Indie rock band Shortstraw has retracted the artwork associated with their new single, 'T-Shirt' — after discovering that their graphic artist plagiarised the design.
The Joburg-based band released the single, video and the artwork on Monday as part of a collaboration called Those Meddling Kids.
Designer Dan Apter was tasked with the design (pictured below), depicting two intertwined bodies, that appears to be a copy of an artwork by Spanish artist called Adara Sánchez Anguiano. The image was used on the single’s logo on iTunes.
Shortstraw spokesperson Rachelle Crous said Apter was tasked to “create an artwork for their single and [the band] used it in good faith, with no idea that it is a copy of another artist’s work. The band immediately got in touch with Adara, and apologised for the use of the artwork without her permission.”
The second single from their new collective, T-Shirt is described as a play on “the idea of falling in and out of love, having the beauty of someone bring you back to them”. The music video (below) features comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout.
Apter was named as an illustrator and designer based in Johannesburg, whom the band has known “since they were little kids”.
WATCH the music video for Shortstraw 's track 'T-Shirt':
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