There’s something to be said about how leather, texture and embroidery can have a strong effect on making a stylish piece of clothing as a whole. These can be things we wear on our backs everyday. For me, I never seem to know when inspiration may strike.
I’ve had this coat for over a year (seen below), and it surprisingly never occurred to me that it could have a direct influence on my work. There’s something about its natural green colors and this stylish patch with great typography that has had a growing effect on me. Maybe I’m biased, but I feel that seeing this patch has been inspirational to me and served as a reminder of why I do what I do as a profession. I’m always taking in content that I feel is important to the development of art and design in our society as a whole, even the things people might disregard as mundane or irrelevant. But if it truly were, this blog wouldn’t exist nor would other designers.
Having experience producing embroideries and appliques, I’ve developed a fascination for all the X’s and O’s that go into it. There’s production standards that have to be followed and the construction and engineering of a small patch never fails to amaze me. There’s numbers, strategy and measurements that have to be followed when producing these things, and I’m a total geek for seeing just how many people it can take to produce something that might seem trivial to non designers. It’s caused me to develop an appreciation for not just art, but actual design and computer engineering that goes into these products.
I’m a big believer that everything in our environment, as a mentor back at St. Ambrose once told me, is “a product of everybody’s dream” as she explained. In what was a very stressful time when I was seeing this mentor, those words have stuck with me as I’ve matured into adulthood (post teen party years don’t quite count).
One of the main forms of applique designs I find to be very stylish is leather applique designs. I’ve been working to engrain more of a story in the Whale Watch brand over this past summer, and I feel that this could help to make an interesting piece of clothing with a reminder of the quirky stories from this blog that come with it. The ultimate goal when we do get more pieces of clothing reproduced with this logo is to give people something not only meaningful as I’ve stated in past articles, but also something stylish and beautiful (see below for leather example).
Even though this piece of applique would only be around 2-3 inches long, it’s an important reminder of the importance of legibility. A mark that’s around an inch or less is a piece of art that has the ability to engrave an impression on people all over the world with time. At this point in time, I am now planning on getting these reproduced at smaller sizes as a piece of leather or embroidery. My intention is that whoever buys pieces of clothing with this logo will feel a sense of adventure and artistic integrity when they wear a shirt on their back or a hat over their head. My intention is that we as a society can gain a greater appreciation of what design can do for us as a whole.
Since this mark is designed to be very legible, I wanted to utilize it in the same way that I did with the Luxus identity (see both below). It doesn’t need to be huge to be effective, and its ability to put an exclamation mark on the product is so powerful that it should sell anyway.
If you’re interested in learning more about timeless design, you can click on the link below from my previous post about famous marks from the 60’s and 70’s. Truly great craftsmanship that look like they were made in 2022.
https://www.urbantreehouseqc.com/post/icon-for-change-a-call-to-action-for-communication-systems
Until next time!