Target is a retail partner of Netflix’s Stranger Things.

While the Stranger Things kids tapped into their highly skilled monster-slaying tendencies for Season 4, four talented fans drew upon their own supernatural abilities. In celebration of the new season, Stranger Things superfans and artists Monique Aimee, Cymone Wilder, Raul Urias, and Travis Knight were selected to design original illustrations inspired by the show that now appear on posters, puzzles and T-shirts sold exclusively at Target. 

Each of the fan artists’ works pay direct homage to the bowl-cut sporting, Eggo-eating, Demogorgon-slaying nerds of Hawkins but also reflect their individual artistic points of view. Perhaps no other creative understands how to strike that balance better than Kyle Lambert, the key artist for the Stranger Things series. Lambert was first commissioned to create his nostalgic posters in 2016, and today they’ve become visually synonymous with the show. 

“Working on Stranger Things has been a dream collaboration for me, because the show is essentially a love letter to all of the movies I loved growing up,” Lambert tells Tudum, whose work echoes classic ’80s posters by artists like Drew Struzan, John Alvin, Bob Peak and Richard Amsel. These artists used pencil, paint and airbrushes to create their work, while Lambert’s approach is reminiscent of the era but created with modern illustration tools. 

Of the fan artists who collaborated with Target for Season 4, Lambert says that the individual works reflect both themselves and the show, just as he tries to do.

“It’s really amazing to see how each artist has interpreted the same subject matter and brought their own style and aesthetic to create something truly unique and beautiful,” Lambert says.

Below, hear from each of the artists who created work for the Stranger Things Season 4 fan-artist collection at Target, along with some thoughts on their work from OG Stranger Things artist Kyle Lambert.

Cymone Wilder Nashville IG: @simonandmoose Three words she uses to describe her work: crunchy, tactile, wonky.

Stranger Things Cymone Wilder Short Sleeve T-Shirt in black, $14 each, available at Target.com The Stranger Things title sequence instantly grabbed me. That style, over the crawling synth-heavy music, had me glued from the get-go, and keeps me coming back. I’ve yet to skip it. It feels so familiar, with off-kilter moments, which is exactly the type of emotion I try to evoke in my work. 

Looking through some dialogue from the show, I quickly knew I wanted to pull a line from Erica. Erica is such a fun character. A young Black girl AND nerd?? A very rare sight on television, and one that I’d wish I’d seen more of growing up. She commands every scene she’s in, and takes no shit from anybody. I honestly wish I had that type of presence! Once I had a couple quotes in mind, I started sketching. I explored some lock-up-style layouts, some time-period-inspired lettered lines, and some more illustration-heavy options. My sweet spot is lettering, and that felt like the easiest way to really push the textured glow that I’m known for. It was definitely not a far reach to create work that felt like it lived within the Stranger Things world.

Kyle says…

“I like how Cymone used simple, easy-to-recognize, icon-like shapes to communicate the special elements of the show. I feel like the bold type with the neon glow is something you’d see at the Palace Arcade, a modern interpretation with a retro twist.” 

Travis Knight Chattanooga IG: @travisknight  Three words Travis uses to describe his work: illusory, mysterious, vintage.

Stranger Things Travis Knight Short Sleeve T-Shirt in black and white, $14 each, available at Target.com

Eleven is one of my favorite characters. She has extraordinary abilities and a traumatic past, and wants nothing more than to be normal. She also pulled all of these misfits together and helped them take on unimaginable things. I think of her as a very reluctant hero.

My gut was set on creating something for Eleven, but I knew I had to explore a few more ideas just to make sure. I created a list of possible ideas, then did very small thumbnails of the concept’s composition on paper. Then I started to narrow down those ideas. There may have been a Demogorgon on a surfboard in there! 

A major theme in a lot of my work is dualism. I love the idea of two opposing things taking up the same space. The two things become one. They become dependent on one another. Eleven is very much the embodiment of dualism to me. I wanted to show two Elevens existing at the same time. In my piece, we have the “normal” El in her California outfit with her long hair and palm trees framing her face. The layer below that is El with the classic buzzed head, hospital gown and elements of the Upside Down.

Kyle says…

“I love the storytelling aspect of Travis’ design, how it shows Eleven’s growth since we met her in the first season, and the colors remind me of those old-school 3D glasses. It’s detailed and sharp, something I place emphasis on in my own work. I can just imagine one of the kids wearing a shirt like this in the show.”

Raul Urias Mexico City IG: @rauluriasart Three words Raul uses to describe his work: pop, timeless, stoic.

Stranger Things Raul Urias Short Sleeve T-Shirt in heather gray, $14, available at Target.com

I grew up with the Back to the Future trilogy, Robocop, Terminator and the horror movies of the time such as It, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and many more. I really like the vibe of the ’80s. Stranger Things has a solid script and a very remarkable character design, and that makes it very easy to see the chapters one by one.

I'm a fan of comics in general, and the covers in particular. I imagined what a Stranger Things comic would look like. I love Eleven and the Demogorgon — I think they are characters that could live in an anime or a cartoon. The composition is super logical and natural. In general, that’s the way my brain thinks. I love powerful, symmetrical, iconic and timeless things, so I always try to create this in my work.

Kyle says…

“I particularly like Raul’s montage piece he did for the puzzle. I’ve done a few montage illustrations for the show, so it’s really cool to see one done in a different style.” 

Monique Aimee Boston IG: @moniqueaimee Three words Monique uses to describe her work: playful, narrative, human.

Stranger Things Monique Aimee Short Sleeve T-Shirt in white, $14, available at Target.com

I binge-watched a ton of Stranger Things episodes to get into the right headspace, which was a dream come true to get to do that for my job. I struggled on deciding what to draw, because I truly love this show so much and feel very inspired by every episode. My initial idea was to place a bunch of character portraits into the shape of a Demogorgon head. Ultimately, that design didn’t work like I had hoped it would, but I did keep the Demogorgon shape and instead compiled a landscape of some iconic scenes. 

I chose some of my favorites, like when Eleven walked out of the grocery store, powerful and hands full of waffles, or Will trying to escape the Demogorgon. But I also liked drawing smaller details like the rotting pumpkins and roots that we see in Season 2. 

I always start by sketching and revising, until I move onto color — my favorite part! My style tends to lean into warm hues. I especially love using hot red, ochres and pinks. I needed to stay true to Stranger Things by using blue, red and black. I always like challenging myself with using a minimal color palette. By limiting myself, I can use color in more unexpected ways and create a cohesive look. I still very much used my style of illustration, but I do believe I was able to give the feel of Stranger Things through color and overall mood. This is definitely the darkest and gloomiest illustration I’ve ever done, but it still feels like my work.

Kyle says…

“Monique paired a nice montage of key moments with a great color palette that’s very representative of the show. The addition of the vines and pumpkins is a nice touch; it’s a very graphical way to show the textures of the show.” 

Watch exclusive interviews with the artists on target.com/strangerthings and check out the full Stranger Things Season 4 Fan Artist Collection at Target and Target.com.