I was born and raised in Austin Texas, a liberal city in a red state. I grew up around liberals that loved money and conservatives that loved Phish. When I started working for RG they were overtly republican. I told them they were missing out on 50% of the population. I made it a mission to design bad-ass patriotic stuff that can be enjoyed by the red team and the blue team.
I’ve had two ‘day-jobs’ that lasted a little over 7 years (2011-2018). Both companies where steeped in political messaging- both were Right-leaning with a tinge of libertarianism. I voted for Bush 2 months after I turned 18, but I’ve never voted republican since. I think Obama was the best president we’ve ever had and Its funny to me that his presidency was the reason I finally went from freelancing to the REAL job market. A year after Trump was elected into office my 8 year employment run came to an end and I was laid off. After all the work I did for these republicans, the second their guy gets in office I’m screwed… I have designed so much ‘america-fuck-yeah’ stuff, I have spent countless hours coming up with creative ways to say “I love the USA” and I decided to make a whole page about it.
Im simply trying to illustrate the range of creative “takes” ive been able to come up with over the past 10 years… on the topic of “america”
Rowdy Gentleman Americana branding pack 2016
Funny story behind this design- This was one of my earliest apparel designs for RG. I forgot one state, Arizona, I lived in Arizona for 2 years! I cant believe I forgot AZ. (Facepalm). Fortunately the design sold out quickly and I fixed the mistake for the next print run.
“Prez Heads”
When trump was elected as the 45th president I knew I could do something with the number 45. I did simple line sketches of all the presidential portraits, and added sunglasses. I like Roosevelt’s sunglass-manacle. I put the star sunglasses on Trump because he’s a joke.
POTUS Baseball Cards, and POTUS Vacation.
As the RG brand matured and realized that it liked going to festivals and hanging out with liberals. I started to think of new ways to depict the ‘cool’ POTUS. Additional design credit- Connor Davis
Flag design for a July 4th supplemental release
The torch of the Statue of Liberty.
This was the first pattern I designed for RG. Great success, sold thousands. The pattern was used for swim trunks and Hawaiian shirts. I used Cinema 4D’s cloth simulation to generate a bunch of different ‘wind-blown’ flags with simple shading so we could keep the color count to a minimum.
National Anthem
The American Creed
“I believe in the United States of America, as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon these principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.”
