EARTHVSAIR
Branding, logo design, art direction, styling, graphic design, digital design, photo editing and retouching, collaboration
EARTHVSAIR was a British brand that was established in 2011. Behind the brand were two separate designers Elizabeth (Earth) and Darren (Air) who collaborated because of their shared passion for unique and exclusive streetwear apparel.
Each garment was screen printed by hand, with only a limited number of each design produced. High-quality t-shirts were sourced to assure an excellent and contemporary fit. Designs were simple, and influenced by nature and its contrast with the modern world.
In Spring 2012, I met with Elizabeth and Darren to discuss their vision for the brand, before creating a visual identity and lookbook for EARTHVSAIR.
For the logo, I merged the alchemical symbols for Earth and Air. Earth, an upward triangle with a line, symbolises stability and groundedness; Air, a downward triangle with a line, represents lightness and freedom. Though opposite, they complement each other. Combined into one mark, they embody balance between grounding and movement, masculine and feminine, reality and thought.
For the lookbook, I drew inspiration from AQ/AQ and Helmut Lang’s art direction – minimal, structural, with sharp editing and atmospheric effects. We organised a photoshoot, which I art directed and styled, before I edited the raw files to create images inspired by minimalism, nature, and the tension between clarity and distortion. I spent hours retouching the images and experimenting with Photoshop blend modes to produce the clean yet ethereal results I envisioned.
To extend the concept into print, I crafted a series of lookbooks, hand-stitching them for a bespoke finish. I selected materials that suited the brand’s vision, including translucent stock for typographic pages.
Finally, I created supporting promotional materials – teaser posters that combined the collection designs with curated imagery, along with a business card and website homepage – all designed to carry forward the same aesthetic and reinforce the brand identity.