2020 Vision: A Retrospective
In early March of 2020, a grainy black and white video of a skateboarder falling off his board was posted on instagram. It should mark the beginning of a series of bits and pieces related to this creative space we called Pravda – the Truth. Not disregarding its historical meaning, it was a word to encapsulate our fascination with the USSR, but also one that meant something completely different. As a way to give our inspiration a place in the world, Pravda became known as a creative collective of four students seeking a way to express and create without restriction or judgement.
Having just experienced Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse”, Pravda’s initial aesthetic was based on heavy grain and square black and white imagery. This was not to last however, and as we became allured by soviet filmmaking, a new look of Pravda emerged in line with our name. Excerpts from “Battleship Potemkin” and many other pieces from the 1920s were repurposed to form a music video and series of posts embodying and combining the sentiments of their and our times. At around this stage in early April Pravda’s logo came to be, influenced heavily by Alexander Rodchenko’s constructivist style of graphic design.
During a time marked by uncertainty and boredom, new concepts came and went, and as the world was slowly descending into madness, my interest was gradually drawn towards Hitchcock’s works in cinema. The visual identity of his and his contemporaries’ films took over the aesthetic of Pravda, and the idea for a collection was born. The eye had been linked to Pravda from the beginning, and this collection should manifest its link to truth as well as providing a metaphorical way to look into the future, embracing what it may hold for Pravda and the world. Starting off with hand-painted pieces including shirts, masks and bags, as well as unique concept pieces like a lab coat or denim jeans, the Vision collection provided a much-needed distraction from the routine of lockdown.
With works on designs and logistics continuing into July, content from photoshoots of friends and customers dominated Pravda’s creative output, until in September, under somewhat chaotic circumstances a preorder campaign was launched. An event introducing the collection was originally planned, but with tightening restrictions in the UK this soon seemed impossible. In October university recommenced, leaving us with less free time to create, and the Vision collection seemed to slide into obscurity.
Until now.
2020 Vision is hereby launched.