F  L  A  U  N  T

Bright colors, clean lines, and ravishingly effortless designs that contain deeper meanings is the kind of work you’ll see from Washington DC based designer and artist, Tenbeete Solomon, more commonly known as, Trap Bob

Accomplishing many grand achievements, such as winning Pabst Blue Ribbon’s annual design contest, being the first artist collaboration with Elizabeth Warren’s political campaign by designing giphy stickers for her, designing the visuals for Girls Who Code annual March for Sisterhood, and having her very own art installation at Refinery29’s travelling showcase, 29 Rooms, this is just the beginning for Trap Bob and she knows it. 

Not only is she creating bold, colorful, and strikingly authentic designs, she is also a co-founder and creative director at Girlaaa, a creative agency located in DC that fosters support and encouragement for women of color in creative fields. 

As a strong advocate for standing up against any kind of discrimination, she values the capability of having a voice in social and political issues and providing her audience the capability to feel like a part of the message through her artwork. Due to her natural charisma, creativity, and relatability she is able to share her love for art and design and also help create a space for others to get involved in relevant issues. 

Enjoy the interview below:

What does art mean to you?

Art, to me, is it’s own superhero. I’ve always believed that art is the only thing that can save the world and really connect us all, which is really my favorite thing about it is its ability to bring people together from different backgrounds, different cultures, languages, it doesn’t matter. We can all look at art and pick our own definition from it, be inspired by it, spread our message. I think it’s the best tool out there. 

What is the PoC art scene like in DC?

DC is just overflowing with creativity and motivation. Us working towards getting DC’s recognition and the spotlight that cities like LA and New York get and just dealing with different issues here, being the nation’s capital while also trying to grow our creative community has made everybody work even harder. I’d love to say how DC, beyond even the creative community, really excels in all industries from sports, philanthropy, art, events, all that. We really have such a drive here and I think across the board we inspire each other because there’s a little bit of a healthy competition that’s always in the air and everybody wants to make something new and big and grow and also bring people together with it, so I feel like we’re in a kind of creative renaissance now in DC.

Can you talk about what it was like to win the Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) can design and what influenced the artwork for it? 

Winning this design is still unbelievable to me. It’s definitely the biggest project, the most exposure I’ve gotten and it’s really amazing because the design that I ended up doing that won the contest was something very true to my brand and the things that I like to draw inspiration from. Hands, specifically have always been a part of my work. They’re just something that has really stood out to me and helped me bring people together and relate to all of my audience just because it’s hands. We all have them for the most part and it’s something that you can kind of put yourself into and then also the idea of being in space and UFOs has always been so inspiring to me because the idea of endless possibilities and us just not really knowing what’s out there, so anything we think of that’s out of this world is really just boundless opportunities and possibilities. To bring those two things together and then have it be for a brand that I’ve always looked up to and even in an artistic sense is just the perfect matchup. I really got to think about something that somebody would see sitting in a grocery store or the liquor store and just get excited over how the label looks beyond the actual beer itself, so when I entered the contest I really just wanted to get my name out there to them and hopefully let that lead to something else, not even thinking of winning and so to win has just been amazing and everything that I’ve done with them has been so great. It’s definitely my favorite project of the year. 

What would you like to see in the future in regards to Girls Who Code and Girlaaa?

With Girls Who Code, I mean the message that they have and just everything that they stand for is very close to how I function, especially with Girlaaa. Having the visibility of women in these fields, especially those that are male dominated is really why we started Girlaaa, to make sure we had a voice and that we can also spread education and let women know that there are so many possibilities of what we can do and it was really the perfect project and the fact that Girls Who Code did the first all digital march is so innovative and creative and I loved to be able to help spread that message because I myself almost studied coding in college and I was learning it and it even helped me with the work that I do now, so I just think it’s so important that we highlight the women that are doing these things because they’re doing more than even the men are. I just love that they’re bringing people together in a way that allows everyone to be there even if they’re not physically there. We’re taking power of the internet and social media and things that are already widespread and a part of everyone’s lives and then putting this in their face. Then with Girlaaa, we started out as just a party and we wanted to create a safe space for creatives of color in the city, but specifically women and allow them to not have to worry about all the struggles and hardships of being a woman all the time and just take a second and have fun and not have to think about that and we quickly evolved into a full agency. We just received our LLC actually and we’ve been doing panels, we’ve done a lot of co-sponsorships, we have a podcast, we do multiple art shows, and we’ve just really been wanting to be an outlet and also create a community in the city where people can just come and find things that they’re interested in, get educated, have a voice. We really just want to keep it growing and take it nationwide and then to the world and get as many people involved as we can. 

You designed Giphy stickers for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign, is it important for you to be politically active, and how so? Especially living in DC, I would imagine that politics are everywhere. 

It is definitely important to me and something that made me even think of that was just the idea that politics right now are so crazy and it’s of course highlighted being in DC. I just keep feeling so drawn to the idea of needing to have my voice there and wanting to stand up for people because that’s always been something that I’ve believed in since I was a child is just standing up for anybody whose being discriminated against, so I started with even just making artwork for equality. I did stuff for the women’s march two years ago and it’s kind of become natural for me because I feel so strongly about these things. To be able to work with the Warren campaign was great because I love the things that she stands for and how she fights for her supporters and really is available and visible to them, so to be able to be their first artist collaboration was so cool. The concept worked perfectly with my style and helped them to spread their message and it’s great that there’s this outlet and way for people all over to get involved in politics and not feel alienated from the subject because of the way they’re getting the message.

What does it mean to you to be a creative person at the forefront for social and political activities?

It’s hard to believe sometimes because I don’t always remember the magnitude of my voice and my position because, again, it comes so naturally to me and as nerve racking as it can be to be at the forefront, it's also a great feeling because as much as I know this is important, I’m happy to be visible and enabled to have a voice and to make a difference and let other people also join in and feel motivated to be a part of it because I don’t think that it comes naturally, especially for creatives to get involved in it at all and it’s something I think we avoid even, so to allow that idea to go to people in a natural way and to allow them to just take in the art part of it and then get to the message of what’s really going on and allow them to realize how it affects them and how important it is is really all I can ask for as an artist. 

Does working with topics that are extremely relevant and current change how you have to work as an artist or does the immediacy not phase you?

It definitely makes a difference I have to say because trends and you know everything is so at the forefront these days and people who bond very quickly, so for me I’ve adapted doing my own personal work kind of keeping up with trends because it’s fun for me to get to explore these different subjects that are already getting a lot of exposure and talk and also from my audience, something that they’re interested in at the time, so of course they’ll want to be able to see maybe their favorite artists doing their take on a music video or a funny meme or some type of muse out there. We’re getting so much content everyday from social media I like to add a little lightness to that with my work, so whenever I find a really interesting or eye-catching trend I love to just be able to add my take to it.  

If you’re in DC make sure to check out her tour dates below: