n addition to being the mastermind behind the streetwear brand UGLY, Brandon Carlton is an esteemed painter. His work often illuminates the radiance of the black experience. He combines a masterful eye for color with a meticulous feel for shading to evoke light from even the most casual of subjects.  

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APPROACH

When he approached LOUD about experimenting with converting his paintings into apparel, the stage was set for innovation. Along with the rest of the world, we marveled at both Brandon’s streetwear and paintings. The opportunity to fuse them together was nothing short of an honor.  

With no frame of reference to work from, we developed an original process of transferring physical paintings onto fashion-forward apparel.

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WORK

// SPECIALTY INDEX COLOR PRINTING //

While most printers would’ve likely scoffed at such a challenge, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Our team digitally recreated the hand-painting into a vector format ready for screenprinting.

In order to simulate the array of shades and tones found in the original painting, we first deduced the smallest possible color palette to recreate the range of colors found in the painting. After identifying the seven colors, we then went quadrant by quadrant re-illustrating the image using layered opacities of said colors to create the perception of the full-range of color. Next we converted the semi-transparent layers into half-tone simulants to enable our team to properly expose the artwork screens.

Finally, to get the job done, we used eight 230-mesh half-tone screens with plastisol ink to print the artwork seamlessly onto heavyweight fleece hoodies and fine art paper.

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RESULTS

The final product made the image readily available to the masses, while maintaining the integrity of the original artwork.

The result was an instant-hit. All items sold-out within 48 hours of the launch. The message was clear: when it came to Brandon combining his passions, fans couldn’t get enough.