Google ‘T-shirt design’ and you’ll find results that hit nine figures. This field is a major and rather simplistic form of creative expression but also offers a strong statement. Who hasn’t worn a ‘tee’ at some point in their life with a logo, image, slogan or something zany? We were attracted to the ODFU brand a couple of years ago as they seemed to be tapping into the re-emerging custom scene and took care of details ‘outside’ of the garment, like personalized packaging and strict limited edition runs that just seemed to add an extra dimension of ‘cool’ or exclusivity.

Imagining your own t-shirt is a bit self-indulgent but the on-and-off-road spheres of OTOR gave ODFU’s Kev Wilson a chance to mess around with a wide spectrum of motorcycle/racing imagery and also piqued some interest after diverse alliances with people such as dirt-track magazine Sideburn, Zaeta and illustrator Ryan Quickfall. He was up for the challenge, so why not? ODFU has been going almost as long as OTOR.

“I am graphic designer by day, working for a creative agency in Manchester,” explained Wilson who has been wielding his designer ‘tools’ for almost a decade. “I have met some of the most wacky and enthusiastic people through working in the creative industry and I guess that’s what I love about custom motorcycling. I love the creative nature especially of the new wave custom scene. It’s great to see people think outside the box when it comes to building or modifying their bikes. Some of the stuff out there is truly inspiring and a lot of them are like works of art. It’s also great to watch this movement grow every year in the UK. We’re starting to see motorcycle cafes and shops open up all over now such as the BikeShed and Bolt London; probably the coolest bike hang-outs in the UK. The scene is continuing to grow and now that ODFU has found its place, it will hopefully continue to grow with it.”

Browse the website and specifically the Blog www.odfu.co.uk/blog and it is clear to see there is a certain ‘look’ and feel to what ODFU is about and how our own t-shirt would be. “I always had a keen interest in street brands such as Supreme and Benny Gold and it was how these types of brands were expressing themselves through graphic tees that really interested me,” Wilson says. “I love to illustrate and this was the perfect medium for me to do that. Looking back, I never thought it would ever get this far. I remember the first tee I designed, it was just a black and white logo and I didn’t even have a website to sell it from! I just posted pics on Facebook and Twitter and the reaction it got was great. People were emailing me asking how they could purchase one.”

So where and how did our t-shirt begin? There had to be a racing theme of course and we didn’t give Kevin much in the way of a brief. He hit the mark pretty much from the first drawing and the concept was realised in a matter of weeks. “The OTOR design was really fun to work on,” he insists…

Read the rest of the story and see the finished t-shirt in the latest OTOR HERE

To see the ODFU Blog and buy the garments visit: www.odfu.co.uk