2023
Friction
Creative Director, Self Directed
Brand Identity, Product Design, Environmental Design, UI/UX, Video, Apparel, Sustainability, Prints & Patterns, Packaging, Experiential, 3D Modelling
Friction is a wearable defensive clothing line that celebrates queer history. By combining a tactical fabric, ballistic woven nylon, with bold graphics that are derived from LGBTQ+ activist posters, Friction is a collection that is protective, expressive, bold, and impactful.
Purpose
In the wake of 2023, we witnessed an increasing number of homophobic and transphobic sentiment, with over 400 anti-trans bills proposed. I was shaken by the the hate directed at my community and sought a way to create direct action that could support LGBTQ+ folks, everywhere. In this fear, I discovered the work of Gran Fury and was immediately inspired by the impact they created that pushed for government intervention regarding the AIDS crisis. I found that I, too, can utilize art as a form of action.
Thus, I created Friction. Friction was created to celebrate Gran Fury's work and the work of other LGBTQ+ activists and designers from the last half century. This collection's purpose is to uplift the voices of those activists and inspire other activists today, as well as provide protection to a community under attack. I hope that my work radiates voices from the LGBTQ+ community and spreads our eccentricity and beauty, in all its forms.
Brand Identity
This brand direction is bold, direct, and disruptive. Futura is used in the wordmark as a callback to the posters created by Gran Fury and Act Up, two collectives fighting against the AIDS crisis. The name "Friction" represents all aspects of this brand's ideals. The prints and patterns from this brand create friction, with aggressive call to action taglines, shocking and seductive imagery, and a movement that created positive policy changes for the LGBTQ+ community.
Product Design
The primary fabric of every Friction item is ballistic woven nylon, a textile that is bulletproof, slash resistant, 15x stronger than steel, water and heat resistant, and commonly utilized by the military and law enforcement for tactical gear.
Print and Packaging
Packaging is created with compostable poly mailers, printed with a bio-based algae ink, to honor the climate-adjacent initiatives that are represented in the product and environmental design.
Environmental Design
To further engage the community, Friction's retail pop-up experience offers everyone a chance to learn more about queer history and view the posters that enacted change, throughout time. After viewing posters, attendees are able to purchase Friction items in a compact retail space, located within a 40 foot shipping container. These pop-up shops can be experienced at any city's annual Pride Parade or cultural event. The pop-up is made with lightweight, sustainable materials, making them suitable for transport and efficient set-up.
All colors, materials, and finishes within the environmental design, consider the history and brand identity that Friction prioritizes. In reference to the city sidewalks and scaffolding that the activist posters were pasted onto, Friction's pop-up retail space utilizes eco-friendly industrial materials, including concrete, brick, chipboard, and steel pipe accents, to create an immersive retail experience.
