That flash of electric blue lifting off an old wooden post is always inspiring down on the South Brighton estuary walk. I love how the digital watercolour painting wraps around the side so half of the post continues onto the back.
Available now on pure cotton tees in four coastal colours tuned to show off the kingfisher’s plumage!
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Let your little explorer waddle into fun with this all-over Adelie Penguins t-shirt! The front shows a group of cheeky penguins marching toward the Ross Sea. Meanwhile, the back reveals their hilarious retreat from a sneaky leopard seal lurking on the Antarctic sea ice. Crafted on a white, snow marle, or pale blue t-shirt, to mimic the icy Antarctic landscape, and so that the black, white, and blue design pops with a 3D effect. The perfect tee for kids who love wildlife tales. Celebrate New Zealand’s nature-inspired artwear and grab yours today.
Choose how to get your kids’ Adelie Penguins t-shirt:
When I was deep into the process of re-creating a 1957 American Motors dealership banner for my friend’s Rambler Rebel restoration, I found myself intrigued by the car’s oddball charm. Its rarity fascinated me. My friend had showed me the 1957 Rambler Rebel in his workshop, which he’s been pouring his heart into restoring, it was in its bare metal current state. Its unibody design was clearly visible and surprising, I didn’t know that any cars were made by American Automakers in the 1950s where the body structure itself provides the main strength.
Curious to understand how this innovation came about, I dove into research. I uncovered fascinating details about the car’s legacy. Monocoque construction contributed to its lightweight agility and record-breaking 0-60 time of 7.5 seconds in 1957 at the Daytona Beach Speed Week. The research also yielded low-resolution images of the car speeding along the test track, and still images of it at Daytona Beach Speed Week.
It occurred to me that the bold graphic design of the banner, with its vintage fonts and striking colours, would look great on a t-shirt. This would be especially true if I paired it with a digital illustration of the Rebel in motion on the track.
Picture this: it’s 1957, and the American automotive landscape is a parade of chrome and tail fins—cars flexing their excess like peacocks in Detroit showrooms. Then, rolling out of the chaos, comes the 1957 Rambler Rebel. Not a conformist, not a follower, but a four-door rebel with a metallic silver streak and a secret under the hood. My friend, a car nut with grease under his nails and a gleam in his eye, is restoring one of these rare beauties right now. And me? I’m the design guy who got roped into re-creating an American Motors dealership banner from that very year—a bold, period-perfect piece to match his labour of love.
But why go to all this trouble for a car most folks don’t know they’ve forgotten?
Let me tell you a story about the Rebel that explains it all.
There’s an undeniable allure to an authentic car dealer banner from the 1960s, a cherished relic that transports us back to an era when automotive culture was as much about bold design statements as it was about engineering prowess and value for money.
This 1960s Rambler banner, with its vibrantly patriotic red, white, and blue hues, served as proud beacons of post-war American ingenuity.
This banner in association with the car drew enthusiasts and casual onlookers alike to the owners’ stall at the 2024 McLeans Island swap meet.
Handcrafted with care, they embodied a tactile authenticity—lustrous, pearly white polyester satin and solid cut vinyl colour printing re-creating the era’s optimism and craftsmanship.
Recreating such a piece, as my spouse and I did with the 1965 Rambler banner, preserves not just a design but a story, infusing it with durability for modern display while honouring its historical mid-century modern roots.
It’s a celebration of nostalgia, a functional art piece that elevates any classic car showcase with its vivid presence and timeless appeal.
For Lindsay McKenzie, the pursuit of owning a 1970 Rambler Rebel SST Coupe was not just a whim but a decades-long odyssey. The Rebel SST, revered among American muscle car enthusiasts, is celebrated for its unique blend of style, performance, and rarity. With its 304 V8 engine, the Rebel offers a potent mix of power and character, encapsulated in a design that stands out even among its contemporaries. Its right-hand drive configuration, a special feature for this particular model built in Kenosha, USA, adds a layer of exclusivity, making it a prized possession in the classic car community.
McKenzie’s story begins in 1983, under the dim lights of a Friday night in Timaru, where a dark blue Rebel SST with a “For Sale” sign caught his eye. The car, with its vinyl roof and black interior, was in surprisingly tidy condition for its age. However, the absence of contact details meant McKenzie had to return later, only to find the car had vanished by Sunday. What followed was years of inquiries and searches, all in vain, until the car seemed more like a ghost than a tangible goal.
Living in a small New Zealand country town, my friend and client, a Freezing Worker with a passion for restoring classic American muscle cars, especially those from American Motors, approached me with a unique commission. His project was to immortalise his cherished 1970 Rambler Rebel SST on apparel, inspired by an advertisement from the April 1970 issue of New Zealand’s Reader’s Digest.
The brief was clear—to recreate the black and white ad of the Rambler Rebel SST in colour, but with a modern twist suitable for today’s fashion. The first step was understanding the nostalgia and the essence of the car’s era. The brief to maintain the advertisement’s simplicity yet enhance it with a contemporary touch to resonate with both car enthusiasts and fashion aficionados.
I’m thrilled to unveil my latest wildlife artwork. It is a t-shirt that captures the majestic flight of the Karearea. This is New Zealand’a species of native falcon.
The karearea, or the New Zealand falcon, (Falco novaeseelandiae, also known as the sparrow hawk) holds significant ecological and cultural importance in New Zealand. It is the only endemic bird of prey left. This fierce predator symbolises the resilience of native wildlife, offering a powerful representation of the country‘s bird life. Interestingly, it is most closely related to the Aplomado falcon of South America. The karearea might resemble the Australasian swamp harrier or Kahu and occupy a similar ecological niche. However, these two bird species are not closely related. This highlights the karearea’s unique evolutionary path and its critical role as an apex predator.
Check out the karearea design in action in our new YouTube Shorts video:
The inspiration for the design came from superlative wildlife photographer Rod Morris. Chrissie and I visited Rod’s image library in Dunedin back in the 90s when we were there exhibiting with The Great New Zealand Craft Shows. We were looking for slides that he had cherry-picked. These slides had the potential to be developed into hand-separated wildlife art for screen printing.
In the modern world of digital design, where every line can be perfected with a click, there’s something uniquely captivating about the traditional methods of graphic design. Today, I want to take you back to the early ‘80s, to the Graphic Design School at Auckland Technical Institute, where I spent over four years mastering an art form that’s as meticulous as it is magical—hand-separating colours for screen printing. Rendering shading, texture, and detail to achieve a realistic depiction of New Zealand native animals and plants.
Hey there! I’m just starting a project that’s close to my heart as a child of the 60s and a Graphic Designer. It involves a big, flashy 1967 American Motors car, the Marlin. This two-door fastback car produced by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1965 to 1967 is not your everyday car. The automakers really wanted to make something special, something that stood out. That’s how the 1967 American Motors Marlin was born. It came equipped with a powerful 343 cubic inch V8 engine to boot, which was a statement in itself. It was initially launched as the Rambler Marlin in 1965, but in 1966 and 1967 it was rebranded as the AMC Marlin.
1967 was the last year of production for the Marlin and is considered by many to be the most desirable due to its culmination of Marlin styling and beautiful proportions.
Welcome to a journey where the past meets the future, where the classic lines of a 1928 Essex Super Six four-door car, whose chief selling point was “affordable luxury,” intermingle with the art of modern graphic design. I recently had the incredible opportunity to photograph this rare American vintage beauty in the car park of the historic Richmond Workingmen’s Club in Christchurch. Note that the gallery of images from the photoshoot is at the foot of the page.
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