Deep Ellum’s Warstic Sports is Swinging for the Fences

Founded as a baseball bat manufacturer in 2011—backed by former MLB All-Star Ian Kinsler and Grammy Award winner Jack White—Warstic has added a coffee bar, batting cages, and Warstic University.

In 2016, Warstic Sports majority owner and founder Ben Jenkins scored a $1 million investment in his baseball bat company from Grammy Award-winning musician Jack White and four-time MLB All-Star and Texas Rangers great Ian Kinsler. At the time, the company, which Jenkins launched in his home in 2011, was generating annual revenue of $150,000 to $200,000. This year, Jenkins expects it to earn between $12 million and $16 million.

As a former minor league ballplayer, Jenkins enjoys seeing his maple, ash, and birch bats on the big stage—and even the latest edition of the MLB The Show video game. But his passion, and main profit driver, are the company’s metal bats. Warstic, which operates 100 percent off cash on hand, isn’t afraid to attract attention and be brutally honest.

“Our motto— ‘It’s not the weapon, it’s the warrior’—shocks parents,” says Jenkins, who is also the founder of OneFastBuffalo, a branding agency. “It’s a risky strategy as a hard goods producer. Our consumers are used to companies trying to make their kids better hitters with their products. We don’t believe that.”

Warstic emphasizes hands-on development. Its Deep Ellum headquarters includes Battle Hall, the brick-and-mortar arm of Warstic University, where pro hitters, hitting coaches, and others teach Dallas-area youth how to better their mental approach to baseball. One of those mentors is Kinsler, whose fingerprints run throughout the Deep Ellum facility, and where his game-worn memorabilia grace the walls of an underground speakeasy.

“Our new headquarters is unlike anything else,” Kinsler says of the building, which was purchased by White. The DBLHAWK coffee bar is particularly popular with parents who come to watch their kids swing in the cages. “Where else can you sit in a coffee bar, take batting practice, shop for apparel, watch a wood bat get carved, and enjoy a speakeasy music venue?” Kinsler adds.

Despite 300 percent year-over-year growth in 2021, Warstic operates with an estimated consumer awareness of just 20 percent in the baseball and softball markets. But Jenkins and his teammates aren’t backing down from the competition, which includes some century-old brands. “We know we’re ruffling feathers,” says Christine Edgington, president, marketing director, and a minority stakeholder in Warstic. “And we’re not letting up.”

Jenkins hopes to place a Warstic bat in every MLB clubhouse—and is also working on Name, Image, and Likeness deals with NCAA athletes. But he’s diversifying his line of products, too. From fastpitch bats and fishing poles to prototype hunting arrows and golf clubs, the ‘stic’ in Warstic is expanding. “Our competitors would love to see me focus on baseball,” Jenkins says. “But that’s not my forté. I’m building the foundation for so much more.”

When Jenkins and Edgington were setting the framework for Warstic’s recently opened Deep Ellum headquarters, creating something mixed-use was the top priority. So, the two owners looked at their sporting facility through a parent’s lens and came up with DBLHAWK Coffee. The shop inside the facility is designed to give moms and dads a place to mingle and caffeinate while their children hit in the batting cages or shop in the store.

The company’s roast, which is crafted in San Antonio and shipped north to Dallas, takes on characteristics of western vegetation. “I wanted to incorporate sage and juniper ever so slightly into our roast,” Jenkins says. In addition to the company’s in-store brews, whole beans are sold online. The company is also aiming to iron out its retail positioning later in 2022. “Yes, it’s true, baseball is just for some,” Jenkins says. “But coffee? That is for all.”

Ben Swanger

Ben Swanger is the assistant editor for D CEO, the business title for D Magazine. Ben manages the Dallas 500…

OFB's Warstic Brand Partners with Jack White & Major League All-Star Ian Kinsler

Recently the Onefastbuffalo family celebrated a new investor partnership for a brand we created from scratch and launched in 2011.... Warstic.  We spent the afternoon scarfing down hotdogs at the Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees game followed by a small party held at Third Man Records Detroit.

Here is the official press release.

JACK WHITE AND IAN KINSLER TEAM UP WITH WARSTIC. GRAMMY® AWARD-WINNING ARTIST AND DETROIT TIGERS ALL-STAR SECOND BASEMAN. JOIN FORCES WITH TEXAS-BASED INDEPENDENT SPORTING GOODS COMPANY. WARSTIC MAKING AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT IN 2016 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SEASON WITH UNIQUE LINE OF PRO GRADE WOOD AND METAL BASEBALL BATS AND GEAR.

(Detroit, MI) Jack White and Detroit Tigers second baseman and four-time baseball All-Star Ian Kinsler are now co-investors and co-partners with founder Ben Jenkins in the independent sporting goods company, Warstic. Founded in 2011 by Dallas-based designer, entrepreneur, and former minor league baseball player Jenkins, Warstic designs Pro Grade wood and metal bats, gear and lifestyle apparel for baseball and softball players of any age who appreciate not only quality craftsmanship but unique design.

"I discovered the Warstic company through my love of design," says White. "I was drawn to what Ben Jenkins was doing at Warstic by the simplicity and harshness of the designs. Most baseball bats and equipment in the sports world do not impress me much, but I think that there is a lot of room to explore aesthetic ideas in just baseball alone that can bring beauty and purpose to the weapons that athletes use to accomplish their goals. This can be accomplished not only through form following function, but also to bring in outsider ideas into the zone of athletics steeped in history and sometimes bogged down by its own weight. Warstic is incredibly inspiring to me in this fashion, and I think we can make beautiful objects for not only professionals, but also young children just beginning to understand how important the tools of the trade are to their passion for competition."

"I was drawn to Warstic not only by its uncompromising quality but also what it represents," says Kinsler. "Ben and the team truly believe that a bat should be more than just a bat - it can be a tool, an attitude and at the same time, a personalized representation of who you are as an athlete. Nowadays, substance and style play a big role in baseball, but it's tough to get both. Warstic has managed to combine the two, allowing pros and kids alike to be on the same team - all playing with a fresh and relentlessly confident approach to the game."

Warstic offers American Ash, Maple, and Birch wood and metal bats, each uniquely emblazoned with the trademark Warstripe emblem branded into every bat. With a bold but minimal approach to performance design, they are turning the heads of baseball All-Stars and MVPs alike who are looking for not just top performance, but also a new aesthetic that stands apart from the norm. Ian Kinsler himself made history this year in his first official big league game of 2016 holding a Black on Black Maple Warstic with Gold embellishments. Kinsler collected not only the first official Warstic base hit but also its first home run, and his early spring training and opening week stats speak for themselves: He loves the bats. With Kinsler as the lead player, Warstic is currently hand selecting a team of Pro players that truly embody the warrior spirit of their brand and its lifestyle.

“Warstic is not trying to be a brand for everyone,” says Ben Jenkins, “it’s about more than sports in that it considers the deeper human connection behind why we play sports in such an intense and expressive manner.  Over time we forget who won or lost. What we remember are the players, their style of play, and the great battles they fought. The concept of balance is crucial to everything we do. We care about life outside of our sport and have perspective that it's not about big we get but rather how good we get, and what matters is what we do with that success to make people loves better.  Ian is a great representation of what our brand is about on the performance and character side and I’m excited to have his experience, knowledge, talent, and work ethic on our team. On the other side, Jack represents our love and appreciation of sports as fans, of not just making things, but our willingness to make new things that have never been seen before. We are excited to have his support and his tenacious appetite for pushing the boundaries of art, even within sports. That, after all, is what Warstic is about.”

Warstic also offers a diverse line of aesthetically pleasing training gear, headwear, and baseball lifestyle apparel, as well as a variety of specially designed equipment bags, batting gloves, and other accessories. For a complete catalogue and additional information, please visit www.warstic.com, instagram.com/warsticbaseball, facebook.com/WarsticBatCo, and twitter.com/warsticbatco.

Warstic founder Ben Jenkins is an American designer, brand strategist, entrepreneur, speaker, and founder of the Dallas-based Brand Strategy and Design firm, OneFastBuffalo.  

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Live Slow Make Fast. The Hawk’s Mind and The Buffalo’s Heart.

Live Slow Make Fast. The Hawk’s Mind and The Buffalo’s Heart.

This is for you folks who create for a living. For you, compartmentalizing life into nicely organized boxes — work life here, personal life there — is next to impossible. And for good reason. If you can’t bring true human experience into creative work, it probably won’t make any real impact. So I propose we trash the idea. I came to this conclusion the hard way so I’m going to take a stab at telling you about it.

Buffalo Crossing.

In my mid 20’s, after growing up in Texas wholeheartedly pursuing sports and occasionally scratching creative itches when it rained, I found myself cut from the Philadelphia Phillies Minor League baseball system. Wounded and out of options, it was time to hang ‘em up and find a new identity. I finished grad school and found myself working as a runner on a documentary film project on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Came across the American Bison there who, I was told, are the givers of life; symbols of endurance, sacrifice, and survival. They remind us of the abundance we are given, and the gratitude we should have for it. On this trip, I saw how the loss of heritage and identity could cause people to lose connection to their spirit. Losing your ways is serious business. Visiting this place marked a new starting point for me. I had a sense there was a creative world out there for me to explore and be grateful for, and that I should leave sports behind. Back in college, my painting teacher had gently thrown me out of his class and into a graphic design class, where he said I could most usefully apply my obsession with rearranging things. I was thankful to have a undeveloped talent for something that I could pursue again, wholeheartedly. After months of job searching, I took a contract job retouching decorative collectible plate designs emblazoned with kittens, puppies, baby angels, pink unicorns and all sorts of manly subject matter. About lost my mind doing that, so I left Chicago and headed back to Texas because I missed the smell of the Southwest. Back home, I was gifted a few freelance projects from friends and family, eventually stringing more jobs together to make what is now my 17 year-old design company, Onefastbuffalo.

OFB had a very spiritual, creative beginning for me. As are many new ventures started by young people, there was pure instinct, good intention, and honest aspirations. Everything was self taught. Onefastbuffalo represented the freedom to roam, to explore, and to create. We would see the true nature of things, make new stuff, and give it to people. During OFB’s first 10 years, we experienced the typical ups and downs of growing a business. I cut my teeth in that decade. I got my "time in the water" as my surfing or fly fishing buddies might say today. We got bigger and did some good work over that time, but nothing great. But, year after year, it became less about the joy of making art and more about accumulating jobs, simply executing our client’s instructions, and trying to win awards for validation. Personally, I got good at being a person working in the creative industry, not at living creatively. I ended up a good 40 pounds heavier than my playing days, was only a semblance of the athlete I used to be, and was mentally exhausted, and burned out. The most unsettling thing about that decade is that for the most part I don't remember most of it.

I think the founder of the brand Patagonia, sums my decade long journey up best.

The whole purpose of planning something like Everest is to effect some sort of spiritual and physical gain and if you compromise the process, you're an asshole when you start out and you're an asshole when you get back. - Yvan Chouinard

Hawk Sighting.

One day I came home from a busy day at work and my 5-year-old son handed me a drawing. It was of me working at my computer with a caption that read: "My Dad is a Grafik Disiner." In the drawing,on the screen, was a hawk. Kids can see through all your B.S. They see your true heart. My son knew who I really was... a graphic designer. Not the boss or creative director. A designer…who is fascinated with Red-tailed Hawks whenever they fly by. I always notice them. Hawks, I was told, are messengers, guides. They are symbols of clear vision, awareness, intuition, wisdom, and insight. When the hawk shows up, the message is to evaluate the self created illusions of our identity, and to become who we really are. I never saw the point in being self destructive as some kind of artist. Scorched earth of relationships, and eventual early demise. It’s sexy and all, but it ain’t me. So I took this hawk seriously. I had lost my ways. I realized I had become a manager not a maker. I decided to deconstruct both myself and OFB, and rebuild a work life where I could live a truly creative life…and hopefully still make a living.

"How we spend our days is, how we spend our lives" - Annie Dillard'

Here is the roadmap I sketched out for myself that helps keep me in check. It’s not about shortcuts, life hacks, or time-management. It’s not about work/life balance. Rather, It is about aligning work with life in a way that nurtures your creative engine and supports longevity of creative output. Time is really the key stock material of creation, and of meaningful experience. Real mastery takes real time. But we can’t make more time — we can only improve how we use the time we’re given.

LIVE SLOW. THE HAWK’S MIND

The hawk’s mind is designed to fly, to live with clear vision, have wisdom, and refuel the spirit. Artists have the ability — if they stop long enough to observe with their own eyes — to see things in the world and make connection when others cannot.

Trade excess for simplicity.

OFB’s first ten years can be summarized into one word...excess. I owned too much stuff, had too much office space, held too many meetings, had too many people offering too many services to too many clients. Accumulation and excess are the American way, and I was American as hell. So during the next year, I worked to remove clutter and excess from my life in every way I could control. Either I needed it, loved it, or got rid of it. I believe too much of work/life balance in the today’s business world is about employers tactically bringing a “personal” feel into the workplace. Things like beer taps in the office, TV’s, chef's kitchens, lounges, pool tables, gyms, skateboards, basketball courts, on and on. But these things don’t balance work and life, they just making work feel more like home. I was a pro at creating these distractions. So to stop the behavior, I got rid of our office space and all the stuff in them. Working remotely from wherever we chose, instantly gave us more time for the work. It reduced the number of wasteful meetings. It cut out commutes entirely. And of course it greatly reduced hard costs so we could choose the clients we took on more thoughtfully. Next, we stripped our service offerings down to one thing…call it Branding if you like. We realized that we truly loved, and still do, is for people to hand us a portion of a product or business idea, ask us to flush it into a full thought, craft an identity for it to exist in, and help bring it to life. All other services where abandoned. Last, other than having a website to show our work, we even we stopped spending time marketing ourselves. No biz cards, no leave behinds, no over-the-top holiday promotional, no more entering award shows, no outbound sales calls, no office parties, no networking events. We even stopped writing custom proposals. The new marketing plan was to live experience-rich creative lives, bring those experiences back to the studio, get deeply involved in our clients' dreams, and make stuff people would talk about. Getting rid of things unneeded or unloved simplified everything and created space in my life. You can create more time by no longer working more than you need to to pay for things you don’t need or want.

Rest, maintain, and play.

Many in our industry wear long hours as a badge of honor — late nights, weekend work, little vacation time. And I was one of them. But the new OFB changed that. We now have a work season and an off season. We work from September 1 to June 1 — and during the summer months we are closed for business. I got this idea from my time in athletics. In professional sports, it would be absurd to ask athletes to play year round. As the season goes on, the athlete gradually wears down physically and mentally. The same can be said for creative minds. For that reason we also focus on physical and mental wellbeing. We get sleep, We eat healthy, We get outside and play. All animals play. We need it. Play usually involves physical activity but it’s also a form of mind-rest because it’s meditative. We stop thinking. We engage in the activity. It recharges our physical and mental batteries. The play I’m interested in these days is surfing and fly fishing — two activities that are hard to master. They keep me in a present state of mind and engage me in the physical world. Understand that a healthy body leads to a clear mind and improved creativity. It is not about how much you can work, its about how much quality work you can make.

Explore, see and collect.

Once we got rid of our office space, I started getting comfortable with the idea that I could work from anywhere. Pursuing play got me traveling. But I wanted to cheap way to travel for longer periods of time. With savings from getting rid of things, I bought a vintage 1958 Airstream trailer that we redesigned and rebuilt into something functionally new. This gave me and my family an office and a home we could take on the road — to work and live with long stretches of time for playing and exploring. More time for journeys, not just vacations. This changed everything for me and probably will greatly shape how my kids see the world. These journeys fuel my life and work. What I observe, see and collect during travel serve as my creative fuel later.

Find the essential and the purpose.

At OFB, our process includes time to learn, study and immerse ourselves into the world of our clients. First, we clear our heads and then sort through the research and data to find what is essential. We audit preconceived ideas and expectations. We study the territory. We let go of projects and ideas that are reactionary or developed out of fear. Then we keep the ones that are fearless and can create the most impact. It’s important to not get caught up in the rush of the projects you see other people doing, just to do them. Have the guts to say no. I struggle with this more than anything else. Not every project is worth doing. And not every idea should be pursued.

MAKE FAST. THE BUFFALO’S HEART



The buffalo’s heart is meant to run fast, endure, give its spirit, and provide for the world. As an artist with a buffalo’s heart, you’re not here to be a spectator. You have an opportunity to contribute and provide abundance to others’ experience of the world.

Move to make.

Good strategy happens best in an active, moving state. So instead of jumping onto the computer, grab a pencil and note pad, maybe a recording device, a bottle of water, and step outside and start walking. Walking frees you from the clutter of data so you can simply focus on what you have learned. Search for THE idea using movement as a trigger. The challenge is to find the idea in your mind, then only use the computer as an excavation tool.

Mine in solitude.

“Without great solitude, so serious work is possible.”~ Picasso

The best of an idea is many, many feet underground. That's why we call bringing that idea to life the mining process. Mining is typically done best in complete solitude. Why do it alone? Because you have less distractions and more time to focus. You can also be yourself in solitude. You have the freedom to explore ideas without judgment. Being alone in solitude is a bit scary. It’s uncomfortable. Trust your instinct. Have the confidence that you will uncover your idea.

Build in discomfort.

“What good could come from comfort? It’s certainly not art.” - Jack White.

As creative types, we tend to keep comforts around us in the form of inspiration: cool art, old projects, design magazines. But those can act as a crutch. I prefer to keep my work area as sparse as possible. It promotes a feeling that something needs to be created there. And it helps me avoid retread or falling back on past successes. I like to build in some discomfort when creating. I like designing while hungry... on an empty stomach. Another is designing while standing up versus sitting. I like to be cold. And I like it noisy. Figure out what works for you.

Create like a river.

As a designer, it's important to work fast — to create in a fluid, flexible and fearless manner and to trust your intuition and natural instinct. Think of creativity like the flow of a river. Water flows up to obstructions but it doesn’t stop. Instead it flows over, around and under them, always moving downstream. During the creative process, we actually need the obstructions, the struggle, the boulders in the river to make it interesting. To guide us. To push us. That’s actually what shapes our ideas. I reiterate to work fast. Find flow by being fully immersed, fully focused, fully locked in, and fully living in the moment. I remember this feeling from sports. It’s what I loved about playing, not just winning. Don’t hold back. Yes, use that creative fuel you found while exploring. But be inspired by the past, don’t repeat it. Don’t just decorate, express new meaning. Make a big freaking mess. Then remember it is crucial to strip the new work back down to reveal the most powerful message with the fewest pixels. I look to nature for guidance here. God makes unbelievably complex things. Nothing seems to be in excess but nothing is missing. These works are simply beautiful. I keep a pocket knife on my desk as reminder to strip down, cut out, be sharp and keep the work clutter free. I think that it's best to give clients one completely flushed out concept rather than multiple had don’e ideas. Give them your one best shot.

For me, Live Slow Make fast is not a roadmap to a particular destination, but instead a cyclical system for the generation of many new ideas over a lifetime. If I get outside of it, I fall back into a slothful form of lazy behavior we call busyness. But If I play inside this cycle, I’m contributing, I’m living, and i’m getting better at the things I want to get better at. True Mastery is a journey and a gift. So align your work with your personal interests — the things you’re passionate about — and your work will express more true human emotion. Burnout is absolutely avoidable if you fill your days with experiences that matter to you and fuel your work. Don’t separate life and art. If you're feeling overwhelmed remember 888. Twenty four hours in a day divided into three parts — eight hours of rest, eight hours of work, eight hours of play. Meditate 15 minutes a day. If you don’t have 15 minutes, you need to meditate 30 minutes. And my own personal favorite burnout check: If I don’t have time to cook my own meals in a day, I’m too busy. Inspiration is not your privilege. I’m always hearing about creative people wanting to get inspired. We are responsible for finding our own inspiration. If you’re bored with the work you are doing, you are likely bored... period. Maybe you just need something to overcome. Find some struggle. Go hungry even, figuratively or literally. Find some discomfort and you’ll find inspiration without asking others for it. Let go and put a little risk into things. If you’re lucky enough to live a creative life and make a living doing it, be grateful. Wake up tomorrow and realize you have 100% freedom to make anything you want. Do beautiful things, make beautiful things.

New Brand Content Film: CLEARSHOT by Warstic

In OFB's quest to continuely evolve the Warstic brand (our favorite client and co-owned with Jack White and Ian Kinsler), we will be involved in working to concept and create branded content films for them. Something we are working on for other current clients and plan to be doing for future clients. No better way to help express the full meaning of a newly launched brand. The first film has arrived!

CLEARSHOT: Training the Mind for Battle. Watch what happens when Warstic big leaguers Ian Kinsler, Bryan Holaday, and Daniel Norris, are taken through a gun range stress test this offseason with Former Navy Seal, Stephen Holley of Sixsite (another brand crafted by Onefastbuffalo), to explore new ways to train the mind for battle.

The OFB 1958 Airstream Mobile Office.

The Warstic C1941 Coach® Bat is a striking Limited edition collectible piece created by Warstic Wood Bat Co. for Coach®. The C1941 is a unique Hard Sugar Maple Baseball bat featuring 4 hand dipped colors (Squash, Tidal, Vintage Royal, or Bonfire). At 33" long, and boasting a vintage artisanal leather grip, the bats are game ready and come in a custom Coach® premium bat holster.

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.

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.