Enjoy, and feel free to leave questions in the comment section.

- be.

“Hold Em Down” Design Process – 2008

1. I traced the classic LL logo so I had it as a stroke rather than a shape.

2. I increased the stroke weight until it felt bulky enough to be a rope.

3. I drew my anchor.

4. I plotted the LL rope onto the anchor, redrawing it to fit for interlocking and added a noose.

5. Final plotting for interlock.

6. Execution of interlock.

7. I added depth with some shading on the rope and some accents on the anchor.

8. Add text and finalize.

“Hold Em Down” Design Process – 2012

1. I traced the original rope stroke on paper and gave it a natural rope feel.

2. I traced my drawing in Illustrator.

3. I took the original anchor from the 2008 design.

4. Using the exact same anchor I drew in shading to give it an older feel and add depth.

5. I plotted my new noose onto the anchor to be sure the interlock would fit.

6. I finalized the interlock.

7. I added textural lines and shading to the rope and anchor to make them feel like one.

8. Add text and finalize.

I’ve received great response when I post my design process, tips or rationale on Instagram and Twitter, so I’ve decided that I’ll continue to share these posts with you through my blog. I hope these will help young designers with some problem solving and at very least will provide some insight into how I do what I do.

Vault Series: May releases:
“Facebook is the Feds” tee
“Hold Em Down” tee

Both designs will be available to order for 1 week only. After the week is over the release will be closed.

Please order all “Vault Series” tees separate from other items on the site as they will all be shipped at the same time.

Design: Facebook is the Feds
Original Release: 2008
Vault Series Release: Original design and colourway.

Collection/Series:
“Facebook is the Feds” was part of a series of tees called “The Feds”. It was conceptualized by my homey, Andy Bennett, who felt that the public was becoming too comfortable with communications and social platforms that were implemented or controlled by the government as means to influence or monitor our moves.

Influence/Concept:
In 2008, I was heavily into my transition from using MySpace as TheLegendsLeague’s main communicating platform to using Facebook and my blog. In a conversation about the relatively new and increasingly popular site one day, Andy said to us all, “Facebook is the Feds”. At the time the concept wasn’t groundbreaking but it was by no means as widespread an idea as it is now. The conversation continued into how “Likes” were tracked for marketing purposes, how “Events Attending” were used to identify people who may have witnessed crimes and how our general behavior was being monitored by the government.

Critical Breakdown:
The truth is in the public belief that “Facebook is the Feds”, and yet we still participate like drones to interactive attention openly risking privacy loss. We’re addicted to the governments most powerful drug – social acknowledgement. They’ve unleashed it on our egos at such a rapid share rate that we’ll gladly indulge, giving them everything they want in exchange for it, then spreading it around with no care of contaminating consequence. The Feds have upped the mind of the abuser by understanding that control is harder to attain if you throw a billion people into a cage than it is when you build one around them.

If you don’t know, now you almost know.

Welcome To TheLegendsLeague

ORDER HERE

Design: Hold Em Down
Original Release: 2008
Vault Series Release: Redesigned. New colourway.

Collection/Series:
The “Hold Em Down” design was part of a collection I did called “The B-Class”. It was a nautical theme that was motivated by the influence of early 90′s hip-hop fashion when heads wore a lot of Hilfiger, Nautica and of course, Polo.

Influence/Concept:
Having lived in an area with a combination of kids with well-off parents and kids in public housing, I noticed a conflict in how I was treated by those who were better off. I was looked down on in disgust. I was viewed and treated as a lesser-than. The “Abercrombie class” didn’t care for our kind and meanwhile we were dressing in the clothes that were made for their lifestyle; a lifestyle we couldn’t afford. On the surface it didn’t matter, but I was looking further into the clash of cultures and how we all interacted.

Critical Breakdown:
“Hold Em Down” is a spit in the face of those who had daddy dearest money and thought less of those who didn’t. It’s representative of my experiences with the upper crust who snickered and pointed fingers because I couldn’t understand their lifestyle. It’s for those of us who take what we don’t have and make good with what we do, those of us who won’t be held down by our struggle and will fight against those who choose to bring us down further. It’s about getting the upper hand in life no matter the circumstances and proving that you deserve to be exactly where you aspire to be.

If you don’t know, now you almost know.

Welcome To TheLegendsLeague

ORDER HERE

Over the next 8 months I will be releasing 16 pieces from TheLegendsLeague vault. The designs were hand picked as my very best and have been considered as the pieces you guys have loved the most. Some designs will be released in new colourways, some will be redesigned and improved, some will be left untouched and some will be presented in different ways that fully accentuate the potential of the design. Every VS tee will have the VS logo on the sleeve as a reissue mark. I respect those who have owned the original releases too much to have done this any other way.

Made to Order

Every month 2 designs will be released. You will have 1 week to place your order. Once the week is up the design goes back in the vault and the release is closed. True to the beginnings of TheLegendsLeague, each piece will be Made to Order specifically for each customer, (so know your size and order wisely). The pieces will be shipped out when the next release is announced and the cycle will repeat until December.

ORDER HERE

—-

I’m really excited to be able to do this for you guys. It’s amazing to see how much product I’ve released and to see how far the brand has come with your support. People always ask me what my favorite LL designs are and why I don’t re-release them, so making this happen is as dope for me as it is for you.

For those of you who have been with us from the beginning, I’m excited to present familiar classics that you may have missed in the past. For those of you just getting here, you’re in for a fucking ride.

Welcome To TheLegendsLeague.

Love&Above,
Bryan

On Friday May 13th, 2011, I had my very first solo art opening. It was an overwhelming experience that helped give me the confidence to present myself as an artist and designer on a large scale to the public.

Up until then and even sometimes now, I had been so personally attached to my work that I felt nobody would understand or take the opportunity to understand the meaning behind everything that I created. The show, entitled, “Because The Kids Don’t Play”, was a collection of my Fully Wholly characters that visually depicted a poem I had written about abuse, suicide, parental neglect and the overall hardships of living without a proper childhood.

While the show was a great success, it killed me that most people failed to read the descriptive pieces that accompanied each canvas. I haven’t said this since the show, but I felt taken advantage of. I felt hollowed out and empty. I was taking my heart from off of my sleeve and plastering walls with it, not with just visuals, but with the experiences of my life. It wasn’t easy and while I can’t expect anyone to understand how and why I create, something in me relived a lot of terrible experiences I had gone through attached to feeling alone.

Today, to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of one of the most important days of my life I’m releasing a Fully Wholly I had been conceptualizing since last year entitled, “Forever Young”.

This piece once again, is very close to my heart. It’s very personal and it’s hard for me to think about it. It’s essentially my self portrait. It’s me, beaten and battered by a painful upbringing, holding onto and championing the heart of children, hoping to harness their happiness and not lose any more of my innocence. It’s representative of the intellectual ideas I share and the joy I have sharing them with everyone so candidly, sometimes at my own expense, because it’s all I have ever had to hang on to and it’s the only thing that ever made me feel important. It’s breaking my fucking heart to write this.. Fuck..

I hope you like it.

Love & Above,
Bryan

“Forever Young” Fully Wholly by Bryan Espiritu

At the very last moment I heard, “He’s not breathing”. Then I felt an enormous laughter and smile in my chest. All I could see was white. I felt relaxed, like I was floating; like I was about to go and it felt so, so good. My ears went muffled, and I couldn’t feel my body anymore. I just felt absolutely free.

I have never felt as content with my life as I did when I thought it was over. Not ever.

Soon after I woke up with tubes in me, my leg being rubbed by the social worker who had helped me with a suicide attempt I had made 3 years prior. Same woman. She said to me, “You promised me I’d never see you again”. It was surreal.

I don’t know what it’s like to die, but I can tell you this – I’m not quite sure I know what it feels like to live yet. And if it is at all possible, I’m chasing a dream that will have me feeling how I felt that night when I stopped breathing. I want that contentment back. And I want to live all the fucking way through it, with you guys there to enjoy the ride.

Love&Above,
- be.

Don’t ask permission, ask forgiveness.

No Loitering.

Available Saturday April 21st
www.IdeallClothing.com

LL season..

When you’re ready to rest, there is always someone more willing to work.

Keep going.

Love&Above,
- Bryan

Evidence from Dilated Peoples once said, “I’m from Cali so I don’t get sidetracked by nice weather”. The sun isn’t one of his paralyzers. But it’s a paralyzer for plenty of people from city’s where Winter is snow-heavy.

Recognize the elements of your life that slow the walk you talk to a crawl or stop. Then remove them completely when you’re trying to get things done.

If daddy never handed you keys to a new car you’re gonna need your legs to get from point A to point B.

Love&Above,
- Bryan

Working at McDonalds, Wal-Mart and Tim Horton’s for a combined 10+ years did nothing for my creative resumé, but it taught me something very important – That while I could successfully hammer a nail into a board with a screwdriver, not using a hammer meant I wasn’t doing it in the most efficient way possible.

Love&Above,
- Bryan