Yellow Ranger Merch Design
I was recently contacted by Chef Jeremy Young from one of Austin’s most beloved elevated bar food concepts to produce a flexible graphic for T-shirts and other merchandise. This was a particularly special request, as Chef Jeremy was one of the earliest champions of my work and played a major role in kickstarting my career with the Tatsu-Ya Food Group. I was super stoked to work with him again. It felt great collaborating with someone who trusted my work enough to simply let me run with an idea and create whatever I thought would be fun, without any strict guidelines.
So why Yellow Ranger? Chef Jeremy, a Chinese American, wanted to create the highest-end bar food he possibly could while maintaining a dedicated, well-functioning staff. He's been breaking just about every service industry stereotype, focusing instead on what creates long-term success and a cult following: good pay, high-quality food and service, trust, involving the whole team in creating menu items, and all the while having a ton of fucking fun doing it.
So let's address the name and the imagery. Chef Jeremy is a punk rocker and wild man at heart, and his passion, edge, and fearlessness in challenging social norms and stigmas bleed into everything he does. Yellow Ranger, as most millennials remember it, is a reference to Trini Kwan from the '90s hit TV show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. While the show never explicitly identifies her ethnicity, many viewers associated the character with being Chinese or Chinese American because of her surname and casting, making her one of the few Asian superheroes many kids saw on television at the time. Chef Jeremy thought it would be funny and provocative to reclaim what many people now view as an outdated—and possibly racist—casting choice. He was later disappointed to learn the character was eventually recast with someone of a different race.
The sentiment here is that, while it may seem odd or even feel like a racist trope today, for some young Chinese Americans like Chef Jeremy, it was one of the few pieces of representation they had growing up. In some ways, he wanted to reclaim it with a sense of pride, a little edge, and, most importantly, humor.
I can personally relate to that sentiment because I have a Speedy Gonzales tattoo for similar reasons. While he's understandably viewed by many today as a racist stereotype, he was my hero growing up on the South Texas border, where I often felt distant from mainstream American culture and rarely saw people like me represented. I know that isn't everyone's experience, including everyone who grew up like Chef Jeremy and I did, but I can appreciate the fearlessness and humor in reclaiming something that once felt meaningful, especially from someone who has personally experienced racism.
This was a great opportunity for me to go all in on the illustration. I used a combination of freehand drawing for the helmet, flames, and title design, but I also took the time to painstakingly trace Austin's skyline using loose pen strokes. I wasn't sure if it would end up being used, but I figured it'd be a cool element to have in my back pocket. Turns out, it worked out pretty well.
The message represents the calm, cool, and collected mindset you have to maintain during a kitchen rush. More than that, it's meant to remind people to stay calm and steadfast in pursuing their goals, no matter what challenges the world throws at them.
If you made it this far, thanks for tagging along. Go check out Yellow Ranger at 5420 Airport Blvd in Austin, TX. Follow them at @yellowrangeratx on Instagram for a great cultural culinary ride. Lastly, chech out this great interview with Chef Jeremy Young at Bold Journey!
Last three photos are credited to: Ukiyo Photo, Lauren Corbin-Nieto
