He has this hand sign he’s always throwing up which stands for the fact that he’s from the Westside of Flint, MI (FLINT TOWN!).  So he asked me to make up a logo for the sign to put on his blog. After I worked in out in illustrator, we loved it so much we ended up basically working on a mini business plan for an entire brand, Westside $ociety. The brand now in it’s beginning stages but, it’s going to serve as catalyst for all those who want to make a name for themselves. We’re all products of our society, so who better to represent that society or even redefine that society than you?

The t-shirts are coming soon, but right now he’s giving away free hand logo stickers, so if you want one before they’re all gone, you need to hit the site up or shoot him an email, jimmiewestside11@gmail.com.

Working with Jim West has definitely motivated me to be more proactive and enthusiastic in a lot of things related to my own brand. When I’m helping him, giving advice, working on deadlines and other plans I realize how much I’ve overlooked, put on the back burner, or neglected when it comes to my own business. He’s made me totally re-evaluate Tecknicolor and it’s a great thing. I’ve got a renewed drive and energy for the brand and it’s all thanks to Jimmie Westside.

I really liked the lo’s better than the hi’s. Those were the ones I owned in white, black and red. For some reason I got it in my head that I should wear them with my Jordan 45 jersey. I rocked that look hard. Later someone asked why I was wearing Grant Hill’s with a Jordan jersey and then it occurred to me that, aside from color, they didn’t really go together. But, whatever man….. I was killing it with my little kid style. They were just mad becuase they didn’t have either. Boom!

If these shoes ever retro I’m definitely going to get a pair. I’m determined to acquire all of my favorite childhood sneakers and the Grant Hill 1′s are high on the sneaker priority list.

….and yes the Phoenix beating Dallas (respect to Jason Kidd) tonight inspired this post. GRANT HILL DRINKS SPRITE!

I was looking for a type of messenger bag on one of my usual online product searches when I came across a familiar looking bag. It’s by Alviero Martini, and the print is called Geo Classic. The name of the bag wasn’t familiar and the $635 price definitely wasn’t, however, the print was. I have a bag I bought from Target in the 90′s by the now defunct brand, Gitano, with the exact same print. I don’t remember what I (my mom, becuase I was a kid) paid for it, but I know it wasn’t anywhere near $600.

The new and now fashionable version of this vintage bag has been a carried by all sorts of celebrities since it’s release, which I think was around 2008 or 2009.

I usually only carried the bag on trips and only when I ran out of room in my usual unfashionable duffel bad (I never buy real luggage). Now I’ve got a new appreciation for the vintage piece of my 90′s childhood and intend on keeping it in good shape.

My real question is: Do people know where this old time world map print came from, especially the celebrities dishing out thousands of dollars on the luggage? I also wonder if my bag is worth anything now and if it is. How much? Either way, I think it’s pretty cool I own one, which is whole reason I blogged this.

The moral to this story: Throw nothing away.

I started out as a customizer and if you weren’t aware, customizers all have custom “names”. I can’t remember how it all started, but I’m pretty sure it had to do with Methamphibian: the pioneer for sneaker customizers, online forum screen names, and the fact that we saw ourselves as an extension of the graffiti art movement (or not). Regardless of the reason, I became known as Tecknicolor (duh). It was from my love of classic movies which were colored by the company Technicolor. If they put movies in color and I added color to sneakers, then….uh huh, yeah, you got it, pretty clever right? Maybe not, but I like it. I was a not-so-advanced Photoshop user at the time so I messed around with this Mars photo until I got this and have been pretty much known by this logo ever since. Do you care though? I don’t know, I shall continue…..

So I decided to focus on the glasses and to make the logo more universal by not having such a product specific focus. I thought that the 1930′s styled font would fit the fact that Tecknicolor is vintage based. I didn’t use the exact pair of glasses that are on Spike and if you’ve ever read this blog you’d know I love vintage Cazal’s. I even made my own signature for the upper corner of the lenses. I like the logo, but for a reason I can’t seem to remember anymore I decided I wanted an official mascot for the brand. It could be incorporated into designs making the brand more consistent and well-rounded, not that unrelated shirts don’t work, they do. I just wanted to have something or someone I could use as an identifier of the brand.

My slogan and the name of the this blog is I DREAM IN TECKNICOLOR and has been since the beginning. I had always focused on the color portion of the concept, but never really paid too much attention to the dream aspect of it. When coming up with a mascot I went through several ideas and ended up coming up with a sheep. When I was telling my friends about the sheep they all laughed, which is understandable. A sheep isn’t seen as tough, cool, fast, strong or anything that most mascots usually are. That’s cool with me, I’m none of those things either (but I am awesome lol). However, a sheep  is synonymous with dreams and sleep, plus I love that since no one ever uses a sheep as their mascot that it’s kind of an exclusively Tecknicolor character. I honestly had no idea how to draw a sheep. I didn’t ever think of what a sheep really looked like. I felt like a Disney animator, trying to come up with a logo friendly version of  sheep. I looked at dozens and dozens of sheep pics. I drew and re-drew way more variations and styles than I’m willing to post here. The one thing I decided on was that I wanted to keep the glasses, since tied back to my original logo and can always been used as “seeing in color” whenever the color concept is called for.

After sketching I scanned them in and got to vectoring the designs. This stage took me a minute to complete because I’d always think “OK, this is it I love it”, then the next day come up with something I thought was better. That’s honestly how I work in general. I’m always coming up with something. It’s a good and bad thing and can be both productive and counter productive.

It didn’t take long after the vectoring phase to finally decide on this guy. Something about the simplicity of the design immediately clicked with me and I was set on this as the official Tecknicolor mascot. I have a really clever name for him, Dr. E. Amers, who’s a sleep specialist (yes, he went to medical school and has a PhD), but I can’t get anyone to call him by that name. Everyone calls him “Sheepy”. So here’s the semi-final version of Sheepy.

There’s more to come about the new and improved version of the brand, including the DREAM concept as well as the new developments of Tecknicolor. So…..

To be continued…….

I have been discussing with my fellow sneaker loving friends and my mom (who never believes I’ll ever stop buying shoes) about the strong possibility of me not purchasing Jordan sneakers anymore, after this year. To be totally honest I didn’t get into Jordan’s until the 11′s (concord and white) came out back in 96 which happen to now be my holy grails (yes, I own them). I didn’t like that everyone was into Jordan’s, so although I watched every playoff and finals game, I wasn’t really a huge Jordan fan in general. With that being said there are only a few Jordan’s that I’ve been willing to purchase or re-purchase over the years. As 2010 closes with the release of the Flint 13′s and the Cool Grey 11′s I will have become grossly close to owning every pair of Jordan’s on my list, with the exception of a few OG’s that haven’t been retroed in 8 – 10+ years.

The photo shows my last Jordan purchase to date, the 2002 Retro True Blue 3′s. If you’re a Jordan head then you exactly how expensive these shoes run, but I happened to acquire them  for an incredible price. The only flaw, besides that fact that they were used, was that they smelled like a basement (seriously), but I got the smell out. Some people have told that doesn’t matter, since their on your feet, but it’s the principle.

These are one of the very few OG colorways of the 11′s I don’t own, the White and Carolina’s. I actually hated this shoe when it came out because there was this whole baby blue and white trend going on at the time and everyone was wearing the Carolina jersey and it just really irritated me. In my opinion it was the last color option for the  people who didn’t get the concord or black and red. However, since my baby blue hating years I have acquired the need to complete my collections of 11′s and in order to have a complete collection, these must be in it.

So, I’m really moving towards giving up Jordan after this year and focusing on the many OG basketball shoes and football trainers that I grew up with, like the Mission Chargers I blogged about, the Griffey’s, the Rodman’s and the Barry Sanders.

I’m definitely a believer in higher education which is exemplified in the fact that I have a  bachelors degree in marketing. So this isn’t a post on whether or not I think people should go to college or explaining how I think college is a farce (@ least not totally). It’s just that the current job market brings so close to home the realization of what a college education really means to each of us individuals who have dedicated time, money and energy into obtaining a degree. Based on the various conversations I’ve held with college students, I think it’s pretty safe to say that we don’t come to the same conclusion on this particular subject. This is due to the differences in people, opinions, experiences, cultures, ect.  As of this moment I’m uncertain as to whether my opinion has been fully obtained and set, but I have and do give thought of weather college is truly the best or the only (yes some people believe it is) option.

It seems as if it’s getting closer and closer to college becoming one of very options available to the high school graduate when considering  their life’s path. But is that true or are the other opportunities just becoming less and less publicized or promoted? Vocational and trade school still exist but they’re not promoted very well in my opinion. In today’s get more, make more, want more society, it seems as if having aspirations of being able to pay your bills and live within the means of a middle class citizen is now a  laughable aspiration; a less than appealing goal. The reality that everyone knows, but not many acknowledge, is that we’re not all going to be rich or even close to rich, but it doesn’t stop people from trying to achieve more than they have and more than their parents have. We all think we’re going to the exception, the break out hard-working stars among the average. It seems as if this is almost what drives the country as we know it. Each person is awaiting their golden opportunity to become “successful”, the word used but never specifically defined. So does this dream come through college? Does college equal success? Is the middle class citizen who can pay his/her bills and maintain a decent life style on their skills and no degree less than successful? Seems we would all chime in saying no, of course not, because success means different things to different people. But is that what students or kid in general are fed? What are we saying about success and what are kids getting from what they see and hear?

What do people go to college for? No, the better question is what are we really paying for when we pay for college? The truth is we pay to acquire knowledge about specific subjects, directly and indirectly related to the career of our interest, from people who should have experience in these areas. It doesn’t mean we’ll get all of the knowledge that will be required of us in these careers. It doesn’t mean we will get a job in these fields. It doesn’t mean we’ll make more money than if we never had a degree. It doesn’t guarantee anything at all. All we know for sure is that we will have obtained information about a subject that may or may not be helpful in the workplace by then end of each class session. Regardless of your set goal, when you decide to go to college, that’s the most you can really ask for. No matter which way success has been directly or indirectly explained to you; whether you believe college is the way or just having enough money to live your life the way you see fit is right for you, the bottom line is you.

People who are currently unemployed with and without degrees should be thinking, now more than ever, that everyone has some sort of knowledge, skill or advantage, no matter which path you chose to take. Success isn’t in necessarily a classroom or in how much money you make; it’s about using what you have in a way that only you can in order to achieve the kind of satisfaction that can’t be paid for……happiness and contentment with self and God (view of self is dependent on your connection with God).  Finding your way to peace with God, therefore self and all those around you, is where your success ultimately lies and you may very well get to there through college, as long as you understand the real goal.

There seem to some questions and concerns amongst those within the sneaker community about my creation-of and approach to the Get EL Soon campaign, as well as what merits Emmanuelabor to be set aside from the rest of the many talented customizers. There are definitely other customizers whom are all deserving of recognition by the big wigs of this industry we love. There are many customizers who deserve a shot at what is presumably every customizers ultimate dream, working with, working for, and or collaborating with a major sneaker company. In this particular situation the company being referred to is the number one athletic shoe company in the world and the brand of choice for many sneaker connoisseurs and customizers, Nike. I did not and do not intend on taking away from any customizers chance at earning in place among the many Nike artist collaborators. It has been made very clear that I favor Emmanuelabor a customizer. Since I haven’t seem to have made it very clear as to why I would favor him to be hired by Nike, I will explain in much more detail:

When I discovered and began to research and study the art of customizing shoes it was back in 1999 or 2000 when Methamphibian had introduced the concept on the Nike Talk forums (I still have that print out). Back then the chosen method of getting paint to stick to leather involved formulas for mixtures and solutions made up of acrylic paint and acetone. When I say I researched the art, I searched out every single possible resource (from kinds of leather used to the ingredients in water based paint) I could find that I thought would contribute to this new art form that involved two things I loved, sneakers and shoes.

Fast forward a few years to about 2003 or so (I’m uncertain of the exact year) and the very first sign I got from EL that he was going to stand out from the rest was a pair of Detroit Tigers Air Force Ones. At a time when most customizers were all focusing on painting and unique color combinations he had somehow discovered a way to make his own patterns and put them on the shoe. Was his hand that steady? Had he actually painted little Detroit logos all over this shoe? That’s what we were all thinking at the time. We learned soon after that he had actually discovered how to create and apply customized fabric to sneakers.  Not knock off Gucci or LV fabric (which was the trend at the time), not fabric bought at a store, but his own designs on fabric. This new technique completely changed the way he and other customizers approached designs. While others used the technique, EL was continuing to create new ways to make, what was becoming ordinary in the custom world, extraordinary by continually evolving the possibilities of how this technique could be used and practically applied. He began to use actual photos to sneakers, paying homage to sports stars. He was even applying photos to the insoles to match the outer shoe.

One of the first pairs that I remember of this style was a pair dedicated to Kobe Bryant in metallic purple and yellow.

One of the things that stood out was how detailed EL’s designs became as you watched his skills evolve with each pair. He was one of the first customizers who paid close attention to the stitching on designs where stitching had been previously overlooked, which was mainly photo fabric shoes. It was astounding to me that this guy was actually taking the time to hand stitch onto each panel of fabric in order to replicate the original construction of the shoe. At the time I couldn’t imagine how much time and patience it took to do this, but it eventually became a necessity and a standard in customs.

I’m not saying that he invented each and every newly discovered technique that has helped to evolve the sneaker customizing game, because that would be a false statement. It wasn’t the actual techniques that took his designs to another level it’s the way he applied the techniques in new, creative, and often never-before-seen ways.  I mean, I wouldn’t have ever thought of using felt to represent a tennis ball for the Agassi Forces. One of the instances that stands out, for me, is a design that has been counterfeited numerous times. He had done a pair of Air Force Ones in the “UNDFTD” Jordan 4 & 5 color-way. That was nice enough, but he took what was becoming a custom normalcy, engraving designs onto sneakers, and created a Jordan Jumpman logo pattern. Each Jumpman was hand engraved onto the sneaker and I couldn’t believe the accuracy of each logo. At this time the majority of customizers were using the engraving technique to create animal prints like crocodile and alligator (yes there’s a difference).

Besides all of the above mentioned developments of Emmanuelabor’s custom skills, he has also shown great patience, skill, and creativity in designing his own hybrids. This began before Nike started the overkill of hybrid sneakers and the idea was actually cool and somewhat unique. The ones I remember the most vividly were the Air Junks, a combination of Dunks and the design of the Jordan 4’s, which hadn’t been done before him by a customizer, as far as I know.

Check out the purple tinted see through tongue

There’s too much to mention, but I can’t forget what I believe was the initial implementation of see through vinyl material on sneakers.  This had been only seen on the Espo Air Force 2’s and the Invisible Woman Air Force Ones at this time; both of which were official Nike releases. This, of course, soon became somewhat of a trend for official Nike released sneakers after the women’s purple/white/light blue Air Force Ones in 2006. I still have to list a few more on the Emmanuelabor list of custom/reconstructive breakthroughs, improvements and innovations:

The real magnetic swooshes on the Magneto Forces.

One of the first to take 3M reflective material and fabric to new heights by not being confined by the length and width of narrow material.

Using actual cassette tape film on the Cuban Linx – Purple Tape Forces.

Using real basketball leather material on the Undercrown Blazers and Hardwood Classic Forces. This material was also used in three different shades on what is probably one of EL’s most creative shoes to date, the Hardwood Classics Supreme Forces (featured in Sole Collector). These featured a real basketball net, hardwood print, and real basketball needles in place of shoelace aglets.

The Air Force One versions of the Gary Payton Air Zoom’s with perforated leather.

It was stated by someone within the sneaker community that Nike prefers to collaborate with artists that have a distinct style that runs consistently throughout their work. Actually, let me quote this correctly:

“EL does not have a singular style that defines his work and it would be extremely hard for Nike to collaborate with an artist that does not have a defined style that everyone would…. Because of the lack of this defining style Nike would find this collabo unprofitable.”

The reason lies within the constructive criticism above as to precisely why I believe Nike needs a designer like Emmanuelabor. I never stated that I believe Nike should hire or work with EL in the exact same way I’ve seen them collaborate with other artists. This almost implies that in order to work with Nike you must have a style that can be easily stuck onto a previously existing shoe while still being represented as an artist. That does not represent the abilities of EL at all. Confining oneself to a particular style can stifle the creativity and innovation that makes EL’s work what it is; which is flexible, completely original and continuously pushing the bar of craftsmanship, quality and improvement.

Yes, EL is a customizer, but I’m not representing EL as the preconceived, boxed-in, definition of what being a customizer has come to mean to the average person. I’m attempting to get Nike to take notice of a talent that is reminiscent of the kinds of artists that have made Nike what is today. I know some may still have further criticism in saying that EL isn’t an industrial designer, but there have been many sneakers created with and by artists who have never gone to a day of industrial design school. D’Wayne  Edwards, Jordan Brand designer, is one of those artists, not to mention the slew of musical artists, sports stars, charity projects and contests that have allowed the less experienced to participate in  the design of highly profitable sneakers.

This was written to one of the most famous Nike collaborators without a degree in industrial design, Kanye West, who created one of Nike most profitable designs of 2009 :

“…I was energized by your performance and inspired by your hard work, but the biggest compliment I can give out to anybody is that you have created something I have NEVER seen before. I gave it a name ‘PERFORMANCE DESIGNER’. Art is a worthy pursuit but I think ‘design’ is an even higher form of creativity. Design ‘fuses’ art and science, or art and problem solving, or art and usefulness, sometimes all the above in the same project. I’ve seen lots of really good musical artists and been around really crazy good design work, but I can’t think of anybody who has combined it to such a high degree as you.”

– Tinker Hatfield.

Tinker sporting the Air Yeezy’s, explaining their design

I don’t start, participate, or condone anything that I do not believe in. This isn’t a “fan letter” about EL to Nike. I wholeheartedly believe in the skills and abilities of Emmanuelabor as a “customizer”, a designer, and an artist and believe that the time and creativity he has dedicated to his craft qualifies him for such an honor as working with Nike.

-Teck

I’m wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year’s Eve. Each new day is a blessing so the having the potential of a whole new 365 days is nearly a miracle. I invite you to not hesitate to make plans to fill each and every day with steps, decisions, and actions that lead you to your hopes and dreams. There’s no reason to postpone your purpose, so don’t let a day go by in which you aren’t taking yours into consideration. Don’t forget to keep God first, making sure you keep Him involved in every part of your life and building a relationship with Him daily.

There are a few things that I associate with Christmas…..well, there are more than a few things. However, I’m only going to name a few things. First of all, I absolutely love Christmas in ways I’m not totally able to describe. My mom has always made this holiday such a big deal in our house that I get excited and usually can hardly wait for winter to start (hence the fact that it’s my favorite season). This is a picture of Bing Crosby, who in my mind is synonymous with Christmas. I have to admit I’m not that big a fan of White Christmas because of the black face scenes in the movie, I just can’t place that movie in my Christmas vault. However, if you watched it this year on AMC they’ve totally cut that scene out of the movie….. Here are a few things that solidify Christmas for me….

One of my favorite actresses, Barbra Stanwyck in Christmas in Connecticut. I actually will watch this movie anytime of year, but it has special significance around the holidays.

This movie has been a childhood favorite of mine every since I saw it for the first time back in 1992. It fueled my love for Christmas and began my obsession with New York. I wanted to buy everything I saw in this movie and nearly did. I have two Talkboys, both in working condition.

Of course cookies are good any time of year…..But when you’re snowed in, still in your pajamas, waiting for the roads to be plowed or in MI the city to open back up, there’s just nothing like fresh-baked, Pillsbury, chocolate chip cookies, with a glass of milk and one of the above mentioned movies. Ahhh….. good times.

And if you haven’t figured it out by now, snow is needed for Christmas to feel like Christmas, or at least cold. I’ll never be one of those people who can spend Christmas in Hawaii or Florida. I will need to come back north to some real cold and snow for Christmas to be done right.

1984, the best year of my mothers life. I was actually orginally due December 25th, but the doctor changed the date or I did. In the middle of a snow storm, they took me out, because I wanted to stay apparently……This is why December is the greatest month of the year.