The Soul Science Lab (SSL) merch project came from an idea they had concocted but had never been able to realize. They wanted a merchandise line that got their audience involved in the art production. They would go through a run at a time with each artist, giving new creatives a chance. I kicked the project off with a few illustrations as the future of the project was being discussed. Each concept was explored through sketches and iterations, discussed with SSL themselves, and printed on multiple new products with an exciting merch launch.
Final Art
The final designs are the following images. They generated a lot of excitement and proved successful in SSL’s merch shop. Designs were printed on shirts, hoodies, jackets, sweaters, and even art prints.
Process Journal
Research
The research going into this merch project had to include influences from the brand as well as the surrounding culture that Soul Science Lab (SSL) calls home. I had to create something brand new that felt home to SSL, like it's always been a part of them, and more importantly, like it always could be. I wanted to help future designers and art collaborators how to visually speak "SSL" so that they can really say something with that name.
Past Illustration
Chen Lo, and Asante Amin have a backlog of album art, but only these illustrative covers to refer to. I knew right away, I'd have to work with much more than this little frame of reference.
Keywords
SSL has a history of powerful words spoken on records, stages, and in their online presence. We found themes like afro-futurism, griot, storytelling, creativity, and of course Hip-Hop and visualized these signifiers.
Branded Color Palette
SSL wanted to keep the art close to the brand on this first round of artist collaborations. Explorations in color beyond these 4 values were met with some discomfort so we decided to go all in and dedicate ourselves to this palette. The colors sort of speak on their own and guided the concepts as closely as any other influence.
Afro Gold
Innovative Red
Futuristic Green
Dynamic Green
Reference Imagery
SSL not having much illustration to reference wasn’t a problem because they’re a part of something bigger. SSL is a proud proponent of black excellence and the coming together of the diverse cultures that surround us. Research involved us looking through classic Hip-Hop art, Ghanaian textiles/kente cloths, New York art, and even things like Mexican alebrijes.
Sketching Process
The 5 Elements
Chen and Asante are big on old school Hip-Hop so I designed some work around one of its core concepts. The 5 elements of Hip-Hop are rarely brought up anymore: MC’ing, DJ’ing, B-Boying, graffiti writing, and wisdom are depicted in jagged, modular shapes. This opened us up to new opportunities in merch design, I made something that could be shaped in a variety of ways and thus be applied on a variety of spaces.
The X-Ray
At first, I wasn’t sure if the X-ray concept would be an x-ray, it started with a silhouette. I didn’t know if the meaning behind this piece would come from the figure in a world full of noise or a figure with a world inside of him. I explored both with vibrant patterns, colors, and imagery surrounding him and filling his shape.
The Griot
A griot is a West African storyteller/poet/ musician/artist figureThe Griot stays closes to the identity of the brand, almost like a mascot (at least that was the idea while I was drawing). the warped, dramatic perspective here was a must, it says look at what we can become, feel the vibe, jump on board. The form of this illustration remained true to a central essence but as it developed, backgrounds were Exploring SSL through this concept opened me up to new concepts, a flow of them, and built a bridge between myself and Brooklynn.
University Sweaters
This sweater’s prompt actually came to me last minute. SSL wanted to throw some extra entries into their inventory to bolster a holiday season merch announcement. A large part of their brand is putting out educational music workshops under a branch named Soul Science University. It only made sense to design merch makes people feel like they’re really on campus. We explored a few layouts and color schemes as seen here.
