A larger-than-life poster featuring the ‘Special Ks’ – Australian Open 2022 men’s doubles champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios – has popped up at Melbourne’s iconic Hosier Lane.
Produced by bespoke network Yitonia alongside artist John Barrett, the poster showcases the moment Kyrgios and Kokkinakis celebrated their AO men’s doubles victory back in 2022.
“We really wanted to encapsulate the attitude that Kyrgios and Kokkinakis have,” John told The Greek Herald about the creative work.
“I really like that they’re so entertaining, so when they came together as a doubles team, we sort of wanted to bring that personality off the court and into the design.”
After six months of creative brainstorming with the Yitonia team, John’s vision finally came to life and the poster is now on display at Hosier Lane, an iconic place in Melbourne known for its graffiti and street art.
“The poster is a couple of metres tall and it’s just really surreal seeing it up in Hosier Lane. The street is so synonymous with artwork in Melbourne so seeing your own work there is a bit of a weird feeling,” John said.
Yitonia’s Dean Kotsianis added that he loved collaborating with John on the creative work and seeing it on display was exciting.
“It was pretty obvious to us that some of the main personalities of the Australian Open are Kyrgios and Kokkinakis… so it was kind of a no-brainer that we’d collaborate on something like that,” Dean said.
“It’s a little bit creative, a little bit different. Melbourne is known for its street art, it’s a language we speak down here, so that’s what kind of inspired it as well.”
As for whether John and Dean hope the poster gets the attention of the ‘Special Ks’ themselves, they remained hopeful.
“That would be cool, no doubt,” Dean said, while John added, “That’s the goal, we’d love to seem them get around it!”
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, you heard it here first!
