FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — Before the Dallas Mavericks played the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 3 of the 2024 NBA playoffs, Mavs guard Luka Doncic went viral as some fans spotted him driving a new car and getting stuck in traffic on his way to the American Airlines Center.
What fans don’t know is that the talented team behind this sleek, colorful four-wheeled ride is led by a graphic designer who was more ready for this project than many could've realized.
Driving past a bumpy road
Jekyll and Hyde’s in Farmers Branch is a vehicle wrapping service company that almost didn’t make it as a business -- before it even got started.
Creative director William Agnew was with the company from the beginning when Jekyll and Hyde’s opened in March of 2020 -- the same month that the COVID-19 pandemic forced closures all across the country.
"We didn't know,” Agnew said. “We went on faith. You can't time anything of that significance and that magnitude. We had a lot of investment in this business, so we couldn't stop. We had to keep going.”
To keep their business alive, Agnew and his team worked to keep their clients hyper-local and started creating relationships with people and other businesses in the North Texas area.
"There's no better place in terms of energy and synergy of what we do, and who we work with, and who we team with to do it than right here in Dallas, Texas,” Agnew said. "Cars are people's babies, and it's their lifeline."
Investment in their local ties slowly allowed the company to grow and build awareness for its offerings in the North Texas area, where they started getting recommendations for their work.
“This is not a mainstream service that a lot of people actually know about,” Agnew said. “Obviously, people know Jordan. Obviously, people know Luka. But what people may not be familiar with is the ability to customize your car like this. Things just start to snowball when you do a good job."
From a family of designers
Tyson Summers was born and raised in the North Texas area, and now calls Garland his home. And the people that make up his family? You could certainly call them creative-minded.
"I was born into a family of artists,” Summers said. “My grandfather was a master craftsman. A carpenter. A sculptor. A painter. He could do anything. If it was written in a book on how to do it, he could do it with his hands. He was a craftsman."
His dad also emulated what Summers’ grandfather would do, carving and building plenty of things throughout Summers’ childhood.
"I just grew up in that environment, so I always thought, 'Well, I'll do something creative and something fun, cool like that,’” Summers said.
Summers would eventually go to the Art Institute of Dallas, getting into graphic design work in 1995. He eventually built up a reputation in the Deep Ellum art community where people started to find out about his design work. It wasn’t until 2006 that he learned about and decided to dive right into the car-wrapping industry. That led Summers to become Jekyll and Hyde's senior graphic designer and printer.
"I compare it a lot to being like a tattoo artist,” Summers said. “You really get to use all your tricks that you've learned. You just have to be able to flip with whatever somebody wants and work with them until they're happy."
Watch the full interviews with Tyson Summers and William Agnew here:
A Luka link
Well before Summers started his graphic design work, he was a Michael Jordan fan -- just like many children of the 1980s.
He even had a Michael Jordan Trapper Keeper in middle school.
That’s what made one of Jekyll and Hyde's recent business partnerships about as fitting as could be for Summers.
Jordan Brand and Luka Doncic connected with Jekyll and Hyde's about a desire to make a custom wrap for a blue 1969 Chevrolet Camaro -- with the goal of making it look like the Mavs star’s recently released signature shoe, the Jordan Luka 3s.
"I'm having that moment where the Jordan brand is now knocking on my door for something, and that's really cool,” Summers said.
After receiving some artwork from the Jordan team to use as inspiration, he got to work making a custom wrap that many in the industry are considering one-of-a-kind.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time I've seen the matching of the design of a sneaker and a car wrap,” Agnew said. “And I know a lot of sneakerheads out there. It's a big thing right now.”
Summers and his team created an eye-popping car with “77” on the side of the car and added a certain texture around it to give it a subtle shoe-like feel.
Summers said Jordan Brand and Doncic liked his design and were happy with the end product.
And, now, Doncic has his ride -- and his team on a hopeful playoff run.
"It's a real honor to do something for Luka,” Summers said. "I've never met him, but I sure am excited that he's playing for us. You know, and we're not having to play against him."