FONIKS

A couple years ago, I performed live on my MPC at an event that features dancers called ‘&beats’ at ANCE in Yoyogi (shouts to Kavvd for having me). I saw a local crew called HUMO dance at some other events and they approached me about performing live on my MPC while they did some dance routines and freestyle. The Japanese pronunciation of HUMO can sound a lot like the Spanish word for smoke, ‘fumo,’ so I drew this design to do some promo for the event we combined forces to perform at. Shirokuma, the bar that was my intro to the events going on in Yoyogi, also had a clothing line, and they licensed this design off me to print on hoodies. After the hoodies were ready, they had me stop by the bar and do fun little photoshoot which was basically just kickin it in the bar and on the street outside, casually skatin’ around while the photographer, Moeco Yamazaki, did her thing. Such is life being a foreigner in foreign places doing familiar things.

This is a logo flip I drew for Singapore-based record label, Darker Than Wax (DTW). The label head, Funk Bast*rd, is also a full time architect, so I wanted to make something that had volume and a sense of space. The music they release and DJ draws on the ‘pervasiveness of black music’ and it’s influence on a wide spectrum of genres (all the while looking towards the future). I’m inspired by logo design from the 60s/70s/80s, and these eras had a lot of great music, so I went for something that referenced that. Most people would do logo design in vectors these days, but I enjoy doing it the OG way and drawing it out. No disrespect to the digital of course, as I’ll end up incorporating that into my workflow at some point as well.

While living in Saigon, I had the pleasure of doing an event in 2013 with digging legend, Sir Keb Darge. I wanted to make a poster that felt more special than the usual kind, so I drew the design/text and silkscreened it on red paper at home. Printing was fun and minor imperfections made each poster unique as a result of the process. I only made a limited run (10-15, I think) and sold them at the event. There’s still a few copies left for those into rare poster art! (Message me if you’re interested in one of the prints)

A series of poster designs/illustrations I’ve done for an event back home in the States that focuses on slow jams, R&B, and baby-makin music.

https://soundcloud.com/djpound

http://www.darkerthanwax.com/mawkus/

Some hand type I came up with while visiting Tokyo’s much more chill neighbor, Yokohama.

Some Khmer inspired lettering I made on a visa run to Cambodia when I used to live in Vietnam.

A series of posters I’ve done for Doo Doo Roo, an event put on by the infamous DJ/selector and cosmic being known as Mawkus.

Some creatures I made while living in Saigon.