Sir Face Designs

More shots from the Brooklyn shoot

2010-09-23T17:07:00.001-07:00

Some Brooklyn pics

2010-09-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

Vendor of the week for September 9 2010 at Artists and Fleas

2010-09-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Yay, my first write up at my first non street establishment

http://artistsandfleas.com/2010/09/graphic-t-shirts-williamsburg-vendor-of-the-week-pigeon-be-pigeon.html

Vendor of the Week: Pigeon Be Pigeon

September 9, 2010

in Vendor of the Week
sir face

Everyone gets a turn at being the “new guy” at one point in time. Simon Hyun from Pigeon Be Pigeon aka Sir Face Designs is a Bronx-born artist who designs his graphic screens for T-shirts, hoodies, housewares and more as a riff on life in the Big Apple. He came across us in Williamsburg a few weeks back, dug in his heels and has quickly become part of the family – as his mugging for the camera shows.

Artists & Fleas: Tell us about you and your collection.
Simon: It is an urban/ NYC themed line. It started out as just needing subject matter for my screen printing class that snowballed into this weird pigeon obsession… or new found appreciation – whichever!

A&F: What makes you decide that a design is T-shirt worthy?
Simon: Most of the time, it is just a lot of trial and error. Something stencils would just be sitting on the screen until a friend of mine would be like “alright, this is funky.” I would play around with a small print run and see how the public reacts and adjust the design from their opinions

A&F: Do your designs reflect your personal style of do you mostly consider what your consumers would want?
Simon: It is a little bit of both. Pigeons chill wherever, do what they got to do and move on to the next day. We live in a great city – people shouldn’t make it a corny, cliche “I Love New York” shirt. Instead – try approaching it with why you love the city without actually saying it – in this case, pigeon shirts!

pigeon be pigeonA&F: Where are you from originally? Does this have an influence on your products?
Simon: I was born and raised in the Bronx. The daily stabbings, shootings and violence in general forced me to look to pigeons for a better answer.

A&F: What makes you want to sell your line in Williamsburg?
Simon: I feel that people in Williamsburg are open to things that are quirky and sometimes a little funky. Also I feel like that they are open to some weird guy selling pigeon shirts.

A&F: What is your favorite part about selling at Artists & Fleas?
Simon: Hands down, the AC (and the tunes)! Selling outside on a hot summer day sucks. The great people in the neighborhood are nice, but the creature comforts are clutch!

A&F: Who and what do you draw inspiration from?
Simon: Inspiration comes directly from the city I portray on my shirts. You walk down any street in New York and the amount of crazy randomness is amazing. From the aggression between a cab and biker, to the late night train rides home in all their drama and even a pigeon perching on a head of a cherub on the outside of some building.

A&F: Your customers: who are they and what do they do for fun?
Simon: Many of my customers are either tourists who envision the pigeon as the New York mascot. Others are animal or bird lovers who don’t just see pigeons as “rats with wings” as most New Yorkers do. Sometimes you get the crumbs, other days you find the loaf – and sometimes some punk sparrow runs off with your only meal. They all love the city with the same enthusiasm. As for what they like to do, I am taking a wild stab in the dark – but I assume it is something involving beer, dancing, music, concerts and steamed broccoli.

A&F: If you weren’t designing T-Shirts, what would you be doing?
Simon: I’d be complaining aboout how much I hate my job and how much time it takes away from designing. Nah, but really – I love to screen print and if it wasn’t on T-Shirts it would probably be more of an artistic approach – creating stencils and filling it with watercolor and/ or acrylic. Maybe in the future…

A&F: Anything else you’d like us to know?
Simon: Chuck Norris checks under his bed for me!

Spar with Simon, enjoy the creature comforts & play with pigeons this Saturday & Sunday in Williamsburg, Brooklyn from 12-8pm.

Upright 3d Pigeon Print in Gremercy

2010-09-06T00:21:00.001-07:00

Red And Blue With The City Imposed

2010-08-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Charcoal Sketch Print

2010-08-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

Skyline Print Onto A Racerback Tri Blend From American Apparel

2010-08-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Playing With My Friends New Camera

2010-08-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

Word Spit Music Video Rocking the Pigeon!

2010-08-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

WordSpit Hello Goodmorning Performance @ Crash Mansion from Town Cryer on Vimeo.

Pigeon Be Pigeon Worn At Brooklyn Fashion Show From WordSpit

2010-08-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

The City Bird

2010-02-14T13:47:00.000-08:00

The image is a picture of Bowery street looking up from Canal street within the silhouette of a Pigeon.

This must be what pigeons of New York see when perched on the top of a high rise looking over their urban jungle. The photograph of the bird as well as the cityscape are original photos I've taken in the city

Logo Design On White

2009-12-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

Just another color variation to the image that kind of started this whole pigeon obsession. A simple black logo on a white t shirt, looks just like my business cards and people grab those up like mad, maybe subconsciously they'll buy the matching shirt, Hah! Ugh, I need more sleep...

Birds Of A Feather

2009-12-26T10:54:00.000-08:00

This sketch of a pigeon came about during one of my many late night rides from the studio to my home in the Bronx. I had it shot onto a screen for the longest time but never thought it was shirt worthy until my friend Luis came across a test print of a shirt I made with this stencil. So we messed around with the arrangements of the screens and came up with this sort of design. I must say, he has a natural eye for design, the results came out great. If it wasn't for his second take on this bird, this design would never have seen another light. I finally understand the importance of all those critique sessions at the end of all those art classes. I just wish I took them more seriously. Thanks Luis!

Brooklyn Pidge

2009-12-10T18:39:00.000-08:00

So I was thinking, the Brooklyn Bridge looks like an edge of a building in perspective. So I i placed a silhouette of a pigeon in a dark area of the bridge and Bam! Magic... This shirt though goes in another direction than my other shirts. An oversized print with a lot going on in the shirt, just trying to mix things up and be a little unpredictable. Ahem, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The Start Of Something Wild

2009-11-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

I was taking a couple of pics of the Brooklyn Bridge when out from the corner of my eye I saw something moving. I turned to my right and saw a bird walking along the steel beams under the bridge. I saw it as a perfect metaphor for our city, place soaring with geometric shapes towering into the sky only to have its silhouette broken up by the organic shape of a pigeon. This picture is what started my whole fascination with these birds and inspired me to always bring my camera around for these kinds of candid shots. Even made it the logo for my shirts.

A True New York Pigeon

2009-11-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

As we all know, Pigeons are all over the world. None have more attitude than the ones in New York. Don't know what this guys problem is, at least he still has all his toes.

Christmas Pigeon

2009-11-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

These pics just looked festive. It's funny how in both the angles of these photos, the pigeon has the exact same pose. These were taken on the border between Chinatown and Little Italy somewhere on Elizabeth Street.

Pics From The Camera Phone

2009-11-29T22:50:00.000-08:00

I was walking around one sunday afternoon looking for an open hardware store, which by the way doesn't exist in Brooklyn apparently, just trying to get some nails , everything was closed, everything! even the 24 hours stores, I mean come on... Anyway, I just moved into the new studio and was also trying to familiarize myself with the area. Besides it being just another ordinary line of birds, It was those triangles and rectangles that caught my eye. Similar to my pic under the Brooklyn Bridge, just another geometric composition, with pigeons!

This one just looked cool.

Pigeons On Wires.

2009-11-29T17:17:00.000-08:00

Soho Before...

Soho After...

If you're wondering why there's a random albino pigeon, here it is. So as I was taking pics of the pigeons packed onto the two wires, notice how there is only one white pigeon among all of them and it was the only bird that flew over to my direction almost to my feet. I greeted the pigeon with a couple of pictures but couldn't get over how of all the pigeons on the wire, the only white one there flew over to me. I took it as a sign and was slightly frightened...

War

2009-11-29T17:12:00.001-08:00

We all know who's going to win this skirmish. This picture was taken the moment before drama ensued. Just an ordinary picture of birds being fed, but this particular story raised my eyebrow.

Ladies Queen Logo Shirt

2009-11-26T18:19:00.000-08:00

One of the simple shirts sporting a little pigeon logo. Minimal but still eye catching from the contrasting colors. Kind of makes me wonder if I should print a guys version of this shirt with a King of hearts or maybe even diamonds. I don't want to avoid the clubs, but I feel like it would be one of those "kiss me I'm Irish shirts" with a pigeon... I think I'll pass.

Pigeon Button Montage

2009-11-23T02:11:00.000-08:00

Just a montage of the creation of a little pigeon button. Looked pretty cool on iphoto every time I scrolled down and saw it in uniformed tiles. Call it OCD...

The Bomb Squad

2009-11-23T01:53:00.000-08:00

Started out as an inside joke between a couple of co workers until I came across a precinct downtown that was actually part of the bomb squad. So naturally, I felt like some stars aligned and this was destiny. I just replaced a lot of the original graphics from the actual bomb squad crew to a pigeon theme.

Walking Pigeon Logo

2009-11-22T21:34:00.000-08:00

The mascot to my entire pigeon Tshirt line, this image derived from a pic that was taken under the Brooklyn Bridge. As I was taking some perspective shots, I couldn't help but to notice a silhouette of a bird walking among all the beams. I turned my camera and took a few quick snap shots and the rest is history.

Same Old Stuff With A Face Lift

2009-11-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

I've decided to re edit a couple of my previous designs to make them stand out a little bit among a sea of posts on etsy. Some new things that have been introduced into all the shirts going forward are labels with a little pigeon within a circle and all shirts are now printed on American Apparel Tee's. No more Fruit Of The Loom crap.

Men's Pigeon Around the collar

Men's Upright Pigeon

Pigeon around the collar for women

The Upright Pigeon design for women

Geisha Pattern Print

2009-07-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

One color repeat pattern of a geisha illustration.

Ronald Being Ronald

2009-05-06T10:12:00.002-07:00

Pretty self explanatory...

Pigeon Around Collar

2009-05-06T10:12:00.001-07:00

Same pigeon different pose who knew these birds were so photogenic.

Upright Pigeon

2009-05-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

One screen two color print for a red and blue "3D" look before the glasses are worn.

Over The Shoulder Topography Print

2009-05-06T10:02:00.001-07:00

Over sized print that goes up the length of the shirt down the other side, inspired by a topographical map.

Nike Custom: Dissolve

2008-09-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

Hand painted on a Nike Dunks Low sneaker.

Nike Customs: Linked Bubbles

2008-09-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hand painted on a Nike Dunks Low sneaker.