Andy Gooch Artist collaboration

Andy Gooch – Andy Ultra

Andy Gooch

Andy Gooch, @ultra.andy , started his career as a freelance animator before setting up an animation studio in Leigh-on-Sea. He’s now started to grow new creative outlets and has developed a brand that he owns.

Andy’s illustrations are a release; it’s a way to put down his thoughts and try and share ideas no matter how weird they are. Cartoon hands feature heavily in his illustrations, which is related to his love of animation and that old school style of how they used to draw hands. The gloved hand style was adopted for black and white cartoons so the viewer could see where the character’s hands were at all times, even if they were in front of the body.

Andy Gooch

Hands are fascinating because you could move them in lots of different ways and make different shapes. Andy has experimented with combining his hand illustrations with other things. Such as the cactus illustration. The idea behind it was to contrast two opposing ideas of something peaceful but prickly.

In Andy’s nine to five he’s the creative director at Ultra Studio and finds it cathartic to illustrate with pen and paper to produce something handmade. AI keeps making more creative decisions in the design industry. AI is great for being able to generate lots of ideas quickly but it does take away from the enjoyment. Sketching an idea or drawing it out, even if it’s not perfect, is much more satisfying. From a viewer and creator’s perspective, it is much more enjoyable to draw it by hand.

All of the T-shirt designs in the first release are based on sketches by Andy. The illustration is tidied up using Adobe Illustrator, allowing little tweaks like altering a finger or thumb to make the finished product a little closer to how he intended. With each version of the same illustration there are variations. For example, the pot on the bottom of the cactus is very different to the painting, to the illustration, to the final T-shirt. It’s experimentation in those different worlds and mediums. When it comes to the final product, you make more thoughtful decision.

The final design ends up looking quite clean but from his perspective it has to come from a hand drawn place.

Andy Gooch

Super Ultra Cool separates itself from other T-shirt brands by prioritising the artists first, with the brand acting as a facilitator of that. Each artist brings their interpretation of the logo, colours and design, all coming directly from them. Constantly evolving, having no rigid structure to be followed. After production costs the artist and Super Ultra Cool will split the profits.

Andy sourced the T-shirts from a local printer because he wanted the brand to be as sustainable as possible. He believes that, if possible, people should spend a little more on clothing that will last longer. The Super Ultra Cool T-shirts are of high quality, so will be something you want to keep a hold of and be proud to own, like a poster from your favourite illustrator. Everything we make will be a short run with a unique design.

Andy Gooch

Andy set up Super Ultra Cool as he wanted to produce clothing he couldn’t find easily on the market. He is comfortable with making decisions and possibly mistakes, knowing that this is something he feels passionate about and is authentically his, or the collaborating artist’s, own work. Super Ultra Cool is giving people another avenue towards the arts whether that is introducing new people to new kinds of ideas or if it’s artists being able to get their thoughts and feelings out there. We consider ourselves as a skate brand and Andy believes skating and the arts have always very much been linked. His ambition is for the brand to reach more people so it can have a positive impact and people can enjoy the kind of clothing he makes.