I have had the idea of starting a clothing brand and the back of my mind for some while now and would constantly contemplate different ideas of how to get it started so this self motivated brief has allowed me to pursue this idea to start applying my art onto products.
The word 'weirdo' was my final chosen word to have as the name of the brand. I wanted a simple word that would have meaning that directly links to the concept and aesthetic I am trying to communicate. Usually people associate the word weird to something odd or different and it has negative connotations but I am trying to reverse that and for the term to be more playful with an intent to tell people that it okay to be different and an individual. To embrace the weirdness.
Typography and lettering has never been a strength of mine so I decided to work with another artist on this project to help with the aesthetics of the lettering and shapes. My friend sam, a graffiti artist was who I chose to help me design my weirdo logo. I wanted the lettering that had a hand made aesthetic that would also allow me to add my own illustrations around the word so Sams work was a very good example of how to approach this. The way he uses negative space to cut out different shapes is what really caught my attention.
I then instructed Sam to create the word weirdo in his style and I also gave him my own ideas to include such as mushrooms, space ship, alien head, peace signs and more. I think including these mini and simple illustrations will make a much more effective logo and I have chosen things that will enhance the weirdness of the brand.
So after having these designs from sam I have been given a platform on how I can approach the lettering. Keeping it simple and shape based is the aesthetic I think will make the most effective.
I have started to develop my own logo for weirdo that is based on the designs I have been given, it has really helped me to figure out the style of this logo. Just exploring new ways in which I can create this word is both fun and difficult as I am more comfortable with creating more high detailed artwork.
Random doodles inspired by the weirdo concept. Working with shapes, pattern and colour is a good way to experiment new aesthetics, Here i have just played around to try and figure out some new ideas through new process.
Positives
This is the final logo design for the weirdo clothing brand ready for screenprinting. this is easily the most refined version of the type that I have created and by following Sams formula I have been able to keep the hand made graffiti style aesthetic as well as including my own illustrated features like the alien head, mushrooms, space ship and eye. This helps the design to represent a more weird aesthetic that will hopefully work well once printed onto tshirts and hoodies.
I have wanted to include some small prints onto the sleeves of the hoods that are a part of the original logo design. An alien head and a mushroom should work well as sleeve prints. Keeping it simple will be most effective.
After I had my final design for the positive, My next step was to print. Getting my logo onto clothing is the most important part of this so I decided that screenprinting this design would be the best way for me to explore new process.
Before this I have only screenprinted onto fabric/clothing once before so this has helped me to understand and gain more confidence in the different methods.
Using the colour blend, a screenprinting technique I have previously explored I have allowed new ways in which I can make each piece of clothing unique and to see what colours work more effectively with others. This also promotes the idea of psychedelic.
Printing onto the sleeves was a tricky part of this process but it has made the hoodies more unique which is an essential part of starting a new brand. This is the first time I have attempted and has been pretty successful, it has also helped me understand how I can print onto clothes and has enabled new ideas in ways I can develop this.
I wanted to print onto a wide range of vibrant coloured hoodies that would really stand out and that would work well with the idea of weird. I want vibrant colours to be embraced through my products.
To help promote the weirdo label I have designed a skateboard. Painting skateboards is my favourite way to make artwork and with the use of the paint pens, my favourite media, I have created a more vibrant and trippy version of the design. It is helping me to understand how using minimal shapes and colour can be used to create an effective composition.
Collaboration hoodies
Collaborating with Wilf has been a great part of this project. It has allowed two different art styles to be featured onto one project which helps each piece of clothing become unique. It is also showing me more on how screenprinting can be used as a very effective tool to create high quality and sellable products.
This deffinatley what I want to be taking forward into the professional word. Collaborating with different artists can also make work more exposed to new people which can help my own brand become more popular and sellable.
Distributing products
People wearing my hoodies on hyde park.
It is very exciting to see my products being worn by different people and representing the weirdo brand. This project is being put on hold for now as I will be exploring different ways in which I can develop my artwork but I will be coming back to this brand when I graduate as it has had a lot of positive response and could be a potential business to get started.
Exposure through Instagram is a great way for me to make my work more known.
Shaman clothing
After printing the weirdo clothing I wanted to further explore the process of screenprinting but I wanted to use more high detailed images that is more my design.
printing the weirdos was a much more simple shape and I wanted to see if my own drawings could be transfered onto products by hand.
Since last years project of product making I have wanted to apply my shaman drawings onto clothing and I am very pleased with the outcome of these prints. Even though the weirdo is a potential brand I am much more happy with this as I feel it is more authentic to my own style.
This design also allowed me to test multiple layered printing onto clothes which proves to be challenging but has allowed me to create much more bright and psychedelic aesthetics which works well with the shamans.
Reflective review
Overall I think that this self directed brief of beginning to start my own brand has been pretty successful. I have learned a lot of new ways in which I can start to think about where my work sits in the professional world. I really enjoyed getting back into screenprinting for this module. Screen printing is one of my favourite ways of working and it is exciting to see how my design can start to be put onto a range of clothing products. This is the first time I have printed onto clothing and fabric which proved to be slightly different to paper printing so it has been very useful and informative to begin to understand this process in more depth as it is a big part of where I want to take my practice. I also really enjoyed working with another artist to design my logo combining typography with illustration to make a modern looking logo. I haven't worked with lettering before and would usually be put off at the idea of it but after this brief I am much more willing to explore this. Another art of this module that really made it enjoyable for me is seeing many different people wearing my brand name and representing the 'weirdo'. This has given me a lot of confidence in my work and is pushing and motivating me to carry on with this project into my personal practice. This is also the only project I have undertaken that has involved quite a bit of sketchbook work and initial development that has led to a finalised logo design. This has been a very important stage so it is making me realise that with some of my ideas, it isnt necessary to sketch and rough but with other it is a necessity. I now feel I have a better understanding of printing and the methods that take place when starting to create my own brand name. Collaborating hoodie designs with Wilf has also been an interesting part of this module because I never thought that two different artists with completely different styles could work together especially on a single piece of clothing but I have now a different outlook on this which has given me more ideas about collaboration projects in the future.
What I didnt like about this project is printing clothes in the university print room. It is a very crowded area with a lot of students dong different things and this is ver distracting and it also caused me to get bits of ink onto a few T- shirts and hoodies making the whole process very unprofessional, I simply did not have enough room to achieve what I wanted but as I was just testing ad experimenting with print it wasnt to much of an issue but I now know that when I graduate I will be looking into ways in which I can get my own screen printing facilities to set up my own print studio where I have all the space to myself or a select few artists when working on collaboration projects. I could have made this project easier for myself and more effective if I knew this before but it is certainly good that I now know how to approach this in my personal practice. Im not sure if I will be making any more 'weirdo' clothing but I will be screen printing clothing after I graduate so this has been one of the best and most useful briefs I have chosen to pursue because now I am starting to build up my skills both as a painter and a printer to get a more diverse range of art styles that can potentially be applied to products making my work more communicative and professional.
Overall I think that this self directed brief of beginning to start my own brand has been pretty successful. I have learned a lot of new ways in which I can start to think about where my work sits in the professional world. I really enjoyed getting back into screenprinting for this module. Screen printing is one of my favourite ways of working and it is exciting to see how my design can start to be put onto a range of clothing products. This is the first time I have printed onto clothing and fabric which proved to be slightly different to paper printing so it has been very useful and informative to begin to understand this process in more depth as it is a big part of where I want to take my practice. I also really enjoyed working with another artist to design my logo combining typography with illustration to make a modern looking logo. I haven't worked with lettering before and would usually be put off at the idea of it but after this brief I am much more willing to explore this. Another art of this module that really made it enjoyable for me is seeing many different people wearing my brand name and representing the 'weirdo'. This has given me a lot of confidence in my work and is pushing and motivating me to carry on with this project into my personal practice. This is also the only project I have undertaken that has involved quite a bit of sketchbook work and initial development that has led to a finalised logo design. This has been a very important stage so it is making me realise that with some of my ideas, it isnt necessary to sketch and rough but with other it is a necessity. I now feel I have a better understanding of printing and the methods that take place when starting to create my own brand name. Collaborating hoodie designs with Wilf has also been an interesting part of this module because I never thought that two different artists with completely different styles could work together especially on a single piece of clothing but I have now a different outlook on this which has given me more ideas about collaboration projects in the future.
What I didnt like about this project is printing clothes in the university print room. It is a very crowded area with a lot of students dong different things and this is ver distracting and it also caused me to get bits of ink onto a few T- shirts and hoodies making the whole process very unprofessional, I simply did not have enough room to achieve what I wanted but as I was just testing ad experimenting with print it wasnt to much of an issue but I now know that when I graduate I will be looking into ways in which I can get my own screen printing facilities to set up my own print studio where I have all the space to myself or a select few artists when working on collaboration projects. I could have made this project easier for myself and more effective if I knew this before but it is certainly good that I now know how to approach this in my personal practice. Im not sure if I will be making any more 'weirdo' clothing but I will be screen printing clothing after I graduate so this has been one of the best and most useful briefs I have chosen to pursue because now I am starting to build up my skills both as a painter and a printer to get a more diverse range of art styles that can potentially be applied to products making my work more communicative and professional.
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