Arrrriiibaa – We worked with Richard Davies to illustrate one of our brand values.

Ever since we can remember, we’ve been told off for drawing on walls (sorry mum) – but now, with our own place, we’re flinging those rules out the window. Let us explain: Last year, we thought it was about time we put our brand values down on paper – but paper wasn’t really big enough for us, so we figured our walls would work instead (naturally).

In this blog series (yep, there’s more to come) we’re going to go through each of our brand values and how our A-team of super-talented illustrators used them as inspiration to decorate our studio.

Amigos Without Egos

Alone, we’re guacamole, chicken and rice, but together we’re a tasty burrito with hot sauce on top. We always work as a team and leave our egos at the door.

First up, ‘Amigos without egos’ by Richard Davies. Quite frankly, we’ve never met anyone who likes Mexican food as much as we do, and then we met Richard (who’s the Founder of Abandon Ship Apparel) – so it made sense that he’d take this one into his hands. “The value instantly gave me a Mexican vibe which I loved because I am a massive fan of Mexican culture (and food) and have always been drawn to the imagery. That could be the religious iconography, the day of the dead aesthetic or simply just referencing luchadors and burritos! I find the art to be so colourful and bold that I have always been attracted to it, even as a kid” – Richard Davies

But that wasn’t the only reason we got him on board! Richard is also massively talented illustrator and is the man behind the pen of all Abandon Ships products (pretty cool huh?). With a project like ours, he typically takes a snap of the space or maps it out digitally before sketching on top (usually he works from the middle out – which is always a good idea). The finished result is never the exact same as those initial ideas, but that’s okay! In a way, it’s just another part of this whole ‘amigos without egos’ thing.

Amigos without egos comes from our belief that great ideas come from anywhere and anyone – not just the most senior people in the room, or those who have ‘creative’ in their title. It means that solving problems with great, creative solutions comes first and foremost at Casa MadeBrave – whether that comes from one person or it’s a bit of a Frankenstidea from everyone.

“It happens! Of course, you want to be the person who comes up with the winning idea, but it shouldn’t ever be a competition. We’re all about working together against the challenge outlined in the brief, not against each other – that’s why amigos without egos is such a big deal for us.” – Steven (our Creative Director)

So, how did it all turn out?
Well, about 13.5 chalk pens later, it was finished. We’re not sure what’s Mexican for bloomin’ brilliant, so we’ll just let the photos do the talking.

“It was a lot of fun, it was the first time I had used the white paint on a black surface so I was concerned at how it would turn out, but I was really happy with the finished piece, the contrast worked really well and added to the design.

The only other challenge was usually I do these large scale walls for my own brands and thus I don’t have to “edit” myself too much with what fills the spaces. I can add subtle (or not so subtle) nods to things I love, people I know and other references.

With client work though I wanted to achieve the same but without the in depth personal knowledge of the brand, so during the course of the day I looked for signs of what was important to the business and asked questions to add some easter eggs that made sense. Luckily MadeBrave wears its heart on its sleeve and it was easy to get some great ideas for the wall while I worked.” – Richard Davies