SMPLFD Clothing & Printing is a streetwear brand, screen printing, and graphic design company based in Detroit. It was created by myself and two partners in 2006. By 2015 we acquired our first location in Eastern Market, and later expanded into our warehouse space in Island View (pictured above).

We specialize in creating streetwear clothing and graphic design products with our own brand, along with collaborating with other companies. Additionally, we provide clients with graphic design, marketing, and apparel production services.

My role as co-owner and creative director was varied and vast. Building the company from the ground up I had an intricate and crucial role in the creative output of our brand. Everything from graphic and apparel design for our clients, construction and layout design of our facility, and planning and execution of nearly all operations/facets of the company. 

The focus here is to give the viewer a visual and written synopsis of SMPLFD, to highlight a few, out of many, of my graphic design contributions to the company, and to showcase some of the projects and products I’ve created.

HISTORY, TREATMENTS & APPLICATIONS

The company has used many logo variations over the years. Each one conveys a unique message and serves a specific purpose.

Featured below are different logo treatments I developed over the years, and their application. I am attracted to minimal, bold logos. The viewer is much more likely to remember a logo if it has a simple, iconic appearance using easy to recognize shapes and text. It depends on the project, but I typically like using flat simple colors, as I think it makes most logos appear more classic, and timeless. Logos with more rendering such the appearance of dimensions, color gradients, shine, or shadows have their place, but for a streetwear company a simple less complicated design is best.

Each logo has a specific applications and reason for their appearance. For example, the original logo was taken from the washing instruction symbols on t-shirt tags. It means “DO NOT BLEACH”.

The triangle shape with an "X” has an attractive and mysterious look to it, the three sides of the triangle represent the three owners, and because much of our designs are printed on black garments it has practicality to it as well concerning the “do not bleach” message behind it. The other logos in this grouping were developed as needed. For example, the first “Warehouse” logo was designed when we moved into our warehouse space and wanted to create a logo that felt more industry-like, like the ones of yesteryear used in Detroit manufacturing. Another example would be the “RV”, “RVS”, and “XPDX” logos. These were developed for a sportswear clothing line we made using lightweight sweat wicking tech fabrics. I wanted logos that felt sleek, fast, and conveyed a “sporty” feeling.

GARMENT
SAMPLES

Fall/Winter 2023 Collection inspired by the auto shop culture in Detroit. Staple font designs printed on standard work wear garments. Don’t get all fancy, just keep it classic.

This section contains samples of designs I’ve made over the years including garments, flyers, stationary, advertising layouts and more. 

Also included are photos of the facility that I designed, event photos, and friends over the years.