When Threadless wrote to ask me if I was interested in designing some shirts for Peanuts it took me a while to peel myself off the ceiling. I mean, who wouldn’t. I grew up watching Charlie, Snoopy and the gang. From the wahwah teachers, to the mischievous tricks Snoopy played, I have so many happy memories of watching the cartoon. That said, I’d not seen it for years – with the exception of the Holiday special. (I own a mini version of the Christmas tree). I spent three whole weekends watching DVDs and sketching.

It’s pretty touch to take something you hold so dear and mess about with it. All the characters look a certain way, and if you don’t draw them in that way, the start to look like something else. It literally was a tough nut to crack and whilst I was happy with the first round of designs, I could’ve carried on forever. I ended up coming up with over ten designs in total. From a Christmas Sweater design to series of emoticons representing Charlie’s extreme emotions.

One of the stipulations was “no mashups”, so there are many censored designs in the sketch pad that will never see the light of day.

All in all I really enjoyed working on the challenge, and if none of the designs ever see themselves onto the front of a tee shirt, I’ll still be over the moon for getting the opportunity to work with characters who feel like old friends, just like the Simpsons and the Skywalkers!