JOURNAL
Fresh content about t-shirts, design and illustration.
As April came to an end, the Typographia team hit Barcelona for three days of design inspiration at OFFF. When the design community comes together, you can expect many things: discussions about the latest projects everyone wishes they’d done, the sparking of potential new collaborations, and really great T-shirts. When you’re looking for stand-out graphic T-shirts, a group of designers is the best place to start — some were even wearing their own designs. From an exaggerated line illustration of Daft Punk by Pepmi Soto Nolla to a cartoon black cat in the signature style of Cristina Daura we bring you a tour of the best tees from OFFF Barcelona 2019.
Photo and Design of Jupio Ishiyama.
Based in Lima, Jupio Ishiyama is the Design Director of Studio A, the first brand consultancy in Peru. In his own right he is an illustrator known as Wandertaku and he’s all about making, well, shit. As a self-proclaimed “shitfluencer”, Jupio is the creator of the delightful poop-inspired character, Mancaca; just one of the many eccentric characters he designs. On this T-shirt, Mancaca falls in mid-air, from where he comes and where he’ll land we can only imagine.
Photo of Angela Rodriguez, Designer Unknown.
This T-shirt (designer unknown) speaks of a welcome wave in illustration of depictions of cool girls with agency. Not over-looked nor over-sexualised. In a pair of good boots, a turtle neck, wearing black-rimmed spectacles and with a sharp haircut, the woman in this illustration reaches for the stars with extra-long arms.
Photo of Sam Pauwels, Design of Cool Shit.
Cool Shit has been called ‘the internet in real life’. They take memes and turn them into inflatable art at events and music festivals. In 2013 they created a giant inflatable sculpture of Lionel Richie’s head inspired by the scene in his ‘Hello’ music video where a blind girl sculpts his face. People could crawl inside through his cranial nerve tunnel to listen to his inner thoughts. The Cool Shit shop is now closed but they once made apparel featuring squiggly black and white drawings of ‘the universe of poop’ which makes this T-shirt a collector’s item.
Photo of Ivo Reis, Design of AKA Corleone.
Visual artist Pedro Campiche is better known as AkaCorleone who started out as a graffiti writer in his hometown of Lisbon. He’s known for his bold combinations of eye-popping colours seen on huge outdoor murals or on gallery walls in his solo shows. This T-shirt is a narrative comic about the design process with his signature dose of humor.
Photo and Design of Cedric Layrac.
Motion designer Cedric Layrac is repping himself by wearing one of his own designs. His geometric man with arrows for arms is inspired by the characters of art heroes: Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Photo of Gaston Gabrielli, Design of Cristina Daura.
This T-shirt is a collaboration between Laser and Spanish illustrator Cristina Daura. It was her first illustrated T-shirt and is inspired by the Barcelona neighbourhood of El Raval: the street food, the shop fronts and El Gato de Botero, the enormous bronze cat sculpture by artist Fernando Botero. Each street scene is featured in a circle device which Cristina uses in much of her colourful work inspired by the strong lines and sequences of graphic novels.
Photo of Tom Gilbert and Design of Blue Store.
Blues Store is an independent creative outlet in Bristol who sells clothing, publications and curiosities. Milly is the daughter of the owners who designed this graphic for the shop in 2017 when she was just 8 years old. Brought to life from her imagination, a red-lipped mouth full of gnashers gets arms, eyes and pink legs that were made for dancing. At her request, 50% of the sale of these tees went to an organisation helping refugees and the rest went into her piggy bank.
Photo of Joan Adrover and Design of Pepmi Soto Nolla.
Pepmi Soto Nolla is a graphic designer from Barcelona. He flexes his illustration skills through his instagram account Narigudos where he creates humorous caricatures of well known people from pop culture like Darth Vader or Amy Winehouse. His characters have tiny bodies and giant heads with humongous noses but each retains the essence that makes them unique. On this T-shirt, Daft Punk gets the Pepmi treatment; their helmets elongated to fit their inflated features.
Photo of Mathieu Durand and Design of Aiste Stancikaite.
Aiste Stancikaite is a Lithuanian artist and illustrator based in Berlin. She creates photo realistic images with colourful pencils, usually in shades of pink or red. The red pencil drawing is of the beautiful House in Tarumi by Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates.
Photo of Nastea Colesnicov and Design of Ana Costov.
Ana Costov is a painter, illustrator and photographer from Moldova. She often paints from her photographs, but that can’t be the case for this misshapen lemon with human legs in blue jeans riding a skateboard.
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