To My Mother

Happy Mother’s Day. To my mother, forever wise and the first to know about any news in my life.

And to her mother, my longest surviving pen pal and the greatest Baker alive (married-name pun intended).

With your love, I have survived this world. Thank you. (Both images taken in Dallas, TX c.1970s)

Spreading Talent

This year has been a little different for The Good Child. Year One was all about building a foundation – thanks to you guys and, in return, my own determination. Year Two seems to be more about growing the brand as a full creative force. There was the KH Art House design, the contributing to Hide Your Arms blog, and then there was this:

When Sarah Jaffe came to me looking for a t-shirt for her new and most recognized album, The Body Wins, I was more than flattered. Not yet knowing exactly what the album title meant to Jaffe, I was instantly drawn to my collection of vintage family photographs. Add to it that Jaffe was a Good Child customer and loved the Respect Your Elders tee,  and right away we knew the direction for the design. Say hello to Puerto Rico 1972.

Jaffe picked the shirt body for the design and I love the overall vintage feeling behind the finished product. The album title really seems to work with the vibe in this image and it’s great that it was released during the warmer weather.

A Night with Dana Tanamachi

There are few events that will pull me out of comfy North Dallas on a Wednesday night, but the monthly DSVC (Dallas Society of Visual Communications) meeting is one of them. DSVC always invites a guest to speak at their meeting and they could not have chosen a better one to wrap up their spring session. Dana Tanamachi.

Dana, once a UNT (University of North Texas) student, now hails from Brooklyn, NY. Dana started out of college like most of us – in a job she was unsure of, but working hard either way. After a short stint with a magazine publisher, Dana fell into designing broadway show posters (incredible stuff!). It was in leaving her broadway gig that Dana hooked up with renowned designer Louise Fili. Working with Fili, Dana focused on the design of restaurants & packaging.

Nothing was ever enough and Dana not only put enthusiasm into her jobs for Fili, but she also put her heart and soul into any odd job that passed her by; from hand embroidering birthday bunting for Fili herself to dipping into charitable skateboard design – Dana did it all. As quoted from her lecture, “I was always finding an excuse to work with my hands.”

However multi-talented, Dana’s biggest asset was her hand-lettering skills. Dana had always been a major typography fan and that screamed through her work. Today, Dana is working exclusively as custom chalk letterer. With Dollar Store chalk and a wet rag, she is undeniable on the board. Dana works with out a projector. Check this out:

In watching a handful of Dana’s videos, I noticed the number of times she would erase and re-illustrate the letters. It was all about practice – every time. I learned a lot from Dana during her guest lecture, but most importantly — as creatives, we need to strive to keep each other humble and teachable in our craft. Never deny a lesson, never hesitate to ask.

See more of Dana’s work, in action, here.

Put Up or Shut Up: Beat Battle!

If you’re in Dallas, TX this Thursday, October 27th…put up or shut up! Join us at Arnetic (2826 Elm St.) in Deep Ellum for the Beat Battle hosted by Dallas’ own Dustin Cavazos.

Beat Battle will be a session where some of Dallas’ best producers (full list on the Facebook event page) will have a face-off and the resulting winner will walk away with an $800 cash prize! Judges will be the deciding factor of the winner with YOUR help, so come through!

There will also be a few vendor pop-up shops in the mix, including The Good Child, Sleepy Dan (will have free shirts!), and Loyal KNG — so you DON’T want to miss this! The battle hops off early at 7:30pm and the event is 18+ with a cheap cover of only $3. RSVP, here, and if you’re a blogger looking for free admission, email Cavazos at dustin@dustincavazos.com!

See you Thursday! Thanks!

UNKO x FFB at Centre

Yesterday, I dropped in at Centre, (my favorite boutique in Dallas, TX), to visit some of the most amazing locals in my city - Unkommon Kolor and Fur Face Boy. Unkommon Kolor and Fur Face Boy have been running their independent brands for about 3-4 years now and yesterday they released their first collaboration together.

It was dope to see the two brands doing it big for our city. It was also really Good hanging out and chatting with FFV (Fur Face Vy), other local brand owners (Sleepy Dan, HIJ Clothing, Loyal KNG) the Centre crew (mainly Kiddrae254), and local musicians (DJ Sober, Blue and Picnictyme). Check out a few iPhone shots from the event, as well as some looks of Centre (and Atama), below:

The Locals – Recap!

I spent my time yesterday with a handful of local brands from around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Thanks to Philip, Hance, and everybody at Centre, all of us were on major display outside of the shop at Mockingbird Station for The Locals. The event was rain or shine – and although it was incredibly humid, it stayed clear of rain for us!

Some of the brands on display included Fresh Kaufee, Loyal KNG, Unkommon Kolor, HIJ Clothing, Nerdy Fresh, Friends & Anarchists, Matrimoney, Do Celf, Dopey the Bear, and Azimo. A lot of people stopped by the event and even more stuck around for hours! Magnificent Beard dropped in, Vynsie and Jully of We Are 1976 made it, Sleepy Dan was doing his thing, I finally met face-to-face with some great minds I follow on Twitter, and I even ran into two people from my Day Job! The most significant appearances, however, were a few repeat customers and some people I had met a looong time ago at the Johnny Cupcakes stop at We Are 1976! SO RAD! Check out all of these rad people and experiences below!

Fur Face Boy Series 5 Release Party

Last night, I went to the Fur Face Boy Series 5 Release Party. Fur Face Boy always has his release parties in different locations around Dallas/Fort Worth, and this time the shindig was held at Ham Hula T-Shirt Co. Ham Hula, run by Scott Lloyd, is a t-shirt screen-printing company. Fur Face Boy first began producing his tees with Ham Hula, so throwing a party there for his fifth series seemed right. The vibe throughout the evening was 100% positive. A lot of noteworthy brands from Texas were in the house, including Loyal KNG, Grits, Remix Label, Fresh Kaufee, and Unkommon Kolor. Having all of the brands on the same block at Fur Face Boy’s event was rewarding. All of us talked real talk, joked around, joked on each other, danced, sang, and doodled. We also ate some grub and had a few drinks (thanks, Fur Face Boy)!

Trouble-Makers

Today, I had a professional photo shoot done on the streets of Dallas’ Deep Ellum for The Good Child product. Photographer Margie Woods Brown took some AMAZING shots and I can’t wait to share with all of you. The models for the shoot were incredible, too. I could not have asked for a better crew; all of them were personable, full of individual character, and expressed the brand well. Big ups to all of them: Killa MC, Skylar Rain, Chevi, Chris, Manuel, and Nic (and of course, my photographer).

The photo shoot was pretty eventful…before noon, we were stopped by Dallas (DART) police officers twice! Don’t worry, I am THE Good Child and I only work with Good people, so nobody got in any trouble. There were a couple of misunderstandings and I really hope that the people in each incident who phoned the police are having a better day. I truly believe that the people who bothered the Dallas officers to investigate us were simply bothered themselves from the heat and the early hour at which they were called to work on a Sunday. I will not go into detail, but here’s two lessons from today’s photo shoot:

Pool Days

With the weather getting warmer here in Dallas, TX, (the high today is 90˚) pools have been on my mind a lot (especially since I don’t have one anymore). I was a damned lucky kid growing up – for many reasons. One reason was I had a pool behind every house I ever lived in with my family.

I loved swimming. In grades 2nd through 4th, I was on the swim team – straight bronze winner. As I grew up, I dropped the swim team and just swam for fun. As a teenager, when classes got out for the day my friends would come over to my house. We would hang around the pool with our crappy boombox and listen to music, tell jokes, and swim (sometimes in swimming suits, but most times in shorts, boxers, t-shirts, you name it).

Random Weekend Happenings

I had such a busy weekend that I have decided to share bits and pieces with you. From Dallas to Denton and back, I carried my beautiful SLR camera, but ended up shooting everything from my iPhone! Check out some of my adventures below…

FRIDAY 2/18: @35Denton on Twitter asks their followers, “Where’s everyone going tonight?” I answered, “My backyard with my grill and some Fireman’s #4.” (I also picked up a FEW of the mega exclusive The Good Child x We Are 1976 tees for the online shop).