Happy 2020! We're very excited for the start of this new year, so to kick things off we sat down with Spencer Johnson, founder and designer of Classic State for a quick Q&A!
Why did you create the Classic State brand?![]()
Originally, I created sota clothing, where we focused on Minnesota clothing and gear. After the success of sota we decided to take what we learned and create Classic State. We create these timeless, clean, simple graphics to showcase each state in the US.
Tell us a little about your design process for CS...
For Classic State, we really looked into each state, we tried to learn a little bit about each of them and pull those elements into the design. So for example, the year the state was established or something that state is known for. Then we played around and incorporated those elements into our signature clean, simple design for the patches.
What are your top 3 favorite designs in the CS line?
First off, I love the Liberty Snapback from our USA Collection. It’s such a clean and simple design. We also collaborated with some designers from WI and OR to create some new designs. Zack Johnson from Milwaukee designed the WI Dairyland Snapback and Jordan Mahaffey from Portland designed the Oregon Axe graphic that can be found as a hat, decal, and patch!
I enjoyed collaborating with them and the designs turned out great. Definitely two of my favorites.
What’s in store for Classic State in 2020?
Right now, we’re working on a new USA Collection. We’ll actually be adding t-shirts, hoodies, and some new hat designs. We hope to have that line launched before the 4th of July, it works out perfectly for the upcoming summer Olympics. You’ll be able to rep your county with the different clothing and designs we’re creating!
We’re also working on stickers, we’ll be using the graphics from our hats and decals to create the stickers. They’ve been very popular at sota so we’re excited to be able to offer some fun new products for Classic State as well!
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Spencer!