WORDS Lindi Brownell Meiring
MRP has collaborated with eight South African artists on a brand-new T-shirt range.
Featuring original illustrations by artists Keith Vlahakis, Karabo Poppy, Michael Dos Ramos, Skye Steen, Slaying Goliath, Thabiso Monare, That Damn Vandal and Jack Fox, the range follows on from last year’s tee collab with six local artists.
Wondering what inspired each of the designs you see on the new collection of tees? Here’s what the artists had to say:
Cape Town-based freelance illustrator, letterer, pop artist and street artist Keith Vlahakis: “This is a tee that combines my love for the spray can and my love for fine typography. It has the spray can cap and an abstract piece of typography inspired by my signature lettering style.”
Award-winning Johannesburg-based illustrator, street artist and graphic designer Karabo Poppy: “I love the aesthetic of Hawaiian and Cuban shirts… I wanted to create a South Africa version of this… The illustration has the same feeling of summer and vibrant colours but echoes nature and summer in South Africa with the leopard and the words ‘Chiskop’.”
Durban-based senior graphic designer and illustrator Michael Dos Ramos: “It went through a couple of stages before the final artwork but you can see the dark romantic feel coming through, which is also influenced by tattoo works and vintage horror movies.”
Durban-based graphic designer and illustrator Skye Steen: “This concept for the men’s tee I designed is based on the Latin phrase ‘Ductus Exemplo’, meaning ‘lead by example’… I wanted to take a decorative route, yet still keep an overall playful and masculine feel, making use of sharp angles, bold lines and rough textures.”
Johannesburg-based graphic designer and illustrator Slaying Goliath: “I’m trying to debunk the notion that selfies are an act of narcissism and self-righteousness. So, I’ve presented the selfie as an act of self-love and self-belief, rather than vanity. The design style is referenced from my ‘Davetionary’ project where I fuse pictures with words.”
Pretoria-based self-taught illustrator, designer and photographer Thabiso Monare: My design was done digitally using a unique style and technique to give it a different flavour and feel from normal tees; it’s inspired by a lot of Afro-centric movement.”
Durban-based illustrator, graphic artist and graffiti artist That Damn Vandal: The tee I designed was my typical vector street-inspired portrait. I used a pastel palette to emphasise my paradise feel. It portrays a clustered forgotten city with graffiti covered walls and a trendy tattooed guy.”
South African, Los-Angeles-based multimedia artist Jack Fox (aka Keya Tama): “The design was inspired by an article written by Evelin Chao… she speaks about why it’s important to find identity and not to conform to identities others project onto you.”
The range is currently available in store and online. Tees retail at R99.99 each. For more information, visit mrp.com.
