Discovery in Experimentation

Recently we were approached with a potentially lucrative project & business opportunity. Lets just say its something as demanding as cake sales on birthday anniversaries. Always guaranteed right? Our initial thought was to design everything in house and outsource what we aren’t able to– to an expert.  Typical Creative Session thought process, right?

What started as a night of prototyping, spontaneously turned into a bunch of grown ass men geeking out over materials. Instead of properly prototyping what we needed, we designed products that the materials could potentially become. Wallets, Key Chains, Sweaters, Aprons, Hats ect. Spontaneity is what drives Creative Session and we love it. You’re never restricted by deadlines or boundaries, and are able to design freely. (Best mindset to be creative in.)

The best part of the night was that we generated many more ideas than we had anticipated just by taking the initiative in prototyping one single idea; therein lies the beauty of discovering new ideas through experimenting.

NixonMAG

Spent sometime after work knocking out a pair of Nixon headphones. These quick exercises are doctor recommended in keeping your skills fresh and relevant.

I know most of us designers spend all damn day in front of our computers whipping up awesome designs. The last thing we want to do is come home and sit back in front of another monitor and re-up. I’ve had this idea for a pair of headphones with all its connecting mechanics removed between the cans and the band. Only connected through a magnetic plate and a simple customizable metal band, allowing the user to adjust through friction and band tension. The concept is to consider the manufacturing process, by deleting the connecting mechanics and replacing it with a magnetic bridge we’re saving $$$ and engineering cost.

Here is a quick rendering I did- Stay tuned for full TUTORIAL on how I rendered this in Keyshot then post editing in Photoshop.

Ingo Schuppler : Schwarzes Gold

Page from my Sketchbook

A bit of conceptual doodling and logo exploration.

Beautiful Jellyfish by Kevin Boulton

see more of Kevin’s work here

Lighter koozie

While scrounging around for bottle opener this weekend I grabbed my roommates lighter to pop open a few beers to quench our thirst. After popping a few tops my eyes dropped down to various leather scraps sitting around the shop. Jokingly I suggested, Lets design some lighter koozies for your bic lighter.

Sketching a few ideas I realized that the leather sleeve will be ruined if the design fully enclose a lighter. A potential could quickly shorten the life span of the leather koozie if using the leather surface as leverage in opening a bottle. The next logical step was to aesthetically design in an opening to accommodate bottle popping. This is our result. Quick. Fun.

Shoe Molds?

This goes out to all you shoe gurus. What are these called, I mean the technical term for these. I did a simple search for “Shoe Mold” I feel like there is an industry term for them and I’ve probably heard it before.

We’re looking for a unit for the office to design some shoes.

Rough Cut for a friend name HENRY

A year ago my co-worker Henry started a Kickstarter Project called “Solid Watch” the watch was a departure from having the formal wrist watch by being just a solid wrist monument, celebrating the idea of a watch. The “Solid Watch” was simply cause his friend had watches with piece of shit movements and wanted to do something different. Long story short Henry ended up being funded 130k for the project and now has over 500 hundred watches 6 different styles to fulfill and send out to his buyers.

This year Henry is back and hungry for more. We recently filmed him working on his latest KickStarter project the “Cable Block” here is a rough cut. Ignore my voice in the second half of the video- I added it to inspire Henry to write his own script for the rest of the video since he was too shy to do it day of shoot.

Thoughts in the New, Year

This article about the Dalai Lama when asked”What suprisied him most about humanity” is old. Yes, but it totally relevant. I stumbled upon it again on Instagram through a friend and it struck a nerve somewhere in the work ethic aisle. It is true we are stuck in a society were we work so hard, being busy, being overwhelmed, having your plates full or flooded is seen as such a positive connotation. This posting is somewhat a reconsideration….

This year I want to find balance. I want to work smarter not harder. Be selective where and whom i deposit my energy and efforts to. Will it be work, family , love or life?

Shocker lifestyle

“At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.”  — Plato

Passion, inspiration, & ambition are attributes that drive us in doing the things we love. Unconditional effort to achieve more, to want more; is my main vehicle moving forward in life.

In light of National Breast Cancer Awareness month we’re showing love with a design that literally spells out “Love”, and what better way to spell it than some caring hand gestures.

Last week on a ride home I thought of my friend Dennis Truong’s brand Shocker Lifestyle. His brand lends itself to really interesting graphic hand gestures. The best part is- for both of us, the common goal is success. Our tickets are booked, we’re traveling at a different pace, but our journey will come with many blessings.  We’re all creating our own movements in hope that our ripples turn into waves.  It’s all because of Love that drives us forward, and this very word LOVE is what I thought will be perfect in designing what you will see here:

 (thanks for the package Dennis.)

(reminds me of the plaques that come with Lids hats.)