behind the print

The glyph print has been a prominent element and best selling feature in our most recent collection. Inspired by our love of type, the glyph print repeats the vaabs brand name five times in bold original lettering, drawing inspiration from several iconic typographic approaches from the creative world.

To celebrate the glyph print, we caught up with the talented illustrator who designed it, Anna (@annam.lls). In this conversation we discussed creativity, her style and what it takes to design an original print - keep scrolling to see more of what she had to say.

“Sometimes creativity to me is drawing type, doodling, painting, taking notes, but sometimes it can be as simple as taking a different route on a walk I do all the time.”

How do you describe your style and where do you draw inspiration from?

I like to tip-toe on the boundary between design and illustration, analog and digital, formatted and free. I’m always looking to create a human quality in my work, so I try and embrace mistakes and the feeling of something being a little rough around the edges. At the moment I’m feeling inspired by wonky shop signs, the surprisingly funky design you might find on the side of a cardboard box (shoutout to  @foundcollection_), old infographics and children’s drawings.

We’d love to hear more about the glyph print you designed for vaabs?

I have loads of fun drawing this mixed lettering style. I draw up grids in my sketchbook, usually 7 by 7 so 35 variations on each letter. I think this action of repeating the form all alongside each other helps me come up with more interesting letterforms. After you’ve drawn 20-something ‘A’s you have to start getting really inventive so they don’t all look the same. I like the challenge of that! 

What does creativity mean to you?

I think creativity can come out in all sorts of ways - it could be rearranging your room, moving plants and pen pots so they sit perfectly together, it’s how my mum carefully arranges food on the plate as if she’s working out the composition for a painting, a funny note on the fridge, phrasing something in an unusual way - just anything that makes you look at things a little differently. Sometimes creativity to me is drawing type, doodling, painting, taking notes, but sometimes it can be as simple as taking a different route on a walk I do all the time.

community fits

We love to see the glyph print hitting the streets and featuring in wearable outfits. Here are some of our favourites snaps of the typographic design over the past few weeks, styled by vaabs wearers.

(make sure you tag us in your snaps on Instagram @vaabs.co).