An Afternoon of Dilla

An Afternoon of Dilla

Vice Beats x uchi clothing presents

a celebration of J Dilla

In October 2023 Hip Hop producer Vice Beats began his first 3 city tour called “An Afternoon of Dilla”, an annual event that celebrates the life and music of the late great Detroit based producer J Dilla through live performances, DJ sets, talks, and a Dilla-themed cypher. The tour is in support of the James Dewitt Yancey Foundation; which was setup in his name by his family to support community music projects and access to music technology for young people.

An Afternoon of Dilla Navy Blue T shirt
An Afternoon of Dilla - uchi clothing co

For the 2025 tour Vice Beats got together with uchi to create a J Dilla T shirt for the events held in Bristol and London. The design is layered and complex, much like Jay Dee’s music. The background text features the names of Dilla’s tracks, including production and remixes. The smaller, darker layers of text feature his collaborators, including early career artists.

The t-shirts, sweatshirts and art prints as with the events, are an official collaboration with Ma Dukes (Maureen Yancey) Jay Dee’s mum, who developed the James Dewitt Yancey Foundation. Each item sold donates profit to the foundation to further support their work.

Official Ma Dukes T shirt

Vice Beats music

Personalized Star Map Prints

Personalized Star Map Prints

Celebrate that special moment in time

Your custom Star Map print makes a truly unique gift

Want to see what the night sky looked like when you were born? Or when you and your loved one first met? Or got married?

Your personalised custom star map print will capture the night sky on that special day.
A unique valentines, birthday or anniversary gift or for any precious day and time you wish to honour.

Star Charts: a gift for many occasions

  • Wedding: Star charts provide a unique keepsake for the couple’s special day.
  • Birthdays: A perfect gift to celebrate a birthday or the birth of a new born baby.
  • Anniversaries: Celebrate the day you met your partner or got married.
  • Graduation: Commemorate life changing achievements such as graduation days.
Your personalised star map art print is a unique celestial gift capturing the sky from the exact location on the date and, if you wish, even the time of that memorable moment. From a birthdate, to the day you met or were married or any important event of your choosing, we will accurately and artistically render the night sky to produce the perfect gift to mark that special occasion.
uchi horology - Custom star map - design detail
Planispheres show the stars and planetary objects on any specific time and from any specific location. Your custom star chart will be rendered in degrees clockwise from north on an azimuth circle. The azimuth circle is a horizontal circle with 360 degrees, marked clockwise from north where 90 degrees is east, 180 degrees south, 270 degrees is west, and 360 degrees (0°), mark north.

Create your unique star chart

1

Enter the date and location.

You can include the exact time of day and the exact longitude and latitude if you wish these added.

2

Add name or names and one line of text:
Ella and James
The day we met.

3

Choose your design and print size.

Before it is printed you’ll receive a proof by email to approve.

uchi horology series - Custom star map - design style 1

Glow in the dark “Moonwatch” art print

Glow in the dark “Moonwatch” art print

A special glow in the dark edition of our best selling Speedmaster Moonwatch art print. This horology art print pays tribute to the historic Speedmaster Professional, Reference 145.012 as worn by NASA’s astronauts on the Apollo 11 space mission on July 20th 1969.

As well as the accurately illustrated vintage moonwatch and the subtle inclusion of the moon, we wanted to add a little more with this print – that unmistakable Omega Moonwatch lumeshot. At night, the luminous green-blue glow coating on the hour markers and hands brings this popular watch print to life.

Glow in the dark moonwatch art print detail - uchi horology series
Glow in the dark moonwatch art print - uchi horology series

Available framed or unframed, this stunning horology art is printed on beautifully soft matte finished paper stock, delivering a stunning work of art during the day and a unique glowing masterpiece when the lights go out.

A fitting birthday anniversary gift for any Speedmaster owner and watch enthusiast.

Glow in the dark moonwatch art print - uchi horology series
Framed horology art print
Glow in the dark moonwatch art print - uchi horology series
Glow in the dark moonwatch art print - uchi horology series
Tokyo Station in Autumn Art print  (秋の東京駅)

Tokyo Station in Autumn Art print (秋の東京駅)

Tokyo Station in Autumn (秋の東京駅) Art print

An illustrated study of the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station. Dating back to 1914, this recently renovated beautiful red brick building, captured on a hot autumn afternoon is illustrated and digitally printed on fine art paper. Available in various sizes.

Tokyo Station serves over half a million passengers each day making it one of the busiest train stations in Japan.

Tokyo Train Station

Architect Tatsuno Kingo (who also designed Manseibashi Station and the nearby Bank of Japan building). Completed in 1914, Although, to me, it did look to me to be very Euopean in style compared to most buildings in Japan and the building is often rumored to be fashioned after Amsterdam Centraal station in the Netherlands, although there is little evidence to support the opinion. That being said, the Marunouchi side highlights an architectural style that mimics other “sister stations” around the world, some of which which include New York’s Grand Central Terminal, Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof in Germany, Amsterdam Central station and Beijing railway station and Hsinchu Station in Taiwan.

The whole complex is linked by an extensive system of underground passageways that merge with surrounding commercial buildings and shopping centres.

History

The original station is located in Chiyoda’s Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds. Due to its size the station is divided into the Marunouchi (west) side and Yaesu (east) sides. Tokyo Station opened on December 20, 1914 with four platforms;[1] two serving electric trains (current Yamanote/Keihin–Tōhoku Line platforms) and two serving non-electric trains (current Tōkaidō Line platforms). The Chūō Main Line extension to the station was completed in 1919 and originally stopped at the platform now used by northbound Yamanote/Keihin–Tōhoku trains. During this early era, the station only had gates on the Marunouchi side, with the north side serving as an exit and the south side serving as an entrance.[4] The Yaesu side of the station opened in 1929.

During WWII it was partially damaged and restored in 12 to it’s originally architectural glory. This image of the view of main entrance of the Marunouchi side highlights an architectural style that mimics other “sister stations” around the world, some of which which include New York’s Grand Central Terminal, Amsterdam Central station and Beijing railway station.

Much more than a travel hub Tokyo train station is a cultural landmark consisting of restaurants, shops and dining areas. It houses an art museum in The Tokyo Station Gallery where some of the original structural design can be seen as well as Tokyo’s world renowned Tokyo Station Hotel.

Tokyo Station

Tokyo Eki in Autumn Art print

I had initially envisaged creating this as a screen print during 2020 but due to Covid restrictions shutting down the print studio this wasn’t to be. However, as a digital print I was able to add as many colours and detail as I wanted, fine tune my Illustrator skills and try new techniques. A very worthwhile thing to do on every project but this in itself became a little problematic, not knowing when to call it quits. I referenced other images to narrow down some exact building detail, noticeably the foyer, brick and tile work and spires, details that my original photograph didn’t pickup due as it was shot at least half a mile away.

Tokyo Station in Autumn Art Print
Tokyo Station in Autumn Art Print
Tokyo Station in Autumn Art Print

Support Equality

Support Equality

Anger over the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others, and the system that supports police brutality has hit many hard. Although saddening and horrific, they were not surprising events.

I am still angry but I am also hopeful that the seeds of real change for equality may have been sown.

Red White Blue 2020

Based on an archived uchi T shirt design, this art print addresses the polarising protests and marches for racial justice and constitutional rights.

An art print addressing the saddening and horrific police brutality and murder of George Floyd and what was heard from the video of Darnella Frazier.

70% of the sale from these prints will go to the Bristol based charity Babbasa.

Babbasa is a Bristol-based social enterprise, dedicated to bringing equal opportunities to Bristol by supporting young people from underrepresented backgrounds discover their strengths and talents and pursue their ambitions. They are currently holding an appeal to support vulnerable young people affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Read more Babbasa and how they are helping black lives matter.

SHOP RELEVANT ITEMS

50th Anniversary Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Horology Art Prints

50th Anniversary Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Horology Art Prints

Ask a watch enthusiast about iconic watches and there is a good chance they’ll include the OMEGA Speedmaster Professional Chronograph in their list.

Since Buzz Aldrin took that one small step onto the lunar surface on 20th July 1969 wearing a Speedmaster, it has been known as the “Moonwatch”. Although it was introduced in 1957 as a sport and racing chronograph, the Speedmaster was no stranger to space having been on the 1962 Mercury Sigma 7 Mission. Three years and a few generations later, the Speedmaster would out perform watches from the likes of Rolex, Breitling, Hamilton and Longines to become the official chronograph for all Gemini and Apollo missions.

The Speedmaster’s history is well documented and we could go on in detail about the aesthetic reasons why this is such a practical and fit-for-purpose watch, instead, we suggest you read Watchgecko’s articles detailing Why the Omega Speedmaster is an iconic watch.

Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Horology Art Print

It was a pleasure to create these prints, having a keen interest in science and astronomy as well as sharing a birthday on the day the Apollo XI came back to earth. Of course it was important to reference the original 1969 model 145.012 as worn by the Apollo 11 astronauts. And the hands at 17 minutes past eight? 20:17:39 (UTC time) marks the exact time of the Lunar module landing. Speaking of the landing site, the Sea of Tranquility, although barely visible in the shadows it’s appropriately situated where the OMEGA logo would be.

Zooming out behind the moon we see exactly how the heavens looked from this exact position in time and space on 20th July 1969 at exactly 20:17:39 (UTC). A high resolution star map rich in accurate astronomical data details the positions of the Milky Way and celestial objects and the equatorial grid lines and constellation boundaries are shown in red and yellow.

Finally, on to the text itself. The uchi passion for typography completes this 50th anniversary Omega Moonwatch timepiece art. Set in ‘Futura’, the same typeface NASA uses for all Apollo mission plaques and matching the curve of the dial/moon is the first line from the commemorative plaque left behind by the Apollo XI astronauts.

“Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D.”

50th Anniversary Apollo XI Omega Speedmaster Art Print
uchi horology series OMEGA Speedmaster Apollo II art print

Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch Horology Art Print

The Omega Speedmaster ‘Moonwatch’ Art Print keeps things simple. An illustrated version of the 1969 Speedmaster edition (reference 145.012) with tachymeter is the main focal point of the artwork. However a subtle addition of the surface of the moon and a lighting effect that looks to replicate the domed crystal gives a different dynamic to it. Finally, to really add contrast, an all-black background makes that iconic Speedmaster dial pop out.

OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch art print - uchi horology series
OMEGA Speedmaster art print detail - uchi horology series

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