Carryology » Life

Carrying a Guitar is harder than it seems.

Hadrien — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:08:09 +0000

"This is a bag you'd want to sleep in" Bowoo

Have you ever looked for a cover or a case for your precious guitar, perhaps during your early rock years?

No matter how long those years were, it’s been pretty darn hard to find something practical, and that looks as nice as the beauty it carries. A product that makes sense and still stays elegant. Most of the covers are little more than a guitar shape with a front pocket. Bonus if they have padded walls. They never seem to have reached the sense a guitar case should give. You are a real musician! Instead those covers would bring even Clapton right back to his school years saying, ” he is still learning”…

Well so far Bowoo has taken the step to change all that, crafting some quite interesting guitar covers. A Brooklyn brand, refusing to accept that in a place counting more musicians and designers than anywhere else, no one came up with a decent cover. So they did. The Bowoo guitar bag is simple, elegant, quite well finished with a feel of craftsmanship. Great details are probably the main feature of their bags. Not a revolution, it is just right. Straps can be better and could use the messenger bags innovations in shoulder pads.

On top of all they give two percent of every purchase to charity focusing on helping the planet. How good is that!

Check them out at bowootheworld.com

A week in carry

ando — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:21:14 +0000

The start of March was a pretty crazy week for me, with loads of great experiences and inspiration. I figured there might be a few bits of random interest in there, so here’s some industry and carry thoughts emerging from it…

Break bread with crew

The week kicked off at the Buffet streetwear tradeshow in Melbourne, loaded with apparel, bag and accessory brands. While Melbourne getting a tradeshow like this was pretty special in itself, the forums that went down during it were even more so.

Guys like Jeff Staple, Sneaker Freaker’s Woody, and the amazing Kiwi retailer Frank Liew shared loads of insights. One of my favorites was that for all the big business getting done, relationships were what catalyzed it all. Each of them described ‘breaking bread with crew’ as the way that many of their best opportunities had started. And of all the meals, Jeff thinks breakfast is where the biggest decisions get made.

(Note: if you’re playing in the surf industry, just substitute ‘breaking bread’ for ‘getting smashed or shacked’).

Australia gets Incase

Exhibiting at Buffet was Flipside Distribution. Why is this a good thing? Well it means that Australia is finally getting proper Incase distribution, and from one of Australia’s best streetwear distributors. So Rushfaster and Apple stores look set to be joined by an army of additional retailers stocking Incase carry gear.

Skateboards don’t work in Glasgow

Next stop was Glasgow for some presentations and workshops I was running. If you ever need to get around Glasgow, don’t rely on a skatie. You end up carrying it instead. My latest realization is that for cities to work well, they need both good bike paths and smooth footpaths.

NikeTown Oxford Circus is AMAZING

I remember hearing figures that NikeTown were paying £6 million in rent for their corner location on Oxford Circus (back in 2004), and yet they still make a profit (one of the few NikeTown’s that does). If you’re lucky enough to be near, check it out for one of the most amazingly well merchandized stores in the world. The NikeID displays are epic, as is the soccer section, and the running, and…

Bikes rock in big cities

Bike chains have their own culture

London’s fixie scene is still growing, and it’s being fed by some epic stores. There are bike shops that are more gallery than commerce, feeding a customer that wants ever more uniqueness.

If you try and Tube or Drive between them, you’ll give up in frustration. Instead, find a mate, and some big locks (Euan’s seem custom fitted), and do it on two wheels.

Personality doesn’t have to cost

The final realization comes after as I sit on my next plane, heading over to Margaret River for some family time. While airlines around the world scrimp and compromise to save coin, Virgin goes on delighting me every time they carry me somewhere. Prams and baby gear? Yeah, free, we don’t charge for that. Big surfboard bags? Yeah, no charge. A free seat next to you guys for your grommet? Yeah, even though the plane is full, we’ll keep those for you. Cute hosts that help the whole flight through? Yeah, and your fare will cost half of what Qantas does.

Achieving liberation through your ride…

ando — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:54:30 +0000

Liberation machines

The promise of good carry tools

Unless you own the odd oil-tanker, our automobiles are pretty much our biggest carry tools.

They hold that awesome promise of helping us get away from it all – ditching our commitments and living in the moment. The bigger the ride, the further you can go.

…hmmm, well they kinda did before we realised all that stuff about our planet suffocating.

But for just a moment, here’s to reliving some of those escape promises. Achieving liberation through your machine…

A bit of classic Aussie heritage - The Sandman panel van

Whether it’s for play or for work…

Yeah, the Europeans did it with a little more style…

Or maybe a lot more style?

There's beauty in utility

Nice

Notes:

The Euro shots are from an epic little Flickr set called Autografik.

Those rad illustrations are from Kevin Cyr via FlyLyf.

And if you are not done dreaming yet, check some more escapist car ads at Ryan Heywood’s blog here.

ISO50 | Liking

Hadrien — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:55:41 +0000

Great place to get inspiration and new tracks

ISO 50 – Scott Hansen’s graphic & music blog.

Why we like it: Every good graphic designer we’ve ever met rates Scott’s distinctive modern retro graphic work. He also knows how to put together a banging tune and playlist.

Who else might like it: Design appreciators and electronic ambient music listeners

Where they are: http://blog.iso50.com/

Les Ateliers Ruby | Liking

Hadrien — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:35:35 +0000

Modern Retro - Style first

Les Ateliers Ruby – Stunning motorcycling helmets.

Why we like it: Too many companies make too many things. Ruby concentrate on a narrow product area, and absolutely nail it. This is French luxury the way it should be.

Who else might like it: You don’t have to straddle horsepower to like these helmets. Wear one to the milk-bar.

Where they are: http://www.ateliersruby.com/

Couple of their signature styles...

Random thoughts on business cards

ando — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:14:00 +0000

Feeling stoked with your 'card', until you see it in the mirror

Business cards and the rituals around them

While ‘pundants’ are hailing the imminent death of the business card, we think there are still some interesting years of transition to play out– especially in ritual homelands like Japan.

Called Meishi in Japan, business cards have seen quite a particular ritual evolve around them, as a way of according respect to the first meeting of a business relationship. In a similar way to looking your drinking mate in the eyes when saying cheers– the Meishi ritual makes us pause and properly acknowledge the meeting, and the person.

In the west, we generally do not look after business cards, or their exchange, all that well. Other than machine-gun dispersal sales reps, we are often seen handing over tardy and bunny-eared cards that send all the wrong signals. Yet if we approach each meeting with a separate and sizable steel case of cards, we come across as too schmick and contrived…

That sounds like a project; the card carrier that is casual yet careful, gives and takes, yet is incorporated easily into our pocket systems.

Has anyone seen any great solutions?

Some favourites so far are:

One side for giving, the other for receiving

Sam Hecht for Lexon: Give and Take. Facilitates a great ritual, but is unfortunately too clunky for the pocket.

Casual yet refined... pretty good if you can find them

Dior Homme card carrier: Hard to track down, and a little bulky, but getting close…

And of course, we had to link to everyone’s favourite business card designer: Business Card Fail

Rushfaster | Liking

Hadrien — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:27:44 +0000

A clean & well ordered bag site

Rushfaster – Bags you won’t find on everyone else

Why we like it: Living mostly in Australia, we usually look with envy at all the great businesses IN OTHER COUNTRIES. We’re only little, so mostly we get ignored. Rushfaster are good, on a global level. They have a great site with easy navigation and loads of bags, wallets, and carry product.
Who else might like it: Crew scoping a new carry item.
Where they are: http://www.rushfaster.com.au/

How do you deal with earbud tangles?

Hadrien — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:11:25 +0000

Great tangle effort from Michael

How do you deal with earbud tangles?

What do you do with your earbuds when not using them?

If you sport anything with an ‘i’ in front of it, you probably have a set of earbuds that are kept at close quarter– ready for tunes, calls, or a quick YouTube laugh.

But when being stashed, they usually end up tying themselves in knots in a pocket or pouch, ready to frustrate your next effort.

Some of our favourite solutions so far are from Budtrap or Lifehacker, but we reckon there’s an even better way out there… we just can’t find it.

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Relating to this illustration…

Hadrien — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:28:11 +0000

Why on earth do I own all these bags?

Lunchbreath seems to suffer from the same affliction as most of us…

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Opportunity in change

ando — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:21:21 +0000

Surfing an out of the way reef near home this morning, I tried to offer a pretty intermediate surfer an equipment tip. For the next 5 minutes, he tried to find a reason to not take the advice. It was a kinda scary way to respond.

“It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change.”
-Charles Darwin

Change brings new rules, with new opportunities. Change gives a chance for the little guy. Change feels like opportunity, which feels like fun.

I love that Charles Darwin wrote one of the biggest change catalysts in history, then kept changing and improving it. And I love the way Ben Fry has brought these changes to life: http://benfry.com/traces/

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