Hello, my name is Dairrick Anthony Jordan. In 2010, inspired by apparel/lifestyle brands; such as: Tokidoki, Johnny Cupcakes, I Love The Hype, Benny Gold, Dissizit, Bandit1sm and many others; I made the decision to put my creative and artistic efforts into developing a brand that better reflected my own thoughts of the world I've lived in for 33 years. Centered around the theme of "educated vandalism", I put together a few designs and set out to build my dream.
Initially, the Johnny Cupcakes story blew me away and I thought basing my designs on what I had seen would giive me some sort of satisfaction -- it didn't. I found that copying other people's ideas didn't do anything for me. By 2011, I had finally found a semblance of my own voice artistically and creatively, here are some examples of earlier productions....
Fast forward 2 years and you'll get a sense of how much the idea has actually grown into a brand. Now, I am looking forward to learning how to deliver the Evol Gnus message in clear, eye-catching and memorable graphics.
Educate you inner vandal: evolgeniusclothing.com
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1. What's my Brand? - Evol Gnus Clothing
Evol Gnus Clothing is an information, activism based apparel/lifestyle brand focusing on the dissemination of socially relevant topics through clean, eye-catching graphics. Incorporating a variety of historic symbolism reinterpreted with a graffitti/illustrated twist Evol Gnus Clothing promotes free thinking and the preservation of the independent attitude.
Here's a quick (re)introduction & a few pieces produced this year:
Evol Gnus™ is an acronym which stands for: "Educating Vandals On Life Guarantees New Unique Success". A nod to the ABNORMAL; the DEVIANT; the STRONG MINDED, who seek POWER to change. Whether it be their own life; the lives of those they care about or the lives of others around the world. Evol Gnus is for the "LEADERS of the MI$LED" & #UNDERGROUNDOVERACHIEVERS everywhere! Ya'll Gon' Learn Today!
2. Rough Sketches
Applying the Lesson from week 1 (Research your Brand), I was instantly forced to distill the essence of my chosen brand -- Evol Gnus Clothing. Revisiting my sketchbook, I've begun creating sketches based on quotes/phrases I've been jotting down while reading.
Sketch #1
Combining the classic Jay-Z lyric: "Lock my body, can't trap my mind" ("Can I Live") and the unforgettable Prodigy lyric: "Illuminati want my mind, soul..." ( "Illuminati") is the idea behind this design's sketch. I'm also introducing a new mascot for the brand; his name is Wink :b
Sketch #2
"Hype is the shepard of the sheeple". A random quote I jotted down after reading a info blog. My thinking is the illustration would fit well with the overall sentiment of the brand...
3. Inital Design & Illustration (Vectorizing)
I've gotten the initial design and scan done. Here, I'm working through the color pallette and determining what I can do utilizing halftones and the limited color pallette for the "Can't Trap My Mind" design.
3a) A revision to the initial design (after reading the excellent feedback), I've added the bold black outline to the entire image. It does, indeed, look way better (in my opinion). I really appreciate the views and comments given!
Father, Creative Alchemist, Solopreneur