Devils Partner with Nork! Project | FEATURE

Gabe Ribeiro saw the artistic connection between certain major American cities and their infrastructure, whether it was New York aligned with the skyline or the Big Apple or the Golden Gate Bridge with San Francisco.

With that in mind, the Newark-based artist wanted to make the same connection to his home city through his personal flavor.

“I wanted to do something for my hometown. I started making Newark-related t-shirts,” Ribeiro said. “Under this brand I called the Nork! Project in 2017.”

Nork! is a fun play on words for the way Newark locals say the city’s name, cutting out some letters for the abbreviated sound of “Nork.” After launching, Ribeiro began designing shirts that fit his style and his brand.

“I really enjoy clean cut aesthetics,” said Ribeiro, who was born and still resides in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark. “So, a lot of my graphics are sharp with bold lines and clean text.”

Ribeiro, who is the child of Portuguese immigrants, attended college for computer science, but opted to leave and set out on his own path. After teaching himself graphic design, he launched his own independent business.

“I have an entrepreneurial spirit,” he said. “I started freelancing and the retail brand, and that took off. So, I started doing that full time. I started a campaign called Newark Is For. That's been probably my most popular work.”

Two blocks from Prudential Center is a mural with the words “Newark Is For Artists” in a small alleyway called Treat Place and also in a locally-owned Ironbound business, Sihana Cafe.

“ I did a lot of street markets where I got to know a lot of people in the neighborhood. Everyone would always ask me about the latest design and what’s new. It forced me to always be making new stuff for the them.”

Ribeiro’s latest design came in partnership with the New Jersey Devils. He created a t-shirt that reads “Los Diablos” on the front with a cartoonish Devils head as the point above the I in Diablos.

“I was really excited, and I was really nervous about it,” Ribeiro said of working with the Devils. “I wanted it to go well, but I wanted to maintain my style. It was very important for me that I maintain the integrity of my work. People always want me to do different things that aren’t me. I’m happy they enjoyed the work. There were literally no revisions. I was so happy with that because it was me.”

Ribeiro, who opened his own restaurant in 2023, works most nights, but attends a few Devils games a year. And he always knows when a game is being played because of the flood of red and black shirts and jerseys he sees in the streets. He hopes in the near future to see a few of those same fans walking by in his design.

“I can’t wait for that,” he said emphatically. “I know when there’s a game in town because I'll be walking out of my house or going to work and I'll see a bunch of red shirts. Next time there’s a game I’m going to look out for this shirt.”

The Nork! Project isn’t the only project on Ribeiro’s plate. He also hosts the Nork! Photo Fest, continuing to activate his community and rally around the city through art.

“Bringing artists together in community and celebrating photography,” he said of his goals for the festival. “We celebrate that people are documenting the neighborhood and the people living here, the landscape. We do public photography art installations in public parks displaying local artist's photos.”

It is in that same spirit that he joined forces with the New Jersey Devils, who also call Newark home, on the Los Diablos shirt.

“I became more of a hockey fan by watching the Devils,” he said. “I work a lot of nights in the restaurant. When I do have a night off and there’s a game, it’s literally a 10-minute walk for me.”

Perhaps the next time Ribeiro makes that 10-minute walk to Prudential Center for a Devils game, amongst the wave of red and black shirts and jerseys, he’ll spot a clean lined NJ with the cursive thick text reading “Los Diablos” emblazoned across it.

Ribeiro’s genuine artistic stylings with a little New Jersey Devils flair.