Wearing Joy: GOREWEAR x Dr. Bullock Collab

Dr. Curtis Bullock, a former high school principal from Portland, Oregon, began spray painting bikes in 2019 and in just a few years became one of the most celebrated bike painters in the business, working with private clients and corporate partners around the world. Painting and printing on functional objects is a central focus of his work, and he designs a range of products from cycling forks to lamps, paintings and apparel, showcasing his work on social media as @savethepostalservice. Joy and spontaneity are consistent themes for him, and he is particularly inspired by deeply saturated colors and mass produced materials; LEGO, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Roy Lichtenstein, and Memphis Design all have influenced his artistic style.

Dr. Bullock is also a dedicated cyclist—making him a natural creative partner for our latest release: the FERNFLOW x Dr. Bullock Windbreaker Hooded Jacket for men and women.

1. What excited you about working on a cycling jacket with GOREWEAR ?  

My first interactions with GOREWEAR came when I was working in a bike shop after graduating from my undergrad, and I remember getting hands on GOREWEAR and feeling like it was so distinctive from what was in the shop at the time. The quality and textures of the materials really stood out - and the same still stands for the windbreaker, we've collaborated on here. A lot of windbreakers protect from wind, but don’t ventilate well - small details in this jacket like the double zipper and the inner texture of the fabric provide a totally different experience. The subtle texture on the inner surface of the fabric provides just a little bit of separation from other layers of clothing so that air can still move and heat can still escape. This is my first time collaborating on a larger apparel launch, and I’m so excited about it. Hopefully more to come!

2. Where did you start when designing the artwork for this piece?

The first step for me, as I produce a design like this, is to map out where each of the color blocks is going to go. Just putting down the dividing lines, but not putting down colors or patterns yet. Once the space is divided into blocks, I’m happy with, I play a kind of visual sudoku as I place colors and patterns across the space. I always try to keep a good balance and distribution of the palette, so it’s fairly rare that two color blocks of the same color will be adjacent. Working with this particular design was really interesting, because we knew each jacket would be slightly different, so the pattern had to be cohesive no matter what section was pulled out. We wanted variations, but we wanted a good boundary, so that no one jacket would skew too heavily into any single color. It was a super fun puzzle to work with.

3. Can you walk us through the story behind the design?

The artwork in this piece is a unique combination of elements drawn from my personal library of shapes. I am always gathering new shapes and textures - sometimes drawing them digitally, sometimes drawing them by hand, and sometimes digitizing things I capture from the world around me. This library of patterns and colors has really become a fun system for me to play with. If I pull out any six colors and any six patterns, I’m not assured that I’ll have a finished piece, but I am almost certainly assured that with a few more tweaks, I’ll have a selection that I could run with as I design a new piece of work. The overall meaning for me of developing this system has been a study in when it’s worth really obsessing and overthinking something and when I just need to let go and let things happen organically. I have spent a lot of time developing my library, and developing that system has been worth overthinking and obsessing about. Once the library is well stocked though, I can just let go and let the elements of the library do what they want. That’s the expression of balance for me. Putting my focus where it matters as I develop the system, but then enjoying the fruits of that labor when things consistently snap together in fun and interesting ways.

4. Are there any small details in the artwork that people might not notice right away?

One of the elements of the design that I particularly like is that some of the black and white patterns were actually made by complete accident. In earlier days, transferring designs from my vinyl cutting software to a more traditional graphic design software was actually a bit of a challenge. When I used the tracing tool in the graphic design software, the settings weren’t quite right, so I got all kinds of weird lines and shapes instead of a clean, crisp trace of the intended design. I actually liked what I saw though, so instead of getting frustrated, I basically pushed the ‘mistakes’ further and further until I got a brand new pattern that I liked and could use. You can see this in the wavy black and white shapes that look a little bit like light shining on the bottom of a swimming pool.

5. How do you hope people feel when they wear this jacket?

I would love it if people felt pleasantly overwhelmed by the design - connecting with the details and colors, loving them, and finding little surprises every time they look at them. It’s a lot to look at! That kind of feeling where a person builds a longer and more personal relationship with the things they consume is a really important part of what I want my art to do. Buying fewer, higher quality items that people want to spend more time with is a really important strategy for resolving climate impact. My hope is that this jacket fosters a fun and joyous experience that will make people look forward to consuming less. The word ‘activism’ can sometimes get bogged down by associations of drab and joyless austerity. This jacket certainly isn’t that! Keeping this jacket even one season longer than you normally would is a great step towards preserving the natural places it’s meant to be used in, and I hope people have a fantastic time smiling through the miles as they do that.

6. How does being an active cyclist influence your approach?

I really enjoy the creative constraints that come as I apply my art to functional objects. Thinking about what colors I use and where they’re placed so that they wear well over time - thinking about how those pops of color will actually hide imperfections. Because this jacket is targeted towards commuters, mud is going to kick up! So I wanted to land on a design that would actually allow that to happen while still looking good for the long haul. I always like considering how people will actually use and live with my designs over time.

7. What’s next for you—any upcoming projects?

This year so far has been a ton of work that I’m very, very thankful for. Avona Bicycles is a new brand launching out of Germany, and I am super flattered that they asked me to produce designs that will be reproduced as limited editions for road and gravel - hopefully MTB as well. In May and June, I have an upcoming collaboration with Omnium out of Copenhagen, and those hand painted originals will then be distributed for sale at bike shops across Europe.  I will be at EuroBike at the end of June, so I’m really looking forward to meeting lots of new people and building more connections there. When I get back to the USA in July, I’ll have my first collection of larger flat paintings hanging in Seattle before teaching at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. The fall and winter are open for new projects, but I’m definitely feeling excited and optimistic that things will come up. None of this would be possible without all of the people who have followed my journey and supported me and shared my work with their friends. I definitely wake up every day feeling really, really lucky.

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