It's been really great working with Zeph from Earth Hatz. He came to our first meeting with clear ideas and source imagery of scenes that would be embroidered onto the fronts of baseball hats. He has worked a lot in nature and each scene, from the dessert to the beach to the mountains, seems close to his heart.

I took his initial ideas and drawings and illustrated them. The first few consisted of a dessert arch, an homage to Oregon, and a hammock at the beach. I especially love the arch design and even got a hat with that design on it for myself!

After this, I expanded the beach design to include both a stand up paddle boarder and a surfer. Then I drew a hiker to fit in with some trees he already had. That makes a total of six different designs, each embroidered onto four different hat colors. So many options. (I don't think this second batch is in production yet, but coming soon!)

It was really interesting to learn more about commercial embroidery in the process. I was worried about color, thinking they would only have so many thread options. But apparently they can match nearly every color. It was also interesting to work while keeping in mind that they charge per stitch. I've made a lot of t-shirts where they charge per color, so I had to change my mindset a little for this. Unlimited colors, less area. I'm always happy to learn new things and new ways of making, and enjoyed combining my love of illustration with a new learning experience. I think they all came out super great.

Zeph has been selling Earth Hatz at a few different markets around Portland. You can also buy them on earthhatz.com!