Ykra unveils a new, limited collection: this time, we get to wear the works of Czech graphic designer Vratislav Pecka a.k.a. PosterLad. Let’s see the details!
You could already meet Vratislav’s works on HYPEANDHYPER in previous articles. The Czech graphic designer decided to launch his own project entitled PosterLad in October 2016, in which he shares a poster graphic every day—each poster being a means of Vratislav’s own artistic self-expression.
Even though the YKRA brand has mainly collaborated with Hungarian artists until now, YKRA founder Balázs Lakatos and Vratislav soon found common ground. “There are a lot of talents here in Hungary, too, so for a long time it was self-evident that we would work with them, and it also matches the brand’s character if someone knows this peculiar, Eastern European world. At the same time in these cases it’s not where someone comes from what we consider, rather what we want to see in our next collection. The limited collections are quite extraordinary, as they are hand-made in limited quantities with silk screen printing, so they are true collector’s items. To me, it is always of key importance in the course of design that every pattern adds something entirely new and exciting to the brand. The goal is to surprise our customers and unveil a fresh, current pattern,“ Balázs shared with us.
Balázs spends a lot of time with researching, and there are several artists on his list with whom he would like to work with in the future. The new collection is unique also because this time it was Vratislav, the artist himself, that contacted the brand. “This was actually the only time I approached a brand asking for a collaboration. I was so amazed by the line of products and its vibe that I immediately purchased a couple of things for myself. After that I reached out to Ykra, and had a couple of calls with Balázs where we agreed on the collaboration and what we are aiming for with this new collection. We shared similar ideas, Balázs even pointed out some of the posters from my collection that he liked so that I knew where to start. It was an instant click,” Vratislav explained.
The collection’s pieces center around the simplicity, vivid colors and geometric shapes characteristic of Vratislav’s works. “I think that is what Balázs liked the most in my work, so I designed the pattern for Ykra with this in mind. Keeping it simple yet appealing to look at. It is not always easy to achieve that, but I think it worked out well in the end. I have to admit though, that since the products themselves are so well designed and there are some very good looking materials used in production, this also helped a lot for the products to look even better” Vratislav added.
“I always strive to give an opportunity to the creators to do what they truly like, to create something on our canvas that they would want to create for themselves if they were to do it out of love and not for a commission. Usually I have a clear picture of what I want to see, and I choose the given artists because I see that it matches their style well—this is what happened with Vrati, too. I knew I wanted a pattern that is very colorful and is made up of large, geometric shapes: a bit of pop-art and a bit of ‘70s modern,” Balázs pointed out.
The popularity of the new limited collection is proven best by the fact that some of its items sold out immediately. Luckily YKRA has restocked the items, so you can still choose your favorites in the brand’s online store.
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