Try Harder

About This Work

For this piece I drew heavily from vintage tattoo flash motifs, and combined bold black forms, a limited color palette, symbolic imagery, and hand-drawn typography. Creating a design that feels both aggressive and humorous in it's composition. In this design, I used the distressed textures, and traditional tattoo elements — like the chest banner and strong man silhouette — to represent the themes of pressure, persistence, and the burnout of relentless self-improvement hustle culture. By balancing this humor and intensity, the piece evokes the stylistic qualities of mid-century design and traditional Americana tattoo culture.