News

My Third Win at the Site Where it All Began.

Threadless has a special place in my heart. This is because a. I got my love of T-shirt design from there and b. I met my wife through that site! After an eight year hiatus I got my 3rd print, have to say it felt pretty great. I first got printed back in 2008 with my first ever submission to the site “I’m with…”. My second win, ‘Thou Shall Not Steal’ was a little later that year. So after many submissions and a lot of high scores I finally got a 3rd win with a design submitted to the Sublimation contest!

The new winning design is called ‘Many Layered Doodle‘ and it features a mass of layers filled with themed doodles; houses, dinosaurs, the ocean and monsters. This is the style I am most well known for and as an all over sublimated print it works very well. Threadless has changed a lot over the eight years, with a core of their catalog going to print on demand. The one disappointment in winning this time was that Threadless no longer do exclusive staff photography for the winners, so the images were all mocked up in Photoshop, which isn’t nearly as much fun. I did however get samples and the tees, cushion and tote bag were all printed very nicely.

The design is available in tees, tanks, pillows, tote bags, wall art and phone cases!  Threadless and I go way back and the brand has been a big part of my success. They will always bring good memories for me and I’m super happy to be back there.

Unique boutique City Kid Style wotto tees

Occasionally I am blessed with the opportunity to work with a brand who gives me a good amount of creative freedom. City Kid Style is one such brand. This unique boutique store offers printed “basics” and unique one of a kind hand made kids clothing. The brain child of a Washington mom with a local, sustainable and American made message, this brand has a great products.

I was commissioned to create a tee centered around a well know Oscar Wilde quote. The brief was loose and afforded me the luxury of letting the design unfold organically. I tried to represent the young kids who would wear this tee with characters, words and positive energy that reflected the spirit of the brand. A mass of characters and doodles developed into a unique slightly heart shaped composition. Happiness, Education, Home and Friendship were all represented in a fun and unique way.

My work allows me to work with giant brands and smaller boutique companies like City Kid Style. One thing is for sure it always feels good to support a small business lead by people with passion and a dream. We should all support our local, creative and sustainable businesses, it’s in all of our interests. Take the time to support this brand and pick up one of  their tees here.

It has been said that opposites attract. Well let’s hope so because BrewLink Brewing Co. have just released two stouts in one amazing 4pack. BrewLink Stout Cans consist of a dark oatmeal stout and a lighter white stout. Two cans of each unique stout flavors make up the mixed four pack. A genius idea with Ebony & Ivory literally living side by side.

I have worked with BrewLink on their branding and this is the second 4 pack of beer I have worked on for them, the first being a delicious Pale Ale.  The brand is still in it’s early years but so far has been well received. For this beer the owners had a very strong upfront idea. Black and white opposing cans. They had also commented on my doodle art and how much they liked it, so I combined the two ideas.  The result was a four pack of striking cans with lots of hidden details and weirdness. Enough to get the attention of a consumer in a sea of over populated craft beer cans. Job done. I cannot wait to taste this stuff…if the last one was anything to go by these will be delicious.

If you are in the Plainfield, IN area you should try and get some of this stuff and pour it into your mouth hole. The Brewery now also has a Tap House location for exclusive tastings and all things BrewLife.

Legion Headwear Release wotto Beanie Design

Legion Headwear and Apparel  are a new company specializing in some very cool headwear. To launch their brand they held an art contest to select one beanie and one cap to add to their existing line of headwear. I entered the fray and came out on top in the beanie category. My design ‘Chalk Doodles’ was selected as the winner and went into immediate production. A few months later the company released the final product.

The good people at Legion sent me some samples of the winning design and made it available online. The quality is really nice and my son immediately wanted to wear it for the rest of the day. A nice fresh mint color with a doodled pattern, this hat is ideal for the slopes. I’m really happy with the final product and can’t recommend it enough. It’s selling fast so if you want one go grab one.

The New Internationalist is a multi-award winning, independent, non-profit media co-operative. For over 40 years, they have specialized in investigative reporting and publishing on human rights, politics, social and environmental justice.  Each year they release a diary/planner and for the 2016 edition I was asked to contribute three pieces of my art.

The 2016 Planner features Resilience, The Infinite Struggle and The Eternal Struggle; all three pieces center around the constant struggle the planet experiences with human pollution. I was flattered to be featured alongside some cool artists. It was also nice to be featured in a publication that is attempting to change attitudes globally. If you are interested the planner can be picked up here.

Brewlink Brewing in Plainfield, Indiana, USA is an awesome brewery born out of the heads of too very good people. These people hired me to design their branding a while back, since then they have got the brewery well oiled and the beer is pouring. Their first beer was a “hoppy Pale Ale” and I got the job of designing a can for it. The design was aligned with the previous branding but also captured a lot of my style.

The main area of the can boasts the beers name, which is obviously important. This is surrounded by an octopus, doodles and the original BrewLink characters. The beer was launched last month and has been very well received locally. The owners sent me a batch and it was delicious, not just because I designed the can. These guys are going from strength to strength with the first batch completely sold out. As I type this they are busy cranking out more batches and more delicious brews!

You can see more about this project here, including keg collars and a tap handle! I’m off to design more cans…….