Soul-patched designer James Victore is known for his frenetic, punk style. His work, some of which lives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, is never too clean or polished; you can feel the energy of his drawing hand. In his latest project, a collaboration with art studio and print shop Holstee, Victore delivers inspirational messages in scrawly handwriting on a series of letter-pressed prints.
“We all need these daily reminders and affirmations of how capable and powerful we are,” Victore says in a video about the prints. “Sometimes we go to church on Sunday, or we go to our shrink, or we go to hang out with our friends at the bar to hear that our struggle is the universal struggle and that we’re not alone.”
These aren’t your conservative Wall Street uncle’s motivational posters—they eschew the clichéd sunset-photo-on-black background-plus-optimistic-slogan format. Although they serve a similar purpose, their encouraging messages are more specific, written in Victore’s defiant voice: “The things that made you weird as a kid make you great today,” “Freedom is something you take,” “There ain’t no rules,” and “Your work is a gift.” All are signed “With love, Victore.”
“My goal with these visual mantras is to remind you of your creative potential,” Victore says, “and to inspire you with the courage to trust yourselves, have an opinion, and make work that matters.”
The James Victore Collection is available from Holstee for $98 here.
