Conservatory
Hoodie
The director of my high school's Conservatory tasked me to create a hoodie for the students of the Conservatory arts programs.
The narrative I created behind this piece was that any student can be an artist. Thus I chose to depict the quintessential Valley Christian High School student—our school mascot—trying out the 5 different tracks offered art our Conservatory: visual, performing, media, music, and dance.
Process
Iteration 1: Busy Hands
"Busy Hands" emphasizes the nonstop creativity of young minds.
From exhibits to the concerts to the plays, Conservatory artists never stagnate. Their imaginations born these productions and their hands materialize them. This series celebrates the ingenuity of students in this creative community.
Ultimately, I had to abandon this idea because the hands stood stronger on their own, as identity monikers, rather than represent a group.
Iteration 2: Versatile Wally
To make the hoodie more inclusive, I devised the concept "Versatile Wally" where Wally, our school mascot, explores the five Conservatory tracks.
Wally represents the quintessential VCHS student: versatile and open to new fields. When Conservatory students wore this hoodie around campus, I hoped it would inspire other students to sign up for the Conservatory.
The character-centric design led me to retro styles with bold typography.
Iteration 3: Wally on the Move
To infuse the mascot design with more energy, I made the characters less rigid and introduced dynamic shapes and movement.
Adding the names of each program also provided an interesting challenge. Ultimately, I decided to keep the text simple as to not draw attention from the illustration.
