Being handed a design brief from Quiksilver must feel a lot like being told school is closed unexpectedly for the day. Or finding twenty quid in your pocket you didn't know was there. Or getting one of those random solid blocks of Kitkat chocolate because the wafer machine choked and nobody noticed.
The Quiksilver corporate design guidelines stipulate that all T-shirt artwork must be a stylish mess that demonstrates as much disregard for traditional aesthetic value as possible, whilst suitably framed in a decent composition. Basically - do whatever you want, so long as it says "Quiksilver" somewhere.
If someone asked me to design something like that, I'm not sure I could stop. I'd design T-shirts for four years straight until I could only think in paint splashes and the concept of sitting down was lost on me.
For Day 201 of my THREEHUNDREDANDSIXTEEFIVE challenge I have on an example of such creative madness all the way from China. My wife picked this up for me on her travels a while ago and is now a member of my wardrobe collection. The T-shirt, not my wife.
The artwork spreads all over the garment in multiple layers of print. At the base is a desaturated teal coloured printed texture that's barely visible against the fabric. Sporadically printed over that is an ensemble of white Quiksilver logos, grungy flecks, smudges and sprays, culminating on the left shoulder. And just when you thought the designer had passed out, he bursts forth from hibernation in his airing cupboard with a red acrylic paint tube in his hand and begins to slash wildly at a couple of elements in the design.
Fortunately I quite like this design trend, even if it is a little dated now, and enjoy wearing the copious skate/surf brand tees I own.
