Truck Stop

Food trucks seem to be moving into Dallas, TX lately with more force than the previous years. Austin has always been the lucky city – food trucks traveling, but also permanently parked in lots, just begging to be approached by locals and tourists alike.

Thankfully, Texas has its very own Food Truck Festival and I was able to stop by for one of their two long day visits to Dallas. Check out a few of my (very overcast, iPhone) images and make sure you read up on this week’s Random Hero for details on one of my new favorites, Easy Slider truck!

Darius, an Easy Slider slinger, has been manning the truck with some of his other co-workers every time I’ve visited. Darius is super rad — always kind to the patrons and easily keeps them calm when sliders start to run out. Mega shout out to him!

The security guards seemed anxious about getting their sliders in time to return to their shift, but Darius gifted them some home-made candy bars and all was well in the world of pavement and fast food.

The Durty Laundry truck, although not serving food, was in the mix with their walk-in closet, live DJ, and table set up with merchandise!

I really wanted to hit up more than one truck, but with the long lines and no friend to tag-team lines with, I stayed true to the Easy Slider crew and grabbed three Baby Bella sliders. Mmm…

My eyes were bigger than my stomach. The flavor was bigger than my imagination. My stomach was bigger than my fist. All in all, it was a damned good journey and I was more than happy enough to stand in line for an hour for these little guys.

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.

The Locals: Behind the Scenes + Giveaway

Check out the Word of Mouth interview with The Good Child & Kill Hubris. We talk about The Locals tee, the first t-shirt to kick off the KH Art House series – curated by KH and designed by independent artists.

We are giving away one of these limited, exclusive t-shirts for FREE. I know you love that part. For full details on the giveaway & how to enter, check out Word of Mouth’s posting, here.

You can also purchase one of these shirts here or here.

+ Shout out to A.Dd+ for the track on the video!