"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
"Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition."
Freeman Thomas
WPCC
WORLD PEACE CONSPIRACY CO.
200+ National flowers are unified as a symbol of world unity and peace. I was asked to create this floral print to commemorate the September 21st observance of World Peace Day.
To continue this project I am currently creating food art by transforming national dishes into the each country's respective flowers.
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Croatia
Iris
Egypt
Blue Lotus
Kuwait
Arfaj
Belgium
Red Poppy
Jordan
Black Iris
Libya
Pomegranate
Blossom
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This floral print honors every single nation with a flower hand-picked and illustrated by me. I spent months researching official national flowers as well as selecting flowers based on cultural significance for those that did not have one designated. Below are just a few examples of the over 250 flowers used in total.
THE STYLe
This design was intended to be are re-invention of the "Aloha" shirt, a piece rooted in cross-cultural pollination.
The original "Aloha" shirt, or better known today as the "Hawaiian" shirt, was designed by a Japanese immigrant living in Hawaii. He sought to blend the floral fabrics found in traditional Japanese fashion with western cut short-sleeve shirts.
Soldiers returning to the mainland from Hawaii sported the flashy floral prints and sparked a fashion sensation. Elvis picked up the trend and made it an icon of the 1940s, symbolic of freedom, travel and all things cool.
Bringing back this classic piece required innovation in structure and fit as well as the print. These subtle features are what sets The Academy apart from other brands.
CONSTRUCTION
Each of our floral shirts are lined with red thread along the interior. This further represents the fundamental human connection between all people around the world.
The camouflage version of the World Peace Hawaiian shirt takes the concept one step further. By taking a print that's typically representative of war and conflict and comprising it of flowers from every country in the world we acknowledge the irony of the many wars fought with the message peace.
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RESPONSE
The response to this piece was amazing. From New York to Los Angeles we traveled meeting people visiting the U.S. from all over the world. We had every customer sign a special shirt of ours in support of the project.
The emotional response we got was what this design is all about, creating a product that made people feel a global connection.
WPCC SKATEBOARD
We expanded the pattern beyond the shirt into other fun products like this travel-size skateboard.
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The feel of the WPCC skateboards is inspired by vintage surfboards, using similar graphic representation and styling. We wanted to capture that classic spirit of fun, exploration and freedom.
The shape of the board is intended for carving, this is not a beginners board. Seasoned skateboarders will appreciate the size and flexibility of its shape.
The Academy's customers are primarily people that live active lifestyles. Their age and economic/social status vary, but they share a commonality in that they value high-quality products that encourage fun and active living as well as a sense of community. This is why the floral print is so appealing in this application.
7-Ply Maplewood
Flexible
Shaped for Carving
WPCC postcards
These stylized post cards each tell a story of a different country, with interesting facts about the culture and why these flowers came to be national flowers.
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Each illustration was a labor of love, drawn from photo references I used colors to express the vibe and a feeling of each country. This has been a pet project of mine for the past few years and it's taken a wealth of studying and research to find the anecdotes that make up the history of flowers and cultural icons in each country.