‘Not lost on me how fortunate I am’: Lexington designer on his art for Billy Strings

First there was Robert Beatty, who designed album covers for the likes of Tame Impala, Ke$ha, The Weeknd and William Tyler.

Now, another Lexington-based graphic artist is taking the music industry by storm with a line of merchandise and digital advertising for bluegrass singer Billy Strings — Logan Fox.

Fox’s working relationship with the two-time Grammy Award winner began last spring when Billy Strings’ management team contacted him about creating social media advertising for the Renewal Festival held in 2024.

The partnership has only expanded since, with Fox designing merchandise for the festival and Strings’ fall and winter 2024 tours, promotional materials for his “Highway Prayers” album, a poster for his upcoming Australia and New Zealand tour. Most recently, Fox designed work for his spring 2025 U.S. tour, which concludes with two concerts at Rupp Arena on June 20 and 21.

“It’s been a gradual working relationship where we all get along and appreciate what each other does, which has grown into more and more work with them over time,” Fox said.

The work with Strings’ team is a full circle moment for Fox, who grew up in a family of bluegrass players that inspired his own musical pursuits, before shifting into painting and graphic design in 2014.

“I would play with them, but it was mostly me just trying to keep up,” said Fox of his family. “It’s been cool to work with someone like Billy who is pushing the boundaries of the traditional bluegrass I grew up on and having so much success doing it.”

Fox admits his pathway to design was an unconventional one, teaching himself through different programs and free classes at the library.

At first, he was only producing gig posters for himself and friends, making t-shirts and other merchandise for local musicians like Bendigo Fletcher and Abby Hamilton and designing artwork for The Jenkins Twins and Champs Of The Sun. Along the way, Fox began picking up some commercial work, which allowed him to go full-time with his design projects in 2019.

Since then, he’s continued to design in the music space and consistently work with businesses like Great Bagel,The Press Juice Bar and Dremel power tools. He also designed one-off shirts for the films “Robocop” and “Cocaine Bear.”

Fox said his work is inspired heavily by old print advertising materials that he takes and reworks.

Plenty of influence comes from Beatty as well.

“If he can make it doing that kind of work [in Lexington] then who’s to say that I can’t do the same?” Fox said.

“Being able to do what I do and make a living at it, I don’t know if I can put into words how much that means to me,” Fox said. “Being able to make a career out of being a creative and supporting your family is the end goal for any artist, but is much easier said than done, so it’s not lost on me how fortunate I am.”

“Even on my toughest days, I remind myself of the countless things I could be doing instead of this and am quickly put at ease,” Fox said.