HighChroma is an apparel brand for all artists & creatives, with the purpose of giving people another way to express themselves. I see many designers, musicians, and other artists casually donning North Face jackets and Nike hoodies, and it dawned on me that there were no artists clothing brands.

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The Name

“HighChroma” can literally be interpreted as “high color”. Working with color is one of my favorite parts of art, and it’s no different when designing apparel.

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What comes to mind when you hear "artist"?

Everyone’s different, but from my experience, people often think of a painter, messily creating their masterpiece on the canvas. There’s another kind of artist that seem to be overlooked, however, and that is CG artists (animators, digital artists, 3D modelers, etc.). I’d say my brand’s default aesthetic encapsulates this type. With that said, HighChroma is for all artists, and I like designing in a variety of styles to appeal to many people.

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What makes something "artsy"?

I’m challenging the notion of what makes something “artsy”. Many people comment that my designs look sporty, but I raise the question of what makes something look sporty? I acknowledge sporty apparel can serve functional purposes, like running shoes designed to increase performance, or shirts made with breathable moisture-wicking materials, but your average Adidas jacket or Nike hoodie isn’t inherently athletic or sporty, rather, it’s just by association with the brand of the logo placed on the garment. When browsing my local Dick’s Sporting Goods, I observed just how colorful the store was. Athletic designs boast the most colors out of all apparel. Suppose all those athletic brands’ logos were swapped with brands associated with artists.

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It seems people default to the proverbial messy painter example from before when envisioning an artist, but what about graphic designers? Authors and writers? Animators? Artist-themed apparel may look different than what first comes to mind.

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For All Artists (FAA)

This is a double entendre in the sense that “for all artists” is descriptive regarding its target audience as well as an advocate-like, call to action in support of artists. As the brand grows, I envision supporting the arts in a myriad of ways. 

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The FAA graphic also serves as an additional design element which helps when designing clothing.

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193
The 193 and stripes generates a lot of curiosity and questions, but admittedly, there's no deep meaning behind the numbers. They're essentially arbitrary, but it serves the purpose of having another design element to add to clothing. I like using numbers in many designs, and rather than using the calendar year, I opted for something that can be consistent and recognizable/associated with the brand. When someone sees 193, they'll think HighChroma, even if they don't know what the numbers mean. For example, a gamer who sees N7 will think of Mass Effect.

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The Initial Spark of Inspiration

I first thought up the whole apparel thing around 2018. At that time, I was pursuing freelancing heavily, and I sought to create my branding. I began designing a logo to create polo shirts with my logo on it, and in the process I discovered AOP (All Over Print) on print on demand websites. This changed everything. I suddenly found myself playing around with tons of design ideas, which eventually led to where I am now.