Thick, detailed tattoos cover Brandon Coley’s body. The grim reaper stands solemnly on his right bicep and an intimidating cross is drawn along the contours of his spine. He strokes his dark goatee. He doesn’t look like the average journalist.

“I get stereotyped quite a bit,” he said. “I work out, I do manly stuff, I’m a man’s man, but I don’t care what anybody says, every man has his little soft spot for a passion. It’s like yin and yang.”

Coley, a 26-year-old computer graphics major from Muskegon, Mich., developed that passion in painting as a teenager. He was awarded a scholarship to the Kendall College of Art and Design, but put his goals on hold when he joined the Navy as a plane captain at 17.

The decision was not completely his own.

“My dad was really good on discipline and trying to make me a man,” he said. “That’s where I ended up going.”

Coley was stationed around the world, from South Carolina to Dubai, but after a few years serving in active duty he wanted to return to art.

In the service, “You get a steady income, you get all the benefits, but you feel stuck,” he said. “It’s not for everybody, and it definitely wasn’t for me.”

He became interested in journalism while drawing student-related editorial cartoons for his college newspaper at Winston-Salem State University. Financial struggles and college life were just a few topics represented in his art.

“You can definitely tell a story through a simple picture,” he said.

Aside from drawing cartoons, Coley became well versed in computer graphic design, a skill he is applying at the Institute, where he is designing graphic elements for the website. He currently works as the graphics editor for his college newspaper and designs logos for campus organizations.

Though some people may only look at him for what’s on the outside, Coley said, he aims to prove he is serious about his work – but he’s all smiles while he does it.

“I just try to be the happiest dude,” he said.

– Aaron Edwards

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