Iskin Happy Friends by Cako Martin

The collaboration with iSkin came about after a few message exchanges with the brand’s team, who discovered my work at the height of the toy art movement, that moment when collectible vinyl figures and character illustration took over galleries and spilled into mass culture. It made sense: at that time, my illustrations lived very much in that universe, with a chaotic, chromatic energy that’s hard to describe.

The brief was simple: they wanted a line that would stand out on retail shelves.

That’s how Happy Friends was born, a family of characters, a dense, anarchic, and strangely affectionate crowd. Monsters with eyelashes. Ghosts with personality. Creatures that couldn’t quite decide whether they were threatening or adorable, and seemed completely at ease with that ambiguity.

The collection took shape across bags, laptop sleeves, iPad covers, and iPhone cases, reaching retail across the Americas, Canada, Europe, and Asia.