Kings From Queens
2018
| Piece Stats |
|---|
| - Approx. 1850 pieces |
| - 5.4 lbs |
| - 17" L x 15.7" H x 2.5" W |
Honoring the two M.C.’s and one D.J. from Hollis, Queens, we replicated the logo that came to signify the strength and power of their rhymes and relationships, which fueled their rise to stardom and a place in the history books as one of the seminal groups in hip-hop.
Fun fact - the logo was created by Stephanie Nash, who was then an in-house designer at Island Records. The mark first appeared on the cover of the My Adidas/Peter Piper single from their 1986 album Raising Hell.
As with all projects, and this being our very first, finding the correct scale in order to articulate the mark with appropriate detail was important - here’s the rough way we accounted for that, by throwing a LEGO graph paper image and the logo into Photoshop, stretching and condensing until we discovered the right size for the design.
Designing in stud.io, trying to find the right technique and math to achieve angles and curvature of the letterforms.
After forming the letters, the focus was then on finding secure connections between the letterforms to make it one sturdy piece.
Following the digital model and building the letterforms - the process wasn’t the smoothest, since the letterforms were built first and the black negative space came in after, meaning some disassembly mid-build had to happen.
The model was built in horizontal sections, to make it easy to disassemble for travel.
The original model was completed in January 2018. The design was identical on both sides, but as time passed, the piece still felt incomplete. In September 2019, we remixed one side to honor the man on the boards, Jason Mizell, a.k.a. Jam Master Jay.
