Studio art major Jacob Cate has spent the last three years as an illustrator in UTC Communications and Marketing. Photo by Angela Foster.
Scrappy’s been a king, a pirate, an astronaut—all through the pen of student illustrator Jacob Cate.
Cate, who graduated with a studio art degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Saturday, May 3, spent the past three years drawing new life into the University’s always-feisty mascot. His bold, hand-drawn style added personality to campus campaigns, UTC homecoming themes and everything from Mocs T-shirts to mugs.
“I just liked getting to translate Scrappy into different themes,” Cate said. “It was fun to push the character a little but keep his personality intact.”
He honed his signature Scrappy style through real-world experience in UTC’s Division of Communications and Marketing, where he became a go-to illustrator and a trusted member of the creative team. Since his sophomore year, Cate worked up to 28 hours a week during summers and 16 during the academic year, designing for homecoming and other campus-wide campaigns.
“Jacob’s work is creative and thoughtful,” said art director and 2020 UTC alum Meghan Phillips. “Because he was a student here, Jacob was invested in perfecting every reimagining of Scrappy he was tasked to create. I think that’s why his designs are so popular among his peers, and it’s certainly why we were excited to have him really take ownership of these projects and let his own artistic expression shine through them.”
Cates is now stepping into a new role—right where he started—as a professional freelancer with the UTC team.
Before transferring to UTC, he studied environmental science at Chattanooga State Community College and graduated from Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences in 2020.
“I’ve always leaned more toward art, but environmental science seemed like a safer choice at first,” he said. “I finally realized it just wasn’t me.”
Jacob Cate
Art had always been there—comic strips sketched in the corners of his school agendas and characters for a video game he’s developing with his younger brother. But it took real experience to see it as a career.
“I used to think I wasn’t a perfectionist, but I kind of am, especially with art,” he said. “I’d redraw the same comic strip over and over trying to get it just right.”
Digital art gave him the space to refine that instinct. He developed a clean, geometric style that leaned into symmetry and precision before finding ways to loosen back up. One of his favorite UTC courses, Sequential Narrative, brought him back to traditional pen-and-paper drawing and reminded him of the joy of imperfection.
“I’m mostly digital now, but that class reminded me how much I still love drawing on paper,” he said. “That’s where it started and that’s where it still clicks.”
Cate said working with UTC’s marketing and communications office helped him bridge the gap between class projects and real-world expectations.
“Doing real projects every week taught me things I could never get just from a class,” he said. “I learned how to problem-solve, how to handle feedback and how to stay flexible when the project changed.”
Graphic designer and fellow UTC Department of Art alum Amy Barker, one of his office mentors, said working alongside Cate reminded her what real artistic growth looks like.
“In all his work, but especially when he’s working on something he really loves, he puts a great deal of attention and care into the final product,” said Barker, who received UTC degrees in 2017 (graphic design) and 2021 (Master of Business Administration). “Seeing a student like Jacob take on creative challenges and grow as an artist refreshes my perspective on my own growth.”
Cate wrapped his time at UTC with a full portfolio, a freelance contract and his name behind some of the most recognizable visuals on campus. Whether it’s a feisty mascot, comics a decade in the making or digital characters still evolving, he’s always thinking about what comes next.
“This is the stuff I’ve always loved doing,” he said. “So I just want to keep going—and keep getting better.”
Learn more
“I just liked getting to translate Scrappy into different themes,” Jacob Cate said. “It was fun to push the character a little but keep his personality intact.”
