Meet the designer of our latest collection, our favourite Czech graphic designer Vratislav Pecka, who is telling us a little about himself, the PosterLad project and how the the collab pattern was born.

Tell us a bit about yourself, what are you up to these days?

Hi! My name is Vratislav Pecka, I am a digital designer/artist from Prague, although I have been living in Amsterdam for the past two years. Starting April I have decided to become a full time artist. No client's work anymore. I am always open to collaborations with amazing brands such as Ykra though!

When did you start Posterlad? What’s the aim of the project? How did it change during the years?

I started making posters for the PosterLad project in 2016. I have not had any goals with it in the beginning. I just wanted to create things that I enjoy making and posted them on Instagram. Over the years it became somewhat popular on social media and it grew into something much bigger. Like I said, I have just made a career switch into becoming a fulltime artist as I really believe pursuing an artist career is much more exciting and rewarding. In the past almost five years I can tell my style (and skills) has evolved quite significantly. I do not like to stick with one particular style for too long so there is no guarantee on what I will do tomorrow. That is the thing that keeps the fun in it for me.

Where did you first meet with YKRA?

I think it was an Instagram ad! I immediately fell in love with the brand as Ykra's products are also all about some good old times nostalgia, which is something I also carry with me a lot and it also reflects my work very often. I have ordered a couple of products right away. It was also the only time I reached out to a brand asking for potential collab. It worked out! And I am so happy about the final result.

What was your source of inspiration, when you made the pattern for YKRA?

My work is inspired by the Bauhaus school and some of it is also quite minimalist. These are the two aspects I have also used for the pattern design for Ykra. I used colors that reflect that nostalgia I mentioned earlier. Overall, I think it works well together. It was also during a couple of calls I had with Balázs where we both agreed we have the same perspective on what we want to achieve with the design. It was an instant click! We did not really have to explain to each other what our ideas are because we both thought very similar things.

What do you like most about pop art and the 70’s?

I very much enjoy pop art in general. I really like the style of Tom Wesselmann's art. Works from Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol or Mel Ramos are the ones I love the most.

What’s your favourite piece from the collection?

My personal favourite is the Fanny Pack. I actually started wearing it immediately after receiving it from Ykra! My wife loves the Matra Mini and she also wears it wherever she goes.

What are your plans, what’s coming up for you? 

I will just keep designing more posters and hopefully make some more collaborations with Ykra in future. I think we all enjoyed working on this together and it would be a shame if we did not give it another shot!