With every idea, there’s a great deal of inspiration behind it. Although a lot of it comes from random places, designers here at the office have their own “walls” of randomness. Maybe some of this actually made it into a product or two, or maybe not. What do you think?

Here’s one of Lisa’s

Leila’s wall is a little different from the rest.

Although this may mean a lot to Julie, I don’t think it has anything to do with…

Moritz is on point

My wall is jacked up, so I’m not going to show you the craziness that happens. Instead, how about some looks of a few sneakers that have accumulated over the years? Some I collaborated with, some just flow.

One of my other product passions, BELTS

One too many tradeshows for me over the past 17 years.

One of the best things about LA is that it’s a melting pot of countless creative people and ideas. Unfortunately, there’s also equally a mix of people that are a little “different.” Check the link below and you’ll understand what the hell I’m talking about.

As many of you know, I grew up skateboarding in the South Bay (Hermosa Beach) and Venice Beach. Back in the 80’s, there were so many cultural and social influences that have affected and inspired the creative process of what we do. One aspect of this is music. More specifically, how Punk Rock somehow managed to push the DIY mentality of skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding. Interestingly enough, a great majority originated in my hometown of what we call the South Bay. From Black Flag to the Circle Jerks to The Descendants and of course, Pennywise. Recently, the Hermosa Historical Museum put together a 30-year retrospective on Punk Rock Art.

How many of your favorite brands do you think have been inspired from some of these originals?

I missed the opening, but still paid a visit to the art that I can remember growing up. Check some looks and let me know if you remember these.

Southbay represent!

I can still remember the 98 Mutes cover art just like yesterday

The generation before P-dub

Remember phone booths used to look like this?

The boys of PW

Bringing shit back…way back

History will tell you that Nature will always take its course. Unfortunately, it feels like it’s been coming all at once. This past Saturday, a tragic 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Chile. Estimated at 800 times more powerful than the Haitian earthquake, and at a depth much longer than the shallow one of Haiti; many people have died and are displaced (as many as 2 million!). Having just visited South America to see some friends, it hits a little closer. See how close it really is.

If you’d like to do something, click here.

From one to another that kind of likes what we do…

(I have some other heads that emailed us what they can do with “hair”, but I’ll spare you the detail pictures, as it’s kinda inappropriate…)

All around the way, heads rep their country. From painted faces to cardboard cut-outs, they are everywhere. I saw this dude wearing one of our Syndicate jackets as he started to show me what Canada was all about. Nice hat and glasses man…

Rad Dad from somewhere in the Midwest brought his entire family to support the Red, White and Blue. Remind me not to get my kids hats like these.

You know you’re in a different place when mainstream culture only knows someone from what they see on TV. I can’t remember how many times I heard the “Flying Tomato.” It’s even gone international with the Flying Kildo?

I ran into a few people from around the way. Annie and Nick from T-dub had work to do here. The golden ticket that will get you about anywhere to any event. Watch out for TMZ, Annie.

Hold up, Qualifiers are starting! Go Louie!!!!!!!!!

After a hitting the deck on his first run, but stomping the second, LV places in the top three and automatically goes to the finals!

There’s about 4,000+ in the stands. After the qualifiers, riders are free to come say what’s up to their family and friends. All hell broke loose when Louie came up to say what’s up to us. I mean hundreds of people starting mobbing in to get a picture, signature, etc. Good thing Lou (LV’s dad) was the first to give the hug.

I think it’s time to get something to eat and drink. Yes, there’s only one area to get this and the line’s long. Look what I saw, let’s dance! (5 minutes after, this sticker was pulled off as they have people dedicated to remove anything/anyone that’s not supposed to be there)

Speaking about the Grenade, I ran into Danny and posse. He was telling me this story about one of his friends being T Bagged by a chick. The pict, within the pict, within the pict.

Cheers, it’s Finals time!

And people are psyched!

The top 12 go at it and it’s a pretty rad thing.

One of our long time ex-Canadian riders, Justin, was competing for his country. I guess being the “oldest” person in the Games has Canadians excited.

I was sitting between Lou (LV’s dad) and (of all people) Joe Simpson (don’t ask as I think something may be coming soon to TV), but we were all cheering for the little man. It’s Louie’s turn and his sister, Lindsey, is here repping US and LV from head to toe.

LV did really well and stuck both of his runs, but in the end, got 5th and Mr. White won. You have to give it up to Shaun as his talents are beyond human.

A great achievement regardless for LV. Everyone here is super proud of you (and so am I and Chad). Congrats and see you back in Cali.

Immediately after Magic, I hopped on a plane to Vancouver to show support for Louie Vito and family. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Van’s having a little dry spell. To put it simply, it’s too warm! Yes, this is Cypress mountain, where I’m heading.

I’ve been to big and small concerts around the world, special events, etc. However, I think going to the Olympics takes the cake when it comes to tickets or to anything special getting in. I was told that the men’s halfpipe were the most difficult tickets to attain. (Once there, they were even more difficult to get because they cancelled 4,000 seats) Can you believe they were going for well over 20x face value? Thanks to the Vito family, I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. Welcome to Vancouver 2010…

Little did I know you have to take a bus from town to the hill, then walk 45 minutes up a hill, get searched 5x, then up another large hill…

…with a hundred or so stairs, just to get to my seat. I gotta get in shape.

Along the way, they had some artists working on pieces that tie into the event.

It’s very obvious that unless it has something to do with the official sponsors of the Olympics, it’s not there. The list of who’s here.

What “coke” product should I get?

If you didn’t know, the Olympics have mascots.

Even though it’s a reason for kids and families alike to “get a picture,” I don’t understand the correlation.

Just when I got back from the last show in Vegas, I’m off again. I’ll try not to bore you with the same old, same old, so I’m only gonna give you a few snippets (since I’m only around for a few hours (surprise, surprise) for a few meetings). The layout of Slate was much tighter and to the point. Survival of the fittest front and center.

Aaron and crew set up their Seventh Letter exhibit in conjunction with Slate.

Check it.

The one and only

Yes

My first office was around the corner from here

Fun

Hello Dune, J, Shep

Classic

The creative heads at Orisue make things happen. Keeping it Clean this time around.

The best thing about Magic was that Slate and Project were in the same building. It was more convenient, but I think having the shows start on the same day diluted the energy between the two.

Could it be all about the Big…

$?

Maybe not, but GIVING is much better than receiving

In 1998, I started wearing Evisu’s when I was introduced to them in Daikayama, Japan. Back then, they had no love in the states. Today, it’s a little different.

Picture this…A brand new category of products suddenly becomes popular (ie: headphones), which cost about $2 to produce, package and deliver, which then sells for $20-40 retail. Add some graphics and athletes in the mix, and you have a grip of people trying to get a piece of the “action.” Thankfully, there’s a small handful of heads that are trying to keep the category at a higher level. Case in point is Monster and Jimmy Iovine’s/Dr. Dre’s “Beats by Dre.” Yes, there’s better headsets out there, but I think Dre’s on the right track to bring flavor quality in a nice package.

Ohh, laaa, gaaaa, gaaa, see yaaaahhh nexxttt tiiiiime-aaaaa