How I got STarted (part 2)

The competition that changed everything came out of nowhere, and I almost didn’t enter it.

It was run by a band called Massive Wagons. They were holding a t-shirt design contest for one of their songs, Sad Sad Song, with the winner getting their design turned into official merch. I was already a fan of the band so I was really excited to get involved, but I only found out about it late and didn’t have much time to put something together.

However, that bit of pressure turned out to be a blessing. I remembered seeing the band live at a lockdown gig back in 2020 and how much fun they clearly had on stage. They had a great sense of humour, and I wanted to reflect that in the design. That’s when the idea hit me: I could turn the band into Muppet-style characters. It felt playful, silly, and full of personality, just like the band themselves.

I managed to finish the drawing and submitted it just before the deadline, along with a short message explaining the concept. Four days later, I got a message from the band’s guitarist, Adam Thistlethwaite. I still remember what he said:

“Hey Freddie!!

Hope you are well mate! I’ll level with you, you didn’t win the comp… purely because your design was in a different league to all other entries, miles ahead. It’s just too good.

Instead, in a few weeks would we be able to commission you with a slight re-design of this image to use in a totally separate piece of merch? Something totally unrelated to this competition if you are up for it?

Let me know mate, we 100% want to make it work!”

That email was the start of everything. The design became the Muppets on Tour tee for the House of Noise tour the next year, and things really snowballed from there.

And the best part? It all began because I didn’t win a competition.