Krink Print & Design 0 Artikel

Krink Print & Design

If you combine KR with ink, you get KRINK. That’s the brand name of artist Craig Costello’s (also known as KR) company who started selling his own markers about 20 years ago in NYC-based store Alife. Since then, KRINK has collaborated with top brands such as Nike, Levi’s, Carhartt, Casio, Incase, Colette, Burton, and the list goes on and on. To tell the story of KRINK, you need to hear the story of KR, an entrepreneur who learned everything the hard way. KR grew up in Queens in the ‘80s surrounded by graffiti writers, skaters, punks and B-boys. Graf was a part of the attitude as much as it was the landscape. Everything was very DIY: steal paint, illegal spots, make markers, emphasize your style, experiment with multiple tools and methods. When train-bombing died in the late 1980s, writers became more mobile and so styles and tools changed accordingly. Homemade markers that had been the norm were too messy to carry and homemade inks faded in the sun. Pilot-brand silver paint markers became the tool of the trade yet in many ways couldn’t meet this new generation of artist’s very specific needs. In the early ‘90s KR moved to San Francisco. The scene he found there was thriving, yet different. Most writing took place in parking lots and specified spots. He arrived with a whole different attitude regarding materials and styles. Ignoring designated areas, he used the streets of SF as his very own research and development lab, experimenting with a lot of different tools and techniques to create bigger, drippy marker tags. He also began making his own inks, allowing him to get up bigger, bolder and, now armed with an endless supply of ink, much, much more. From these trials and errors, KR’s ink, or KRINK, was created. He shared his concoction with a few friends and soon its silver markings dominated the city. In 1998 KR returned to New York and brought KRINK back with him. Before long, its signature style was covering the streets of NY as well. This was around the same time writers began realizing they didn’t need to trade in their lifestyle in order to make a living. The Alife store had just opened and was quickly becoming a mecca for young artists…