Several years ago, I was surrounded by the many rich – yet niche – subcultures of Portland, OR. A full-blown SoCal native, I was unable to speak the city's idiosyncratic language of Nike shoes, brunch boulevards, and underground bands. Around the same time, I worked as a designer creating high-end graphics on a shoestring budget. When tasked to create premium without the price tag, resourcefulness and scrappiness were necessary – words I understood well.
Drawing upon images of opulence I had seen portrayed in countless advertisements, these illustrations are sharply undercut by their typographic counterparts. Are they self-portraits or merely actors breaking the fourth wall? Yes.
