Growing up with poor eyesight, UO junior Miles Lawson remembers always having an active imagination. He could not see people’s faces from far away, so he would create an image in his mind and use his imagination to create his own reality.
From a young age, Lawson knew he was interested in art because of his active imagination.
Lawson struggled with mental health in high school. He used digital art and visualization as a tool to help bring himself out of depression, and started his own clothing brand to help others find their best selves.
“I wanted to build something that could help a lot of people and have them seek out different things to change their perspective,” Lawson said.
Lawson created the clothing brand Vision when he was a junior in high school. He remembers carrying a duffel bag filled with merchandise to school and selling it to other students at lunch.
“I wanted people to find a way to chase their passions through apparel,” Lawson said. “When people wear Vision, I hope they can seek their own vision.”
Starting his own brand required a lot of research. Lawson was mostly self-taught and relied on tools such as YouTube to figure out the difficulties of creating a trademark and an LLC.
He has also worked to create a clear philosophy behind his brand — helping others to “seek out the best version of themselves through apparel, philosophy and visualization.” He just finished creating a mission statement for his brand.
Lawson’s mission through Vision is to “seek out the truth” and help others discover a reality accepting of all. He encourages others to empower themselves and seek knowledge in everything. “Our mission is to look past the surface and find the truth beyond the wall of fallacies. The Almighty Vision is full of majesty and peace,” Lawson wrote for Vision’s website.
Through Vision, Lawson sells a variety of apparel including t-shirts, pants, hoodies and jean jackets. The designs include a variety of images, but the main repeating logo is an eye. The majority of the artwork that is advertised through Vision is psychedelic and trippy. It includes bright colors and images that seem to be moving and play tricks on your eyes.
“Through my visualizations and things, I can see in my dreams I’ve lived a couple lifetimes,” Lawson said. “Another reason why I am attracted to psychedelia and stuff like that.”
The apparel and graphics Lawson makes for Vision are created through computer programs like Adobe Photoshop that are geared toward the creation of digital art.
At UO, he has taken a variety of classes that focus on using tools such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, but he has been using these programs since elementary school. Lawson grew up in Silicon Valley where computer programs were “in a way, mandatory.”
While these programs are not new to Lawson, he said that he is always learning and considers himself a “forever student.”
Lawson currently spends most of his time outside of school working on Vision and doing freelance work. He sees three to four clients a week and helps them with their branding and logos.
“That’s why they call me Vision,” Lawson said. “To help them have their vision turn into reality.”
While a lot of Lawson’s friends and family want him to go down a corporate route with his artwork, he is not sure that is the career he wants. Lawson said he would love to be a creative director in the future.
Campus Creatives is a weekly column by A&C reporter Nika Bartoo-Smith that highlights unique and talented members of the UO community. If you know someone who should be featured — whether they started their own business, run a podcast or just love to dance — email Nika at [email protected] or or Tweet her @BartooNika.
