DEREK ROBERTS

Art Direction and artwork by Derek Roberts

Collaboration with Lovepop

Statement from artist: :As I’ve grown, I’ve felt a deeper connection to nature, ancestors, and the African diaspora.

I read stories of enslaved Africans who hid seeds in their braids to plant in new lands, as a means of survival. Okra, Indigo and the Baobab trees are symbols of resilience, spirituality and community, while hummingbirds in Jamaica are seen as ancestral spirits. Sunflowers always turn towards the sun, symbolizing toughness and the ability to seek light. Pan-African colors reflected strength, unity and hope. These elements tell a story of hope, reminding us of the powerful legacy we carry.”

Coidwater Creek

Label Design by Derek Roberts

Unused crest exploration concepts

Graphic Design: Derek Roberts

SS22 Collection

Pattern Design by Derek Roberts

Collection Design by Christopher Bevans

Hand drawn illustrations

SS22 Bevans Tennis Collection

Pattern Design by Derek Roberts

Collection Design by Christopher Bevans

SS22 Collection

Pattern Design by Derek Roberts

Logo redesign

Astral Treats™ is an Oregon-based cannabis company inspired by the infinite possibilities of space and innovation.

Illustrations by Derek Roberts

A series of insect studies

FW21 Collection

Pattern Design by Derek Roberts

IIIustrations/ Artworking by Derek Roberts

Art Direction and artwork by Derek Roberts

Collaboration with Lovepop (unreleased)

Statement from the artist, Derek Roberts:
"My parents are from the Caribbean, so I grew up hearing stories of Black history. I always found the narratives of Black kings and queens engrossing — including the world of myths, legends, symbolism, and connections between humans and the earth.

The Yoruba tribe of the South West region of Nigeria captured my imagination with their colorful, eye-catching royal headdress, the Oba’s crown constructed of beads and cloth, with motifs of faces and birds. The crown embodies the intuition of the royal ancestor’s force and the great moral insight of the king. The faces are said to share destiny between a leader and his predecessors. The birds have parallel meanings of procreative power of life, and female power to counterbalance masculinity, as they mediate between heaven and earth. The crown’s colors of green, bronze, and gold are symbolic of the environment, while yellow is connected to the bringing of life and blue to the healing powers of water.

The headdress is a symbol of power, an homage to the Gods, the environment, and humanity. It’s the gift of empowerment through storytelling, and the knowledge your ancestors are always with you and will guide you."

Derek Roberts is a featured artist in Love Is Why by Ibrahem Hasan. Love is Why, is a visual limited edition book an ode to the mentors that helped shape Ibrahem life growing up in Chicago’s South Side.

SS21 Collection

Pattern Design by Derek Roberts

Artworks by Derek Roberts

Kids in nature.

A series of artworks exploring peoples interactions with nature.

medium paper collage

FW20 Collection

Pattern Design by Derek Roberts

A Study in Colour Measurement Geometry for SS20

Pattern Design by Derek Roberts

Apparel Design by Jon Deus ( https://descript.me/)

CALVIN KLEIN celebrated it’s 50th anniversary with a Limited Edition collection of 50 iconic styles, recognizable by the exclusive CK50 logo.

Pattern Design by Derek Roberts

The brief was to design a limited edition product sample pack, to inspire both customers and their sales teams. The designs showcased Avery Dennisons branding solutions for labels for Adidas.

The narrative of the packaging is around the idea of a “Playbook”, aesthetically each pack was tailored to illustrate a specific sporting category.

The box housing holds 6 sample books for 6 sporting categories:

RUNNING

TRAINING

HBS

CLASSIC

REEBOK

FOOTBALL

Each sample book, housed labels, badges and heat transfers.

Design by Derek Roberts

*DISCLAIMER * Brand marks in black were developed by Nike branding team. Apparel graphics developed by Derek Roberts

IIIustrations by Derek Roberts

Drawing inspiration from Oregon running, the Nike Lunar Tempo expresses ‘Oregon Homage’. The blue of the shoe’s upper is reminiscent of the Oregon flag, with the addition of yellow details. The green accents are a reflection of the greenery of the region. The retro-style logo on the tongue tag and side of the shoes pays homage to the State, the liner represents running culture and breathtaking scenery.

Direction and Graphics by Derek Roberts

Pendleton celebratory blanket to honour the 40th anniversary of Star Wars.

Direction and Design by Derek Roberts

This N7 collection “Spirit of Protection” features men’s and women’s apparel decorated with a graphic black-and-white hawk-feather print and turquoise accents across the range. Each piece is designed to keep athletes shielded from winter’s elements, with baselayers and outerwear.

Since its inception, the N7 collection has promoted the capacity of sport to encourage resilience against adversity. Through its ambassadors, including lacrosse player Lyle Thompson, basketball guard Jude Schimmel and musician and dancer Taboo (Black Eyed Peas), N7 seeks to inspire new generations to represent their culture and use sport as a positive agent for change.

Thompson, of the Onondaga Nation in upstate New York, is the inspiration behind the N7 Spirit of Protection Collection. His story reflects the "Dare to Rise" attitude inherent to all N7 ambassadors and the greater drive to inspire and enable Native American and Aboriginal youth in North America to participate in sport and physical activity.

It could be said that Thompson’s athletic path was predestined. The youngest of lacrosse’s famously formidable Thompson Brothers, he was born into the hawk clan, which, along with his spirit animal, the eagle, inform his native name: Deyhahsanoondey. Signifying “He is flying over us,” the designation inspired the athlete’s spontaneous play, characterized by leaping one-handed and backhand shots, and unexpected passes.

In Thompson’s view, the hawk is one of nature’s stronger, smarter animals, but more importantly the bird possesses intuition and vision. “[A hawk] has great vision, like myself; I have vision when I play the game. I’m someone who sees the field really well.”

Design by Derek Roberts

Direction and Design by Derek Roberts

Whether on canvas or a run, NYC artist and runner Rostarr doesn’t have much use for the straight and narrow. The fluidity and rhythm he finds on New York’s streets runs rampant over the patterns he created for the Nike X Rostarr collection—perfectly capturing the energy of running in the city.

I worked with Rostarr to bring his work to life on a Limited Edition New York Running Collection.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blanket

Taking center stage is BB-8, a gentle astromech droid. The BB-8 blanket features a palette of orange fading to blue, a sunset against the desert sand of Jakku. These hues pay homage to the planet where BB-8’s journey began in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Star Wars: Rogue One Blanket

“Star Wars: Rogue One” uses dark tones to symbolize Darth Vader’s evil reputation. He’s seen lurking in the background while the Imperial Death Star looms over the Resistance Forces, with new characters Jyn, K-2SO and Cassian.

Direction and Design by Derek Roberts

1977 is a year that forever changed our perception of space, adventure and heroism. This was the year Star Wars : A New Hope was released, in commemoration, Pendleton has created a limited edition set of blankets. There are 4 designs, each in a batch 1977,  hand-numbered series of 1,977. Each design is available as a single blanket, or as part of a matched-number set of four for the ultimate Star Wars collector.

Star Wars: A New Hope Blanket

Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, even Darth Vader are featured in this limited edition Pendleton blanket. Inspired by a 1977 poster for the original Star Wars film, the design depicts the beginning of Luke's journey as he learns the ways of the Force.

Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back Blanket

After the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire has regrouped—with Darth Vader leading the hunt for Luke Skywalker. The infamous villain is flanked by two storm troopers, with subtle silhouettes at the bottom depicting Yoda, C3PO, R2-D2 and Imperial AT-AT Walkers.

Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi

As Han Solo famously said, "Hang onto your fur—we're going to pop into light speed." This limited edition Pendleton blanket is both the most subtle and dynamic of the four, depicting the Millennium Falcon, X-wing starfighters, TIE fighters and the Death Star. The motion and dimensionality is palpable as the vehicles power through hyperspace.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blanket

Kylo Ren is the main focus of this blanket, joined by Chewbacca, TIE fighters and BB-8 droid.
Vibrant red ombré is a nod to the Dark Side (and the color of the lightsabers used by Darth Vader and the Siths). The sunset tones are equally rich on the back of the blanket, which features the image's inverse.

Design and Direction by Derek Roberts

illustration and Design by Derek Roberts

Nike LeBron 12PE "Veteran's Day" shoe was an athlete exclusive. I designed the flag pattern decorating the shoe.

The footwear piece was a tribute to veteran's, he wore them during a Cavs versus the Nuggets game .

The pattern I designed was recoloured for the '4th July' edition.

Graphics by Derek Roberts

Innovation meets tradition within this Nike N7 Holiday 2013 Collection featuring a collaboration between Nike and Pendleton Woolen Mills.

When sketching out the initial artwork for the blanket, Nike N7 Collection Designer Derek Roberts looked to traditional Native American dress for inspiration, specifically how patterns work together to create a garment. He started at the bottom of the blanket, with a smaller pattern of arrows that repeats and grows in scale towards the center and is a mirror-image pattern from top to bottom.   Roberts also took visual inspiration from Nike Flyknit, with the PWM Nike N7 Blanket's woven wool fabric mixing to create unique color tones and shapes. Adding a unique twist to the traditional Pendleton Woolen Mills blanket designs, which often feature a multitude of colors, he made the decision to use only black and white. The result is a distinctive, contrast-driven look that subtly blends black and white to create rich gray tones that appear both heathered and color-blocked throughout the design. 

“The goal with the artwork for the Nike N7 Pendleton Woolen Mills Blanket was to bridge the gap between heritage-based, traditional style and current trends in a way that would inspire the entire Nike N7 Holiday 2013 collection,” Roberts said.

The center of the blanket design prominently features the Nike N7 mark—three arrows pointing back to signify past generations, three arrows pointing forward to signify future generations, and arrows in the center to represent the current generation. The arrows sometimes appearing as triangles or other shapes, convey both movement and balance.  The blanket is reversible for a positive/negative visual effect, with a black base on one side and white on the other, and includes the iconic blue Pendleton Woolen Mills badge with black and cream Nike N7 label. 

Design and Graphics by Derek Roberts

A love of basketball unites Native American and Aboriginal communities and provides a steady pulse that resonates from court to court and generation to generation. The popularity of the sport among Native youth continues to rise, as they set the stage to move their generation and inspire the next.

    This is the first time the N7 collection has included Jordan products and the result fuses the Jordan Brand’s performance and classic style with N7’s commitment to enable Native youth to be active through the power of sport.

“Jordan turned his weaknesses into strengths and allowed his failures to motivate him toward future success. He also refused to be satisfied with just ‘winning’ but reapplied himself every year in order to find new ways to improve and succeed. The willingness to pursue his potential is what produced so many championships and gold medals. It's what inspired me to never hold back and pursue my own potential, and it continues to inspire Native youth today.”

 The pinnacle of a journey that started in 2001, Abby Wambach netted her 159th international goal in a match against Korea in June, surpassing Mia Hamm's all-time mark of 158. Celebrating this remarkable feat, Nike created a custom pair of '159' Mercural Vapor IX cleats for Abby to wear in tonight's friendly against Mexico.

A crimson to white gradient effect was used on the skin of the upper, with custom graphics on the heel, insoles and laces in black.

Direction and Graphics by Derek Roberts

Traditional design elements from Northwest Coastal art are used throughout the N7 KD 7 for the HO14 N7 Collection. The Raven, known as the bringer of light as well as a powerful storyteller and teacher. The design is grounded in black and red to reflect traditional Northwest Coastal art. Gold accents are used to signify the seventh anniversary of N7.

Direction and Graphics by Derek Roberts

Traditional design elements from Northwest Coastal art are used throughout the HO14 N7 Collection. The Raven, known as the bringer of light as well as a powerful storyteller and teacher, is highlighted as well as the Frog, known for its knowledge and adaptability to live both in water and on land. All of the designs are grounded in black and red to reflect traditional Northwest Coastal art. Gold and silver accents are used to signify the seventh anniversary of N7.

Direction and Graphics by Derek Roberts

Direction and Design by Derek Roberts

Drawing inspiration from a famed altitude-training locale, the Nike Zoom Air Pegasus 33 ‘Mammoth Lakes’ shows true Pegasus pedigree. The earthy green of the shoe’s upper is reminiscent of the landscape the Californian town is nestled in, and the blue accents and outsole reflect the pristine lakes of the region. The retro-style logo on the tongue tag pays homage to the popular skiing location that dominates the scenery – Mammoth Mountain.

Direction and Design by Derek Roberts

In 16 minutes in the Summer of 2015, U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Carli Lloyd became a household name, earning a social media callout from the President of the United States and an invite to numerous national morning shows. The accolades followed Lloyd’s heroic performance in the Women's World Cup final, wherein she scored three goals in those above-mentioned 16 minutes, leading her team to the championship, netting her the tournament’s MVP award and defining her as the first player ever to score a hat trick in the women’s tournament final (and only the second player to accomplish the feat in either the men's or women’s finals).

It was a seminal feat, worthy of celebration. But what may have been missed by a number of Lloyd’s new fans was that her performance was merely the latest chapter in a progressive and impressive career defined by unremitting hard work and triumph. In soccer circles, Lloyd is renowned for her relentless skill repetition and year-round dedication that began when she first stepped onto a pitch at the age of five. Combining this commitment with her innate talent, Lloyd has carved out a senior national team career that kicked off on July 10, 2005 and comprises more than 200 international caps, 79 international goals and a spectacular Women's World Cup championship. 

In honor of this impressive trajectory, which includes Lloyd’s eight-year legacy as a Nike athlete, Nike introduced a special-edition Mercurial Superfly “Leave Your Legacy” boots. Limited Edition 20 pairs produced. I designed the cleat graphics

Graphics by Derek Roberts

Design and IIlustrations by Derek Roberts

Design by Derek Roberts

Direction and Design by Derek Roberts

Prints and Design by Derek Roberts