Ok Zebra

It’s been almost a year since Dirty Art Club compiled their debut album, Heavy Starch. They’ve been busy and with hard work comes the payoff. Phonosaurus recognized their psychedelic beats and invited the duo to be part of the team!

Phonosaurus Records are based in Montreal with roots spreading as far as Switzerland and France! Make sure to check their site out as they frequently update with artists’ updates and videos such as this first DAC live show. Enjoy the catchy beats synced with beautifully twisted visuals.

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• Categories: Art, Beats, Music

The 3rd and final design for the Ok Zebra 8-bit series is now out! These were a blast to relive and design. Be sure to head over to the Extras section and download each wallpaper to match your on-the-go mood.

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• Categories: Art, Tech

The Playoffs are here and we’re more than excited to welcome them back with open arms. There’s a hard long road ahead filled with cold pitchers, sauced hot wings and high fives all around. This truly is the one of the hardest times of the year . Enjoy the games and best of luck to your playoff team!

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• Categories: Art, Party

Young, wild and full of spirit, years of bottled creativity had unleashed itself with the thoughts of unifying like minds into a community. With heart in the east and soul on the west, the influences of both brought what you now see.

We thought we’d bring it back to the classics on this one and go back to the roots. Music! I’ve compiled this 3 Year Strong Mix hosted on 8tracks to show you our appreciation for all the support and our excitement for what’s to come. It’s a celebration!

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• Categories: Music, Party

This is the Fair of all Fairs! The Maker Faire is coming to Vancouver this summer and will be showcasing all different kinds of works and ideas from creative, inventors, techies, educators, really anyone who has a creative ideas will be there openly sharing. This is going to be a fun filled weekend with a chance to be part of the “Greatest Show & Tell”. If you have an idea you’d like to share or just want to come visit the show, check out Vancouver Maker Faire for full ticket details!

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• Categories: Art, Festival

A Fair for the Prosperity Campaign was hosted this past Sunday to raise funds for microloan clients. The fair presented many new faces, introductions and friends all while contributing toward a bigger cause. Regardless of the bone-cold weather and gray skies, many came out to view and purchase works from various artists and  like-minded individuals were able to connect and relate with Ok Zebra.

This time around the featured photography comes from our new friend, Anders Kitson.

Always be prepared to present contact info, you never know who you may meet or be able to connect with!

 

I shared a tent with the super rad James of The Sky Captain. His tees are one of a kind with custom hand-drawn elements. Quality!

 

James and I going on about silk screening and/or new creative ideas.

Even with drab weather, friends and visitors made the experience a successful day! Thank you to everyone who came by whether to support the campaign, bring delicious mocha lattes or just say hey!

If you’re interested in finding out more info about the Whole Planet Foundation or Prosperity Campaign check their site for full details. Great people making wonderful things come together.

 

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• Categories: Art, Event, Fashion, West Coast

It’s been a few weeks, but we’ve finally arrived at our finished product! Without any further delay, part 2 of the Droppin Heavy Crewneck.

Step 1 – Once the goods have been delivered (patience is key), you can begin prepping the screens by burning your printed transparency onto the screens’ emulsion. Strong lightbulbs are used for getting the perfect negative.

 

Step 2 –  After washing out the screen to remove the burned emulsion, align your screen to the surface of your textile. In this case, 1″ –  2″ under the neck line is prime real estate for this design and most front prints.

 

Part 3 – Choose your colour scheme and paint base (water-based vs oil-based) ahead of time. The options are overwhelming, so its important to ensure you get exactly the look and feel desired, with no surprises. When ready, lower the screen and flood the squeegee 4-8 times depending on the textile.

 

Step 4 – Lift the screen in one smooth motion to avoid streaking and… TA DA! You’ve got yourself a beautiful print. Make sure to put the garment under a heat press or dryer to allow for the paint to “cure”. This will provide longer life to the design.

 

Part 5 – Once you finish the first screen, wash and switch to print any secondary designs or colour selections. Repeat the process until you have enough swag for all your friends to look fresher than  grannie’s apple crisp!

If you enjoyed watching our process, come join us on Facebook for updates on upcoming swag. We like friends . If you have any questions or want further details on the screenprint process, don’t hesitate to drop us a line on our Contact page.

Until next round!

 

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• Categories: Art, Screenprint

I got the chance to attend this winter’s 2012 lifestyle show a couple weeks ago which hosted +100 different brands from across the globe! The day was filled with industry creatives, amazing designs and of course an inside look at upcoming lines for the year.

I was lucky enough to meet Joel Levy of Vancouver is Awesome at the beginning of my tour around the immense show. He kindly agreed to share his shots captured that day to give us all a closer look at some of the big ideas for 2012. Enjoy.

Element set up this custom build just for the show. Still doing it big. Photo – Joel Levy

32 Boots rep giving the DL on this years upcoming boots. Photo – Joel Levy

Always been a big fan of Imperial Motion and their simplistic designs. Glad to see they’re keeping true to their roots. Photo – Joel Levy

Quicksilver 2012 for all your on the go storage. Photo – Joel Levy

These are the few pictures I managed to capture through the day. Finally understand the “kid in a candy store” saying.

Quintin: my new favourite hat company, fit, colourways.

Quintin Close Up

I got too excited and butchered the pic. Needless to say, Generic Surplus 2012. Watch Out.

 Always nice seeing local brands making it in such a large show. Duality Clothing for all your Custom Tall T needs.

I caught up with the Plenty crew. These French Canadians know their cut and sew.

Came home with enough reading material and lookbooks to keep me locked in the bathroom for a couple months.

Was really stoked to have caught the show this year and met all the great reps and people around. Big thanks again to Joel Levy from Vancouver is Awesome. Catch you next season Know Show!

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• Categories: Accessories, Art, Event, Fashion, Party, Photography, West Coast

The last week I displayed the basics of the illustration & screenprint process and there was a great response and feedback on the topic so we thought you would enjoy a look at the upcoming Ok Zebra crewnecks!! In Part 1 I’ll give you a closer look at the technical aspect of creating a design from pencil to pixels.

Step 1 – With so much surrounding inspirations, it can sometimes take several days to narrow an idea down to a final sketch. The picture below illustrates different levels of refinement including notebook sketch, workable concept, custom textures and extra details.

 

Step 2 – Once the illustrations have been outlined in black, you can then import them in a vector* editing program and begin plotting each line to ensure a crisp result. The picture shows the custom texture that I created for the design being meshed with a selected font and turned into a vintage 3-D wordmark.
* Vector – Unlike pixel based images/photographs, vectors may be resized at any size while keeping their sharpness.

 

Step 3 – At this point, all the last details and tweaks are cleaned up and finished. Again, this process can take several days due to the fact of “sitting” on the design to ensure you feel confident with the final piece. Sometimes this can be beneficial to visualise the finished product in other possible variations before jumping to the final print.

 

Step 4 – Once you feel the design is exactly what you envisioned and more, you’ve completed the on screen portion!

 

Step 5 – Mock the design and start looking forward to that fresh new crewneck! Drop us a line to get yourself one of these limited crewnecks before they hit the stores.

Pt.2 Upcoming Weeks.

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• Categories: Art, Event, Party, Tech

We got together with the lovely Allison Fairhurst from Montreal, to create some one-off, hand crochet beanies for this years winter season. Really stoked on how these turned out! super comfy on the mountain and fitting in the city. Go take a look at Allison’s other crafts, she has some serious needle skills.

Vist our online store to purchase one of these exclusives beanies.

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• Categories: Art

I recently started getting into screenprinting (if you’re not familiar with the term, it is the process of pressing inks through a “burned” screen to leave an image on paper or textile) and find the technique not only stress-relieving but quite fulfilling.

Today I wanted to take you through the process from A to Z. I’ve recorded the steps in still images which will hopefully give you an idea of what it takes to get to the final result. I challenged myself with this design and decided to produce it within 24hrs! This is the turnout

Step 1. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of this image. The IDEA or thought contained within the safe/mind is always the most important. In this case the concept my brain conjured up for this print was of this swaggeristic old chap can be connected to Aloe Blacc’s – I Need A dollar.

Step 2. At this point I refine the illustration on a tracing sheet and outline the lines with my favourite stylos. In this case a Micron, Tradio and Sharpie Paint Marker.

Step 3. Once inked, I scan the image. Simple.

Step 4. Going back to step 1, I recall what colours I had envisioned for the print and separate the colours to get a better idea. Can always alter the colours later.

Step 5. At this point, the screen has had the image burned through the emulsion (seen in purple) and is ready to have ink applied or squeegied over the image.

Step 6. Once the first colour has been printed and heat pressed the second colour can be registered and printed. Switching colours is time consuming but well worth the variations!

Step 7. Voila! The print can always be re-printed as long as the screens are kept.

This is brief view at the process from idea to print, but hopefully will give you an idea as to enjoyment it can bring. The time challenge I added to this print made it very interesting but in no way stressful and the end result turned out as planned! I’ll be putting the process for one of our upcoming releases next week. Check back soon, this one will be the first of 2012 but in a limited run!

If you’re interested in this print, send us a comment on this post or on Facebook asking for one of the limited 6 (each with their uniqueness). We’ll ship it to you for FREE . First 6 get the goods!

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• Categories: Art, Screenprint

A couple weeks ago, the Vancouver convention centre hosted the One of a Kind show where I was lucky enough to meet James Melcher; artist, writer, life coach. James was a very genuine person which was directly represented within each of his pieces. James uses vibrant colour combinations to lure the eyes closer. Once up close, you can truly view the cut and paste style of his artistry. Positioning various painted canvas shapes on his desired format he captures a playfulness and brings youthful memories to mind.

If you’d like to see more from Mr. Melcher you can view his website or go see his work featured at the Lonsdale Quay Market in North Vancouver.

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• Categories: Acrylic, Art, West Coast