The menswear brand Psycho Bunny debuts a new T-shirt Thursday at its store in NorthPark Center in Dallas. And it found the designer for its new line of T-shirts about 30 miles to the west.
The brand tapped illustrator Matt Cliff for its artist series, a creative collaboration to highlight local artists.
"The Psycho Bunny Artist Series is an ode to their love of the cities and cultures that inspire their brand," the company said in a news release. The collaboration with Cliff is the third in the series.
"I'd seen it around. They reached out to me and I did a little more research on what their company was about, and I felt like we mirrored each other as far as our interest in letting people express themselves," Cliff said.
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The brand's trademark logo of a bunny skull atop crossbones looked and felt similar to the juxtaposition Cliff likes to use in his illustrations
"You're like, 'this is familiar to me, but it's a little different,' and I gotta look at it a little longer," he said.
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The illustrator drew then painted a mural in the fitting room of the NorthPark store, a colorful painting with Texas flair.
"The central point of the design is, it's kind of like a horse, like a horse up on its hind legs, almost Will Rogers style but the horse's head is the Psycho Bunny logo," Cliff said.
That design will now be featured on limited edition graphic T-shirts that go on sale starting Thursday at the NorthPark store and online.
"It's great exposure and for an independent artist. You can't really ask for much more than to be in front of as many people as possible creating art and doing things not necessarily by the book, it's not the easiest living in the world. So when we get an opportunity to work with a legitimate brand, like Psycho Bunny, you kind of jump at it," Cliff said.
Cliff started drawing at the age of 15 when the Denton-based polka band Brave Combo took him up on his offer to draw the group an album cover for free.
His first paid job came at the age of 19 and his art is now seen on album covers, posters and merchandise for world-renowned musicians, including fellow Fort Worth native Leon Bridges.
In fact, Cliff says he's currently working on a new project with Bridges.
"He's been my go-to guy lately which is nice because we're both North Texas guys. So, we try and keep it in the family," Cliff said.
And while he works on his next collaboration with Bridges and the other projects he's juggling, he will also take time to sit back and see who's wearing the new Psycho Bunny T-shirt.
"I'm excited to be able to go out and see people wearing my T-shirt, that never gets old. Never gets old. Seeing people in the stuff you make. So, super excited about it," he smiled.
