This project was a collaboration with Socks with a Cause to support Hamada Sho’s new cookbook. The task was to design socks that directly portrays or symbolically expresses the word zaki, which means yummy.

This was my first time designing socks or any kind of merch, so the hardest part was that it was all new to me. I had to figure out the sock template and understand which side was which. I also had to make sure everything was vectorized.

My first drawing of Hamada was made in Krita with lots of details, so turning it into a vector without losing its warmth was tricky. Vector images are not very detailed, but I think I did a good job. to highlight the details and make them more visible on socks I layered a colored vector version with an outline version to add a black outline around Hamada’s drawing.

Not only did I experiment with vectorizing the illustration and working with vector shapes, but this project also gave me a chance to explore how to express zaki through typography, design, and colors. I made the word zaki colorful because Hamada’s work is all about smiles and kids enjoying food. His drawing is based on a real picture of him that I found on TikTok.

This was my first time drawing a well known social media presence, working on a pro illustration, and making something for merch. It was a challenge, but I gave it my best!