Yorkshire in Yellow: Art of the Grand Départ.

Since 1919, the overall leader of the Tour de France has worn the much-coveted maillot jaune - the yellow jersey. Initially chosen to be yellow to make the race leader stand-out (and because L’Auto, the race sponsor’s magazine, used yellow pages), it has become a symbol of the discipline and dedication needed to be crowned Tour champion.

Design curation platform, Made North, invited Naked London to contribute to their 2014 Yorkshire in Yellow exhibition, held at the Millennium Gallery during Sheffield Design Week. The exhibition celebrates the esteemed maillot jaune and the epic history of the race, as well as England as the host country for the Tour’s Grand Départ 2014.

Naked designers James Hayter and Lorenzo Fruzza submitted the two works below (click to zoom), which were chosen for the exhibition and displayed alongside a host of design legends, including Wim Crouwel, Margaret Calvert and Alan Kitching.

Lorenzo Fruzza’s on his work, “Le Grand Départ” (left above):
“As a cyclist myself, I wanted to create an energetic, fluid image to mirror cycling at it’s best. Brush pens create beautiful, imperfect and very human marks which help convey the very human passion and spirit that is at the very core of the Tour.”

James Hayter on his “21 Stages, 3,656KM, 22 Days” design (above, right):
“I was influenced by earlier art deco poster art – using exaggerated perspective lines and simplistic symmetrical forms. I wanted to highlight the tour rider’s precession and accuracy: the upright figure looks perfectly positioned and focused on the task at hand, effortlessly speeding through the 21 stages.”

At the exhibition, the designs will be printed onto T-shirts and suspended from the gallery ceiling to form the shape of a peloton. Find out more about the Art of the Grand Depart and see the other design submissions here.