A Belfast architect says he has been absolutely floored" by the response to a one-off line of t-shirts he created, inspired by some of the city's standout buildings.
James Grieve created the t-shirt line for the 'Architects as Artists' annual exhibition run by the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA).
The 33-year-old said he would have previously put together either sketches or watercolours for the exhibition, or screen prints and paintings, but this year he had branched out.
Read more: Firmus announces gas price drop for Belfast and 'Ten Towns' area
"To be honest, I just thought it was something that would be interesting to see on a tote-bag or a t-shirt," he said.
"And it just prompted me from there to think what it would look like on a t-shirt and from there I made a prototype of the Ashby Building on Stranmillis.
"I thought it looked nice with that diamond geometric pattern and I scouted around the city to see where the colour and pattern is so strong and it led me to a coupe of other buildings which I then made the t-shirts out of."
He created the t-shirt line solely for the exhibition and was pleased with how they had turned out.
"To showcase it, I put it up on Twitter and the response absolutely floored me, it totally blew me away," he said.
"I looked at it the next day, it had hundreds of likes, retweets, quote tweets and there were memes of it.
"I think that's when you know you've had an effect, when the memes start!."
James told Belfast Live that it had clearly struck a chord with people and that was what was most satisfying for him.
"The really nice thing about it was when you see people's reactions to the buildings of the city and their affection for buildings in the city," he said.
"For example, there were a lot of nurses or doctors who worked in Belfast City Hospital who were very complimentary, or who said these things would be very interesting to have as keepsakes or things to share with their friends.
"There was one comment where someone had said their daughter referred to City Hospital as 'mummy's big yellow house', which to me signifies the fact that these buildings hold a real importance in people's lives.
"Maybe that's what it was that resonated with people."
A chat with an architect would never be complete without a bit of building history and James revealed that City Hospital's striking yellow lines were not part of the original building.
"It was just concrete up and down," he said.
"Then soon after, they had to add the yellow cladding strips for weather proofing and I find that so interesting, the impact colour has on these landmark buildings.
"I'd have loved to be in the room when they went for mustard yellow!."
James said that he has no plans to swap architecture for fashion, despite some colleagues in his office dubbing him '"Grieve Saint-Laurent".
He said the t-shirts really were a one-off idea, but that he is hoping to use their popularity for a good cause.
"Because of the response, but because of the response, I'm making a limited amount of the t-shirts available for purchase," he said.
"They're available to buy from the RSUA online shop.
"For me one of the best things that has come out of this is that it showcases the connection people have with the built environment in Belfast.
"So for me it's not a business enterprise as such so I'll be running these and the proceeds will be going to the Simon Community charity.
"It's a charity which helps to combat homelessness for those who don't have a place to call their own, so I thought that was maybe an appropriate tie-in.
"It was just a nice little thing that I could do to combine my love for architecture with a bit of artistry and something a bit fun."
To find out a bit more about James' project and to see when the t-shirts will be available for sale, you can check out the Instagram page set up for that purpose.
READ NEXT:
- Strep A: Five-year-old schoolgirl dies from reported case in Belfast
- Matthew McCallan: Mum leads tributes to 'beautiful' Co Tyrone teen following tragic death
- Belfast woman on learning to walk again after suffering life-changing stroke
- Downpatrick mum calls for politicians to step up as son endures 10-hour A&E wait
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
