NYC Marathon covers new ground with alum’s illustration

Adam Koon (Advertising & Graphic Design, 2013) has developed illustrations for companies such as Shake Shack, Budweiser, and Provincetown Brewery. But his most recent work really has people moving.

To help promote and brand early November’s TCS New York City Marathon, Koon created a bold and bright illustration that depicts key scenes from New York’s most vibrant neighborhoods and the marathon’s competitors running through each.

"I looked at different neighborhoods, different artwork that’s been done, and just tried to show, bring my weirdness and bring the whimsical into it," Koon told Eyewitness News ABC 7 New York.

The illustration was used on the event’s printed program, and a mural of Koon’s illustration on the corner of North 10th Street and Wythe Avenue in Brooklyn helped support awareness of and interaction with the marathon. 

It was also a key feature in an augmented reality app—the first of its kind used by the internationally renowned marathon. Users who downloaded the app could hover the phone over Koon’s mural from across the street and bring the mural to life, or hover the phone over the illustration on the printed program to learn about the history of the race.

Read more about Adam Koon here, more about the mural here, and more about the augmented reality app feature here.