"If your dreams don't scare you, they ain't big enough."
-- A friendly reminder to dream & do things so grand they scare you.
Grand Closing, Grand Opening
If you're not familiar with Stefan Sagmeister, he is a New York-based graphic designer, and one of my faves. The image above is taken from his show - "The Happy Show."
I find this image entirely relevant to me today as I leave my role at Matter and on to new opportunities. The same familiar entrance I walk through everyday, has become an exit to new adventures. I am nervous, excited, and sad, all at the same time. I'm sad to leave the friends and relationships I've built. I'm excited for the things they'll do without my crazy-ass around, and the projects coming in. I'm nervous of the challenges and learnings that await me with Andy Ruben at Playground.
I believe anything we do is not worthy of doing if it doesn't scare you a bit. Yes, I am nervous about Playground. I'm nervous because of the uncertainty of not knowing what to expect. I'm nervous because I will be surrounded by people as genius as Andy, who have a track record of success. I'm nervous because they trust my design insights and outlook. I almost feel unworthy of this opportunity - but then again, I have never been more prepared in my life than right now. It's one of those moments where you feel blissfully ready. I'm at the right place and this the right time. I trust my intellect, I trust my design sensibility, and I am confident, thanks to my experiences at Amazon, Matter, and Creative Session. My track record is concrete and I'm excited to share it with Playground.
On a more introspective note, the image above reminds me of the whole "glass is half empty & half full" quote. It's a very bittersweet feeling at the moment, and I feel great about it all. Good things are coming.
#foodforthought
Good Weather, Good People
The joy of writing on this blog is that it's my personal thing, and I cannot give a fuck!! Unlike Creative Session, I can touch on topics beyond design, and be more intimate about my life and thoughts. Really, HOBO is meant to be an excuse for me to get out of the house and away from the computer. To be in good company and enjoy nature because I work too much. #naturesdistractions
Let me begin by apologizing for the fact that I'm ten blog posts deep and still haven't taken a proper HOBO trip. I had imagined it was as easy as strapping Bentley into a baby carriage and riding my motorcycle out to some awesome location. Film the whole experience, then make an adventure video. That was the romanticized version of HOBO. In reality I'm ill-prepared. I don't have proper equipment and I foolishly modified my Bonneville (not expecting HOBO to happen) into a more racing stance bike. Sorry guys, give me sometime to reconfigure.
Bent and I joined some friends to camp and swim out east last weekend. The sun was blazing and the water, refreshing. I made a short video of us swimming in the lake. I realized if I modify the formula for my HOBO trips, that any blog posting that includes either me, Bentley or the motorcycle is still a valid HOBO trip. I'm opening my self up to variety. I added the coordinates to where we were, lets see if you can figure it out.
CANARY Smart Security Camera
About a week ago Canary reached out to Creative Session and sent us their first product to use. It's a smart security camera that connects to your network and let's you keep an eye on the things via the app. In my case, BENTLEY!
Thanks for the hook-up, Canary team. Special thanks to Brittany of the marketing team-I won't put your full name here so you can avoid any potential stalkers, unless you want me to. Then send an email stating so.
A little background on Canary: They're a startup based in New York. I like their modern approach to security cameras by adding smart sensors that provide me data such as: Air Quality, Temperature, Motion, Humidity, Night Vision, Audio, Siren & Cloud Storage. These features are all valuable. I thought I was just receiving a internet-connected camera. Sorry Dropcam! You've been beat.
The packaging is impressive and made really well. Can someone over at the Canary HQ please let me know who produced your packaging? Because it's nicely executed, and the soft-touch paper and the folded box are great design decisions. My favorite part of unboxing the camera is the tasteful pops of Canary yellow at unexpected moments.
The camera is nested nicely in a paper pulp tray and properly protected. I'm shocked to discover how small the device is. I was imagining something twice as big. It's a bit taller than my iPhone 5s. BTW! if you're reading this Apple, I'd love to get my hands on an iPhone 6 or 7 - I'm familiar with how Industrial design works.
The setup was a breeze, it literally took me 5 minutes. The toughest part was probably downloading the app. I forgot my iTunes password.
I'm super stoked about this camera, the live stream is crispy and high def, and most importantly I can see what Bent's up to when I'm gone. Recently he's discovered a way to get onto the kitchen counter. . .
Huarache 2015 NM LAVA
I couldn't help but to pull the trigger on these Nike Huarache 2015 NM lava. Had to pay a bit more since they're only sold in Europe, but it's well worth the bills. Its funny lately 've been buying exclusively red shoes, thinking about only rocking red shoes moving forward. I think it'll be an interesting branding element, no?
Before the photos, here is a little fun fact for you. In the book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall he writes about the Mexican tribe Tarahumara. The Tarahumara Indians are some of the best long distance marathoners in the world. Beyond being some of the best runners, the coolest discovery is that the thin leather slippers they run in are called Huaraches. I wonder if Nike was inspired by this? Probably not...
PHOTO CREDIT : MATTHEW KARSTEN OF EXPERT VAGABOND
And here are the now, less-cooler Hauraches.
Flight Facilities Decade MIX
Straight out of Trinidad & Tibago we have Flight Facilities. This Soundtrack Sundae is 1 of 4 tracks mixed by FF while being Triple J's EXCLUSIVE residents. Conceptually I really like the way these mixes are made, it reminds me of the story telling I do in my designs. Check out the transition at 4:30 to 5:30 - there are some good history time stamps in these.
If you like this song check out the others here. "The Decade Mixes"
HAPPY NATIONAL DOG DAY BENT
I can't imagine what life is without this blonde dachshund. Because of Bentley I get out of the house more, I take breaks often, even started a this joint blog with the dude. I loves ya yungbent. Happy National Dog Day!
Adidas Tubular Primeknit
Unfortunately I failed miserably trying to pick up a pair o Yeezy Boost so I settled for these poor mans Yeezy. The Tubular Primknits stone grey are pretty underated, personally i think they're hot. I'm digging everything Adidas has been dropping in the last year.
Took the WIDE out
I've been meaning to do a more detailed analysis of the Moment lens kit but haven't had the time to. I took the wide lens out camping with my brother and friends last weekend. But due to too much fun I gave up photographing anything. The weather was just too nice and hot to sit around and get into the science of comparing iphone w/ lens vs non lens output. I promise ill get around to it soon.
For now here are a few shots my buddy Sean & I manage to take using the wide lens. Notice the vignetting around the corners. Ive made the image black and white so you can see it easier, its subtle but still there. In full color it's less distracting.
Moment Case x Lens Kit
I've been following Moment since I accidentally stumbled upon Marc Barros's blog about getting fired from his own company "Contour." He then bounces back and starts a lens company called Moment. Sometimes the world has a cruel way of correcting our course. Click his name above to read that entry. I recommend it.
This post isn't about Marc. Its about Moment the company he started after Contour. More specifically its about the lens kit for my iPhone. Marc took all the learnings from Contour and applied it to the worlds best mobile photography lens. I'm excited to use it, I think you'll agree when you get a hold of one of these. THEY'RE HEFTY.
I pre-ordered the housing + two lens kit on Kickstarter. I'm happy they're successfully funded. I Received my kit earlier this week and just now got around to unboxing it. The packaging inside is covered in nicely folded, black paper goodness. I appreciate the attention to detail, the fun little cards celebrating other photographers and their work. I love the brand message reading "We believe the worlds a better place with beautiful photography."
The case is what sold me, I like the color break up. I've been a huge fan of the stark contrast between the colors white & black in consumer products. The case with the added lens makes my iPhone 6 look like a beast of a camera. I can't wait to test this thing out. I might just get rid of the GoPro and the Fuji.
Stay tune for photos from this kit.
SOUNDTRACK SUNDAE : Une Belle Journée D'été
Une Belle Journée D'été = A beautiful summer day.
TRACK LIST:
01. 00:00 Filous - Summer
02. 05:18 Dickystixxx - Make Me Feel Better
03. 09:50 Haze-M - Lucky Love
04. 15:10 Dickystixxx - All I Need
05. 18:50 Fabich & Ferdinand Weber - Aaliyah
06. 22:40 De Hofnar, Mr. Belt & Wezol - Small Rooms
07. 26:55 SNBRN feat. Kaleena Zanders - California Love
08. 32:57 TEEMID & Tessa Rose Jackson - Hey Brother
09. 37:55 Addal feat. Neenah - Waves
10. 42:02 Kav Verhouzer - It's All Good
11. 46:15 Last Lynx - Curtains (Dinnerdate Remix)
12. 50:27 Fabich & Ferdinand Weber - Joy
13. 54:20 Felon - Swimwear
The best camera is the one with you
A few of you folks have asked about the images in the photo section, and why are they soooo amaaaazzinnggg. I mean If you've got a keen eye like ya' boy, give me any camera and the results will be just as dope.
I usually don't reveal these type industry secrets, but I'm gonna put you on my camera game. Because I want to travel light, I'd like to keep my camera quiver pretty lean, this way I can stay nimble and not stress out about lugging around too many things.
They say the best camera is the one you have with you. So by default the Iphone is my first shooter. The Fujifilm X100S fixed 23mm f2 is second in line. Last up the GoPro Hero 4. I'm not gonna review these camera cause there are plenty of in depth reviews out there. Just thought I'd share what I'm shooting with.
Soundtrack Sundae : OHD - Priorities
I'm calling these Sunday music drops "Soundtrack Sundae"
OHD is Eli Way from Indianapolis, Indiana. Check out his Soundcloud here.
Forming the Mark: Ho°Bo°
If there is one thing I can pass along on this post, it's a theory I call the "appleswoosh" effect. Its when a company’s logomark doesn’t directly correlate to the things they produce. Its more about their products, core values and beliefs that make their icon, an icon. Nike used a checkmark. Apple, a fruit. My point is -- is that sometimes we spend too much time justifying our logo designs, and don’t realize it’s only a third of the equation. This isn't very conducive to any forward momentum of our company.
In the diagram above there are three pillars that make up a company: The Icon, Brand & Product. I’ve represented them through sketches we can relate to. The icon is the face of the company. Regardless of how attractive you are, we rely on the heart to determine your brand. These are things such as: your attitude, personality and values. The sum of it all is what society consumes, the product.
As much as I am excited to fill this blog with product. Firstly, it'll be fun to touch on the logo I designed and the inspiration around it. Yes, it's ironic I encouraged you to not spend much time on your logo, but you should still care about its origins. Keep good design practices, but avoid spending way too much time justifying the design so you don't rabbit hole yourself and move on.
I knew I wanted this blog to be about adventures on the motorcycle. There are so many places I want to check out, in and around California. Ho°Bo° is the perfect excuse to ride and explore. When designing the logo I drew inspiration from things related to: location, geography and traveling. I chose the final logo because how extensible the longitude & latitude concept is, and I love its application. Imagine Ho° & Bo° replaced with coordinates relative to my adventures. Would you be curious about where I went? There's something compelling about tracking down mysterious coordinates to me that I encourage the stalker in you to agree. Especially if I presented them to you like this:
Below are a few more sketches to tease your appetite. Enjoy them as I enjoyed quickly sketching them.
Inauguration of HO°BO°
I feel it's appropriate to start blog post # 1 with a song. It's not a opening ceremony without music and balloons. Truthfully, I stole the "H" while at a wedding last weekend, and to tie the song together . . . well, maybe it's about how much Bentley & the Bonneville loves me better. HAHA
There's something wildly appealing about looking back a year from now, and giggling at the music I was into. Beyond It's comedic value, music is one way I track memories. I don't know about you, but I feel like I have an incredibly limited brain, either I'm thinking too hard, and burning up too many brain cells, or have banged my head one too many times. Whatever the reason, I'm treating this site as Hoang's journal and not a Creative Session thing.
As a kid I've always been into motorcycles. I owned two others and a scooter before I bought the Bonneville. My biggest regret is that I didn't document any of the other bikes. No adventure photos, customization photos, or riding videos - nothing. With the Bonneville I want to capture everything and share it here. Hopefully, I don't get rid of the bike anytime soon, because HoBo would be very short lived.
I'll be sharing more on the Bonneville in a few days. But for now enjoy the balloon in the wild on this inauguration day.
