Vector Τ shirt Designs for TheOceanCleanup.com

 May 30 - June 3, 2025

The last week in May was a good week for design! After all the research and Google Sheets I made in March to help me memorize the locations of the Ocean Cleanup vessels and barriers around the world, I finally feel like that research has paid off with some beautiful and simplified vector art designs. Thank you to Adobe Illustrator, for always being my go to for vector art illustration for over twenty years.

Here are the results! Please see my previous post for more info on this project. Visit TheOceanCleanup.com to learn more about how you can help remove 90% of the world's floating ocean plastics by 2040. 

Donate to my fundraiser for the Ocean Cleanup by clicking here. 

Thank you! -Colleen

This work eventually lead to an additional 3rd design idea, with the 2 ships from System 3 that clean The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and the Retention Zone that captures the plastic.

Design 3: System 3 with Retention Zone full of plastic and fish underneath

I updated the design of the camera skiffs with solar panels which float on top of the Retention Zone netting or plastic capturing bag. It was interesting to learn that the white buoys which make up the circle at the front of System 3 are HUGE! About 3 men (or women!) could sit on top of them like riding a horse. The yellow buoys on the Retention Zone are smaller. Something you could pick up in your hands, like a large beach ball. The camera skiffs are also quite large, like a small raft that 4 people could stand on top of.

I then added the flags of the Netherlands 🇳🇱, where The Ocean Cleanup was founded by Boyan Slat and corporate headquarters currently reside, and the flag of Norway 🇳🇴 for the Maersk shipping company that makes the vessels. I added lights to the front of the vessels, and it made me think of Pixar. Lights are important!

This panoramic image would make a great recycled polyester beach towel. Many companies now used recycled plastic in their apparel, often 50 % recycled combined with 50% organic cotton, creating a soft and comfortable new product.

The marshmallow looking objects are actually satellite communication devices inside a marshmallow-shaped, weatherproof shell from Cobham Sat Marine.

Image from System 2 Team by Sailor Cobham Communications Device

Design 3 with lights, flags & motor boat @ Retention Zone (square)

Τ Shirt Design for TheOceanCleanup.com

May 2025

Hi Friends, Family and Ocean Lovers!

This past week, I have been inspired to design an idea for a Τ-shirt for The Ocean Cleanup. I saw they were having a contest, but forgot about it because I have been very sick for a couple weeks and lost my ability to cycle and my sense of taste. I am starting to get better, but my taste buds are not there yet. I am now very curious as to how the body heals taste buds... but regardless, I started to design something for The Ocean Cleanup, a global nonprofit that I have been fundraising for the past couple of years. Donate to my ongoing cycling fundraiser to help clean our World's Oceans, here! (Thank you! All proceeds go directly to TheOceanCleanup.com)

This nonprofit is dear to my heart because of my passion for the ocean, travel and environment. They are doing extraordinary work, currently working with ten countries to remove river plastics that would otherwise end up in our oceans, and also, continuing their work to remove floating plastics from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

In February and March, I created a spreadsheet and color-coding system to help me memorize the numbers of all the vessels and barriers in the nine plus countries around the world. You can view that here.

Data Viz by C.Proppé for TheOceanCleanup.com Feb-March 2025 (Click image to view)

This month, I took that information and transformed it into this Τ-shirt design which shows all the countries where The Ocean Cleanup is removing and recycling plastics. It is a full rainbow of colors, so I used the rainbow as a learning tool.

Designs by C.Proppé for TheOceanCleanup.com May 2025 (Click image to view)

This is a work in progress in Adobe Illustrator that started out as a hand-drawn sketch and is now using a limited palette in the vector-based software I have been using for more than twenty years. I wanted to try to retain some of the hand-made quality to the art, but I am now leaning towards making the full System 3 ship in vectors as well as the other sea animals, so I can be more flexible with these design assets in the future. I still need to upgrade my iPad so I can draw on a screen again... but for now, this is where I am. 

I hope you enjoy this design. It reminds me of the illustrations in David Macauley books, or simply, a children's illustrated book. I used to work for companies that made children's educational products. I think this is a bright and fun design for kids and grown ups too. Please visit TheOceanCleanup.com for more info.

Click here to see my updated vector art designs for the Τ shirt in the next blog post.

Design by C.Proppé for TheOceanCleanup.com May 2025 (Click image to view)