Paintbrushes and pencils are in the past. For senior Sergei LeFaivre, digital design is the future.

By turning his passion for sports into modern graphic designs, LeFaivre has grown into a skilled artist spurred by his own athletic interests.

Because of his Boston upbringing, LeFaivre was supporting the local teams at a young age.

“I am a die-hard sports fan, especially with Boston teams,” LeFaivre said. “I grew up watching sports so that is my focus.”

However, unlike his love for sports, LeFaivre did not become interested in graphic design until 8th grade.

“I was in 8th grade and I was on vacation with my cousin, and he was doing these cool edits with an app on his phone,” LeFaivre said. “He told me all about it, and I started doing that on Instagram.”

LeFaivre’s initial aspirations for his work were limited to fame on social media, and he had no further goals for his graphics. However, LeFaivre continued developing his design skills and started to improve quickly with practice.

“I just kept going with it and I realized I’m getting better at it,” LeFaivre said. “I realized that I can actually make a job out of this.”

LeFaivre has taken art classes at the high school for the past four years and currently takes Advanced Placement Studio Art.

LeFaivre’s current art teacher at the high school, Donna Sartanowicz, said that he has grown into a thoughtful artist as well as a skilled one.

“I was impressed when we had our first big group critique, and he was very attentive,” Sartanowicz said. “He offered insightful comments towards other people, and his work was very interesting.”

According to his digital design teacher Eric Latimer, LeFaivre has always had a knack for the arts.

“He had this genuine interest in the subject that made up for any skills that needed more developing,” Latimer said.

Latimer went on to say how not only is LeFaivre a flexible designer, a required skill in the design world, but he also strives to understand his strengths and works to improve them.

“It is a client-oriented medium,” Latimer said. “You may have certain strengths, but if your client says, ‘listen we want this,’ it is on you to meet their interests. Otherwise, they are just going to go find somebody else.”

LeFaivre also uses the combination of sports and graphic design to secure projects for different organizations. He has reached out to numerous sports teams and organizations.

Of those he contacted, Boston College was quick to respond and LeFaivre has been designing for them ever since.

“I reached out to a couple of schools and teams nearby,” LeFaivre said. “Boston College actually wrote back to me, so each game on Saturday, I’ll usually go there and work in the press box, and I’ll come up with an idea for every game.”

“They had me as an intern freshman year for the fall season,” LeFaivre said. “I did some football graphics for them, and I did some hockey graphics.”

Latimer said that he believes LeFaivre will thrive in the field of digital design due to his ability to adapt to many different situations.

“He always seemed proud of what he could do, but I never felt like he was rigid,” Latimer said. “That is a strength and I think that will take him far.”

LeFaivre spoke about how his love for a new medium that lets him express himself has had a positive impact on his work.

“I’m taking something that I already love and combining it with something else,” LeFaivre said. “That is what keeps me going.”