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THE 2012 OFB MOBILE WORKLIFE TOUR

Our annual mobile work life tour started way back in June. With the 58' OFB Mobile Airstream office (and living quarters) in tow, we left from Dallas, TX on a hot, sunny summer morning just before sun up with a simple outlook. Separate working, from any specific physical location. Make Freedom. Travel slow, see more, and make better stuff. Make a living. Live. Lets not confuse this with a vacation. Read on, or scroll through the hundreds of pics from the trip, above. Use the < > to navigate.

The Route.

We don't make any specific plans or reservations. We just generally pic a directional route with a turning point, and go. We spent two weeks exploring the great American Southwest, a region we love and spend large amounts of time in all year round. I would say our home away from home. From Southern Utah, we traveled down through Arizona until we reached that beautiful SOCAL Pacific Coast. Of course spent a good week with our old friends at the Paskowitz Surf camp in San Diego. From there, we spent a good 8 weeks creeping up the Pacific coast until we could literally see Canada. We finally turned our rig east for the first time, streaked across Washington State, got some good sleep in Montana, spectacular fly fishing in Wyoming, and made our way back to OFB's spiritual birth place…a place called Red Shirt Table which is part of the Badlands on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. From there we pretty much kept our head down until we got back home. Cornfields. In all, over 8,000 miles, and 73 days of living (working & exploring) on the road. All but 3 of those nights spent in the trailer or in our trusty orange Coleman tent.

So lets break things down and talk about why we do this.

Slowing Down….to do more.

A simple concept. Clear the crap, the unneeded, the overdone.….make space for doing more of what we value.

I think of the days in 3 parts: 1) Sleep 2) Work 3) Live

Give about 8 hrs to each and you have yourself a well balanced day.

Sleep.

We get more in tune with the rhythms of the sun when we are are camping nightly. When it gets dark, we naturally start winding down, enjoying book, a fire, hot tea, glass of wine, a bedtime story for the kids, etc. We go to bed much earlier than when we are at home. We just aren't stimulated by tons of media. We wake early and refreshed.

Work.

Of course we gotta make a living like anyone else. I find the road, and camp, to be a great place to work. Great creative work requires 2 things:

1) Exploration

This is not surprising. Creative people have to connect with others, with new things and new forms, and be inspired by others. So for me the exploration part of work during these trips is about absorbing what others have made. Nature aint bad either! The taxman may not get it, but when I go to a surf shop, I'm working. Lots of great branding examples in there to absorb.

2) Solitude

Living in a trailer in the woods. Great for solitude. Actually, we practice this all-year round because we all work from our personal studios rather than all in one space. I also will take the trailer outside of town for a couple days at a time to hunker down on a project. Why Solitude? I'll let some much greater artists and thinkers than me, tell you.

Goethe: “One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.”

Picasso: “Without great solitude no serious work is possible.”

Mann: “Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamiliar and perilous — to poetry.”

Tesla: “The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone—that is the secret of invention: be alone, that is when ideas are born.”

Speaking of work….we did allot. In fact we had the busiest Summer in OFB history. Here are a couple case studies highlighting work that was done and of course a good chunk of the work done this summer will be launching this Fall.

http://www.onefastbuffalo.com/Work/76/Western-Son-Texas-Vodka

http://www.onefastbuffalo.com/Work/74/Crescent-Real-Estate

http://www.onefastbuffalo.com/Work/77/We-R-Native

Oh! I also worked a few days at Google and Nike. Will write about that later!

Live.

There are only 2 rules. Do only what is needed & necessary for survival. OK I'm not saying we are living in a survival situation. But you are certainly more aware of your soundings and the fact that it's all kinda about eating, drinking, shelter, etc. Right? And then only what we enjoy doing after those things are taken care of. You know, the stuff you never seem to have time to do in your busy, all important modern life of mostly busy work, meaningless meetings, and PTA meetings. And of course here is the real reward to living on the road. We can spend these 8 hrs doing so much more, in so many great places.

A quick list: Setting up camp, cooking outdoors, long hikes, long runs, long walks, fixing the rig, washing clothes, cleaning the rig, cleaning the dog, teaching the kids ANYTHING, fireside chats, drawing, smelling, working out, water drinking, beach or riverside napping, bill paying, banking, tasting coffees, visiting family farms, seeing wildlife, whiskey tasting, landscape hunting, bison spotting, diner diving, ignoring advertising, beer tasting, outdoor movie watching, guitar & banjo playing, trying new foods, leather crafting, vintage shopping, pawn shop hoping, pipe smoking, star gazing, cricket listening, outdoor festivals, live music, surfing, biking, fly fishing, fly fishing, and fly fishing. One of my FAVORITE activities, is purging To Do lists. Getting away helps me more clearly recognize the important rom the unimportant with regard to projects, business, etc.

A note here about the inclusion of family pics in this post! Haha. Look, in the past, I pretty much left out family pics...and trust me I have 10000's more...but Family is a HUGE part of why we do this. So its not telling the whole story if I don't include. For you it may be family, important friends, both, a dog, whatever. The point is slowing down to spend more time with things we value..people count ;) I'll go ahead and say in fact that this work style is ABOUT connecting my personal life and work life. I want my kids to get outside of their bubble, see more, be independent, self sufficient, and just more aware of what is essential. Frankly, I used to use work as an excuse for not spending enough time with them. This idea that you can't work with kids around... ridiculous. Why not make WORK, work for you? Why not mold work to life rather than the letting WORK, work you over? Easier said than done, I know. But I am going to assume I am taking to mostly creative types that make a living in much the same why I do. Laptop. Brain. Internet.

Return To Red Shirt Table.

We are making a film that will talk more about this. I'll just say, this was THE PLACE that inspired me to live a creative life. I spent some extended time here 15 years ago and it changed me. Nothing would be the same for me without it. And so I thought it would be great to visit. It was. Nice to be able to look back after 15 years and realize I am glad I followed through.

That's it! You need to get on to viewing the pics above.

Hope to see you on the road.

OFB Donates New Logo Design to Dallas Little League.

OFB has designed and donated a new logo for the Dallas Little League. That's baseball and softball for boys and girls ages 4 - 14. Onefastbuffalo, and our Warstic Bat Co, are proud to sponsor Dallas Little League by making stuff...what we do best. The Dallas Little League is a great organization that is growing rapidly. Find out more by visiting their site. The new DLL logo will be available soon on merchandise from the DLL online store. Buying merchandise is a great way to support the progress of youth baseball in our city. And now it will look great too! Thanks to the DLL staff for this opportunity. The logo was designed by OFB's Ben Jenkins.

THE OFB MOBILE CREATIVE WORKLIFE TOUR. NORTHWEST LOOP 2011

Year 2 of the OFB Mobile Creative Worklife tour in the books. Burnside Street, Portland USA and back. 7,266 miles.

3 kids in tow. The goal was the same as last year, just longer and slower. Live in our trailer, see the beautiful places in between the big places, live simpler, eat better, sleep more, surf, hike, bike, spend every night by fireside, spend MORE time with family...and well, more proof that the the mobile creative worklife is a good life.

We also do this for a very important business reason. It's real simple. When we get out and see more of the world WE DO MORE INSPIRED WORK. It's true. We do our best work during this time. When you see more things you make more connections and that gives us more creative fuel.

This years pics are attached. 500 of them! Sprinkled in a little family fun this time too;) After all one of the primary reasons we do this is to get our kids outside and seeing more country. Work is usually one of the biggest excused people give for not be able to get them out of the house more than a couple times per year.

One of the coolest people we met this summer was Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co in Portland. He wrote a great post about us so I thought I would let him do the talkin for us this year.

From Aaron's Blog....

One Fast Buffalo Rolls Into Town

Year 2 of the OFB Mobile Creative Worklife tour in the books. Burnside Street, Portland USA and back. 7,266 miles.

This years pics are attached. Sprinked in a little family fun this time ;)

One of the coolest people we met this summer was Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co in Portland. He wrote a great post about us so I thought I would let him do the talkin for us this year.

One Fast Buffalo Rolls Into Town

ALL THE WAY FROM TEXAS: One Fast Buffalo descends upon Portland! Ben Jenkins is touring America! He's got the whole family with him, too. A gang. Working, playing, seeing, camping‚living! All from their Airstream mobile command unit. Just incredible. It's summer, and they are making good use of it. And I'm just gonna tell you: I'm jealous as hell. Leigh is too. Makes me want to uproot the air conditioned meatlockerism of the shop, pack up the Volvo and hit the motherfuckin‚ road. And maybe never come back. Just go walk the earth, from WiFi spot to Wifi spot, sending off vectors here and there. Damn.

I met Ben at my Dallas "Tall Tales From A Large Man" road show talk a couple years back. That room was a bit of a tough crowd, but after the gig Ben came up and we got to the bottom of some shit. Helluva guy. You could just tell. His One Fast Buffalo design business is thriving, and, he recently launched the Warstic Bat Co. Bats, people. Good wood! In this big, wild, colorful world there just isn't much cool than an American baseball bat. Hard to beat. Ben's a ballplayer so he knows a good bat and inspects each one. They are for sale here, so get with it.

Not a ballplayer? No problem. We plan on using our Warstic for follows DDC factory floor concerns: Shop Security‚ and ‚ Client Coaxing. Yes. Feels good in the hands. These bats do not disappoint.

It was incredible meeting Ben's family and seeing the firsthand spoils of the paradigm shift that a few us have been tapping into: You can do this stuff from wherever you want.

Think about that for a second. Here's a guy operating out of his Airstream, all over America. I'm no stranger to the open road, with some wild fall tours under the belt from the last bunch of years. I'm not afraid of working out of the driver's side seat, and have sent many a document from a Motel 6 parking lot. (Free WiFi, man!)

Thanks for coming by, Ben. You pretty much are the best thing we've seen all summer. Come back and keep the rubber on the road! Freeeeeeedom!

Smooth sailing to the Jenkins clan!!!

Read full post here.

Pop up and do less. Then price on VALUE, not Time.

Dear fellow creative professionals,

Please price your DESIGN services based on value not by labor. Let's stop this madness. Frankly, I think most clients understand this concept if you will give them the opportunity. Many of us have trained the client to think more about labor rather than about value when it comes to pricing. So I blame us not them.

I'll start with a simple statement.

You can take your Graphic Designer's Guide to Pricing, Estimating & blah blah blah and use it for fire kindlin'.

I made a simple chart (see bad design above) that I think explains the main reason we want to see the hourly design fee go away. It's simple really. The more experience (we might also throw talent into this side of the graph) a designer has, the faster they should reach good design solutions. Why wouldn't they? Nobody in their right mind would purposely take longer if they don't have to. I know many designers will actually wait a few days to show the client the work to ensure the client thinks it took a good amount of time to accomplish. Really? I suspect it's because of something like this. Have you had this happen? The client doesn't understand why something that takes maybe 1 hour, or even 10 minutes for that matter, should cost a lot of $. Or have you had them question the value of an idea (even though they already told you it was good) once they figure out it really didn't take you long? We get it.

My argument is simple. If a designer spends 20 hrs on a logo (or let's say any set of visual brand design components or strategic brand strategy recommendations that have the potential to positively effect the perception of your brand), is it more valuable than one that took 10 minutes? Well, what if the logo that took 10 minutes perfectly matches the clients brand strategy? What if the one that took 20 hrs doesn't? This is purely about solutions that make a difference. In other words VALUE. Time spent does NOT by any means equal solutions that provide more value. All that matters is the quality of the result.

In fact, I'll argue that a client's VALUE for your design solution is raised when you deliver it more quickly! The longer a person waits for the solution the more the shine wears on it, even if it ultimately is as good for the brand. The faster the client gets to use the solution the faster its affect can be felt. So if you are fast, you should get rewarded, not paid less! Now doesn't that sound sane?

An experienced designer (one who knows that the first and most important thing is to understand the brand strategy BEFORE he starts the design process) works out much of the core idea in their head before they ever sit down to "work". The computer time becomes about the execution of what's in the designbrainmind place, a bit of experimentation to ensure you're on the best path, and mostly the crucial refinement that gives the piece of creative its final polished form.

Production vs Design

Don't mistake what I am saying. There is a big difference between DESIGN and PRODUCTION and those of us who do one or the other or both know this. But clients have a harder time seeing the difference in many case because maybe you don't take the time to highlight the difference. If you are laying out a 50 page catalogue for instance, there are 2 things that need to happen 1) Designing the essential set of visual elements that give this catalogue its unique look and feel. Typography, colors, photo style, formatting, good God! all that and more, etc. THIS is where the value is when it comes to determining how effective the piece will be 2) ok now you got 50 freaking pages to layout, there is a lot of redundancy here and it will certainly eat up hours to accomplish those 50 pages according to the DESIGN. So the total price for the brochure should be about pairing that value with the hours. But MOSTLY about the value!!!!

Same goes for Web Design since it is so critical to a brand's perception these days. Obviously, there are many hours that go into the production and development of a site but if you plan and design a TURD, the developer will certainly BUILD A TURD. So again, hours are only a small part of delivering real value here.

How do we measure value?

We agree this is tricky and much harder than counting hours but we still always go with this option. The value of brand design changes for every client. Why? Well, they are in different markets, some are startups, some are 80-year-old companies, some are in big markets, some in small markets. Some clients are in industries where brand design makes HUGE difference in the success of a product. Others are in an industry where brand BARELY matters. This is a fact. Also, a startup has much less at stake and everything to gain from good design. A brand designer can immensely help a startup by incredible brand design so this by no means says working for startups should be cheap. On the flip-side an 80 year old company has less to gain but lots to lose. They are hoping to make a good investment in rebranding in order to make an incremental improvement to their bottom line.

***EXPERIMENT**

To prove the worth of brand design we did a little real-life business experiment. We created a Wood Baseball Bat Company. The trick is, the brand design essentially IS the only difference between our product and the competitor's product. This is not to say the quality of our product is not high. It is, but so are the products of our competitors. The business is successful because of the brand design, which extends into the look of the product itself. Take the brand aesthetics and story away and we essentially have nothing of any real value to sell compared to our competitors. We have MUCH OF THE SAME.

Pricing.

Pricing is and maybe always will be tough in our industry (whatever the hell OUR INDUSTRY is!!) We see it more like we will sell you this specific intellectual property for that compensation. That intellectual property has a value. So we think in terms of these factors in order to propose a compensation:

1) What is the client's business? What are they selling? A product? What kind? A service? What is it? All should be considered.

2) What is the market and what kinds of dollars are at stake for this client? Is this a 2 million dollar market or a 2 billion dollar market? 3) We also relate the value of the work and what it provides to things the client can quantify. For instance, what if you are doing brand design for a restaurant that brings in 2 million dollars a year? What is that total revenue in a month? Now if the client believes that a brand redesign will increase profits by 20% then how much is that brand design worth? Again, keep in mind one brand design solution may achieve this 20% gain, and one brand design may actually cause a 20% DECLINE in profits. So how good the brand design is all important. What isn't important is HOW LONG the designer worked on it!!!!!! Well what about that restaurant putting 1-2 months revenue at stake? Sure sounds reasonable to us for a return of potentially 20% or more. Even further, what if this is a chain of restaurants? More to lose, more to gain. Nothing is a sure shot of course and we all take risks.

3) We measure risk on the clients side, and on giving away our ideas. For instance if a beverage maker comes to us and says "Hey OFB we have a great new beverage product." We say "Cool what is special about it?" Client "Well nothing really. We just know that the world needs another US made craft beverage priced at $x for a 750 ml bottle. And we decided to make it. It is not flavored in any special way, not made in any special way, not made in an interesting place or by interesting people, or even with special nutrients infused, etc. We don't even have a name for it." OFB "Wellll, our opinion is you have NOTHING so far sir. We understand your willing to spend a lot of money on beverage makin equipment and of course spend mountains of time making, and selling this product but at this point (which is what matters when we are making a deal to fix this problem for you) you really don't have anything. We are essentially providing the product." Yes that's right, in this case the brand design IS the product. So yes, we are are creating a huge amount of value if the brand design is strong. We see this often. For the record we do see a good amount of clients that bring us products with a built-in distinct competitive advantage. Great example here.

4) We DON'T think much about what other design, creative, or advertising agencies charge. Who cares and how the hell would we/you know. I mean, surely clients don't share proposals from one group with another group right ;) And surely creative PROFESSIONALS don't undercut each other.

5) We also measure the pain factor of working with a client. This is a big one. We have been doing this long enough to gauge how much work we will have to do to please a client. Bigger organizations simply have a harder time making decisions for example. Some one man companies have similar trouble but for a different reason…they are too personally vested in it. These are the clients from whom we get this response upon sending ONE logo design. "Wow!!!! I love this logo, it's so awesome and really works for what we are doing. However, I hate to just go with the first thing you show me. Can I see some other options." if you don't see the insanity in this statement. well, let's just agree to disagree.

All these factors mean sometimes we sell brand design for $1 and sometimes $1Milllion. Haha. Maybe one takes longer than the other, maybe not. Maybe monkeys will soon be taught to do great graphic design and replace us. Well, if they are good why should the client care if they get the results. And too bad for us, but I bet monkeys won't be able to figure out how to charge for value so we should be safe. This may on the surface seem unfair or showing favoritism towards one client vs another but we don't think so. Simple as this. One brand design may have the potential to push product into the market quickly and be an instant success. Again, it's about the value of the ideas and things we make. One brand design may be BETTER from a "hey check out this cool design in Commarts magazine", but really not very effective inside the market it was made for. In other words NOT MUCH FN VALUE. So again which is worth more $? Ideally, of course we like to provide both good design AND good value. That usually just requires good clients that let us do good design ;)

What to do. What to do.

If you are worried the client will question your pricing if they know it only took an hour. Just quote Picasso. Here is the story "The attractive woman who recognized him, slowly approached him and asked him if he would draw a portrait of her. Picasso agreed and quickly sketched her. After handing the signed sketch to her, she was most pleased with the likeness and asked how much she owed to him. Picasso replied, “$5,000” The woman bristled and exclaimed, “But it took you only five minutes!” “No, Madam, it took me all my life.” replied Picasso, who then raised the price to $10,000 after his self-confirming realization of the drawing’s actual value."

We would love to hear your thoughts (both clients and designers) about this stuff.

Before all you fellow designers tell me that I am causing clients' expectations to be raised about how fast you should execute great solutions. I feel ya. Kiiiinda. The only exception is that of course some design styles (whether you are playing off of something you have seen before, or you just invented a new design style) DO require more time than others. Intricacy can be a tactic in some good design. But many times it means overdone. I'm guilty of this myself. Look at some of my older work. So let your client know if that is the case. Otherwise sit down and knock that s*&$#* out, get the client their goods, get paid for the real value of your work, and get to that bike ride, hike, stroll thru the market, snowboarding or surfing session, etc knowing you really made something that will play a big role in your client's success and enjoy the fresh air.

Now if you are STILL mad at us for telling you to work fast think about this. Ever hear of Parkinsons law? This simply states "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." We see this all the time. If you give a designer (or yourself as THE designer) a week to execute a creative idea….you will certainly spend a week. Will it be worth it? Probably not. If however you give yourself a day (assuming you have already reviewed your brand strategy and KNOW what this brand design should accomplish, you are more likely to create a great solution in 1 day than you are in 5. I have had employees at first be like OMG what a slave driver you are giving one day??? I'm like yup. And then I want you to do 1 more concept for this other brand tomorrow, and another the next day. And just as they are rising from their seat to stab me with their no. 2 pencil I say "and then take thursday and friday OFF!!!! Yes, I want you work less'" It's kinda like what Paul Rudd meant I think in Forgetting Sarah Marshall when he told Peepyopee…"pop up and do less. The less you do the more you do." See the clip here.

Conclusion

If you are a designer stop worrying about time. Stop feeling guilty if you reach good solutions fast. We do and don't feel bad about it. Great solutions can be made in 30 minutes if you have processed the right information and have confidence in that info. Trust your instincts, don't go searching for ways others have solved similar problems. In other words quit opening those design annuals and searching for an idea. No two brands are or should be alike. Do however study the competitors because that is more about the bar that is set. DO kick that brand in the teeth and don't stop until it's beat. Do force yourself to explore the untried. And really do produce something of value. Value for that brand. When brand design MAKES the brand you have created tremendous value. We feel design adds REAL value to a product. It does matter.

If you are a client (anyone who pays for these services) please do consider the value of what you are asking for and receiving, especially in a world where most things are pretty easy to make ;) We do greatly appreciate all the clients that pay us fairly for our ideas. That's MOST of them. And for those of you that keep asking us why you can get a logo on www.logotournament.com for $200 and why we charge so much?? Good luck! Just keep in mind your competitors may actually be paying one of our fine design colleagues (all you badass design firms) to create ideas with real value.

THE ALL NEW ONEFASTBUFFALO.COM IS LIVE!

And you can see it right here of course http://www.onefastbuffalo.com. We really, really, really love this site. It just 100% represents who we are in 2011 and more importantly who we are after 12 years of doing what we do. It's a really good feeling to know who you are, what you're about, what you do well, and what you don't care to be. So please grab a hot cup of coffee, maybe even a tobacco pipe, kick off your shoes and please dig deep into the new site. We hope you enjoy it.

OK I'm gonna admit it. This was just about the hardest thing I have ever designed. I started working on this sometime in early 2010. But I wasn't until last summer OFB Southwest Loop Tour that it really started to come together. As always things I saw started to influence the design. Not other websites by any means, but more the color tones and lines that I saw in things. Even then, I rassl'd this design like a grizzly bear for months until it finally submitted. Not to mention my biz partner Christine who just kept telling mhhhhhh yeah it's good, buuuut I know you get make it better! She was right. So she must receive some credit for driving this towards it's final state.

We want to thank our cutters and developers for all their hard work (you know who you are). We know this was challenging to build and we appreciate your willingness to explore with us. Thanks also to our friends and family who had to endure many rounds of testing and questions like "hey do you like this matte black or this like like real shiny black?"

Where did the old OFB site go?

You can visit the old guy right here.

annnnnd where did the old old site go?

You can visit that old gal right here.

Health & Fitness for Designers...and other people who are crazy.

Not unlike many modern working stiffs, Designers have a big challenge when it comes to staying healthy & fit. This is because what we do for a living tends to dictate that we put in long stretches of time on the computer and are physically in-active much of the day. So of course the less active we are the more what we eat effects our health. Diet is HUGE for designers. I think being a designer is particularly challenging when it comes to overall health and fitness. I experienced this first hand when I made the transition from playing sports to working as a full time graphic designer. This started in college when I started studying design but at least in college I was playing baseball and for the most part was out there playing or working out for 4-6 hours or more a day. After I finished my minor league baseball tour and turned to design full-time I really was shocked at how fast I went from really fit, to really unfit. After about 2 years of working I was really out of shape, looking bad, and worse feeling bad. So about that time I started trying to find a way to practice design but also practice being fit, feeling good and finding real balance in terms of work and health. Turns out I'm a better designer and happier when I'm fit. So both of those things I find GOOD. After a couple years of experimenting I really developed a lifestyle that manages to be active and healthy without working out to death. I hve time to design. And I really enjoy eating the way I eat.

**DISCLAIMER **I'm not intending for this post to be some kind of HOW TO GUIDE to health and fitness. But I figure I've got 12 years of practice going here and have carved out a simple plan for myself with regards to being fit while not sacrificing the crucial focused time I need to continue developing as a designer. So I'm just telling you what works for me. And of course I'M NOT A DOCTOR, TRAINER, or NUTRITIONIST. So feel free to share your thoughts and contribute.

Tip 1 - Work less

The less you work ( spend time on the computer in our case ) the less inactivity should be a problem. So start there. I'm not kidding here.

Someone sent me this email yesterday…"Hi OFB, where can I send samples to if I was looking for overflow freelance work? I have 23 years of experience... and I'm inexpensive... and I work crazy long hours."

Was I supposed to be impressed by that? Why have we learned to wear overworking as some kind of badge of honor? Work hard yes….well I guess. I say worked focused. Work smart. Then spend time actually enjoying friends and family and hey even meeting new people. Relationships are a big factor in how healthy you are too.

I also really think part of being a good designer is spending time see the world. Without that, you'll never grow and evolve as a designer. So you gotta save time for that too.

My belief is that if you give a designer, or yourself for that matter, a longer period of time to execute a project you will certainly fill every minute of that time. So give yourself less time. I plan to write and entire article on my thoughts related to working less, doing more with less time, not filling time. But here I will just say the first remedy to working less, is giving yourself less time to work. For all of my projects I schedule the block of time in advance. I take the time to read thru the research that my team provides well in advance of that scheduled time so that I get most of the design idea in my head before I ever sit down at the computer. When I sit down it's about executing what's in my head. Fast and good. That really minimizes my computer time. When I sit down to work its will a very clear purpose and focused effort on a particular task. This also is related to my opinions on NOT working by the hour. Sooooooo, you are going to pay me MORE if I take LONGER to come up with a good idea? And you think that its worth more $ that way?.....arg makes me so dam mad. Haha. More on that later someday in the future time.

Tip 2 - Simplicity in Life. This is related to Tip 1 and I see this all the time. But in a modern world it is hard not to be guilty of this one. People work so many hours trying to sustain a lifestyle that mostly supports having lots of expensive stuff that really adds no real value to the experience of life. Just be more conscience of what makes you happy I guess is my point. When you require less stuff, you need less $, and you don't need to work as much. That goes also for size. I am a big proponent of living and working in smaller spaces. Good blog here. And great post about George Bernard Shaw's work shed. And of course trailers are great too! haha. For self employed designers or owners of design firms I highly recommend combining workspace with living space. More on that here. I had large office spaces for years. It's just more space to pay for, more work needed to pay for that, less time to eat well and MOVE more. Less time for everything else I think. I'll also add that once you get into simplicity it's actually quite fun, It's freeing and less stressful. It's a religion itself I think. The benefits are massive I think.

***SAVE EARTH ALERT*** Not to mention think of the crazy amount of energy is spent simply by the fact that most of us both rent or own a house or apartment that we live in AND work in an office. So while that home space sits there being heated or cooled all day we are off at a second location working. That space is also using energy constantly. Much of our energy consumption problems would be solved I think if there was a massive movement towards working from home/work spaces. I'm hoping in the future that more house design considers making good workspaces in the home.

I do some lots of things to simplify. I'll mention one here that I take some crap for. I actually have a quite a peculiar habit of buying lots of the same clothes and pretty much where the same thing everyday. For instance, I have a few pair of jeans for meetings, a few pair of my favorite black cargo pants that I work in when in the studio, a large supply of Alternative Apparel Alternative Earth T-shirts and a long sleeve Alternative Apparel Scout Henley T-Shirts. I have a stack of each in Gray, Black, White and Brown. It may be boring to some but to me its what I feel is my look and I don't have to spend time thinking about it everyday. It's also comfortable AS HELL. I wear what I wear. I have 3 pair of the same burlap Toms brand shoes. I have a couple nice Dress jackets to look decent at a meeting. And I throw in a mix of button down pearl snap shirts of course. I have 3 of my favorite hat. But overall its grab and go and everything ends up looking plenty good together. I think! haha.

*** DISCLOSURE *** I do however kinda go nuts on the vintage belts, vintage rings, vintage boots (43 pair and counting) and vintage leather jackets. All of which work well with the very simple wardrobe of jeans, cargo pants, and Tshirts. And I suppose it makes those things less boring. I also have lots of fun with beard and mustache growing :)

Tip 3 - Simplicity in Diet. When it comes to diet, and I don't mean BEING ON A DIET or starving yourself, I think you have to keep it very simple, reliable, and frankly predictable if you want to eat well consistently. And I think staying fit is 80% about what you eat. I believe in eating the same things over and over. If you rely on taking each days meals as they come and figuring out what to eat….very few of us can make good choices consistently. I know this is true of myself. But I am all about good taste.

So here is my approach:

Make a list of foods. What works for me is basically developing a specific list of foods that are a) good for me….specifically foods don't CREATE fat and have positive health benefits 2) that I like the taste of. Simple.

Here is my current list of foods:

Bison

Beef

Pork

Salmon

Tuna

Chicken

White Fish

Eggs

Bacon or Turkey Bacon

Baby Spinach

Green Onions

Artichokes

Hearts of Palm

Black Beans

Lentils

Guacamole

Avocados

Cilantro

Green Beans

Broccoli

Sun Dried tomatoes

Carrots

Grapefruit

Blueberries

Almonds

Brazil Nuts

Pistachios

Olive Oil

Vinegar

Soy Sauce

Dark Chocolate bars

Smoked Cheddar Cheese

Red Wine

and did I mention a bit of Bourbon?

Make sure you are stocked up on spices too. Makes all the difference. My favorites are black pepper, garlic powder, garlic salt, red pepper.

***Free Love Tip*** Guys, might as well pick up some fresh flowers for the ladies while you are at the market…goes a long way ;)

So I go buy the food. Right. Ok, got it. Then I simply eat off that list of food ONLY. I can go to the market and buy my list in about 15 minutes every 2 weeks and be done. All of this stuff is located on the outer layers of the market. Stay out of the middle of the market. Thats basically where the crap is. So once I by the foods on my list I know mentally that I am prepared to eat well for the next 2 weeks and also that I'll waste the $ if I don't stick to it.

I don't count calories. I'd rather just know that I can eat as much of the foods off my list as I want rather than worry about calories and portions. And that works for me. This comes into play whether its eating out or cooking at home. I just keep the list in mind when Im eating out. If you really make a list of foods that help your body burn fat and that you like it really won't be that long and after a while you just know the list.

*** ANOTHER EARTH ALERT **** And of course, if you haven't started buying organic, wild, cage-free, and local by now…..really? Start buying in those categories so that the market shifts in that direction for the future. Simple as that. Plus your cutting out the bad stuff that is in most of our food system. For our family, my wife and I have fun growing most of our vegetables at our local community garden down the street. We keep a small plot there and the kids have fun with it. Once you get it going its not a huge amount of work compared to what you get out of it.

***Guilt Trip****I'd also challenge you to simply make and effort to buy less food that comes in a package. Sorry designers, I know this means less work but hey trash IS a problem. At least push your clients to think of ways to minimize packaging and even printing. Push for sustainability.

Tip 4 - Protein is the Man. This is related to Tip 3. Not to go into great detail about WHY, but its pretty obvious by the list that I prescribe to low carb and to some extent high fat eating. I'll just say that for me…if I eat lots of carbs I gain lots of weight really fast. If I eat high protein low carb meals I stay leaner and feel better. It also means working out is not about LOSING WIEGHT. So I eat meat, I eat greens, I don't eat white stuff (bread, pasta, milk, etc).

Tip 5 - Cook for yourself. This is HUGE. And simplicity plays a big role here to. I'm no chef but as a designer I bet your actually a pretty good cook. Cooking just takes a little creativity and the right gut feeling about what things go together. I don't own a cookbook and never have. Basically for lunch and dinner I just grab a main protein from my stash, grill it up, grill up some of the veggies with Olive oil, throw em all together on a bed of baby spinach, throw in some spices, drop all of this in a bowl and go. I have attached pics of the meals I ate in the last week as an example. I'm not naming them or even providing recipes. That's not the point. Its just about foods I like (my list), cooked real fast, thrown in bowl. They aint pretty but they taste real good to me. Big thing is its fast…it takes me about 10 minutes to cook up one of the meals in bowl. I don't spend a lot of time FINDING the food. Its all right there. I don't over think it…grill, chop it, mix it, eat it. During the weekdays I am religious about doing this for both lunch and dinner. And this alone keeps my weight in good standing I think. Then exercise becomes about stress relief, fun, and muscle maintenance…. not weight loss.

If you don't work from home or an office where you are able to cook. Just KNOW your list when you go out to eat.

Tip 6 - Eat whatever you want on Saturday. I think this might be the most important tip on the list for me. Because without this one I couldn't maintain tip 3 consistently. On Saturday I really basically eat as much of the bad stuff I love as I can stomach. Hamburgers, fries, pizza, ice cream, all the bad carbs. This keeps your metabolism fired up for the week (I've been told) but more importunely I get SO satisfied on this day that by the time Monday rolls around Im really ready to get back to my list and roll. I don't really crave the bad foods during the week. So mentally I DO get to eat all the foods I crave…I just limit it to Saturdays. Although I will admit that Sunday is the hardest day of the week. Sometimes I just settle for halfzees (1/2 good food 1/2 bad).

Tip 7- Good Snacks. This is big too. In between meals is where many of us go wrong. What works for me is keeping all kinds of nuts around. Almonds, Brazil Nuts, and Pistachios are my favs. Just grab small amounts don't go crazy. Stay away from the chips, crackers, and of course candy man! I also like half and avocado as a snack, or guacamole filled deviled eggs.

Tip 8 - Don't Drink BAD stuff. I don't drink milk, lots of beer, sodas, or juice with lots of sugar. I pretty much drink coffee all morning, Green Tea all afternoon, Water at meals, and red wine at night. Ok some Bourbon too :) I also try and avoid artificial sweeteners and diet drinks. That stuff will kill you man.

Tip 9 - Eat Breakfast. Eating high protein breakfast really helps you eat better the rest of the day. I pretty much eat 3 boiled eggs, some turkey bacon or regular bacon and coffee every morning. Sometimes grapefruit and blueberries. That's it. Stay away from the American obsession of cereals, grains, juice, and toast. I also make a batch of omelet muffins for the week. Get a muffin tray, mix up eggs, green onions, artichoke, a bit of salt and pepper, and whatever else you like in an omelet thats ON THE LIST. Drop that mix down in the muffin try spots….cook it till its puffy. Put them in freezer bags in the fridge. Great to grab and go all week heated or not.

Tip 10 - Be Mobile and MOVE. So again, focus on tips 1-9 because I think this is 80% or even more of the battle to stay fit as a designer. Get that right, and then focus on this one.

Humans just weren't meant to sit in chairs for long periods of time. It's not only inactivity its bad for your hip flexors. The less flexible you become the less good you will feel. The more you will not feel like being active.

Here are some things I do during the work day to keep moving:

- Start off the day talking a 15 minute walk. I walk my dogs. This is just as much to clear my head for the day as it is for the exercise.

- I keep my mailbox down the street at a post office box which happens to be near my local coffee shop. So in the middle of the day I usually jump on my trusty OFB Beach Cruiser single speed bicycle and ride down to get mail and coffee. Skateboards and ripsticks work here as well. So ride a bike for small errands.

- I take a couple 5-10 min breaks during work sessions to just get outside for a few minutes, stretch, throw the ball with my kids. Yes, I work from a studio I built at my house so I have it good in this area. I consider myself lucky. Much happier than when I used to go into an office everyday. I think my co-workers feel the same.

- I will occasionally work standing up.

- I lift weights about 2-3 times per week for about 25 minutes. Usually late at night. I have a simple dumbbell setup in my garage to its right there when I need it. I prescribe to this simple theory... Do 1 set of each exercise TO FAILURE and only 1 time per week. Simple as that. I work all major muscle groups. This one is also good for designers so we can build bigger muscles for this parking lot gang fights with regular folk. We as designers could stand to be a bit more "fierce" in my opinion ;).

- Most nights right before I go to bed I do as many pushups as I can. And a set of some type of abs exercise…..again till failure. That's it. Just a good burn.

- I run a couple times a week. I jog for a while but mostly do sets of sprints. This is also as much for the brain as it is for the exercise. I get more ideas running than at any other time. So I run with my iPhone and have apps that transpose voice recording into text that I can email myself. Dragon Dictation is a good one. Also, try barefoot running….http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ or http://lunasandals.com/.

- Yoga is great and I do it a bit…..It just bores the ever living hell out of me. I'd rather sit on the porch (or Airstream front step) and smoke my tobacco pipe to get that calm feeling. Ha ha.

- Other than these things, I work to NOT work….so I like to do long Airstream trips with my family and mostly places where we can surf, snowboard, fly fish, explore, hike, etc. So we are active when we are on the road.

- Exploring/Junkin/Pickin…you name it. To me, as a designer if you are out finding "stuff"… you ARE working. It's not just leisure time. You are finding sparks of inspiration that lead to the new ideas we make.

- Oh I also still play about 40 baseball games year. Thats for fun and there is some exercise involved. And I might mention here my awesome wife who is totally cool on me playing that much :)

- Last, when I can, I get my feet up. This is not of course active but its less sitting in that god awful workstation position. I only sit in that position when I am doing design. If I am doing other tasks on the computer my feet are up and head is not leaning over my laptop.

BONUS TIP - Screw Stress. Stress just simply kills us and kills happiness. I'm not saying it's easy to just not worry about things but….its mostly internal. And for me really trying to practice simplicity is the best way to prevent stress. I read message once by a Shaolin Warrior I keep it around because it helps me manage stress. I think as a creative person yourself you will get it.

"Focus solely on the movement (the act of being creative and making) with the breath. Worries circle in our minds, and the more we think, the more momentum our worries gain, making art is a pair of scissors, which cuts through the thoughts and gives our mind and body a place of stillness."

Old Blankets on Plycraft Chairs.

Had some fun this past weekend giving my vintage plycraft chair a brand makeover. Not that the old fabric wasn't cool but just wasn't quite my style. I have had this old southwest blanket for years and have always loved the stripes, stitch, and colors.

I'm a Graphic Designer.

My 6 year old just confirmed it.

Freedom to Work. Remote.

I was thinking about FREEDOM today as I made my way around town visiting some old friends at their current places of work. I made three stops and later realized that none of these friends had any good reason to be working FROM the office. Not just today but not on most days. Do you? Do your employees?

OFB loves freedom when it comes to worklife. We will fight you over this. No really, like physically fight. These beliefs come from our real experience. We suggest some real therapy when it comes to the corporate world's office addiction. So I am here to say if you can, set your employees free from the office.

To be clear this post is NOT specifically advocating that people work from their home, or any place in particular or even working in the same place on a daily basis. We actually don't advocate that. This is about having an individual choice about where to work other than the company office. Now we understand of course it profits the commercial real estate industry for us all to believe that old model of "WHERE BUSINESS SHOULD BE DONE" is a good model. And of course for some office space really is needed. For instance, I have a good and talented buddy who owns a special fx house. There is one good reason they need an office and need to be at the office most of the time. Doing what they do requires a vast amount of equipment, controlled studio space and lighting, sound booths, and high-end software running on special systems. Not something you can just throw on a laptop and go. Its a hands-on sport over there. In other words the work they do is in many respects about the space and physical stuff in it. It allows them to produce their product. So for those whose jobs require that they need tools, hard goods, and machinery to make things of course you need a place to house that.

But when those physical restraints don't exist. I mean seriously, why are you at the office? At least why are you there EVERYDAY? We say let those employees execute the tasks that don't require the equipment to be done off-site in the setting they choose.

I'll argue that many of us business owners and mangers as well have really created a day prison to a certain extinct. I promise that insisting on making employees be at the office, no matter how "fun" you attempt to make the environment, at a certain time and leave at a certain time is not inspiring them to stay forever, but freedom might. I'm not suggesting that you employ people to goof off, although we actually end up creating great places to goof off when we make offices. I'm simply saying give them the freedom to work at their highest capacity, stay fresh, be inspired, have a connected life, and utilize technology as a real gift so that your business benefits.

It is real simple to figure out if letting your employees work remotely would work. Do I really have to explain this?

1. Their job is about communication, managing logistics, planning, design, creating ideas. In other words the real part of their work is done in the brain man.

2. They can do the majority of their job with these tools: a laptop, access to internet, mobile phone, and electricity.

OFB's 15 Reasons to Let Employees Work Remotely:

1. Happy employees are more productive. Humans like Freedom. Most of your employees are probably Human.

2. Build trust. When there is trust, there are just less problems and crap to worry about. You want to lead not babysit right? Most employees would appreciate being trusted. Why not give them a chance to be trusted. Worklife freedom flows to people who are ultra responsible, accountable, hard working, self sufficient, and self- motivated. Really, if you have employees who aren't these things…why do you have them?

3. It becomes more about quality and productivity rather than filling time and space. If there are no time cards to judge "effort" then all that is left is the results. This allows the employees who are ACTUALLY productive and create value, be recognized and float to the top. Ass kissers, yes men, lazy people, number two leaches and rankmongers have a harder time surviving in this environment. In other words people who are good at filling time and creating the "appearance" of producing results have to actually produce.

4. More talented employees. The freedom to work for you but live geographically where they want is a HUGE benefit to employees. So essentially it makes you a more attractive employer. This is one of the biggest reasons we do not require our staff to live in the same city. We want the BEST creative talent. Not just the best in a specific town.

5. People have more time in their day when their is no commute. I don't care if it is 2 minutes or 2 hours extra to enjoy…and thats good for you. If people have more time to socialize with friends and family, take a walk, walk the dog, shop for supplies, etc they will be less stressed and more focused when they are working.

6. Greener. I don't need to go into this in detail but its pretty obvious we would spend less time in the car, use less gas, use less electricity, etc. if more people worked virtually. People can only be in one place at a time. We really double up on electricity when most workers are leaving a dwelling that is powered and working at a second place that is also powered....uhhhh while still powering the place they aint at.

7. More Personal Energy is good for your bottom line. Give employees the freedom to figure out for themselves what times of the day they are most productive because of their natural energy levels. We all have them. Most people are more productive, inspired, alert and focused during certain times of the day. Breaking the day into 3 or even 4 pieces is healthy and more productive. If you try to work in one long stream much of your day will certainly be unproductive, uninspired, half-assed, and lack polish.

8. Fresh air is good for them, so is sunlight.

9. Exercise and movement are as well. Encourage them to set aside time for it.

10. Stagnation = Bad. If your bored, you start to just go thru the motions..is there anything worse you would want from an employee? Let employees change environments to stay stimulated, not just caffeinated.

11. Better ideas. Ideas are OUT THERE…Let employees go out into the field and find them. Experiences breed innovation, experimentation and problem solving. Being in the same environment all the time just breeds much of the same thinking. Having employees working out in the world gives them a chance to be closer to customers. We see this all the time. The executives at many large companies are very disconnected from the experiences of their customers. We go out into the field where the customers are to learn how they think. We also don't stick them in an observation room and expect them to behave naturally. We spend more time in customer environments where we gain valuable insight.

12. Working remote makes you a better planner. You are forced to create a plan, a process, and delegate well. You also become good at goal setting and tracking progress. And thats where we learn how to do things better, smarter, and faster. You learn to build with simplicity in mind.

13. Eating Better. We even found that we tend to eat less, eat healthier, and cook more for ourselves working remotely. Why, mostly because we have time to do so. So we feel better.

14. You want a patriotic reason? I think of our grand parents. Lots of Vets died for our freedom and it honors them to live a life of freedom. Work is a BIG part of life. We tend to use work as an excuse to not be free simply because we don't question why we physically need to be in the office to do our job.

15. Save $. I am listing this reason last because it is what people often think of first when considering having less office space or no office space. But I just see it as a side benefit. Not THE reason to move towards virtual working environments.

OFB's 13 Reasons You Probably Won't Do this.

Remember, I have been guilty of most of these in the past.

1. It's mostly about your ego. Walking in and seeing 5, 15, 50, or 500 people in one place is only necessary if its necessary from a physical standpoint. If not, its because you learned this behavior from others or it just makes you feel powerful to have people do what you say, where you say.

2. Your a control freak. You think if you are not watching over an employees shoulder they are not working hard enough. And somehow you believe this is also HOW they are most productive. That's called being a slave driver. Another way to look at this is...maybe they aren't working every minute of the day. But are you paying for their time? Or are you paying them to complete tasks, handle situations, and create? Focus less on how much they work and more on why you need them.

3. You use having employees butts in seats to make yourself feel better about that office lease you signed. Its not their problem, its yours. Just because you feel guilty not using the office you leased, doesn't mean they should feel guilty.

4. You think it's not "professional" to be virtual or have employees working remotely. Being professional does not mean you have to be in an office. Your no less legit. Being legit is about offering a valuable product or service and making a profit; all about being professional where it counts. Most of the touch points where we intersect with clients and customers these days happens remotely anyway. Think about it.

5. You are afraid people won't be focused. I totally advocate FOCUSED seclusion during task times. And thats why I really DON'T recommend the typical office environment. Easily one of the first things I think of when I think…"mmmmmhhhh where could I really waste some time today. Ah yes, the office!"

6. We can't collaborate if we are virtual or employees work remotely; we cant interact, we can't innovate together. Seriously? I don't buy it. Not at all. What you really mean is we can't have in-person meetings. Haven't you heard...meetings are so 2008! A topic for another day. At OFB certainly there are times when we need to "sit-down" and hash something out via conversation with internal staff and/or clients. But its not like we need to freaking TOUCH or SMELL each other when we do this!!!! And with simple video or audio chatting and even desktop sharing this all happens perfectly well. And everyone spends more time executing tasks. Less time driving to that meeting. After the first minute of everyone connecting into the online meeting you forget that its video, and it just is irrelevant that it is.

7. Clients won't think we are legit, real, or serious if we don't have an office. Maybe the old school thinkers will but old ideas will fade away. But young people with new ideas are coming and some of the best businesses around these days are virtual, you just don't know it. It's all about perception witch is mostly begotten online now. Trust me we have changed the perception of our clients businesses by simply designing a better identity and/or website. It's more importantly about customer service, delivery, and execution. All of which are done better by happier employees.

8. But how can I manage people I cant see? Really!!!!! I love this excuse..its the most common. Isn't management about motivating, leading, inspiring, providing clear instruction, trusting and most of all DELEGATING? If you can't do those things well you shouldn't be managing you should just be a in-school suspension teacher or something. I actually have people tell me that they go to the office because their boss goes. So!!!!! Haha, an why is he going? Because his boss is goes tot he office? And so on. Insanity. That's why this post is directed at the boss. Most of the insane things we do in the corporate world were created by you or your just following the rules of someone pro-motting that insanity. My next door neighbor told me he drives 1.5 hours each day to work. Monday and Wednesdays he visits the factory floor for much of the day. On the other three days he goes into his private office and proceeds to work from his laptop mobile phone. The only time he sees people is when they pop in to ask a question that really they usually know the answer to. They are just stopping in because he is their. When I asked him why he goes into work on those days rather than working from home or a co-working office down the street he says well, because everyone else is there. I feel guilty if I don't go. But I also struggle to have time to play with my kids at the end of the day because of the drive.

9. Without an office we have no company culture? Ha ha. Well you do have a culture, its just different. All that matters about culture is what it produces and peoples happiness. Happiness of customers and happiness of employees. I do admit that people use work to get their social life to some extent…but co-working facilities are great for accommodating this need if people really want it. But really, there are lots of social things that are probably more intersting, more beneficial, more education, more inspirational, more full-filling than the social life at work. Your employees will discover many options…And hey they may even get their work done faster to get to that real life they are creating. And since you are measuring their value on results they will also do GOOD work.

10. You need more??? Ok well what about this. "Kids bother my employees when they work from home." Mmmmmhhh, I have three kids under the age of six. One or all of them come into my home office everyday…when I work from my home studio. Frankly, most of the time they are just eager to show me something. Something they made, something they have question about, something they just think is cool, or maybe they are upset about something. These are great opportunities to interact that I am glad I am around for. And it really doesn't take that much time. After about one minute they realize "hey, ok now I showed you what I made and I'm glad you like it. But this is really boring in here, like you are just working and that is way less fun than all the other things I could be doing. Ok, love you dad, hug, kiss…bye!" In and out in 1-3 minutes. As far as noise, I have headphones when I really need them, and frankly hearing the kid noise they make helps me realize WHY I am working. SURVIVAL. It's grounding, and keeps me going when I have tough assignment that I need to finish in order to get paid. Another trick I learned. I built a large art desk in my home studio for my kids. I keep it stocked with every art supply known to mankind. My kids are now great co-workers. They love doing what dad is doing. They know they have an open invitation to "work" anytime at their desk. Art is great for a kids mind and hey they are getting less and less of it in school these days. Maybe another post for another day.

11. They will work less. Awesome! See reason number 2. And, if you really think I am advocating that people should't work hard; your confusing hard work with filling time and seats. Unless you are running a restaurant, or a movie theater stop worrying about filling seats.

12. You like Office Drama. If you like office drama keep everyone in the same space on a daily basis. That's exactly how reality TV produces much of it's drama. Office drama will exist in every business that has an traditional office environment to some extent. It's just in our nature. I have to say this is but a distant memory for me. A memory I never wish to revisit again. I don't remember when office drama ever produced a positive solution, idea, or result for our clients.

13. But our Employees need to share docs, files, and client info. Cloud servers or virtual online shared folders (dropbox.com) and/or online project management systems like those offered by 37 sginals.com make this a none issue. All of your employees and clients can share online in one central location. Simple as that. And if your still creating an actual physical paper trail....really?? Go paperless.

It may sound like I am like promoting a world where we don't interact with each other in person and become distanced from human experiences. Well, via work I am…because it means you get to interact in person much more with the people and places in your life that really matter to you. You only have so much time in this modern life, save the in-person stuff for the relationships and places that are most important to you.

All of this said I 100% advocate having a comfortable place to sit and work. More on that, in a future post. I think the future of new home construction will heavily consider the home office for instance. I also, advocate getting out of the office leasing business :)

So that's it, let me hear from you. Again, I can say this stuff because I used to be you boss. But now I'm rehabilitated. And really enjoying my worklife.

PS - I posted this from my garage where I have a spare computer and was using a few extra minutes I saved not driving to work to change the spark plugs on my vintage car that I bought with the money I saved not paying for electricity at a huge office I used to have that I hardly used.

What Does OFB Do?

I get asked this question on a weekly basis. I wish in every instance I could just show a before and after pic to illustrate what we do. You can't beat them. What we do can be expressed by taking a look at what this company looked like before and after we did our thing. It's simple, we change perception through better strategic design and digital communication systems. Life Benefits was actually a VERY GOOD company before OFB designed this new identity and web site. But now they look like one. We believe this re-branding effort will help them grow and flourish and that makes us happier than a tornado in a trailer park.

If you know of a company whose image does not equal the quality of their product or service we would like to help them. Please send them our way.

The OFB Mobile Creative Worklife Tour. Southwest Loop 2010

Big Sur and back. Kerouac, Red Rock country, 50 pawn stops and 4,853.7 miles.

The goal was simple. Live in my trailer, see the beautiful places in between the big places, live simpler, eat better, sleep more, surf, hike, bike, spend every night by fireside, spend MORE time with family...and well, prove that the the mobile creative worklife is a good life. As far as getting my work done...Of course I did this with my mobile office in tow. I had everything I needed. Computer, mobile internet card, great online communication tools, iPhone and of course my New Mexico Pinon Coffee.

I wont say much other than I have never been so creatively inspired in my life and never felt more refreshed...and I can't wait for the Fall tour! North by Northwest.

Living in the trailer, especially with family, makes me realize how much clutter exists in our modern lives. Simplicity = good. And as always, seeing new things brings new ideas. I'm anxious now to execute those ideas.

I took literally thousands of pictures on this loop to the west coast and back via the great US Southwest. I thought it would be fun to post 406 of my favorites (non-family pics) shot with my iPhone using the Hipstomatic app. Yep, look to your right...all 406 are posted. Hope yall enjoy. More on this trip soon.

Vintage Sign Near Alpine, TX

I think? It's all a blur. Marathon?

Welcome to 1973. Skate on.

Recently my 6 year old son had his birthday party at our local roller skating rink. From the second I walked into White Rock Stake Center I was instantly transported back to 1973, the year that it was built. And not in a wow this a dump kind of 1973. The family owned business has been kept up like like a fully restored vintage car. The old brown skates are in full effect, the red shag carpet locker area, the lockers, original DJ booth, the wood paneling and old school menu boards.The giant back wall with red/white/blue 70's stripes was a thing of beauty and I nearly took out a mess of kids staring at it. This is a true vintage treasure that perfectly complimented my 2 older sons "Luke Skywalker" haircuts.

Would also like to point out my friend Banks Baker's handy work on the giant roller skate birthday cake. Amazing. Built in his garage.

If anyone knows of an old school skate rinks like this and has pics please send us some. Bowling alleys too.

Farewell Vic Chesnutt

Last night I was watching the Grammy's. That part came on where they show the industry people who passed away during the year. The name and image of Vic Chesnutt appeared and my mouth dropped. I simply could not belief it and despite this being a person I only met one time I was instantly sad. Legit sad. I don't spend a ton of time online reading news and Vic was not real mainstream so I had not heard about his death. I just had not checked in on his current tour schedule recently.

I discovered Vic Chesnutt's music in 1996 when I was reading about one of my favorite movies "Slingbade" (Vic was the guy in the wheelchair in Doyle's band) Then I heard the band LIVE do a cover of Vic's incredible song SUPERNATURAL. Once I heard that I bought every album he had made up to that point. I have gone to every show he plays in Dallas since.

I dont know really know how to descibe Vic Chesnutt to you other than to say that as an artist he was more human than anyone I have every seen, and more supernatural in spirit. He energy was simply incredible and I would say this video of a recent performance (video below) says it all. Check your pulse on that. His last album AT THE CUT is great. Read about it here.

This statement will give you a sense of how other artist feel about Vic.

Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel): “In 1991, I moved to Athens, Georgia in search of God, but what I discovered instead was Vic Chesnutt. Hearing his music completely transformed the way I thought about writing songs, and I will forever be in his debt.”

Seth Godin recently blogged this..

Art is made by a human being.

Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.

Art is a gift.

Thanks for the gifts Vic.

RIP.

The OFB 1958 Airstream Mobile Office.

There was certainly much to forget about in 2009 for many people, myself included. But looking back I have to say it's been one of the best years of my life. First, all of the challenges we, our clients, our friends, etc. experienced just got me re-focused on what was most important to me. And I am happy for that. In 2009, my third son Shaw was born and he is just well....AWESOME. I was honored with a very nice award and I appreciate that. I got to rebrand (more like restore) my favorite childhood restaurant in 2009. And then I realized a long time big dream of mine. So I wanted to introduce everyone to the 1958 Airstream OneFastBuffalo mobile office. The OFB mobile office has been a vision on the giant cork board in my home studio for many years. And in 2009...it got done.

ABOUT THE TRAILER

I've been searching for the right trailer for many years and never found the right opportunity. But a while back I came across a great guy named Eric Stoltz who restores vintage travel trailers and I knew the time had come to get started. The OFB rig is 100% rebuilt on the inside, not just refurbished. The 21 ft 58' aluminum shell was brought back to life, rivet by rivet. The project took about 15 months and I was able to work with Eric to customize his already great floor plan to fit my specific work needs and OFB brand stylings. Eric takes a minimalist approach and every inch of the trailer is thought out for how we live today...not 1958. At the same time it's what he chose to leave out that makes it so great. It's anything but overdone. I love the simplicity of my trailer. The inside consists of real mahogany cabinets built in a classically modern style, off-white vinyl and leather hide seats with black countertops. We also did roll-down shades made from plain burlap. The mobile office is ultra lightweight due to the lighter weight aircraft aluminum used in the 50's as well as the use of real wood. Today trailers mostly consist of particle board and an abundance of gears, gadgets, tons of wiring, pumps, etc. For example a new Airstream of the same length would weigh about 2000lbs more than this one. I'm able to pull this with my small Toyota FJ Cruiser...no problem. It's truly mobile. I also designed an "Airstream" version of the OneFastBuffalo logo and had emblems made for the trailer.

I'll probably set a new record for pics attached to a blog post here.....so please forgive me. The Airstream is my 4th kid so you know how we parents are with the family portraits. There are tons of pics so be sure to use the NEXT button to scroll. Also, my kid sister Katie Norris is a photographer and did a nice photo shoot for me. I wanted to show off some of her work as well.

WHY A TRAILER?

"Working from anywhere" is always something that I have enjoyed exploring. I see more things, and the result is I have more ideas. I'm not a huge fan of product tag lines, preferring more the approach of building a great brand story and executing that story. But Airstream's tagline is one I do like.

Live more. See more. Do more.

I appreciate the Airstream brand in every way, a company started by one man's vision, passion and relentless pursuit to change the way we experience the world.

Lots of people ask me what I do for a living. I have played some ball in my life, worked as teacher, a consultant, and few other things. But MAKING THINGS is WHAT I DO. Simple as that. The mobile office, to me, is the ultimate marriage of HOW I work best, and WHERE I work best. By this I mean, I work WHERE I AM. And WHERE I AM, is where I need to be to explore and see what I need to see...in order to make things. I don't mean that in a "hey I'm a wandering hippie" kinda of thing. It's not an aimless type of exploration really. It's more of a sojourn for the purpose of making what ever it is I'm supposed to make.

This is a fact. Most of the best design that I have ever crafted was surely not done in the office or studio. In our industry that kinda scares some clients. They are just more comfortable with the idea that the professional WORK happens in the professional OFFICE/STUDIO. We have that, but for me, the key to "where we work" is that the art of making things happens via a not so simple 2 step process of:

Step 1) Exploration.

Exploring and taking in information of all forms. For instance I am a huge "junker" in that I like finding old things and using parts of those things to make new things. I'm certainly influenced by "new" things as well. I classify "junk" as anything I find and keep or document for the purpose of inspiration. That includes things I hear as well so I record lots of sound bites. Currently my iMac has around 25,000 pics on it. I just take pics of anything I see that is well..."creative food." I really don't believe that I have many ideas that come solely from me even as a designer. My brain is just not a repository or wellspring of good ideas, good designs, or original thoughts. That is, not if you just ask me to sit in a room and think for you. I do however know how to have good ideas. All those ideas come from absorbing relevant information and living with it until we find insight and inspiration. I do admit there is a talent to being a good designer but without exploring the outside world our ides don't connect with our audience. And so our key techniques at OFB are built around this idea. We simply look harder for ideas than most people. We don't sit around in a brainstorming tank and "conjure" ideas. We surely collaborate with each other. But I think ideas are gifts we receive when we pro-actively ask ourselves to learn about things. And I do mean that in a super hippie kind of way. HaHa. One of my favorite tricks is using long distance running to process what I have learned into ideas. About mile 6 I am screwed if I don't have a sketch pad or voice recorder.

Step 2) Intense Creative Focus

A place to sit and dig into ONE project for long streams of time until you have forged something new...uniquely new. Once we have gathered enough research we start to learn. When we learn we start to reprocess all that we have seen, and heard up to that point. We begin to see the key insights that reveal good ideas. Then we need to get focused and find some solitude. I'm talking about lock me in a small space, 2 gallons of coffee, 18 hour workday day, my entire iTunes library of music, no shoes, favorite jeans, with nothing but a laptop, a wireless mouse, some power, a huge box of research, "I won't come out until i've forged something BETTER... dammit. So just crack a window and put the food outside the door" ...... kind of solitude.

From a focus standpoint, you can't beat the 1958 Airstream OneFastBuffalo mobile office. One of my favorite things to do is head out early in the morning to one of the Texas State parks (we have over 200 hundred I think) in the Airstream, set up camp, grill some buffalo steaks, brew up some New Mexico Pinon coffee, and work on ONE specific client project until it's done. That usually means 2 full days with a chunk of sleep and a jog or two. Its not like I disconnect from the world completely...I have a mobile internet card and many state parks even have wireless internet now. But I surely turn off my cell and try to answer messages and email only once a day. It's an incredibly rewarding experience to get to focus on creative work that intensely with minimal distractions. I thank my AWESOME wife for these focus days. I also have a great team of people at OFB that carve out those days for me and our designers by focusing their craft on planning and strategy. After the work is done I'm mentally spent. And then I like to have my wife and kids come meet me for 2 days of fun (camping, fishing, hiking, shootn cans, and junkn around.

NEW PLACE FOR CLIENT MEETINGS

We are giving an all new meaning to the phrase, "we'll come to you." Since we have acquired the trailer we have done many of our initial new business meetings from the trailer, or just outside the trailer, even though we have a nice office for that kind of thing. For instance, we were invited to meet with Cinemark movie theaters recently and instead of meeting in a conference room we had a BBQ in their office parking lot. Then we met with Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) in the parking lot of the Four Seasons Resort. The trailer is also great for literally LIVING at a client's place of work where we can really dive into learning about their culture during our strategy sessions.

Stay tuned for more Airstream adventures in Mobile Creative Worklife.

Watch a video where our Mobile Office was featured on San Antonio living

Shelterbox Helping Haiti.

I saw a story about this great company ShelterBox on CNN last week. Check out how they are helping in Haiti and around the world.

ShelterBox instantly responds to earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict by delivering boxes of aid. Each box supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster, with great care taken sourcing every item to ensure it is robust enough to be of lasting value.

Really cool the spirit of starting a business is focused on helping people. Please let me know of other businesses you know of like this.

1000 Mentors.

I've never met marketing guru and author, Seth Godin, but he mentors me every day. I suppose 1000 people have mentored me via the web. Somehow he manages to post a full thought every day of the week. I would highly suggest all marketers sign up for his newsletter. He takes a stance on all of his topics. Most post take about 15 seconds to read in your inbox.

Here is a blurb from todays post. This is a stance I agree with. In our business for instance the diagnosis and research we do is not shooting for a comprehensive scientific market analysis. Instead we are learning up to the point where we find a recurring nugget of key insight about a customer, a market, a product that we can all believe in. We keep it 100% relevant. I hate fluff in research.

Too much data leads to not enough belief

Business plans with too much detail, books with too much proof, politicians with too much granularity... it seems as though more data is a good thing, because data proves the case.

In my experience, data crowds out faith. And without faith, it's hard to believe in the data enough to make a leap. Big mergers, big VC investments, big political movements, large congregations... they don't usually turn out for a spreadsheet.

The problem is this: no spreadsheet, no bibliography and no list of resources is sufficient proof to someone who chooses not to believe. Read More...

Updated OFB Logo. Why?

Because! That's what we do man. It's better. You know it.

OFB's Little Sister.

My talented younger sister Katie has launched her new web site. Katie Norris is a great photographer specializing in portraits and weddings. You can check out her work atkatienorris.net and katienorrisblog.net. Check her out! Very proud.

Kid Tattoos for El Fenix.

This is one of my favorite design projects of all time. Hand drawn temp tattoos for kids for El Fenix Restaurants. This is an example of our strategy team identifying places where our clients can connect more with their audience. El Fenix is a great place for kids but was not doing much to make sure the kids felt appreciated. OFB designed these cool tattoos and they are a huge hit....prooven by Shane and Shepard Jenkins here who proudly display multiple El Fenix Tattoos. The El Fenix servers pass these out to kids and the full sheet is also available for purchase.

Another OFB Vintage Treasure.

On our last monthly trip to our favorite East Texas Flea Market we found this old Easy Rider style helmet. Perfect for well, riding a motorcycle, a bike, a snowboard, driving this pickup I saw, or as my wife discovered...driving a mini-van home from the flea market.

Get Yer Dead Animals.

Wow. I drove up on this place in Gunnison, Colorado call Traders Rendevous. I've never seen such a big selection antlers, stuff bears and coyotes.

Best College Baseball Brand

As we get close to the start of the College World Series I thought it would be a good time to highlight the best brand in College Baseball. The dogs may not be going to the CWS this year, but I think from a brand ritual standpoint, they can still claim the top spot in the battle of college baseball brands. Anyone who loves the great game of baseball needs to experience an SEC baseball game from the the Left Field Lounge, at Mississippi State University. It's nothing less than a sports and grilling spectacle. I wish I could bet back there more often.

Sports Illustrated has dubbed MSU the best place to watch college baseball and this tailgating-cowbell-football-atmosphere is the reason why. Writer Matt Meyers awarded “Best Tailgate Scene” to Dudy Noble Field’s “Left Field Lounge.” Meyers writes, “Make friends quickly and you won’t need to spend another dime.”

I found a great article about it here. Another one here.

See the attached pics and this video ....and you will get a good feel for what the Left Field lounge is all about.

Also for your entertainment...a great video of legendary coach Ron Polk arguing a call.

Great Buffalo Art.

This is a buffalo head made from small pieces of steel. Beautiful. I saw this in the bar of the Wooden Nickel in Crested Butte, Colorado. If anyone knows who the artist is let me know.

Little Buffalo TBall Team.

The OFB TBall team hits the field for their second season. Check out these intimidating warriors.

Check out Billy Reid.

If anyone is a fan of OFB style and hasn't checked out Billy Reid in Dallas, do so. A great clothing store, rooted in old southern style, that I hear was opened by some Texas A&M folks. I especially like the decor in the dressing rooms. Check it out.

Another nice sign...New Mexico

Saw this in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

OFB loves The Avett Brothers.

Here is a pic of a recent OFB trip to an Avett Brothers show at the Granada Theater in Dallas. Here is a video for your pleasure.

1st Annual OFB Super Bowl Beer Design Awards.

Introducing the most classy, and biased, design awards in recent memory. Awards were presented at today's OFB super bowl party. Winners determined in the Duncan's beer and wine stop near my house. Winners were graciously purchased and drank up.

Best new design on a white can design - Old Milwaukee

Best Design by a beer with great TV ads - Miller High Life

Best Texas Beer Design - Shiner Bohemiam Black Lager

Congratulations to the graphic designers who created the packaging for these beers. We have no idea who or where you are. But you did a great job.

Cheers son.

OFB Hits Sundance Film Fest.

This past week I flew out to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival to support OFB friend Sterlin Harjo. Sterlin is a Seminole/Creek Filmmaker from Oklahoma and his new film Barking Water premiered at Sundance this month. Ryan Red Corn and I are supporting Sterlin via graphic and web arts. I designed a blog style site for the film and Ryan designed the movie poster.

Barking Water received a warm welcome, great reviews, and both screenings were sold out...read more here. It was a whirlwind, and we had a blast. Check out the nice Sundance Branding pics. If anyone knows who did the branding let me know.

Shout out to Bird and Chad Burris for the lodging. Shout out to the Late Night Lounge in Park City...great place, and coolest vintage wallpaper I have ever seen.

Here is the Barking Water Trailer

and here is an interview with Sterlin at Sundance.

New OFB T-Shirts

OFB is officially in the screen printing business. We recently converted an old photo storage closet into a screen printing shop. To get started, we created a load of OFB 2 color logo tees on alternative apparel grey and brown shirts. We will soon offer limited edition graphic tees by OFB artists that will be available via our online store.

Check back soon.

Our tribute to old.

During a recent photo shoot for T-Mobile we had some fun with portraits. This was my impersonation of one of those 1800's scary dude on the wall portraits. And then there is one of the OFB directors pretending we have class.

The OFB Coyote Lives.

On a recent OFB RV trip ....or "mobile creative research project" if you will, we found a special friend in a vintage sort of shop near Comanche, Texas. We just call him "Coyote" and he now salutes visitors as they leave our office. Call him scary or call him sweet, but don't call him a wolf for god sakes. He really gets offended at that. When asked about why OFB chose this peace of "art" to grace our walls, OFB Peacemaker Katie Williams simply stated..."I don't know, we just love that damn Coyote." Amen!

View more pics of our studios here >>

OneFast Osage

No branding lesson here. No design tips. No latest trends in web. No, today my talented friend Thomas Ryan Red Corn (Osage Designer & Musician) is simultaneously demonstrating his larger than life bravery, and showing you something you should never do.

Fact: The American Bison is the largest land animal in North America. The male Bison stands 6 feet tall from hoof to shoulder and weighs from 800 to 2000 pounds.

Fact: Ryan Red Corn stands about 5' 8" tall from vintage Chuck Taylor to shoulder.

Fact: Bisons have shaggy brown fur, short black horns and the characteristic hump at the shoulders.

Fact: Ryan Red Corn has none of that but does have some nice ball caps.

Fact: In its natural habitat the bison roams plains, prairies and river valleys.

Fact: Ryan roams around in the ugliest blue pickup truck I have ever seen.

Little Known Fact: Bison, especially the large bulls, look very slow and clumsy. But in fact, they can run up to 35 miles per hour.

Problem: Ryan can't.

Learn about what Ryan CAN do here.

Nice Sign. Stroud, Oklahoma

We saw this off a section of old Route 66 in Stroud, Oklahoma. Not only a great sign...but that's a hawk. And that good.

Be sure to check out the vintage sign gallery.

Signs in Tucumcari, New Mexico.

If you ever pass through Tucumcari, New Mexico be sure to see the Trail West lounge and the Ranch House Cafe signs on Route 66. They don't make em like this anymore :(

Be sure to check out the vintage sign gallery.

OFB Joins the NVision Clan.

This week OFB made arrangements to commit the majority of its ongoing community involvement and pro-bono efforts to a cause that we are very proud to be associated with.

NVision is committed to the development of Native youth leadership and traditional and contemporary expressions of art, culture, education, and media from a Native core and perspective. To this end, NVision will promote the development of a new generation of Native leaders, artists, educators, and activists within a context of respect and understanding for traditional Native lifeways, sovereignty, community, and importance of holistic wellbeing. NVision will strive to empower Native youth and young adults on a local and national level to become leaders and culture bearers of tomorrow that will help to preserve and strengthen Native cultures and Nations for generations to come.


Specifically, OFB will help in the following ways:

1) OFB has already started designing a new website for NVision in collaboration with Red Hand Media. OFB will fully donate the time and effort to build this site....and do it in a big way.

2) OFB will assist in creating other media and PR to raise awareness about NVision.

3) OFB will be sending teams of our designers out on the NVision Tour to serve as on-site trainers. NVision trainers are comprised of award-winning artists and respected professionals in their fields of expertise. Our designers are very excited about going out on the road, visiting reservations for several days at a time, and working with youth to teach and help install training centers where native youth can learn graphic design. I know our designers will benefit from the experiences they have and it will be time well worth spending.

4) Last, we are challenging ourselves to work with local (Dallas, TX) native youth who need this same kind of training. Dallas has a large native population. But there is no one tribe or core center that you can identify where NVision can install training centers. So we essentially want to create a training center here at OFB. We have the space to do it and room to grow. We simply plan on investing in a small classroom full of Mac workstations equipped with Adobe software. We will conduct free ongoing training seminars for selected local Native youth. The purpose is simple. Train youth in creative software applications, train them in graphic design and web development, build portfolios, and help earn scholarships to practice their craft and find great employment. We hope that we can work here locally to support the NVision mission and cause.

The experience for my staff will be invaluable...I know because a similar experience 10 years ago changed my world view and inspired me to start OFB. Spending time in Indian country is where OFB really started. We are at a place now where we can begin to give back. There are thousands of great movements and organizations that we could donate our time, talents and $ to, but for us this is the one. I really want to be specific and focus in on one movement so that we can have an impact. Our Osage friend and designer Ryan Red Corn introduced us to NVision, and we believe in the cause. We are fortunate to have grown up in systems that gave us advantages and learning opportunities, and I am so excited to try and help create positive environments for Native youth where they can learn skills to empower themselves and their communities.   For the most part OFB people do not provide a native perspective, and we don't pretend to...but we are able to provide real world experience, training, mentorship and support to native youth.


For more information on how you can donate and support our vision, mission, programs, and special projects, please contact Crystal Echo Hawk.

Here are some videos created at recent NVision Tour stops.

Ideas Live On.

Whether you are a designer, writer, new business director....whatever. You need to write your ideas down WHEN THEY ARE FOUND. It's fresh and you will you have a clearer understanding of what made the idea good if you write it down at that moment. And it's best to write out a full thought. It gives that idea a better chance to live. For whatever reason I tend to get ideas when I am driving, walking, jogging, biking, etc. Moving has always helped me clear my mind and think. But of course this also means I am not sitting at my computer where I keep all of my full thought plans and ideas to execute.

So I tend to have notebooks stashed ALL over the place and with me at all times.

Rather than trying to use one notebook at a time and worry about where it is...I keep notebooks in my car, in my laptop bag, in my living room, in my wife's car, everywhere I hangout. Honestly if I go for a walk or even a jog I have a phobia of not carrying something that I can write on in case I find an idea. Driving and running tend to be where I most often have this problem.

I started buying Moleskine notebooks a while back and I can't imagine using anything else. Specifically the Moleskine Cashiers Notebooks....kraft brown. I really like the simple design and small pocket size. I like that they don't have a ton of pages in each book so if I use some of it and it gets trashed it's no big deal. I buy the 3 packs and keep our cars stocked with them. They don't look trashy in the living room or kitchen and I can easily keep these in my back pocket when I am walking to lunch downtown or even when I am jogging.

Check them out if you haven't already at www.moleskineus.com

OFB "Business card holder"

Really enjoying this old Mexican cigarette holder given to me by my friend Katie Williams. Works great as my new business card holder.

Don't try and fool me, man!

You have to know "when to say when." Don't let the need to market to customers actually cause you to execute tactics that turn them away.

So the OFB folks made me go get a haircut today. Apparently the "mullet" had just gone too far. This was more of an intervention than a suggestion. I did not know when to say when, when it came to my mullet.

Facing reality and taking care of this problem today led me to another example where this concept can get you in trouble.

Having an ongoing dialog with your customers is important, but what you want is their permission to sell to you. Here is one way NOT to go about getting that permission.

Anyway, I walked in to this very "manly man's" salon :) and proceeded to walk up to the reception desk. She asked who I was there to see. I told her. But then she said, "Fill this out," and handed me a small piece of paper. Not "please," no explanation. She just said it as if it was part of the process. I have to admit the way she did it was quite clever...I reached for a pen and started to write. But looking at the paper I noticed it asked for my name and email address, and in small type also mentioned something about a $250 lottery.

I said "no thanks".

Here is my point. It is certainly a good idea to have an online newsletter to create an ongoing dialog with your customers. But just ask for their permission. Don't trick or bribe me into giving you my contact info unless you have an offer where I cannot lose.

Maybe they could do this.

Create a simple online reservation system so my lazy American self can sign up for that haircut without picking up the phone. Then when I walk in, say, "Hey by the way, we have this new online reservation system. You might check it out. It just gives you another option to make your appointments and it will send you appointment reminders via email."

I think I would say..."uh sure!" that would be great.

Now my second idea would be for newsletter content. What about an eNewsletter topic showing the latest trends in hair styles ...."mullets for the proud modern redneck"?

If you sport a fancy mullet...you might get famous here. www.ratemymullet.com

I posted some audio for my old Mississippi friends. Not that this topic reminded me of you :) But, hey, I think that guy is pretty smart actually, and I think there is a good chance he rocks a mullet.

Welcome to the new OFB site.

Welcome to our new site and the new addition, Buffalo Tread, a blog culture created by OneFastBuffalo.

This is a place for our extended tribe of creative professionals to bring our audience (designers, clients, and in-house marketers) content relevant to the worlds of branding, marketing, design, interactive, and other creative explorations. But more importantly we want to discuss the movements, businesses, and strategic thinking that make the world better, not just more branded. We believe the most authentic ideas are found via long journeys of creative exploration. Our passion lies in discovering ideas and passing them on to other people. We hope to provide marketing and design professionals in all industries with insight and recommendations to help them create real change within their organizations. We hope to learn from them as well. We hope to dismantle the need for advertising as we know it. We hope to help our many freelance and contract creative associates showcase their work. We hope to help designers to more fulfilling lives by exploring creative spirit the OFB way. We hope to inspire young creatives to become Onefast. We hope to have fun. We hope to tread heavily.

The story of where this site was found.

I have to first thank my wife Jenn for this site. When I decided it was time to design a new OFB site she gave me the gift of an entire week of solitude in mountains of New Mexico this spring to get started.

Soooooooo, this site was born in an Airstream trailer in Northern New Mexico, over 6 days and nights, favorite hemp socks, bison brisket, and 2 bags of dark pinon coffee.

I actually never left the camp and never saw another human person. I did meet an interesting local dog, a hawk or two and trout. Honestly, despite the fact that I missed my wife and kids terribly it was the most enjoyable work time of my life. I really didn't sleep much and worked about 16 hours each day. But I am not complaining. I had satellite internet, plenty of Son Volt, and about 20 lbs of Buffalo brisket. Hardships included ruining my favorite old pair of Texas Brand vintage boots in a mud hole and running out of mesquite seasoning for the buffalo.

The next week my family joined me. We stayed in a great adobe house near Taos where I continued to flush out the design at night. During the day we hit Taos Ski mountain for the first day of snowboarding ever allowed there, did some hiking, took some landscape photos, taught my oldest son to ski, shopped our favorite vintage boot shop, bought new guitars at Taos Pawn, at 3 times at Orlando's, had a family guitar jam, and ate many smores.

Other Thanks.

Thanks to Caroline, our Interactive Design Director, who helped me flush out the detailed interior pages. Thanks to Christine for her hard work to get this to development. And huge thanks to LEO, our development director whose team built one the most complex site I could have thrown at them.

View more pics of our studios here >>

Where did the old OFB site go?

You can visit the old guy right here. And we may unearth even older volumes soon.

Only Game in Town.

World, meet Sugars. The best BBQ....on HWY 68.....between Espanola and Taos in New Mexico.

I can with all honesty say they do the best job branding their lovely little establishment....along that strip of road. But hey, if you're within 20 miles and hungry, you know where to go and it's mighty fine food. The name is easy to remember. You can't miss the simple "Sugar's" red and white sign and the colorful decor. Local patrons like to walk up and place their order, then hang out in the front seat of their car until the order is ready. For those who like to venture around the property, the most interesting brand ritual at Sugar's would be visiting the grave of their beloved mascot, a bulldog named Sugar. There, you can also read their brand legend.

The lesson for today: it's ok to just own ALL of a very small market. They are the best in the world, when you are on this stretch of road.

My Brand Likes Boots.

Ok, I like them a lot. And they are a big part of our brand culture here at OFB. Started wearing them back in South Dakota and never realized how comfortable they are. These are just the ones that make the wearable rotation. I have a couple rules when it comes to collecting boots: 1) Never pay more than $75 (my record low is $1.99, I won those on Ebay, the shipping was $10). 2) They have to be used. 3) I only get them if "I have to have them"...from a design perspective, I am fascinated by them. Simple people fascinated by simple things, I guess.

The collection is growing, and I will be updating the blog with new babies. I have a gallery here where you can see the best of the best.

PS - I wear 11D, so if you have a sweet pair you are looking to unload, let me know.

Gary Linden’s Eco-Friendly Agave Surfboards.

I ran across an article in Outdoor magazine about Gary Linden. I am only a casual surfer, but the instant I saw these pics, I was blown away. Wow. I have to admire someone who takes his craft to this level, and at the same time, limits his business growth to maintain his ideal lifestyle. This is one of those small business guys that gets it. It's not all about HOW BIG YOU ARE. It can be about HOW GOOD YOU ARE.

His agave and balsa wood boards are a thing of beauty. I want one. And if I ever get one, I am not sure if I should use it or hang it on wall over my fireplace.

From Outside -

Surfing, more than many other sports, is both more closely connected to and heavily dependent on the health of the planet, yet the industry's been slow to get away from the use of toxic and harmful materials in boards. This is mostly due to the fact that untraditional materials just don't perform as well. A great eco-friendly alternative without compromising board performance is Gary Linden's Custom Agave Singlefin.

Made from dead Agave harvested from SoCal deserts, it's a sustainable and extremely durable material that provides a bit of flexion. Each agave board takes over 60 hours to shape making for a smooth ride in a variety of conditions. More importantly, Agave is a light material that greatly outperforms the heavy wood boards of the past making people rethink the wood surfboard.

Crafting surfboards since 1967, all are custom and original productions. For more info visit Linden Surfboards.

Episode 2 "Amazing" Class

This is going a ways back. But once, my soon-to-be wife told me that I could choose any groom's cake I wanted. Considering she had chosen the most well respected cake company in town, Dallas Affairs Cake Company, this appeared to be a pretty safe statement. Think again. You never know how bad someone's taste can be. I am pretty sure the impression my "cake of pure class" had on our guest was pure "amazement." I don't know if they were more amazed that someone was able to create a cake that looked like a cactus...or that someone actually decided to have it as their wedding cake. Many of the guests actually thought these were just floral decor and asked where the grooms cake was.

Not sure why us guys find choosing our groom's cake to be the ultimate moment of self-brand expression. At least these other two cakes make sense. A cake with a hunting theme and big ducks tells everyone..."Hey man, I love to hunt. That's who I am! Deeeeaaaaal with it. Or I'll shoot you." Another local favorite is anything with a UT theme. Obvious message is "my love for my school knows no limits." But all a set of 3 cacti says is "Hey, I'm a total idiot," or "Stay away from this cake, man!"

Now to be fair, they really do make great cakes and take their craft very seriously. In fact, as you can see, they are very serious about helping grooms express their true nature with these tasty works of art. A little too good.

Congratulations to a great small business. Perfecting cake art for over 20 years.

Another "Amazing" Observation.

One thing designers can't help but do is observe the environment around them. We are always on the lookout for something that inspires ideas. But sometimes things just "amaze" us. On a recent visit to Washington, D.C., I saw the most "amazing" pairing of classic architecture...and over the top food stand menu. It really shook me up.

Not the Original.

Copying other people can only get you so far.

In this case, it only got me second place in the 2007 OFB Halloween competition. I think the real mustache and scotch :) in this case at least got me in the top 3.

Branding Lesson. Be authentic. There can only be one original. Emulating other successful strategies is not the worst idea, but at least add something innovative to what people have already done.