AUGUST 29, 2009
I'M GOING TO POOL
All month long I've been preparing for The Pool Tradeshow. I just finished packing.
Asides from shirts, wall graphics, banners, look books, pillows, orderforms, intro kits and a whole lot more I also made sure to bring some gum. I hate "minty" gum, the world needs more Hubba Bubba chewers - who says it's not classy?
My dad told me to bring a suit. I told him..."this is my suit." He then looked kinda mad.
Atleast Dad will be proud that I brought a tie...
...as well as some nice shoes. I've been saving these Black Toe I's for a big occasion, and in my opinion - the Pool Tradeshow IS a big occasion.
I can't leave the state without my lucky backpack. I've been toting this thing around since the 11th grade.
Hey, look at me! I'm a business jerk!
Everything else is in here - including my photon lasers!
Though Pool is just NOW starting to make me sweat, it's not making me sweat as much as knowing that I have to leave Bear Mai home alone. But GOOD NEWS! My wonderful cousin Vy (Dinh) Le will be making her rounds over my house to take care of the OG FFB! Help yourself to some Jell-O cups, but don't look under my bed!
I'm all set to go! My plan is to just go out there, be myself, stay determined and have some fun. It's just gonna be me out there representing, but I'm not worried. I had alot of friends and family ask to come out and help, but I just feel that I HAVE to handle this first year of FFB alone. This is MY brand so I want to be THE one to lay down it's foundation and it's meaning. I figure if I work hard now to solidify the brand, then in the years to come, things will be alot easier for me as well as...future FFB employees?
I'll let you guys know of any good news and bad news. Since I have no laptop, I won't be able to blog...BUT, now that I have a trusty iPhone equipped in my life, be sure to check up on how I'm doing and at which buffet I'll be eating at on Twitter! If you don't want to follow me on twitter, then I better damn well see you at Booth 1110!
Oh yea, I also said that I'll be showing FFB Series 2 before I head out - well, since preparing for Pool took up pretty much all of my time this month (outside of my day job) I didn't get time to photoshoot the series, so here's a small preview...
If that's not enough for you, then here's some line art of Series 2! When I get back I'll explain each design as well as having the product shots ready...
SHIT! It's 3 am and I got to leave at 6am! I'm EXTREMELY exhausted and there's probably typos in this post but as of right now...I don't give a F
! I gotta get some sleep, for in 4 and a half hours...I'M GOING TO POOL! (Here's to good things)
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AUGUST 22, 2009
SAVE BIG!
Back to school's just around the corner, so why not head on over to the FFB web store and snag up some FFB while there's still some left! ALL shirts, I repeat - ALL SHIRTS are on sale at 25% OFF plus there's NO TAX AND NO SHIPPING FEES! Hurry up though, the sale ends at the strike of midnight on August 24th.
I also found a few 09 Kixpo Exclusives as I was cleaning out Zone 2 of the Fur Face Boy Factory. Those are also 25% off! I only found 3, so HURRY 'YO ASS UP!
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AUGUST 19, 2009
LAST YEAR
I remember last year during this time, my parents and I decided to take a drive over to Louisana to visit my brother for his birthday. Asides from a t-shirt, basketball shorts and my iPod, I also took along a few books on graphic design as well as one of my many notebooks.
I was going through some bad times last year. The cure: Writing down and...
...doodling out my thoughts.
Planning client work (I was doing freelance graphic design).
Planning out more client work and writing down more thoughts.
Doodling emotions and planning better self promotion...
Doodling ideas for dream clients.
Setting guidelines / standards for my graphic design (Now, I use these guidelines for Fur Face Boy).
And oh yea, thinking of a name for my graphic design studio. Hmmm...what should I go with?
P.S. Happy birthday S. Mai.
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AUGUST 16, 2009
WELCOME TO THE SHO
Friday night belonged to my friends over at SHOGUN! They held their Big Grand Opening announcement party and as expected, the entire Shogun Crew was on hand to party down with the massive turn out. From left to right: San, Louis, Viet, Keith and John.
The Shogun wives were also on hand! Everybody say "Hi!" to (from left to right) Alex - The Shogun Cover Girl, Trisha - The First Lady of Shogun and Grace - The Empress of Shogun (Tinkerbell variant)
Party in 5...4...3...2...
SHOGUN! I told you the turn out was MASSIVE! C'mon, let's go bother some people...
'Nuff...
...said!
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AUGUST 14, 2009
SHOGUN GRAND OPENING PARTY
Tonight (AND TONIGHT ONLY!) my EXTREMELY good friends over at SHOGUN will FINALLY have their Grand Opening announcement celebration at ENCORE here in the greatness of Dallas, TX! Come get your party on, hang out with the Shogun Crew and wish them the best of luck as they set sail into their ventures of streetweardom! Aside from wishing the Shogun crew the best of luck, be sure to get in on all of the FREE schwag (including some Fur Face Boy shirts!) that they'll be passing out! There's also gonna be a hottest sneaker contest, so make sure you're packing some HEAT ON YOUR FEET cause I hear the prize for the winner is pretty badass! Also be sure to pimp your Shogun Tee to get reduced cover! DAYMMMMN! I'm excited! And you should be too!
Shogun was the first shop to give FFB any chance and has been there for me since day 1 whenever I needed ANY help with my brand. We back each other 100% and know that we can count on one another for what lies ahead. I have nothing but much love and much respect for the ENTIRE Shogun Crew:
VIET | JOHN | SAN | KEITH | LOUIS
There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that Shogun is gonna be BIG-TIME MAJOR PLAYERS in the D/FW streetwear game! SO WATCH THE F OUT!
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AUGUST 10, 2009
NO, I'M NOT RICH
Last Wednesday during my dinner with Brandon and his family, his sister Chelsea asked me..."Are you like, uhhh...rich?" My reaction to that was with a chuckle and the shake of a head - NO. I'm far from rich, I'm just an everyday guy who like anybody else, has to pay dumb bills and take care of everyday shit. Need proof? Check out my Saturday / Sunday...
First things first, I have to pay for my vehicle registration renewal sticker. There goes 75 bucks that I could've used toward more FFB! Ugh.
After taking care of that bullshit, I had to take care of more bullshit. I received a speeding ticket about a month ago and forgot to show up to my court date. The price I have to pay - 160 bucks! DAMMIT!
TIme to go grocery shopping. The end result - $42.17. Why must humans eat?!
Gas time. NO! Not farting, I'm talking about gasoline! There goes $27. *Sigh*...atleast my III's make me smile.
A full tank of gas deserves to be in a spotless car. I really do like washing / vacuuming my car - it makes for real good thinking time.
With a clean car, I figured..."I want a clean dog too!" Look how miserable Bear Mai looks - haha! That's my Fur Face Boy!
Everytime I give Bear Mai a bath, it's a MUST to bust out with the Comet and scrub spotless the bathtub. Yes, even THE Fur Face Boy has to scub bathtubs.
Laundry is a common weekend must.
It was probably like 5 or 6 pm before I got done with everything. Which was just in time for my date with the Baron. The Red Baron that is. (FFB INSIDER: Red Baron frozen pizza's are highly underrated, very filling and can be purchased at a bargain price!)
After taking care of personal chores and finally getting some food in me, I get to FFB chores. Yay? Ever since Kixpo, it's sad to say, but I've been too busy to take care of keeping up with FFB inventory. Zone 2 (My oldest brother's room) has become a war zone! Shirts, supplies and boxes are scattered everywhere! The boxes are actually literally starting to spew out into the hallway. Looks like it's time I take care of this problem...
Ahhh...much better! I even went ahead and gathered the shirts I'm planning to display at Pool. (Oooooh...a few FFB series 2 shirts, can you spot them?)
After organizing, cleaning and inventorying, I finally finished the last of the Fur Face Boy series 2 designs! Last week my screen printer amazed me by delivering 5 designs, that means I have 2 more weeks to have the other 8 designs in my hands. Here's a small preview of Series 2. Literally - small. Funny huh? No? Fine.
After the last design was completed I had to take care of a few Pool expenses - mandatory Pool 'insurance'. WTF! There goes another $100 bucks!
So there you have it. Like I said, I'm just an everyday guy who like anybody else, has to pay dumb bills and take care of everyday shit. Hopefully, if I keep working towards my goals / keeping my mind clear, then maybe one day I can be rich. Keyword being: hopefully.
Also...this post seems to be the cousin of this post. Don't you think so?
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AUGUST 6, 2009
PIZZA, COKES & A GOOD TIME!
So last Friday, Fur Face Boy super fan, Brandon Mitchell twittered me saying that he wanted to meet me at Centre as he purchased his first Fur Face Boy shirt. I never arranged to meet him, but I did let him know that I may stop by since I was going to be nearby at the Kidrobot Grand Opening. I never met up with him. When I got home from the Kidrobot madness, I checked my twitter account to find that Brandon was pretty dissapointed that I didn't stop by (even though again, I never arranged to meet him).
I started to feel bad that I dissapointed a fan, so to make it up to Brandon, I invited him, his dad and whoever else in his family to meet me last night at Vapiano for pizza, cokes and a good time! All compliments of THE Fur Face Boy, of course! Along with Brandon and his dad was his sister, Chelsea. Right from the get go we all got along and shared stories that ranged from broken bones, Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, bootleg NYC Chinatown movies, algebra, Sponge Bob, subliminal Disney movie messages as well as getting to know each other.
After alot of laughs, smiles and 2 whole pizzas, we all stopped by my car so that I could give a couple of FFB shirts to both Brandon and Chelsea! As always, it was a good feeling to see how excited people get when they get a FFB shirt! Sorry, I didn't have any shirts for dad. (Insert audience track: BOooOoOooOoooooooo...)
Brandon, Chelsea AND dad (Chuck) were all very cool people! Dad's a carpenter and his favorite beer of choice is Shiner Bock. I kept pushing for him to be in a picture, but he wouldn't budge - hmmm...must be the dad in him. Chelsea is about to enter another semester of college and made it loud and clear that she's going to be a future 2nd grade (and ONLY 2nd grade!) teacher. As for Brandon, he's just hoping that he doesn't wake up at 11:30 am today - that's considered too early for him.
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AUGUST 5, 2009
HOLY SHIT!
AUGUST IS HERE! After a whirlwind, crazy busy July, it's now time to kick the new month into high gear, and believe me when I say that this month will most likey be just as busy as the last or maybe even busier! As you can see below, my things to do list for just this week alone is pretty hectic, but to make things happen, I HAVE to accomplish every goal I write down.
At the moment I'm working like a maniac on a killing spree to complete FFB series 2! I'll be showcasing at this year's POOL TRADESHOW in Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada at the end of the month so it's an ABSOLUTE MUST that I have series 2 ready for show. On top of that, I still have to get my booth graphics and all FFB materials / decor ready. I'd also like to have line sheets for Series 3 available. DAMN! I wouldn't be surprised if my mind explodes before I even hit the tradeshow floor! With months quickly zooming by, these next 3 weeks are gonna feel like 1 week! I'm constantly reminding myself to stay focused and not to worry because - I WILL make it happen!
Also...my homies over at VAULT NYC received their Limited Edition FFB Box Set and it looks like they're just about ready for some Fur Face Boy in their lives - which means I just might soon have to catch the next flight out to the Big Apple. Check out Vault's blog to see what I mean...
I also found some time this past weekend to figure out a NEW FEATURE to this site - at the end of every blog post, you'll find the e-mail list sign up box, just type in your e-mail address, hit join and you'll be one of the first to hear of coupon codes, sales, events, release dates, FFB exclusives and much more! And to refresh everyone's memory, let's take a quick look at the other features alongside the new e-mailing list feature...
you can instantly e-mail me by simply clicking my name. To the right of that, you'll find a share icon, click this to easily share these blog posts with your friends and family! And the last icon is the RSS icon! Click that to sign up for Fur Face Boy blog updates to automatically be sent to your RSS rotation!
And oh, hey...I suggest EVERYONE head on over to my man, Xavier Marshall's blog, Take 2 of These and read the interview I did with him. In the interview you'll get to know me a little bit more and also find a deeper story of how the Fur Face Boy brand came about. While you're there, definitely be sure to also check out all of the cool posts about art, design, photography, music and much more.
The main concentration this month is to obviously prepare for Pool, but I still have many other plans and ideas that I want to get done, so I'm gonna try my best to squeeze EVERYTHING in. Last month, I said that I would be having a Limited Edition FFB Box Set give-a-way contest, but since July was HYPER x 10 busy I couldn't get to it, so keep checking back in because you'll never know when your chance might be! HAPPY AUGUST!
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