for early 2000s cartoons. However they had worked to create Pride patches for the Kansas City Current earlier this season. The Pride patches were worn by the Current players in June, and obviously made an impression on the franchise.

"When the KC Current came to me I [was] just kind of surprised that I got these projects," Kai siad. "I'm honored to have these projects, so it's, like, I'm just open to whatever comes to me at this point."