ART DIRECTION + ILLUSTRATION
True Religion Pride Jacket
The Brief: True Religion Jeans hired me to illustrate a jacket to be produced and sold during Pride Month. The design should reflect my ideas of Pride and will be printed on reclaimed denim in limited quantity.
THE CHALLENGES
With such a huge opportunity, I explored different messages during the concept stage.
SOLUTION
I turned my insight towards my personal feelings about being queer. I knew I wanted something colorful and something visually appealing since the back of a jacket is such a walking billboard. It had to be meaningful, but it had to look cool above all else.
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Some my early concept art includes messages of self-expression and self-love, two things I think are essential to happiness.
From there, I narrowed my ideas down to two strong ones: One about self-expression through motion/freedom and the other about just being utterly fabulous. I went with the first idea because I was drawn to the challenge of creating beautiful shapes with bodies and flowers.
I love to include flowers in my work as an homage to my home of Hawaii. The men are composed in the shape of a lei, which is the symbol of hospitality and aloha in Hawaii.
The finished artwork is a celebration of queer men of all shapes and sizes!