The Last Supper

I sat down to write this blog post with grand ambitions. I would pen a treatise on the irresistible siren song of the American chain restaurant. A daring exposé of Fauxtalian cuisine. A dissertation on foods stuffed with other foods.

But truth be told, I couldn’t be bothered to type more than a few sentences—I ate, like, a loaf of breadsticks.

So I’ll leave it at this: we went to Olive Garden for lunch today. The experience was a strange mixture of depressing, amusing, and filling. And because it was Chelsea Brink’s last Friday lunch on the Beast Coast, we took this religiously insensitive picture.

(With apologies to Leonardo da Vinci and God.)

Who Facebooked it Best?

Tim O’Donnell, “King Awesome”

As interns at 160over90, myself (Atlee) and my fellow intern Kay are surrounded by insanely talented people all day long. Not only do these great people work all around us, they also walk through “intern alley” a billion times a day to get wherever they need to go. This is perhaps the most intimidating part of our experience so far, knowing that Designers, Creative Directors, and the Chief Creative Officer are looking over our shoulders at the goods (and bads) on our screens. But everyone had to start somewhere, and although it may seem like everyone we work with is way more advanced than us lowly interns, we know that they once had people looking over their shoulders too.

Last Wednesday, Kay and I had the opportunity to accompany Creative Director Tim O’Donnell to a lecture he was giving at Kay’s alma mater and local Philly art school, Tyler School of Art. This was a great experience to get to know once of our CD’s better, and to join Tim on his first ever ride on the Philadelphia subway!

With the help of Kay’s navigational skills we made it to a very crowded classroom in Tyler’s Design Department, albeit a little out of breath and in Tim’s case, a little dazed due to his “lack of sleep [aka an upcoming presentation] and Dayquil.”

Tyler students ready to get their presentation on.

Tim started the presentation with how he first realized he was interested in design. At age 5 while living in New York, his dad asked whether he liked the Jets or the Giants. He chose the Dallas Cowboys because he liked the star. When traveling, he made his parents stay at Sheraton hotels until he was 18 because he loved the logo so much. His love of drawing segued into design, which led him to Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), where he studied graphic design at a time when the program was progressing from hand skills to computer techniques. (This came full circle, he is now the CD for the RIT account here at 160over90).

His first experience out of school was unfortunately a “demoralizing first job” that left him burnt out after a year (we interns are treated much better here at 160!). He then worked at a gift shop until he was ready to apply to his dream job: designing record sleeves for 4AD Records in England. He put together a book that illustrated poems he liked, which he then hand bound and mailed to 4AD unpretentiously. Luckily, with this attitude and the knowledge of Mac computers during a time when 4AD was still doing everything by hand, Tim landed his dream job designing music packaging in London. Working in the music industry was insane. For example, an artist would say “mittens, stars, whales,” refuse to answer the phone, and give no other direction to the design. This was fun but crazy, and after 5 years Tim left to settle down and have a real life.

Action shot.

Tim worked at MTV for a year (“art directing the photoshopping of Britney Spears arm” among other things), followed by a year at Razorfish, freelanced for 5 years (Tim’s favorite job), spent some time at New York Magazine, and then worked as Design Director at Johnson & Johnson for 4 years. During his time at J&J, Tim heard of 160over90 and instantly loved their work. He sent a book to the office out of the blue of compiled work that he really liked, not just projects that were deemed important to have in a portfolio but “projects that reflect me.” Tim visited the office multiple times and as soon as there was an opening he joined as a Creative Director in February 2011.

Tim's gift to Tyler--a copy of his book!

During his career, Tim realized that “the mouse in between me and the screen is too many layers. Something is getting lost in translation.” He wanted to celebrate the work that went into design, the sketches behind the scenes. There are beautiful ideas on websites but with no context, they seem to be plucked out of the sky. Tim called it the “rabbit hole of The Dieline.” He wanted to explore the background and progress of these ideas, and so wrote a book featuring sketches of notable graphic designers. Check it out here.

At this point in the lecture, Tim guided the audience through RIT’s case study, detailing 160′s creative process from the brand concept to the executed ads. During Q&A one student raised her hand and said, “you just walked through about 10-15 minutes of work for RIT, and I wasn’t bored once. How did you do it?” Answer: MAGIC. But really, Kay and I will have get back to you at the end of our internships. That’s what we’re here to find out.

The 160over90 design interns.

Love, Atlee (left) and Kay (right)

A little Booty and Bounty for all.

In 1989, things began to change. Jeff Yokohama, the visionary behind 80’s brand Maui & Sons, recognized a trend developing within the action sports apparel market.  Enter Pirate Surf. Rebellious, reckless, rough around the edges, BOLD, the line was right on point with the times. Anti-Establishment was in the air, and the counter culture grunge trend was in full effect. Pirate Surf was an instant success. The movement was big in the action sport community and new start ups started to enter the picture (World Jungle, SMP, Black Flys, Volcom). Most companies slowly began to jockey for position with this new emerging trend. Quiksilver saw huge opportunity with Pirate Surf and quickly acquired it for its niche appeal and fashion point of view.

Fast Forward: it’s now 2011. It was a late Monday afternoon when the call from Quiksilver came into our west coast office. They needed help with a last minute project and asked if we could come in the following morning to discuss. We have a long standing relationship with Quik, so we knew it must of been important. We showed up to the office not knowing exactly what was going to be needed. Nothing like last minute, but we were up for whatever curveball tossed our way. Cutting to the chase, apparently Pirate Surf had been shelved in the mid 90’s; the product design and POV had been folded into Quiksilver’s line as a whole. The brand was “shelved” meaning the brand stopped producing product, and ceased distribution, and was basically put away for another day. Well, Quik wanted to bring it back. We were charged with re-animating the brand in preparation for some large meetings the following week. Tic Toc, time’s a ticking, we have one week.

A few additional twists:

1. We needed to make sure the brand could speak year round, a four season offering.
2. We needed to expand beyond just “Surf” – it needed to apply to the culture as a whole, and be accepted in the moto, music, surf, skate, and snow arenas as well.
3. The brand needed to speak to male and female audience
4. At a glance, the brand needed to represent the mainstream general perception of action sport culture and it MUST come across as authentic
5. And finally, it must be a modern day version of Pirate Surf as the days of typical grunge are long gone. So, what does Pirate look like and stand for, both now and for the next 5 plus years?

Before heading back to the office we made a run to the local Trader Joes to pick up some PIRATE’s Booty. We knew that with this time frame, we’d need to maximize our eating efficiencies for the next several days.

We rolled up our sleeves and got right to work. We ran it through our traditional process but modified for speed. We did our homework, both on the history of the brand, its competition, and current market trends given how Quik thought it should be positioned. We developed a very poignant creative brief in one days time, defining target audiences, unique positioning, values, personality, etc.

We launched into full creative mode pulling swipe and inspiration from wherever we could in that short time frame. It was actually quite liberating to work on such a stringent timeline. It was almost like a mini escape and everyone in the office was leaving the team alone for the most part. They were respecting “the code.” The biggest inspiration we had in our arsenal was a book called “Fucked Up and Photocopied” which showcases the “instant art of the punk rock movement.”

We really gravitated to these gems:

We wanted the look and feel to capture the life of this youth culture and energy, with a subtle nod to a Pirate’s life (Pirate to us represented unbridled freedom). We wanted a weathered feel, bold use of color, but a zerox monochromatic look which lent itself to high contrast black and white imagery, almost disheveled but not. Once we honed in on this certain look and had our overarching concept developed, too many sleepless nights began to set in.

Somehow we got a little “Captain” in us. We found ourselves talking like pirates, quoting pirates, discussing the hottest pirate actresses, and best pirate jokes, all the while playing surf videos in the background and skating the hallways late at night. We even earned nicknames along the way, for example, senior designer Justin was known as: “Captain Calico J-Beard”, and senior copywriter Kyle became: “Black Long Dolphin” for which reasons we wont get into (but lets just say it had to do with too much rum and a tattoo parlor).

Ultimately we solved the puzzle and delivered one kick ass brand. We not only delivered a presentation, we took it one step further and fully developed the brand. It was complete with all the trimmings, brand guidelines, packaging, instore, outdoor, gorilla strategies, web templates, and an ad campaign to boot. Quiksilver was set, and Pirate was well Tee’d up for re-launch.

Check out the full case study here and relish in the Pirate life: http://www.160over90.com/
——————
…and wasn’ really going to post these but what the hell.

A couple of side notes, incase you were wondering:

1. Everybody wants to be a Pirate. Even my 2 year old son. Argh! (he does a great impression, i’m still getting the image)
2. the top pirate quote at least in the office during the time: “… you are without doubt the worst pirate I have ever heard of … Ahhh, but you have heard of me…”
3. the top pirate joke: There was a pirate who wore a steering wheel on his belt buckle. One day, a landlubber asked him why. The pirated replied “I don’t know, but it’s drivin’ me nuts.”
4. hottest pirate actress: Penelope Cruz

Great Unexpectations: Discovery with Michael Ryan Architects

Just Let Go.

Every new client relationship begins with the phase we call “Discovery.”  It’s the time we spend embedded with the client, gathering as much information as possible about what they do, how they do it and why they do it. Some call this the “Research Phase,” and often times this feels like a better description as we pore through thick binders of data and information and read long, dry company histories. However, as we prepared for a day of touring homes designed by our new client, Michael Ryan Architects, we had no idea that we were about to be reminded as to why we call this phase “Discovery” and how it can be as much about self-discovery as it can be learning about the client.

Our first clue that we needed to check any preconceived notions about what the day may hold was the fact that it was a balmy 77 degrees. And it was mid-February. Next clue: we were given a $165,000 Mercedes-Benz AMG (another client of ours) to test drive for the day.

Our ride.

And we were headed to the beach in Loveladies, NJ, an unspoiled strip of land on Long Beach Island known for a history of experimental architecture. This was indeed one of those moments where you remind yourself that you’re being paid to do this. And you don’t care how trite it sounds.

Heading to work/the beach.

MRA told us to meet them at “Beach Flop”—the first stop on the tour. When we arrived at the stunning beachfront property I believe we all muttered, “Beach Flop?” as if that name could only mean some kind of dusty, thatched-roof, shanty commune. Whereas, in front of us, stood a massive, modern, red structure that looked as if it had been lifted up off the ground by a series of whimsical carjacks. We learned this was done to allow for unobstructed views of the dunes and ocean beyond as you approach the house, giving it an instant geographic context as well as a practical place to park cars and hose off beach chairs. Wonderful. Unexpected. Practical.  Our words of the day were taking shape.

"Beach Flop?"

As we moved through the different spaces, we experienced each house’s overall effect on the mind and body. We listened to the creators speak to why they made the choices they made or how some aspect was not a choice at all, but a fortunate result of being open to possibility. We learned that a house can be both a place of relaxation as well as a place to party. We learned that an old-school diner can have a James Beard award-winning chef behind the grill serving up thick creamy milkshakes, pancakes or famous Barnegat Bay scallops.

Entering the Bayview.

Unexpected Lunch Awesomeness.

Feeling the space.

And we learned that, for Mike Ryan, the creative process is sacred. While touring the final home of an MRA client-turned-friend (as all clients seem to become), Mike pointed to a sculpture on the wall created by the homeowner artist. It was a bright orange life preserver with the words “Let Go” emblazoned across it. Mike pointed at it and said this is what it’s all about. Getting people to get rid of all preconceived notions of what they think they know or like and just being open to the possibility that exists in any creative endeavor, whether you’re designing houses, making music, writing stories, or designing brands. Be informed, be educated, but then let go and let the process take you.

Sometimes the writing is on the wall. And it's good.

We took this advice to heart and designed a new brand and website for the firm that not only tries to convey this concept, but is born of it. We’re also working on a monograph of collected works that will be published later this year. Take a look at our work as well as the inspiring houses designed by MRA and see what happens when you learn to “Unexpect.”

Wonders of SkyMall Magazine – For Your Entertainment

Incredible oddities discovered during a recent trip to California.

+ In case your garden is lacking something that you.. just can’t put your finger on

+ For the gal looking to avoid the bird flu, without losing her stylish edge

+ We all know how annoying it is to take your sun glasses fully off your head

+ For the man whose pillow is never cold enough

+ And my personal favorite