Convict was a apparel label which looked at prison culture. Founded by Bench's Kelvin Vidler Convict was intended initially founded after leaving Bench in 2007. Initially founded in 2010 the second coming came in 2014. The label took inspiration from prison culture primarily which was reflected in the black and white, monochromatic colour scheme

Looking at fairly obvious prison tropes- bars, wire, towers etc I eventually stuck with a piece of razor wire as I liked it’s geometric shape. I created something which would give a very simple but meaningful mark along with a strong logotype. I was required to stick to black and white for the whole line and it only made sense to use this for the branding as it fit in  with the concept of prison.

Two of the concepts were specifically requested by the client including the think image which was taken from an image sourced online and heavily manipulated to avoid copyright infringement. The Skully character which was planned to be a mascot for the label was a take on the Go To Jail card in Monopoly.

The client was very keen on using the brandname CNVT which was ultimately changed back to Convict for clarity.

“...we are aiming at the commercial end of young fashion, sitting alongside the likes of Henley and Superdry - inspired by US West Coast hip-hop via graphic prints and embellishment...

Sketchbook

Process

I was given some small notes of irection form the client which was incorporated and experimented with but ultimately shelved. Concepts that were considered were dice, prison tattoo (especially Russian prison tattoos which hold varied and regimented meanings and imagery) as well as Chicano imagery.

Primarily taking concepts from the prison tattoos imagery, especially Mexican tattoo with it’s italic flourishes and offset those against thicker typography. There we explorations of British imagery but ultimately the brief required an Americana ethos.

Apparel

Designs

Additional concepts that I used was a continuation of the tattoo theme with the addition of a quincrux tattoo - used to represent time spent in prison along with a simple US DOC style of typography, a very simple, unadorned typeface.

I used cardboard as I thought it was very appropriate for the brand evoking a street art, and of course it was economical and very easy to get hold of. I had used the medium previously in the Lifecycles group show in London.

Varsity

Jacket