Design & Creation
The little blue fungi
This collection (High Speed) was inspired by a little blue fungi found on the edge of the Kahurangi National Park a few years ago, and it became the inspiration behind this artwork. We havn't seen it much since then, but remember the very bright blue, glowing in the wild.
High Speed - Purple Paradise
This is the High Speed - Purple Paradise, inspired by Aotearoa.
Starting with the NZ $50 note, we thought the blue fungi - Werewere-Kōkako was pretty cool. We had spotted this one in the Kahurangi National Park and loved the Māori story behind the name in relation to the Kōkako bird.
The Hounds Tounge/Kowaowao grabbed our attention on local walks up the Grampians in Nelson. Also just down the road, the Basket Fungus/Tutae Kehua popped up one very wet day.
The Poroporo seems to be on most of the mountain bike trails, and is quite interesting when you look close.
The Kākābeak (kōwhai ngutukākā in Māori) is a stunning native shrub that is now endangered in the wild.
The Purple Pouch Fungus, is a hidden gem that we found at the Nelson Lakes National Park, it emerges and becomes bright purple as it is exposed to light.
Starting with the NZ $50 note, we thought the blue fungi - Werewere-Kōkako was pretty cool. We had spotted this one in the Kahurangi National Park and loved the Māori story behind the name in relation to the Kōkako bird.
The Hounds Tounge/Kowaowao grabbed our attention on local walks up the Grampians in Nelson. Also just down the road, the Basket Fungus/Tutae Kehua popped up one very wet day.
The Poroporo seems to be on most of the mountain bike trails, and is quite interesting when you look close.
The Kākābeak (kōwhai ngutukākā in Māori) is a stunning native shrub that is now endangered in the wild.
The Purple Pouch Fungus, is a hidden gem that we found at the Nelson Lakes National Park, it emerges and becomes bright purple as it is exposed to light.
So now you know part of the story behind this wild collection of fauna! We also added in some other cool native fauna that we come across while exploring our NZ paradise. The graphics are hand drawn and complemented with a palette of bold bright colours.
High Speed Men’s
We've been inspired by riding and hiking around Aotearoa, and have decided to bring the native to you. This one was inspired by the NZ $50 note. We threw in the funky blue fungi and added some other cool native things we come across on the trails.
The ZESTY .B design in the making
The ZESTY .B design in the making. Here are a few notes about the design. We start with choosing flowers that have a variety of different shapes and sizes. We then draw the flowers by hand, they were then scanned and converted into graphics, while retaining all the hand drawn aspects. A lot of flowers did not make the cut and were left out.
Careful colour consideration is done, using a combination of Pantone colour charts, swatches and imagined colour palettes. The colour is always one of the hardest aspects to make work especially when working with such a wide range. Even the slightest change in tone of one colour can affect the whole graphic. You will note that the aqua greens were too bright and had to be de-saturated.
Placement of each hand-drawn flower is also very important. To start with we worked with the overall layout and from there in shuffled things around so that the placement was aesthetically pleasing. We wanted the majority of one side covered with the graphic, as if it were bursting out the side. Even small things like the angle of the leaves add to the energetic display.
We wanted this design to carry on around the torso. Yet we felt that one side needed to have a bit of space otherwise the design would be too overwhelming. We also did not want to cover the entire back with graphics, this would also be too much, so we designed the panelling with two bottom pieces. These are strategically placed for a number of reasons.
The back ground of the shirt is made up of hand drawn horizontal lines condensed and stretched out.
Careful colour consideration is done, using a combination of Pantone colour charts, swatches and imagined colour palettes. The colour is always one of the hardest aspects to make work especially when working with such a wide range. Even the slightest change in tone of one colour can affect the whole graphic. You will note that the aqua greens were too bright and had to be de-saturated.
Placement of each hand-drawn flower is also very important. To start with we worked with the overall layout and from there in shuffled things around so that the placement was aesthetically pleasing. We wanted the majority of one side covered with the graphic, as if it were bursting out the side. Even small things like the angle of the leaves add to the energetic display.
We wanted this design to carry on around the torso. Yet we felt that one side needed to have a bit of space otherwise the design would be too overwhelming. We also did not want to cover the entire back with graphics, this would also be too much, so we designed the panelling with two bottom pieces. These are strategically placed for a number of reasons.
The back ground of the shirt is made up of hand drawn horizontal lines condensed and stretched out.