a major "thank you" to Ryan Belz...former R.B. Walter Elementary student

This past year, BMW drove an i8 supercar to R.B. Walter Elementary. One of our former students, Ryan Belz, now working for WENY as a Meteorologist and journalist, came to the school to do a story on that event. Somehow, I failed to post the video that Ryan produced that made its way onto our local nightly news.

A fine young man with loads of talent, Ryan has continued to bring his knowledge and skills back to R.B. by presenting super interesting demonstrations on science and weather in the classrooms. I know the demos are cool because my daughter has come home singing his praises. Kids will let you know how they really feel... Ryan is good!

Here is the video that he shot:

We are proud of you Ryan. Best of luck to you as your future is wide open and ready for big things. THANKS AGAIN!!!

Under Armour is Awesome! "Sneakers of the Future" project a homerun!

Two years ago, a major car company did nothing for my 4th graders as we sent in a Cars of the Future art project. I am not naming them because we can never be totally sure if it was the companies fault. Anyway, feeling a bit sorry for the lack of response that was given to my students from that company, I set out to find another way for the students to get some interaction with a major corporation. Sneakers of the Future was hopefully the answer.

I was a teen as Nike defined cool footwear and athletic marketing throughout the 80's. Their shoes were visually light years ahead of the others. Nike commercials, in my opinion, were often more exciting than the sporting events they advertised during. Under Armour has emerged as a possible new trendsetter in athletic marketing. Their logo is showing up EVERYWHERE. Students are wearing the gear, commercials all over and professional athletics have the logo showing up on jerseys across all sports.

So, last year, the 5th graders worked on a project that had them analyzing their own shoes and inventing concepts of how shoes could look and what innovations might show up on them in the future (I defined the future to be months from now up to 100 years from now). They worked mighty hard and they were sent down to Under Armour's corporate headquarters in Maryland. This shipment happened at the end the 2015-16 school year. 

Two examples:

About three months ago, I received call from Danielle Thompson, Assistant Production Line Manager - Youth Footwear, at Under Armour. A super nice young lady, Danielle said that Under Armour was very excited to see the student designs and that they wanted to do "something" to thank the students and their hard work. I, of course, was pumped. I told Danielle that my students would love "anything" that Under Armour would be willing to do. 

Most companies get some gifts in a box and send it off to us. Some get their design teams involved and we get a bit more thoughtful and interesting gifts. And only two, prior to Under Armour, have stepped outside the very cool and entered the awesome and those were BMW North America (check it out here) and Subaru (check it here).

(this next paragraph is slight speculation mixed in with many facts as I was not present with the folks at Under Armour as they went through this process) 

This year, the number of awesome responses from companies has jumped to three. Under Armour had their team of designers review the student artwork. They each picked their 5 favorite ideas presented by the students and then the top 5 of those were boiled down. The Under Armour team then decided that they would make a 3-D digital model of the finished shoe that combined those 5 elements. They then took that show and built a small commercial/thank you for the students. 

Put yourself in the shoes of my students and check out the video (really, no pun intended!!!! really!)... make it full screen....

The video brought the student work full circle. They could see their ideas in seeming real life. The students sketched, made a finished version of their ideas and Under Armour finished it off. The students were pumped.

The top five ideas were:

5. Color changing 

4. Self-fitting
3. Temperature Control

2. Storage Pouch
1. Fly/hover mode

Also, the designers at UA designed a 3D paper shoe (below) that the students could build. This probably took longer than the video to figure out! They sent some blank versions so the students could design variations of the Warrior 2055. So COOL!!!!

With some careful cutting and little bits of glue, you get a very cool paper Warrior.

I gauge awesome in this entire scenario by the response of the students. This was AWESOME! Under Armour should be proud of this team and their thoughtfulness. Creative people can change peoples lives with their time and their care.

vintage crayola box with awesome type and cool elf

I'm a sucker for great lettering. A nice piece of typography appeared in my school mailbox the other day. The day after it arrived, I found out that it had been gifted by a wonderful second grade teacher who is soon to retire. She assumed that I would like this empty crayola box and she assumed correct! Wow! Just big enough to hold 36 crayons, the box is of a sturdy board and in relatively great shape....a few blemishes on the corners. Though it was empty, I will display it proudly in the office that my wife and I use (when it is clean enough) to do artwork, bills and other computer junk.

The elf has a Disney feel. The type has a genuine friendliness and beautifully scaled to the box. Love the stubby ampersand as well.

One is currently on eBay for about $50. It is full of red crayons. The list describes it as coming from the early 50's (1952 is the exact claim). Awesome!

you can still get 'em...air force 1's

It sure has been some time since my last post. I took a teaching gig at a local university which has consumed my blogging time. Anywho, finding this part of Nike's website in which you can customize your way into a pair of Air Force 1's made me come back to anyone reading this. 

I took this screen shot after I went through the customizing process. I designed it to the traditional look. Not sure why I chose blue, but.....it has been done. I love the angles you can chose for viewing as well as the high resolution zoom option. I could look at it all day.

If the shoe was a bit less cash, I might jump at the chance.

Thanks Nike! Thank you BIG!

vintage higgins american india ink glass bottle

While organizing my classroom yesterday, I use the term organize very loosely, I found this box.

As I was walking to the trash with yet another out of date art supply I opened it. Wow!!!!! What a bottle! What a label! What awesome lettering! I hit the mini jackpot on cool old art room stuff. It is a beautiful example of taking pride in the presentation of your product from an era when that meant it still looks super cool.

I will definitely be showcasing this bottle and label in my home for visitors to question my sanity for having it in a place of honor (those of you who understand the beauty within type/product design/graphic design will instantly smile). I find it hard to believe that a time or era will come when this is not considered a quality piece of design. 

I am always looking for stuff like this. The rarity is the lure. It is the joy as well.

"keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again" -b dylan

angry strongo #39 the new wallet

I normally don't write about my Angry Strongo comics but this one is rare for two reasons. First, Angry really isn't hassled throughout the entire comic. It ends well with him getting what he pays for, rare indeed!. Second, I really do love my new paper wallet! This thing is awesome. My d.i.y. blank mighty wallet by DYNOMIGHTY DESIGN was well worth the $15 (free shipping!!!). I was skeptical at first because I did think I could build one like it. After getting it, I was instantly sure I couldn't pull it off nearly as well. There's nothing worse than paying for something you could do on your own with a little bit of effort. This wasn't one of those times.

The worst thing about ordering the blank version was what to draw on it (also, DON'T MESS IT UP!!!!!). The Tyvek material doesn't bleed much when the Sharpie hits it which allowed for some stress relief. I decided that Angry should be on the wallet with him presenting his proudly. I do have to find some Sharpies with those odd colors so I can finish the coloring. 

Inside, I let my kids sign it with a small date in the corner. Clare (4 yrs old) hasn't had many reasons to write her name this summer. She'll have her lower case "a" back on track in no time!

Also, a big "thanks" to Sarah (my sister-in-law) and her boyfriend, Luke, for showing me these wallets online. BIG thanks!

beer boxes used to be really something

My father-in-law, Mr. Burrous, owns this spectacular box/font specimen. It is a beautiful display of lettering. Someone was throwing this box away when Mr. Burrous was a young man. Wise beyond his years, he scooped it up and never let it go. Smart, very smart!

The aged wood only adds to the striking look of these great and different lettering. It has some intense coloring and seems to have lost almost nothing considering its age. Buying a case of beer nowadays can't compete. Now you just get beer. Beer in a cardboard box. In the case of Blatz (no pun intended), the box sure did look better than the beer would taste.

Even the inside of the box had lettering applied to it. Yes!!!

Quality all around. I can see why you don't get one of these when buying a case of beer today. Even beer as lousy as Blatz would be beyond my price range.

more exciting than Christmas morning... the Nike Catalogs

In 1982 Nike released the Air Force 1 basketball shoe. I was twelve and just getting into the sneaker phase of my life. Athletics being more important than breathing, shoes soon took over most of my waking thoughts. After the Air Force 1 began finding their way onto college and NBA feet, this young kid out of UNC, Michael Jordan, was drafted by the Chicago Bulls. It was during the Olympics in 1984 when his physical skills and otherworldly basketball talent started shocking fans. My world changed immensely after seeing him play without the strictness of the college game. His abilities were unleashed and Nike paid $2.5 million for ownership of his feet for five years.

Shortly after Jordan's '84-'85 season while wearing other early Nike sneakers like the Airship, my love of Nike shoes was borderline obsessive. I was drawing shoes all the time and begging my folks to dish out the cash for the real thing. My mom eventually caved and bought me a pair of blue Airships around 1985. This was my first real encounter with having something really cool on my feet. I wore them until they fell apart. I shouldn't have thrown them away (I'm sure my wife would love to see them!).

My mother was the inspiration for writing to Nike and letting them know how interested I was in their company. I'm not sure how I found the address of Nike's corporate headquarters out in Beaverton, OR but it was likely off a shoe box. This was around my 10th grade year in '85. In response, Nike sent me a catalog of their latest shoes that were not available in Altoona yet. It was better than Christmas morning! I even saved the envelope the catalog came in. The envelope was eventually lost when my parents sold their PA home.

That first catalog:

front cover

back cover

detail of two-page spread for basketball shoe section

Air Jordan page

Dunks page

(had the blue pair)

I easily looked at this catalog thousands of times in that first month. I took it to school to astonish my friends...they were astonished.

The second catalog that showed up:

front and back cover of Team Sales Catalog

had a white and charcoal pair

(though they looked cool, the plastic behind the heel

cracked within the first month while playing basketball)

Just looking back through them now has me remembering how obsessed I was with the look of their shoes. The designers that worked for Nike at this time were right on the mark with the wants and needs of athletes as well as shoe-geeks. Form was meeting advanced function and it looked really good. The company's popularity exploded during that '84-'88 stretch.

The shoes that came out of Beaverton a few years later never seemed to make me feel that same way. After my highschool years, I failed to be that impressed with Nike footwear. The "Golden Years" were over.