The Ocean Cleanup® – Earth Day 2025 T-Shirt Design Competition

For Earth Day, The Ocean Cleanup launched a global design competition inviting artists to create T-shirts that raise awareness of ocean plastic pollution. My design, “Cleaning the Gyres,” was selected as one of four global finalists from a large field of entries and featured in an international Earth Day campaign across social media.

Concept & Visual Narrative

“Cleaning the Gyres” is a bold piece of environmental graphic design, visualizing the swirling ocean currents and gyres where plastic waste accumulates. White fragments represent debris trapped in the vortex, while arcs of color suggest the engineered systems of The Ocean Cleanup cutting through it. The design pairs with the tagline: “Face the vortex. Rewrite its current. Reclaim our blue.”

The artwork transforms the crisis of plastic-choked seas into a vivid emblem of hope—an eco-conscious T-shirt design that carries the message of a plastic-free future.

Display Description

As both sustainable fashion design and digital artwork, “Cleaning the Gyres” serves as a symbol of collective responsibility. Featured in The Ocean Cleanup’s international Earth Day campaign, it invites us to confront the gyre, reclaim our oceans, and imagine a cleaner, resilient blue planet.