Ads That Work: Dickies.

I just stumbled upon these few ads from Dickies Workwear called 'Life Hurts'.
Don't know much about it but it did what advertising was made to do, Stop for a moment and think about a product. Cleaver idea.
Here are a few stand out ones that I fancied.

And of course to see more go here.
Be careful out there...
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:10

Queuing up at Twickenham, Jan. 1937. Photographer not known

Sep. 1952. Photographer J. Simmons

I was going to do 'Two 4 Tuesday', but then realized it is Wednesday. So here are 2 great images for your Wed enjoyment.
Cheers,
'MrRay'

HBTV: Depth of Speed - A Pinch of Salt from HBTV on Vimeo.

Same time every year folks head out to the natural wonder that is Bonneville Salt Falts and have a go at speed...
Great Video that shares some of the devotion, passion and brotherhood that is formed with a little salt in the blood.

"Remember the Golden Rule"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:11

Unknown Rugby Club in the United States, Jan. 1939. Photographer Wallace Kirkland

Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:12

Circa 1960. Photographer not known.

Hold on tight... Another dirty week is upon us. Hope you have a good one.
"Remember the Golden Rule"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:13

Tattered and torn. RRL I found your rugby. Who am I kidding? I would love to have this piece in my collection.

Oxford University Rugby Trials, Oct. 1950. Photographer John Chillingworth

"Remember the Golden Rule"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:14

Bounch of hooligans...

Public Schools Rugby team, Dec. 1915. Photographer Not Known

"Remember the Golden Rule"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:15

There are only 15 days till RWC and I have heaps of images, so being that it is Friday how about 2. Enjoy.

May 1937. Photographer not known

 What is any sporting event with out the spectators and their reaction to a play, good or bad. All about the boys caps here.

November 1949. Photographer Auerbach

"Remember the Golden Rule"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:16

Circa 1891. Photographer not known

Look at the detail of his shirt. Amazing. Great cap as well.
Have a good one.
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:17

No matter what you do to become good at it you need to practice...

Lancashire wing three-quarter C.B. Holmes at practice, November 1938. Photographer not known.

Keep at it.
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Countdown RWC 2011:18

Growing up on a skateboard & snowboard in the "salty city" was great fun filled with adventure, creativity, and the occasional  unwanted torment from jocks and cowboys (usually one in the same) The unwritten rule at the time was to never mix any interests of team sports with your passion or time diversion of skateboarding. How did my "friend" put it when I wanted to have a go at trying out for the Grid Iron HS team, "yeah that would be cool, the football team caption riding a skateboard" followed by much laughter.... Funny how times change, now the jocks look like the skateboarders or is it the hessians or is it the hipster cool guy or is it.... I must be old cause the kids all look the same to me.
Anyway I digress. Long story short. I still struggle with liking team sports as if it still feels like I am doing something wrong (oh HS)
Ah no more my friend. Enter the wonderful world of RUGBY. The game of Gentilmen. "The Game Played in Heaven." American Football, or Grid Iron, would not exist without this game. It is steeped in a great history filled with various rivalries. New Zealand and Australia. England and Wales, etc.  But at the end of each match both sides join together, winner with Looser, and raise a glass to an 80 minute non-stop diversion of blood, sweat and cheers!
In exactly 18 days from the time I am writing this the 2nd most watched sporting event in the world (Football(soccer) world cup is still the most watched) begins in Aotearoa, land of the Long White Cloud, New Zealand. A place where Rugby is more than a sport but a passion.  The Rugby World Cup. Since I like the game and I am very excited about the coming events I plan to do an image a day from Rugby: the Golden Age. (yes another book) till opening ceremonies. Starting off here with a total action shot to get you hooked.

Local Game, Location not know, Circa 1960. Photographer not known

Well back to it.
"Remember the Golden Rule"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Inspo From Books.

Sometimes I wonder if I am just a strange bloke, as I love books. Nothing strange about that, I know, but I love to read non fiction books. Fiction just dose not do it for me. But if I really want to settled down for a good read I like to turn to a good biography. Stories of real folks doing what they do. Overcoming adversity. Making do with what is given them, or just the story of how they got to where they are today. In some cases what they did with the life they were given here on earth... I just like learning about how people do things. One such part of that interest is, being that I find myself feeding my family thru employment in the Apparel and Design field, that of Designers sketch books and or Pin boards (aka:mood boards, season boards or just, inspiration boards).
A while back I picked up one such book at a roadside stand along the information highway, Fashion Designers Sketchbook by Hywel Davies
There are a lot of really great Designers found within the pages of said book such as Aitor Throup and Margaret Howell. One that recently jumped out at me upon a revisit from the book shelf was that of Frank Leder.
So now I share with you these wonderful pages. Enjoy.

On another note, not only do I enjoy books, I have an addiction to collecting images. If you find yourself on a similar path, or just like to see what people are collecting image wise, please follow me on my latest online addiction Pintrest. 

Well the week has just begun. Hope you have a good one.
Oh and 18 more days and counting....


"Remember the Golden Rule"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

Somthing to Think About...

“I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.”
-ancient Chinese proverb

It is all about the "go and do"
Looking forward to the weekend. Hope you have a good one.

"Remember The Golden Rule"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

People You Should Know: Denim Geek

If you have noticed I have not been doing much posting as of late as I have been up to my neck in way to much goings on, from trying to get a new brand off the ground for the 9-5 to family travels and summertime adventures. Well, I have said it before, and will more than likely say it again; this intro-net thing is pretty darn neat. Anything and everything is right at your fingertips … and instantly. But more than that is the amazing opportunity to connect with like-minded folks that are oceans way from where you currently call home…   I Recently had the opportunity take advantage of such wonders and sit down with the ‘ol wi-fi and spend a few moments over a couple of days doing a little back and forth via the Email and have a chat with the fine folks that run the show over at denimgeek.com, Andrew & Liam…. What? You are not aware of Denim Geek?.... Oh you already are a fan of their blog and shop but want to know more about the minds that power this thing, well aether way you’re in luck. Sit back and enjoy a little Q&A…. and don't forget to click on what makes blogs and the intro-net so darn awesome, all the links ;-)

..........................................................................

Who are you and what do you do?

Andrew : Liam Winn and Andrew Booth, we both run the blog and store at Denim Geek.

Where did you grow up?

Liam : We are both from Sunderland, in the North East of England.

When did you start "Geeking" out on apparel and Denim? Or better yet, why?

A:  I’ve worked in fashion since 2000 so through the years my interest and curiosity has evolved with the trends.  With such easy access I’ve always ended up spending most of my wages on clothes.
L: I’ve always had a keen interest in all forms of design including fashion.  I tend to like things that have a back story and enjoy understanding how things are made, so heritage denim brands are perfect.

What is it about denim that you love so much?

A: Denim has always appealed to me, because unlike any other item of clothing they actually get better with age and wear.

L: I guess I fell in love the moment I bought my first pair of raw denim.  The build quality, handle and atheistic all blew me away.  The individual aspect also appeals to me; two pairs of the same jeans owned by two people can look completely different after a few months of wear.

From the Moveing Picture Library: The Devil's Toy

The Devil's Toy from Kawika T on Vimeo.

Weekend Build: Surf Sign

Now that the 'ol work bench is built and I have a place to start making messes again I decided to have a go with some more wood work. This time making some signage. Now this is a long post because I took heaps of images through out all of the steps of the build. From paper pattern cutting...

...all the way to being hung in the office at the 9-5er.
This is also my first go at shooting everything with my phone camera. Not the best images but good enough to share the building process.

So started out with the idea a while back and finally got around to going after it by finding a good font that I liked.  Printing out nice and big on 11x17 paper and cutting em out for a templet to follow.
I have a bunch of plywood around the new home that has been out in the yard for a few years by the looks of it. This is the base for the letters and the layout. Did the layout to follow the grain of the wood so when I comes time for sanding and paint and whatnot it will work nicely.

After all ruffed on the wood got out the trusty scroll saw and clamps and went to town.

Nothing better that a little summer time BBQ hamburger and Sweet Potato fries. Wash it down with some Henry Weinhard's Root Beer.... Big Smile and Good Times.

Cheers.

Weekend Build: Work Bench

It has been a long while since the dust has been flying with a home project. Our current residence has been missing a work table in the garage so spent a couple bucks at the local hardware mega store and picked up some wood and screws. Ruff sketched some plans on a scrap piece of paper and went to town building an 8'(2.4m) long 2.5'(76.2 cm) wide 43"(109.22 cm) high work table. Shot a few pics throughout the build.

finished table in it's new home up against the back wall.

Of course no project would be complete with out some kind of R/Co. logo stencil action...

Well we are now heading towards the tail end of this here work week. Time to start making plans for the coming weekend....
Need to finish setting up the work space so can really roll up the sleeves and get to building things. Like more of those wallets folks have been asking for...

"Keep 'em Flying"
Cheers,
'MrRay'

On The Road: Hong Kong

With my hire date of June 1st for the new 9-5 down in SoCal, I got a late start on the development of the first season. It is this reason that I am crazily trying to put together all the styles, fabrics, trims, fits, graphics and everything else involved with building a clothing line and I have basically crammed 3 or more months of development time into 5 weeks. Because of this situation  I  recently had the opportunity to go on a long voyage west of here, so far in fact that it became the 'Far East' and did it all alone. No boss. No development team. No one. Plus it was over the 4th of July holiday and who wants to spend time away for work over an extended weekend?....

While waiting for my air voiage to begin from LAX to Taipei, connecting to Hong Kong, I had some time to kill so I messed around with my phone camera. Here is the first of a few posts about my recent development trip to HK.

Class separation. The "haves" and the "have not so much."

Somthing to Think About...

Made it through another full work week! As I was taking a brake from the 9-5 I decided to do a little cruzing around and check in on blogs and sites I have not visited for a while. I found a post done by my good buddy Mr.BDP that is spot on! So like any good blogger, I am re-posting it on my site for all to enjoy....

These are some insightful and thought-provoking lessons from Wieden+Kennedy’s Executive Creative Director, John C Jay:

10 Lessons for young designers.
(or any age for that matter)

1: Be authentic. The most powerful asset you have is your individuality, what makes you unique. It’s time to stop listening to others on what you should do.
2: Work harder than anyone else and you will always benefit from the effort.
3: Get off the computer and connect with real people and culture. Life is visceral.
4: Constantly improve your craft. Make things with your hands. Innovation in thinking is not enough.
5: Travel as much as you can. It is a humbling and inspiring experience to learn just how much you don’t know.
6: Being original is still king, especially in this tech-driven, group-grope world.
7: Try not to work for stupid people or you’ll soon become one of them.
8: Instinct and intuition are all-powerful. Learn to trust them.
9: The Golden Rule actually works. Do good.
10: If all else fails, No. 2 is the greatest competitive advantage of any career.

Now to go do some #3 & #4 during the weekend.
Have a good one!

Cheers,
'MrRay'

Inspiration: 1930's Japanese Wood Block Prints

Before I moved our family back south I really started to get into print making, even was set up to take a few classes at the local community art center. Funny how many things were available to the community up in the Evergreen state, in the Great Pacific Northwest, that I can not find here in SoCal. That is another story...
I am really interested in relief printing (block printing, lino cuts, etc.) Recently I stumbled upon a wonderful site that shares "100 Views of New Tokyo," 1928–1932, a subscription series by 8 Artists. 
It is really quite a wonderful web page. I really like how detailed some of them are and how simplistic others are. Here are a few of my favorites.

I recently picked up a few really good books from Amazon that show techniques for print making / woodcuts / wood etching.
Here is the list of goods picked up.

The Woodcut Artist's Handbook 

Japanese Woodblock Printing. Highly recommend this one if you like Japanese style woodcuts.

Print Workshop: Hand-Printing Techniques and Truly Original Projects

Angie Lewin: Plants and Places  This one is work form an amazing print maker out of England, Angie Lewin. More on her later.

Well time to go finish setting up my new shop space in the garage in SoCal.
So I can actually mess around with doing some prints myself. I am getting antsy to be getting back to building goods.


What are you stoked on right now?


"Keep 'em Flying"
Cheers,
'Mr.Ray'