Most Font Sites Munch Balls
Like anyone who takes an interest in design, I love fonts. Coming across a great font makes me WANT to design something with it. I think the desire and impulse centers of a designer’s brain function similarly to the sexual pleasure centers of the brain - when you see someone who is hot, your brain tells you to have sex with that person. Well, mine doesn’t because I’m married - it only tells me that when my wife looks hot, which admittedly is often. But the point is, when I see an awesome font I want to immediately design something with it and until I do, I’m anxious.
The worst thing about fonts though, is finding them. Most font sites are clearly designed based on 10 fonts, then overtime expand to this unimaginable library of things that, when looked at on a font site, lose almost everything that makes them interesting. I recently found a site called Myfonts.com that broke the mold. I loved seeing the font in context of a design. I like how the font was presented in a visual library format rather than a giant page of the same text rendered over and over and over and over and over until your brain can no longer process any clear difference. By my 50th font I can’t even tell if the fucking thing is serif or not.
Well, obviously I can tell if it is a serif font or not, but not much more than that.
So I’ve spent the last couple days obsessing over fonts for a new brand, scouring Fontshop and fonts.com and veer and thinking, this is shit. This process is remarkably demotivating and is crushing my will to design anything.
So kudos to myfonts.com, I only wish you had a larger library of fonts.
Here are images of the visual style that myfonts.com uses to present fonts. (For the record I’m not an affiliate and don’t have permission to use these images, so I really hope they don’t take issue with this.)
Curiosity
I’m a curious guy. It’s a problem actually, because I become obsessed with things and can’t get them out of my system until I try them. I love art for this reason, because it’s fundamentally about experimentation and executing a vision. My biggest problem with this personality trait (which obviously is quite beneficial in most circumstances) is that I have to try things that I have no longterm interest in. For example, I don’t want to become a bag maker but I can’t stop exploring the process of making leather (and now denim bags.) I have no interest in becoming Louis V, just like I have no interest in being a full time artist - but I love the process of creating things.
My newest obsession is denim (as anyone who reads this blog already knows) and I’m pretty obsessed with trying to create things out of denim. The phenom behind Rogue Territory has inspired me to learn to make things from denim - not because I think I can do it 1/10000000th as well as him, but because I’m fascinated with the process. I love the process of creating things, and while some people simply like to go buy shit - I enjoy fully understanding the nuanced differences that go into the creation of certain products. I’ll never care to make a pair of glasses, I could care less about the process of making socks, but part of me wants to learn to use a loom so I can make a sweater.
Of course, this is the same part of me that hated watching people make shitty websites and decided to learn HTML/CSS. It’s the same part of me that realized there were far too many terrible logos and decided I needed to learn Adobe Illustrator so I could help people I know (with businesses) get better logos. I love designing things, but I’m OBSESSED with process.
So anyway, I made my own pizza crust (and cut fresh ingredients) this weekend, I built a website for fun this weekend, I’m studying Louis V right now so I can make the perfect 4 day travel bag, and I’d like to learn to make a shirt or pair of pants.
But for now I’m working on a new series of paintings and crafting a launch plan for my new agency brand. I’m a geek. But a curious one.
Mobile web enabled consumers don’t = mobile commerce
Really?
After speaking with dozens of online retailers this week, I couldn’t turn off my brain. Mobile…mobile…mobile… It reminded me of the early buzz around social media, which plenty of people jumped into early with misguided notions. So I’m stuck on the idea of mobile e-commerce, and whether or not it’s really viable. If it is, what will it look like?
First, just because I have an iPhone with great web surfing, always on data access, and access to bajillions of custom apps doesn’t necessarily mean that everything I was doing on my pc before is going to shift to my phone. Email, yes. Twitter, blogging, facebook - yes. Google searches, yes. Shopping?
I buy apps and songs through my mobile. Because I have an iTunes account and know that the environment is safe. When I’m at Best Buy, I always keep them honest by checking my phone. But not once have I decided by price checking against my local big-box retailer that the better deal online needed to be bought right there on the spot via my phone. Don’t want to whip out my credit card in public, don’t want to fat finger my cc# 3 times, don’t want to be a fraud victim because it wasn’t convenient to click on the Thawte or McAfee logo at the bottom of the page to verify it’s authenticity.
In fact, when I’m sitting at the Dentists office for 30 minutes or at the airport waiting for a connection, I’m not thinking I need to go shop Amazon and buy a new Canon lens or hit up J.Crew for a new cardigan in grey because I don’t have one and it occurred to me suddenly that I had to have it.
I don’t go to Barnes and Noble and decide to subscribe to GQ for $12 rather than buy the latest issue for $4. I don’t buy toilet tissue from Wal-mart because it’s cheaper online than at the Target I’m standing in.
In fact, when I run through my last 50 purchases I can’t think of a single one I might have been compelled to buy online. So why, if I can’t make a case does it seem the whole retailing industry is buzzing about the need to go mobile?
One theory is because social is proving to be a solid marketing tool (except Facebook) and online retailing has proven that those late to the party pay for it, so they’ve become trained to be obsessed with being early adopters.
Another theory is that they are just blinded by the cool technology and the idea of monetizing all those consumers.
In the end though, while I love gadgets and mobile technology, I’m having a really hard time seeing the need for taking e-commerce mobile in the traditional sense.
I think Starbucks’ iPhone app is a good example of how to make it work. Pre-ordering by app to avoid lines is something I can get behind.
WWMTNTATIHWSJ? (what would Matt Tharp name the apple tablet if he were steve jobs?)
I like to test my wits against Steve Jobs - or at least the Apple marketing team that works on new products. Most recently, this was predicting things about the iPhone before it’s release. *(Predicting things after it’s release was far too easy.)
My latest flight of fancy is the infamous upcoming Apple Tablet, a device that is all but confirmed but has the interweb all abuzz. I’m not predicting it’s arrival - that is silly. Rather, I’m predicting a surprising in the name which all the blogs and pundits believe is going to be the iSlate. Which I think is totally ricockulous. On January 26th, I think the world will hear…”One more thing. Let me introduce you to the iBook.”
Say wha? That’s right - not the iSlate or MacTouch, not iTouch XL or Newton 2.0. The iBook. Now here is my argument.
1. Apple never dropped the iName naming convention, they just removed it from their low end laptop. Why? Why just the laptop, when the iMac and iPhone still sell very well. Clearly the “Mac Pro” isn’t the keystone for the brand. iPod, iPhone, iMac - iBook works, always worked, and if Apple is going to be a hybrid netbook and e-reader, it would be called an iBook. Think about it, if there never was a previous product called the iBook, it would be the most obvious, logical choice.
2. iSlate is absolutely, positively, terrible. And Apple is known for disseminating bad information on purpose. Hahahaha, Apple got you bloggers. They are smarter than you.
3. A complete lack of other catchy names. In fact, there is such a lack of any possible alternative, that other than iSlate no one can even make up funny names instead.
4. No one else has guessed it. As my youngest son says, if they’re not in front of you, they are behind you. It’s an amazingly simple bit of logic he layed on us while watching us play Call of Duty a couple years ago, and so far, it’s never been wrong.
So that’s WWMTNTATIHWSJ - the iBook. $10 bet to the first commenter who thinks I’m wrong.
I know a lot about books I’ve read about things other people know a lot about.
I have read a lot of medical journals, which makes me an expert in the information I’ve read in medical journals written by people who actually practice medicine. Which, based on another article I read recently apparently makes me a Doctor. So I’m excited about that. But the point of this is not to mention my doctorate, but rather to talk about how much I know about being a doctor because of my ability to read and regurgitate information found inside those medical journals. Nevermind the fact that when I had to apply a bandaid recently I somehow managed to staple my thumb to the floor. No, in the books I’ve read they never mention that it’s a requirement to actually be good at practicing medicine and healing people - so long as I read the article and can repeat what I read. Which I can.
For example, did you know that Prednisone is a commonly prescribed corticosteroid used to treat inflammation and has a number of side effects? Of course you didn’t - you’re not a well read practitioner of medicine the way I am. I read another medical journal article while I was writing this. What is important to know about Prednisone is that while it’s used to treat inflammation of the bowels, it can actually cause abdominal pain and bloody, black tarry stools. Betcha didn’t know that, moron. But I do.
I read recently, in a medical book I picked up at a college bookstore (it’s a book for PhD students, but I bought it anyway because I didn’t have it and I like to read and regurgitate information) that there is actually a syndrome called “Alien Hand Syndrome” where someone’s hand seems to have a mind of it’s own. Apparently, the brain has been proven to be able to compartmentalize actions for one or more limbs and to control them without direction from the conscious mind. This might mean that your brain, unbeknownst to you, told your hand to slap someone in the face. Crazy right? Well, that’s medical science for you.
I also have a theory that if I apply a bandaid to myself that I am also equally capable of open heart surgery. According to a recent survey, the 1 respondent said that the paper cut stopped bleeding and healed in days. Based on this data, I believe the bandaid will be able to heal a heart. The results of the data suggest that in 100% of the cases, the bandaid healed the wound. Because I’ve read a lot of medical books, and as a result, am a Doctor, I’m going to test this theory.
Thank god I can remember everything I read in books and am a highly qualified surgeon.
Rogue Territory Work Trousers
Right now, my pants are way better than yours. How can I be so sure? Because I’m wearing a new pair of Rogue Territory denim work trousers, and you’re not. Remember in school when that new girl showed up from some strange place where hot girls dressed differently and talked to anyone, even if they weren’t “cool”? And you thought, at least for a while, maybe I have a chance - maybe I can get a date with this hot girl before she’s devoured by school politics. Maybe she took art with you and liked your work…
Photo Credit Rogue Territory Website
Rogue Territory is kinda like that hot girl. For now I get to enjoy the girl before everyone else realizes she’s hot. I get to wear my double dyed work trousers in relative exclusivity for at least the next few months before people start to recognize the feather emblazoned leather patch and cool button/loop pocket closures. In a perfect world, brands could be popular and exclusive. But I firmly believe you support the companies you like, and I have a massive design boner for Rogue Territory’s denim goods.
Which luckily I can cover up with my wicked awesome new denim work trousers. Why the trousers and not a pair of raw selvage jeans? Well I am a year from breaking in my Pure Blue Japans and I still need to put more time into the APC New Standards I’ve been working on for over a year. (Fucking desk job.) Luckily, Rogue Territory offers the perfect solution for people like me who need a pair of pants that aren’t jeans but are full-on obsessed with denim. The denim work trouser - a slash pocket pant with button/loop closures that fits like a cross between jeans and khakis. (Or, very much like a classic work trouser…if you’re familiar with manual labor.)
On to the review.
Brilliant
The fit is outstanding. Just a little loose throughout, the trousers have a nice straight fit. You can wear your normal size, or possibly even go down a size. (If I lose any weight, I’m going to need to remember I’m not a size 34 anymore.) They sit right at the hips and hang really nicely.
There is no taper - but the legs are not wide or boot cut. Simple, straight leg that is comfortable but not “relaxed fit”. At least for me, and I’ve spent some time playing basketball and have the thighs to show for it. Here’s the rule of thumb on the fit with these - if you comfortably wear Diesel jeans, these will feel straight and loose. If Diesel jeans fit you in the waist and are a tad snug in the thigh - then these will be perfect!
The denim is 12.5 oz, which is a bit lighter than the jeans I’ve been wearing for a while. It’s high quality japanese denim, but even in it’s raw state the denim unbelievably soft and comfortable. I could wear these pants to bed. The double dyed indigo (”which means that both the warp and weft yarn is died indigo” - Karl@Rogue Territory) creates a really outstanding look. The pants are super dark, but don’t ever appear black.
Detailing is Rogue Territory’s specialty. The buttons and rivets are branded and appear to be black anodized - perfect for these dark denim trousers. The button/loop closures for the front pockets and the left rear pocket are a really nice, minimal touch that helps these pants stand out. Combined with the contrast stitching to replicate a selvage line, the contrast white pocket liner and inside the button fly, there are enough subtle details to stand out without ever taking the focus away from the pant. I would love to see what a red accent somewhere on the jean would look like. The deep indigo and stark white would make a great canvas for one small accent detail.
Photo Credit Rogue Territory Website
Downside? Well, you can get a lot of handcrafted selvage denim from Japan for the price of Rogue Territory Work Trousers, but then you would just have another pair of Japanese selvage jeans. The work trousers are a brilliant wardrobe item that I’m extremely happy to have in my closet - although I doubt they will see much closet time.
Enjoy!
Rogue Territory Jeans are *expletive* awesome
See! How awesome are these!
I feel like obsessions are much like addictions. I’m obsessed with raw, selvage jeans and that obsession started with boredom, followed by curiosity, which led to a gateway drug (The New Standard from APC Jeans.) New obsessions are like Alice In Wonderland, you never know how deep the hole will go and where it will lead. With denim, the rabbit hole (which started with APC) has led me to one of the most inspiring brands I’ve had the fortune of seeing.
I remember reading an interview once where someone said the first time they heard Bob Dylan they wanted to quit music - that he set the bar so high that they would forever underachieve by comparison. Of course, they were being interviewed by Rolling Stone, so you know how that story went. Karl, the man behind Rogue Territory, is like my Bob Dylan - equally inspirational and intimidating.
Rogue Territory
Rogue Territory creates bespoke denim the old fashioned way, but has recently launched an off-the-rack line of denim jeans, pants and shirts aimed at freaks like me who can geek out on details like selvage lines, branded rivets, and how .25 inches of rise, thigh, knee and leg opening can make all the difference between your perfect pair of jeans and just another 501 revision. Besides having one of my favorite brand executions of the last few years, Rogue Territory has managed to launch a denim line that can still be passion inducing to those of us who have nitpicked at every brand of selvage jeans available in the last few years. With brands like Jean Shop, Momotaro, Somet, Sugar Cane, Kicking Mule Workshop and more, plus a lingering economic downturn, the prospect of launching a raw selvage denim line would seem overwhelming. But amidst this climate Karl has done something I have literally daydreamed about, launched a line-up of awesome clothes backed by a fantastic brand, that somehow manages to stand out.
Freaking WORK PANTS!
Is it an obsession, or a crush? Good question (that I’m afraid to answer.) What Rogue Territory has done is tweak the modern standard fits (skinny, straight, and 501) and find unique twists. First, according to what I’ve read, the jeans are made from denim from some of the top denim mills in the US and Japan (Kaihara and Cone Mills are examples.) His run of each line seems to come from denim that will not be seem again, thus making each season unique - even if he continues to make the same fits. Why does this matter? Because while it’s great to know that a pair of APC can always be counted on, it’s nice to know that sometimes you are wearing something truly unique.
Granted, the way I break in my APCs or Pure Blue Japans is always going to differ from someone else’s, a truly unique pair of jeans is like art. Which, by the way, is the other kind of jeans created by Rogue Territory - a truly made to fit, tailored pair of jeans. I’m not in LA, nor will I be soon, so I’m unlikely to ever enjoy this process. Instead I will settle for a pair of the Stanton (and probably the Work Trouser DBL, which is easily one of the coolest items of clothing I’ve ever seen.)
Have I gone overboard yet? Suck it. In fact, if you’ve read anything else I’ve written you know my penchant for snark. So, other than Apple I can think of few brands and products that have ever caused this kind of reaction in me and I’m not going to hold back. Partly because I not-so-secretly fanaticize about designing (or contributing to) my own line of denim and like the earlier Bob Dylan quote, Rogue Territory makes me want to get off my ass and do it except that it makes me want to put my head down and never design again. I love when anyone has a clear vision and executes is so well.
So, in closing, I’m madly obsessed with Rogue Territory, a brand you will likely hear about in the future. And by the way, here are some pictures from his website - I hope he doesn’t ask me to take them down.
Buy from him now. Support this talent so he doesn’t get gobbled up by some major brand.
And…looky here. I got through the whole post with nary a spot of negativity save the “suck it” towards the end.
Reality vs. Ambien, Evisu Heritage vs. Self Edge x Sugar Cane
Last night I was freaking cool. I was so cool, James Bond was embarrassed and super models imagined me while having sex with their boyfriends last night. Of course, last night I was fast asleep thanks to medication, but still…if reality is a state of mind, then last night I was really a bad ass white dude.
So, inspired by my first deep sleep in months (thanks, Ambien) I’m posting what I am actually wearing, and what I wore during my wicked awesomeness last night:
Today, I’m wearing:
Evisu Heritage Left Hand Twill Lazy S Denim:
Evisu Heritage Jeans
Brooks Brothers Button-up (non-altered) Slim Fit Sport Shirt: Just a white twill with blue double line plaid.
Camper Pelotas: http://shop.camper.com/producto.xhtml?option=16937-004&lng=en#
Wicked comfort, Camper Pelotas
But in my dreams last night, I had a much cooler set on. As follows:
Self Edge x Sugar Cane = SEXSC06
Self Edge x Sugar Cane
Hamilton 1883 Utility Shirt (thanks to A Continuous Lean for showing me these…brilliant.)
Hamilton 1883 Utility Shirt
and these, Camper Industrial ankle boot (http://shop.camper.com/producto.xhtml?option=36404-001&lng=en#)
Camper Industrial Ankle Boot
I’m over suits for now. I live in Kansas and I can’t find a good tailor. I don’t need 6 extra inches of shoulders or sleeves, thank you. So instead, I will be crafting the most brilliant wardrobe I can around the most amazing denim I can find.
APC jeans were just the beginning. Evisu heritage were to whet the appetite.
1 year Anniversary - APC Jeans
October 31 will mark the 1 year anniversary of my religious journey to find raw, selvedge denim. My first pair, APC New Standard, have been with me during an interesting time in my life. (You can read about them here: http://originalanalog.com/2009/04/apc-jeans/)
I was thoroughly obsessed with APC Jeans for a few months last year before buying them, but I finally took the plunge thanks to the fine folks at Tobi who used live chat to help talk me through buying the right pair and the right fit.
Am I still obsessed? Fuck yeah. Opening up a shipping box with a new pair of raw selvedge jeans makes any day of the year like Christmas. I now know more about jeans than anyone I know, which means that most of the shit that I have coursing through my synapses on a daily basis is mine alone to experience. My friends think about clothes differently. They find my search for the perfect shirt silly (btw, Steven Alan single needle shirts are the perfect shirt, with the secret wash oxford from J.Crew attaining a measured second place on my list.) My desire to break in a stiff, heavy pair of jeans over the course of a year seems down right comical to most. The fact that I can lose hours pouring over details about the various brands of selvedge denim, the freakishly obsessive denim geeks on Supertalk, and the fact that this type of jean has completely altered my shoe fetish - all of this is lost on everyone I know. Not surprising really.
So to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of this obsession, I’m going to HEAVILY wear my original pair of APC New Standards for the whole month of October leading up to their first wash on October 31, 2009. To get the proper break-in, I’m going to suffer through a few new things:
- Wallet in my back pocket. Haven’t done this in years, but I’m going to suffer through it for the next few weeks.
- Every other day rotation. I might try to pull off Friday through Monday. My wife hates them, so this might be a challenge.
- Stairs. Lots of stairs. For the month of October I will try to exclusively take the stairs.
Evisu Jeans
I live in Kansas, so there are 3 aspects of my style that I can’t explain.
1. Minimalist asthetic. I’ve always had it and I’m not sure why. I don’t like anything bedazzled or overly decorated in any context but specifically fashion.
2. Denim. If you only shop in Wichita, Kansas there are only a few stores. This means most dudes dress the same, “trendy” is the same “fashionable” and “quality”, and when something gaudy like Division E or Ed Hardy get momentum, everyone in town (that can afford it) starts to look like a douche.
3. Japanese designers recreating vintage American styles, only better.
Prior to this year, I thought Evisu jeans looked ridiculous. The big paint patterns across the ass make it look like hip-hop brand FUBU had sex with a japanese hipster and had denim babies. But when I visited their website and read about their Heritage collection I suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about these jeans.
Evisu Heritage Jeans
Now I’m completely head-over-heals obsessed with these things. I love RAW DENIM. I get retarded for a good straight leg that doesn’t make me look like a reject from an emo outreach center. Think Rolling Stones, not Fall Out Boy. I love my APC jeans, but a bit of variety can’t hurt? Right now I’m settling on a pair of raw, straight (not slim), fairly basic modern jeans from Evisu. This will be a change in process for me. APC jeans are supposed to be purchased small and stretched to fit. From what I’m reading, Evisu needs to be hot-soaked before being worn to pre-shrink and allow them to conform to the shape of the wearer.
I’m still breaking in my APC New Standards, so this should be interesting.