Limited Edition, Hand-Made Product Packaging

The experience of buying a product is part of the magical equation in marketing and sales. When a company goes the extra mile in creating that experience, the customer goes home that much happier. Most consumers would expect these details to be a design afterthought often mass-produced overseas somewhere. Little did I know, that sometimes brands will go to these great lengths to execute their creativeness. Hats off and standing applause on this one. Arts and crafts, anyone?

Us Versus Them and Savage Diplomacy introduce to you a limited hand constructed packaging
for the Iphone 4 case's which Us Versus Them teamed up with Incipio for the special collaboration. Limited to only 40 pieces, this product is now available at the Us Versus Them pop-up store at Black Scale SF.

Artwork Preview

Here's a quick preview of a painting completed not too long ago. Stay posted within the next few days to witness its creation from beginning to end, as well as learn the inspiration behind the design.

Red Wing Shoe Company (No, Not the Detroit Red Wings)

Whenever I'd see a "Red Wing Shoes" sign outside a store when I was a kid growing up in the Metro Detroit area, I immediately assumed they sold Detroit Red Wing shoes there. Not only are their names almost the same, but their logos are also pretty darn close to being the same. To say the least, I was a confused and curious kid back when. Since then, I've learned a little bit more about these Red Wings...

From the average consumer's perspective, shelling out $100-$300 for a pair of boots can be compared to pulling teeth. I can say that because I am that average consumer; in fact, maybe even below average..? However, after watching these videos from the Red Wing Shoe factory in Red Wing, Minnesota, there's a new appreciation gained for their craftsmanship. Since 1905, the Red Wing Shoe Company has been making boots like these. Back in the day, they produced around 200,000 pairs of boots - mostly for our military and especially during both World Wars. Nowadays, they produce 1.2 million pairs of them between their 3 factory locations in the US. Not bad for a hockey team that also makes shoes. (That's a joke. Don't go telling everyone that the Detroit Red Wings and Red Wing Shoe Company are the same - you'll look stupid if you do. Believe me.) Enjoy this little history/craftsmanship lesson:

This second video is similar but a bit more in-depth about parts of the production specifics. This video was producted by complex.com, whereas the first was created by the Red Wing Shoe Company.

NBA All-Star Weekend - Day 4

Saturday of All-Star weekend is normally the most hyped, especially with this year's dunk contest featuring Blake Griffin. During the morning and early afternoon, NIKE put on an incredible tournament. Instead of 5-on-5 games, or even 3-on-3 games, NIKE rewrote the rules and created a 2-on-2 invitation-only tournament in the underground tunnels of Los Angeles. For being such a giant corporation, I applaude NIKE for their creativity and willingness to try new things.

Blake Griffin made an appearance to answer some questions and sign autographs for the kids:

I've never seen such good players compete so darn hard. There were no jokes or friendly smiles on these courts. I felt as if I was watching watching a game from the movie BASEketball combined with a football or rugby match. I would have been killed if I played.


LeBron also made an appearance for a Q&A for the young ones:

Man, this LA traffic is nothing to joke about! Grand Rapids has never looked so good...

NBA All-Star Weekend - Day 3

To open up the weekend of All-Star events, the Staples Center played host to the Rookie vs. Sophomore game. Joe (Buys) and I received last minute notice that we had tickets for the game made available to us. However, he was on set all day filming for NCSI-LA, so we didn't get there in time for the tip-off. In fact, we didn't even get there in time for the last buzzer to sound. Long story short, LA traffic is the absolute worst thing in the world. Our adventure trying to get to the game is hilariously epic and unforgettable, but for all of the wrong reasons. Sorry, but this one will probably remain an inside joke for awhile. I wish I could tell, but some parts are rather too embarrassing for public knowledge. Either way, it was still a great atmosphere to be around.



Afterwards, we made a stop in to the Nike Vault, which is a specialty shop attached to the Staples Center. They always have the newest and most limited Nike basketball products in-store and host a variety of player events on a regular basis. Tonight was no different.

These are the 3-D Kobe shoes that have an extra dimension added to the design when you put on the special glasses. Don't try to play in the glasses though, they may have negative effects on your hoop game.

This video game was awesome. You could shoot free throws as if you were Kobe.

Friday night after all of the opening All-Star festivities, NIKE Sportswear hosted a party in Hollywood inside this giant dome-like structure. It was an invite-only party, but luckily I had a couple really good friends that know all of the right people to get us in. Otherwise, I'd never have been able to get in. Already this weekend, I've noticed that everything NIKE does, they do it well - from their products to their marketing and down to the little details of their events. This particular event was a classic in my eyes and located right in the middle of Hollywood.








These two are the ones that I owe my entire trip to! THANK YOU for being the COOLEST people, ever! This is what friends look like that will do whatever they can to help dreams come true.

Here's a quick clip I put together featuring some of the night's highlights:

Here's a little video that NIKE put together of the event:

NBA All-Star Weekend - Day 2

During the day, I saw a tweet by @LawrenceLamont saying "If you're in LA, you need to be at the #CornerStore premier tonight at Culver Plaza Theatre." Then I said to myself, "I'm in LA, and literally right around the corner from the Culver City Plaza Theatre. What should we do about this?" After some debate, we decided to forgo our previous plans and support this Detroit-made independent film.

I've been aware of this movie since this past summer. I knew a variety of people that were helping out with different roles of the film, and I sort of watched it progress via Facebook and Twitter. I felt this was a good opportunity to support it, especially since everything seemed to fall into place perfectly for us to do so. Plus, anytime I'm able to support Detroit, especially while I'm out here in LA, I'm there.


After the film, they had a Q&A segment with the director, producers, and leading actors. It was a great taste of the LA film industry with a taste of Detroit mixed in. Check out the trailer:

NBA All-Star Weekend - Day 1

I got into LAX late last night and had to keep the tradition alive. First stop, no matter what, is at an In-N-Out. This time I knew how to use the secret order language and got mine "Animal Style." YUMMM! Just looking at it makes my mouth water all over again.

Stay posted for more updates as the All-Star weekend gets underway...

Joe Buys: "Go Hard" [Official Music Video]

Good friend and 'Dream Impossible' partner, Joe Buys, just released his first official music video today for the song, "Go Hard." From my perspective, the video represents the different professions, positions, and people that may not always have the most glamorous work days, but are the people that make a big difference in our worlds, specifically teachers. No matter what you do in your job, always go your hardest at it. For more, visit www.JoeBuysMusic.com.

(Video directed by Taylor Hurley; Edited by Taylor Hurley and Luke McKay)

Dream Impossible Constellation Painting

There is something so amazing and mysterious about looking at the stars on a clear night. It stirs up a multitude of emotions. Like a young boy aspiring to be an astronaut, they inspire me to dream. They humble me incredibly. Space is so large and I am so small, seemingly meaningless in the scheme of things. They make me stand in awe of the power of God as a part of his creation. Here we are for a purpose, no matter how small of one it may be. This painting is just a small segment of these emotions.




48x24in, Acrylic on canvas. Available for sale HERE.

NSW: American Made, Episode II

Before I post pictures, videos, or articles, I always make sure to review them myself to make sure they're interesting not only to me, but also to you. Sometimes, there's so much going on that I need to bring in a little extra help in on this review process. This post was no exception. I brought it my top dog on this one. Well, technically a cat, but you get the picture.

Anyways, here's Episode 2 from the American Made mini-series featuring our own, Jonas Jerebko. This episode follows Adam Tensta as he arrives in Jonas’ new hometown of Detroit, a very different city compared to his home town of Kinna. Adam and Jonas discuss about what it’s like coming back after a big rookie season and their mutual hopes for future success. For those that missed episode 1, you can catch up with it here.

NBA All-Star Jerseys Revealed

Hypebeast just revealed the commemorative All-Star jerseys that Adidas put together for LA. In true red carpet Hollywood fashion, each premium black lacquered box top features a gold plated 2011 NBA All-Star logo. The inside of the box features black felt lining and “Los Angeles 2011″ in gold cursive along with a gold plated certificate of authenticity etched to read that each jersey was built to the exact specifications of the players’ on-court NBA All-Star jersey. Only a few were made for each player, so you better hurry up and get $500 out of the bank to buy them from the adidas Sport Performance retail store in Santa Monica, CA, or on-site at the NBA Jam Session in Los Angeles.

Super Bowl XLV Ads

Quick thoughts on Super Bowl XLV ads:
- The local (Grand Rapids) ads seemed more horrible than usual,
- I don't need to see an ad for a single FOX TV show for the rest of my life,
- Pepsi Max ads could easily be seen as offensive, racist, sexist, abusive, etc.,
- GoDaddy.com seems more like a porn site more than a web hosting company.

In-Depth thoughts:
Bridgestone wins in the funny category for enabling the average person to relate with one of the greatest fears I'm sure the majority of office workers may have from time to time. I'm sure this one will be talked about at the office cooler Monday morning along with a personal story to share.

Motorola's ad caught me off guard. I'm sure millions of people watching the game missed its historical context because all of the people I watched the game did, and some were even Ad/PR majors. In a nutshell, the entire ad was a stab at Apple (and their iPods/iPads) by re-issuing their 1984-themed advertisement used for launching the first Mac computer during the 1984 Super Bowl. I questioned the effectiveness of the ad in terms of reaching the average consumer. Then, I realized their assumed strategy.

Instead trying to make the ad an immediate hit with people, I think they were targeting a very niche market of advertising specialists who understood the significance behind the 1984 Apple stabs. This is why I think that: For days following the Super Bowl, the talk is always about the commercials. During these talks, all of the radio and TV programs bring in an advertising expert to analyze the best ads. Then, Motorola is indirectly relying on those ad experts to explain the detailed meaning behind this ad to make sense to the average consumer. Therefore, their immediate target market with this ad may be the specialist, but in turn, their target market is eventually filtered down to the 'average' consumer. Interesting.

It seemed rather odd for Eminem to be featured in two different commercials for two different companies in two different industries. I LOVED this ad simply because it shined a new light on Detroit that so many people seem to always miss. The TV version was only 30 seconds, but this clip is the full 2 minute ad. I've said it once, and I'll continue to say it: Detroit is going to surprise a lot of people once it re-blooms into an incredible city. It was a masterpiece, and is becoming a blank canvas so that it can be remade into another great, and longer lasting, masterpiece. Mark my words!

Career Builder gets the 'Honorable Mention' in the humor category. It's kinda funny.

Audi earns a plug for doing a good job in effectively communicating their market strategy. I wasn't sure what was happening as I was watching it, but once the tagline came in at the end, it all made sense. If you've seen any of the recent Audi ads in the past couple months, then you'd quickly realize that this one coincides directly with their campaign for redefining luxury.

This VW ad was a fan favorite as well:

Effective Outdoor Billboard Advertising

Too often billboards either go completely unnoticed, or worse yet, we wish we hadn't noticed them. I'm not the biggest fan of traditional advertising because so often it is ineffective, but this particular campaign was very well done. It combines the traditional tactic of an outdoor billboard and merges it with the social media aspect by creating it into this viral Youtube video. The billboard displays the 'growing' process of a tomato vine as it grows fresh tomatoes that are then used in a can of Red Gold Tomatoes. Not bad for a billboard for canned tomatoes, eh?

NYC Time Lapsed Video

This is a mesmerizing time-lapse video by Mindrelic. Enjoy this one while sipping your coffee or tea.

24/7

The Snowpocalypse in Pictures

NSW: American Made, Episode I

This is an interesting mini-documentary about one of Detroit's own, Jonas Jerebko. He may have just moved here two years ago, but when you immediately become a fan favorite like he has, then you instantly become a Detroiter...

Nike Sportswear presents this 4-part documentary series, AMERICAN MADE. Hosted by Sweden’s most internationally known urban music artist, Adam Tensta, this is a film about two young Swedes who buck “Jante’s Law” and are pushing their game to a new level. The documentary will also later feature appearances from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Zetterberg, Obie Trice, Ben Wallace, Niklas Lidström and Juan Atkins. Stay tuned for the 2nd episode to be released on February 8th.