Make it
YOURSELF
This is kind of the whole idea behind MOPE. I was getting really frustrated at the selection of shirts I could find at my local thrift, and then I just sat and stewed on that for a bit.
I then just thought, why don’t I just make the shirts I want?
So I sat down and thought, what is it that I really like about the thrifted shirts I see people wearing? Well, for one, they make next to no sense, they seem like they have no clear root or origin. That’s a vibe I really wanted to make sure to evoke.
The second thing that came to mind was just how simple the designs were. 1 thing printed on a t-shirt. That’s all I needed. So I got to work looking for inspiration, art styles I liked, and brands that I looked up to. I tried to think, “How would THEY do this?” and tried to make sure I was doing it my way while staying inspired by and keeping respect for the people who came before myself.
What
inspired ME
As a designer, I often enjoy looking back to the past. Looking at older designs and trends, a lot of that comes through in MOPE designs.
What that means is, yeah, a lot of these designs are lifted from someplace, old comic book ads, old logos of defunct clubs/restaurants and especially old matchbooks that I find at flea markets, but what I do is I rework the designs in my own vision and make sure that i’m not just tracing or lifting directly.
Another great source of inspiration for me is just my friends, when I’m spending time with someone I’m close with I find myself inspired to create a design based on their personality, something they’ve said, or even just a recommendation they’ve given me.
ALL MOPE PRINTS
