ROLE
Type Design, Apparel Design, Visual Design, Art Direction
DATE/DURATION
January 2024 - Present
TOOLS
Photoshop, Illustrator
TEAM
Solo designer with guidance from the JVKE team
WHY
Client Project
SUMMARY
I was hired as a freelance graphic designer in 2024 to conceptualize and create merch designs for the musical artist and social media personality JVKE. JVKE is a singer-songwriter, producer, and social media personality, with hit songs such as "golden hour" and "this is what falling in love feels like". He has over 25M+ monthly listeners and is in the top 500 artists on Spotify. I continue to work as a freelance designer for JVKE's team in producing merch designs alongside song releases. You can find his merch site here: itsjvke.myshopify.com.
'This is what winter feels like'
JAN 2024 | 1.5 WEEKS
In the beginning of January, I was reached out to by a member of his team to create new merch designs for his upcoming single "this is what winter feels like". I was given about a weeks notice as this was a bit of a last minute idea on his teams side, but I had to come up with 3 concepts for a hoodie and long sleeve shirt. This was an anticipated release for his audience as he has a series of songs that are similar to 'this is what ___ feels like' with songs including 'this is what autumn feels like' and 'this is what falling in love feels like.'
Final Designs
Concepting
I created 3 concepts for the front and back of a shirt or hoodie, primarily utilizing the look of a retro serif and an elegant script, 'New Spirit' and 'Nautica'. However, in the third concept I used the typeface 'Milk and Honey' which is what they used on a previous merch design. They liked my style from previous designs so they trusted that I would create designs that would fit his brand and the song.
Release
The "this is what winter feels like" collection was released as a limited collection only available for 48 hours, however they plan to bring it back every winter as well as re-release with larger merch drops. It was released alongside the lyric video, and indirectly promoted through the Youtube video description and comment section, and directly promoted through JVKE's Instagram story. The merch designs were popular with his audience and received a lot of positive feedback and praise within the comment section.
Lavender
FEB 2024 | ~1 DAY
On short notice, I was given less than a day to complete a merch design for a hoodie for the song collab between JVKE and Pink Sweat$ that was dropping that very night. It was an unexpected challenge but I knew I was capable of making something! I worked closely with the person I was communicating with on the designs as he also showed it to JVKE and the rest of their team to get input. They gave me the unreleased song, and some direction to have something to start with. I was very responsive and we bounced ideas back and forth to try and complete the project in under 5 hours.
Final Design
Concepting
I got straight to work and started making iterations of a design based on direction and feedback from the team.
Release
The song was released later that night and the designs were put on the site as pre-orders. It was still a popular release despite the time crunch!
Clouds
MAR 2024 | ~1 WEEK
On another short notice, I was given about a week to complete a merch design for the song 'Clouds' for JVKE that was dropping in less than a week for the PubG mobile anniversary celebration. It was another challenge in the limited time but they trusted my art direction and design decisions so I was able to collaborate closely to deliver the final product which were 2 different designs for a crewneck and hoodie.
On another short notice, I was given about a week to complete a merch design for the song 'Clouds' for JVKE that was dropping in less than a week for the PubG mobile anniversary celebration. It was another challenge in the limited time but they trusted my art direction and design decisions so I was able to collaborate closely to deliver the final product which were 2 different designs for a crewneck and hoodie.
Final Designs
Concepting
The team did not have a moodboard or direction they wanted to go in so I compiled one with images and references I felt inspired by and that would resonate with the song after listening to it then create concepts aligned with the inspiration.
Release
They released a visualizer for this song release alongside the PUBG anniversary release video. They made this a limited collection and ended up keeping the white hoodie in the store after initial release.
This is What Slow Dancing Feels Like
Apr 2024 | 2 WEEKS
This song was highly anticipated and gaining traction on TikTok fast when it was teased a few weeks before release. This was somewhat of a short notice project with about a 2 week turnaround, but due to the popularity and anticipation, we designed more designs for a variety of merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies, crewnecks, and a mug. This song is slow, romantic, and intended for the use of weddings. I had little direction and was given creative freedom for this project. I ended up on going with a mixed typography design with textural effects, alongside 2 other designs that were focused around a halftone grunge look, but it was important that we still keep it cohesive to the song aesthetic and the JVKE brand, while keeping in mind audience demographics and expectations.
Final Designs
Concepting
The art direction of the merch was to cater towards an old school music feel with an elegant tone. I like to read the comments from his song releases for feedback in order to work towards improving the design style and cater better to his audience. Although the overwhelming majority of the feedback for previous designs have been highly positive, I do make sure to take notes on criticisms and one recent one I saw was lack of multicolor designs or the use of elements besides typography. With that in mind I experimented more with photography from a recent shoot of his as well as halftones and different textures, which led to the graphic t-shirt design which resulted in a lot of positive engagement and sales.
Release
Reflection
Working on this freelance client has been such a fulfilling and amazing opportunity as a college student and I am extremely grateful to have been able to create designs for JVKE. I am deeply appreciative and flattered that his team chose to reach out to me amongst other potential designers to help develop the JVKE brand further through his merchandise. The most challenging part of working on these projects was definitely having to work under pressure to create a variety of different concepts with often such quick turnarounds ranging from less than 2 weeks to less than 5 hours, but I was able to tackle everything rather quickly with support and guidance from the team. I learned a lot more about merchandising and type design in this project, and I am extremely satisfied with the results and audience feedback. Had I been given more time for some of these projects I definitely would have liked to develop some concepts further, but even for the shorter turnaround projects I think I was able to deliver appealing designs that the team and his fans were pleased with. This project also fueled a passion for creative design within the music industry and I hope to continue to find opportunities where I can contribute my own creative vision alongside musical artists.
CREDITS, REFERENCES, & SPECIAL THANKS
Ethan Peang, Media & Content Director for JVKE
Zac Lawson, Music Producer & Social Media Marketing
Jake Lawson, Music Producer & Singer-Songwriter
Ethan Peang, Media & Content Director for JVKE
Zac Lawson, Music Producer & Social Media Marketing
Jake Lawson, Music Producer & Singer-Songwriter
