The look of these designs are inspired by the ballpoint pen ink art traditionally made on bandanas by inmates in the California prison system.
In 2019 I was approached about developing a fight-wear brand from the ground up for a pair of investors. Their goal was to create a brand that brought the aesthetics of punk rock, skateboarding and tattooing to a scene full of very square sportswear offerings.
I dealt directly with the printers and manufacturers throughout the prototyping process. The gis, boxing gloves, rash guards and belts all had their own specific challenges related to the limits in the embroidery, and dye sublimation process.
As you might imagine, 2020 ended up being a rather unlucky year to launch a sportswear brand. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns did a number on the entire Jiu Jitsu industry, and the project was shelved. This year, they have decided to resume operations.
I assembled this sizzle reel as part of a package for investors. In the pre-internet era Jiu Jitsu enthusiasts used to pass around copies of self defence vhs, with the same kind of enthusiasm that skateboarders had for skate videos. I spliced this together from various youtube clippings as well as some existing sacred athletics material. I layered the photos in After Effects to give them a parallax effect, making sure they weren't too boring in between action clips.
I have also assembled a pitch deck that is currently being used to secure investment. It is unfortunately not for public consumption yet, but I will post it here when the information is no longer sensitive.
