While at the media-briefing for the announcement of the Zoom Kobe VI “Neighborhood Pack” at The Nike Vault at Staples Center, I noticed this torn paper mural of Kobe Bryant. I’ve been a fan of basketball, art, and design for years and I had never seen this piece before. It’s made of torn pieces of black-and-white printed paper depicting key moments in Kobe’s basketball career. The mural is a permanent fixture at The Nike Vault, but it seems to have received little to no attention thus far.

What’s awesome about this piece is that it is a true study of color and contrast. It reminds me of a roided-out cut-paper-poster I worked on for 9 weeks as a 1st quarter student at Portfolio Center. It was one of the most difficult projects I’d ever worked on, but it taught me so much about working with shading and composition. I wonder what kind of adhesive the artist(s) of the Kobe mural used. It sure as hell wasn’t rubber cement, because that’s what I used on my design school cut-paper poster that is currently falling apart!

Check out the awesome Kobe Bryant Torn Paper Mural after the jump.