Spotlight: Benny Gold

Freelance designer turned entrepreneur, and all-around good-guy Benny Gold is someone I’ve been following online for almost a year now and someone I really want to share with all of you loyal readers out there. (I’m looking at you Jeffrey Smith!) Benny started out as a freelance designer working for design firms and ad agencies out of college, but has really blown up over the past couple of months. Just earlier this week, Benny opened up his first flagship store in San Francisco with his own signature clothing line. Already, Benny has a solid (and growing) fan base online.

This is of course not without reason. There really is a lot to appreciate about Benny's clothing line, Benny’s brand, and Benny himself – each of which I’d like to take a look at little more closely (some in more detail than others).

Benny’s Clothing Line
Benny, first and foremost, is not only passionate about what he does, but he’s also good at it. There are a ton of “designers” and streetwear label owners out there that aren't actually trained in the discipline of design and it really shows in their clothing lines. In fact, most of the biggest labels in the “underground” streetwear scene such as Supreme and The Hundreds are so poorly designed, that they would never be able to sell 90% of the items that they put out if it weren’t for the hype and mindless consumerism surrounding them. To see what I mean, let’s take a look at some specific pieces that Benny’s competitors have put out recently:

There’s really nothing negative I can objectively say about the item above in terms of design. I mean… It’s a plain black anorak jacket, how can anyone hate on that? Some might even say that Supreme did a good job designing this piece. The thing is, Supreme didn’t actually design anything. All Supreme did was add a red patch that says, “Supreme” to an existing black North Face Jacket and doubled the price. You know what the crazy thing is? They sold like hotcakes! They attracted lines outside their stores on the day of their release (less than a month ago) and were sold out within hours. If that’s not brand-whoring mindless consumerism at its finest, then I don’t know what is. Let’s take a look at some current pieces from The Hundreds to see if they can do any better:

The Hundreds has a great bomb logo working for them. The problem is… they do a really poor job incorporating it into their clothing designs. The first t-shirt has a scanned sketch of The Hundreds logo on a crumpled piece of notebook paper prominently placed on it. But that’s it. There’s no sense of movement, variation, or overall sense of unity with the t-shirt itself nor is there anything aesthetically pleasing to look at or interpret. The second t-shirt has a little more going on, but the concept and execution is terrible. The typeface is awkwardly placed, the effects are cheesy, and again there’s no overall sense of unity between the design and the t-shirt itself. Curiously, The Hundreds has managed to remain one of the top streetwear labels in the industry.

The thing that sets Benny apart from his competitors is that he actually went to an art school, has a good eye for design, and puts it to use in his clothing line. Let’s take a look at one of his upcoming pieces below to see what I mean:

As Benny’s first pair of raw denim that he’s about to release, I’d say that Benny has done a pretty good job here. Elements of Benny’s logo (a paper plane), mantra (Stay Gold), and other design elements are very well incorporated into the product itself; the jeans have gold hardware, gold selvage stitching, a gold standard screenprint, and even paper plane trail stitching on the back pocket. Unlike Supreme and The Hundreds, Benny clearly has put a lot of work designing this pair of denim and made sure that his design decisions contributed to an overall sense of movement, variation, and unity to create a highly detailed product that is also aesthetically pleasing to look at. You know what the best part is? They sell for less than the raw denim pieces offered by Supreme and The Hundreds.

Benny’s Brand

Like Benny’s clothing line, Benny’s brand and what it stands for is pretty well thought out. In a video highlight with Hypebeast, Benny explains that his paper plane logo is a symbol of youth, but when in motion, is also a symbol of growth. Benny’s mantra, Stay Gold serves as a reminder for us to “stay youthful and make time for the things (we) enjoy in life.” In an interview with SFstation, Benny reiterates this point further by explaining, “our youth mentality and the things we hold dear are the real gold inside all of us.” Cheesy? Maybe, but it's much more inspiring than "The Hundreds is Huge," or Supreme's motto of "IDGAF.” To clarify, “The Hundreds is Huge,” means… well, the Hundreds is pretty big; IDGAF stands for “I Don’t Give A Fuck,” which is pretty self-explanatory. Personally, I like Stay Gold better, but that’s just my opinion.

Benny Himself

If you can’t appreciate good design and don’t care for what Benny's brand stands for, you have to at least be able to appreciate the fact that Benny is a self-starter and a genuinely nice person. To Supreme and The Hundreds’ credit, the people behind those brands are self-starters too, but they and the people that operate their stores aren’t very nice. This isn’t just my opinion; it’s the general consensus on every online forum dedicated to these brands (see here, here, and here). Benny on the other hand stays grounded, keeps in touch with his growing fan base, and continues to be an active participant in the online communities that support him.

Before ending this post, and opening it up for discussion, I want to clarify that my goal in writing this post was not to make a strong argument against Supreme and The Hundreds or a strong argument for Benny Gold. Clearly, Supreme and The Hundreds have some well-designed pieces and Benny Gold, some not so well-designed pieces; I happen to own pieces of clothing from all three labels. My goal was to share my overall opinion, based on my own experiences as well as the experiences/opinions of others, that Benny is highly deserving of the attention that he has been getting as well as do my part to contribute to his continued success.

Spotlight: Benny Gold Draft

Freelance designer turned entrepreneur, and all-around good-guy Benny Gold is someone I’ve been following online for almost a year now and someone I really want to share with all of you loyal readers out there (I’m looking at you Jeff Smith). Benny started as a freelance designer, working for design firms and ad agencies out of college, but has really blown up over the last couple of months. Just earlier this week, Benny opened up his first flagship store carrying his own signature clothing line in San Francisco. Already, Benny has a solid (and growing) fan base online.

This is of course not without reason. There really is a lot to appreciate about Benny's clothing line, his brand, and Benny himself:

Benny, first and foremost, is not only passionate about what he does, but he’s also good at it. There are so many “designers” and streetwear label owners out there that aren't actually trained in the discipline of design. Most of the biggest labels in the “underground” streetwear scene such as Supreme, The Hundreds, and Diamond Supply Co. put out pretty mediocre stuff 90% of the time. Without the hype and mindless consumerism, most of the stuff they carry would never sell. It's hard to explain how their stuff is poorly designed without getting pretty technical and/or subjective, but I can if any of you readers out there want me to. Just keep in mind that all of this is coming from someone who is into the streetwear scene and really appreciates the culture surrounding it, but is also studying design and knows (or at least thinks he does) bad design when he sees it. What sets Benny apart is that he actually went to an art school, has a good eye for design, and puts it to use in his clothing line.

Benny’s brand, and what it stands for, is also pretty thoughtful and reflective of the transitioning point in his life (as well as that of his fans). In a video highlight with Hypebeast, Benny explains that his paper plane logo is a symbol of youth, but when in motion, it’s also a symbol of growth. Cheesy? Maybe, but it's much more inspired than "The Hundreds is Huge" or Supreme's motto of "IDGAF."

If you can’t appreciate good design and don’t care for what Benny's brand stands for, you have to be at least be able to appreciate the fact that Benny is a self-starter and a genuinely nice person. He started out just putting up stickers, the same way Shepard Fairey did, but has really grown over the years and is on his way up to be the next Johnny Cupcakes (if you don't know who Johnny Cupcakes is, make sure you peep the link; he has a great story behind his brand). Personally, the reason why I connect so well with Benny is because one of my (tentative) life goals is to be someone like him - the Creative Director of my own clothing line and business.

OTHER LINKS
[Video] About Benny Gold
[Video] Benny Gold Store & Office Tour
[Blog] Benny Gold Blog


UPDATE 04/30/10
Wow. Within hours after I posted this, Benny actually made a blog post about Johnny Cupcakes. What a coinkidink! I wonder if Benny noticed I linked to his blog and am saying all this good stuff about him. If so... hi Benny!

Hood Rich

via Abstruse Goose

One of the things that my Product Development and Branding professor said to my class, on the last day of classes, that really stuck out to me was "If you want to be a millionaire, don't live like one." This philosophy is, of course, nothing new. Proverbs 13:7 reads, "One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth." Regardless, what my professor said made me think pretty deeply about the financial situation we're in and more specifically, the friends I know who contributed to and still continue to contribute to it.

I grew up in a neighborhood in Boston that had some of the most affluent people in the city and others living off welfare checks within a 1-mile radius of each other (I kid you not, look up 02116 on Claritas if you don't believe me). What I saw, and what I still continue to see each time I go home to Boston is a really sad sight: people with 10 credit cards maxed out, driving in expensive cars in $80 t-shirts through the ghetto, living "LA lifestyles" they can't afford. These people aren't rich. They're hood rich. They've dedicated their entire lives chasing after money and have convinced themselves that in order to be happy, they need all of these material things to show off their (false sense of) wealth. It's really sad. What these people need isn't more money. What they need is Jesus (just kidding... but not really). Some advice from Warren Buffet and this book could help too.

[I'll finish this post later]

Benjamin Gets A Facelift

Earlier this week, the U.S. Treasury unveiled a new $100 bill with an incredible amount of changes as well as some new security upgrades - most noticeable of which include an obtrusive blue "3D Security Ribbon" and "Bell in the Inkwell" that can only be seen at certain angles. According to the Federal Reserve's official press release, these new additions and overall changes are meant to combat counterfeiting while still keeping in line with the traditional look of U.S. Currency (even though it's no longer green...)

I think it's great that the U.S. Treasury has finally redesigned the $100 bill and has consequently joined the ranks of the world's most eye-catching currencies. My biggest concern however, is how the U.S. plans on preventing people from forging and using older currency if older $100 are still considered legal tender. According to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Ben S. Bernanke, "When the new design $100 note is issued on February 10, 2011, the approximately 6.5 billion older design $100s already in circulation will remain legal tender, U.S. currency users should know they will not have to trade in their older design $100 notes when the new ones begin circulating." Can someone please enlighten me on this?

UPDATED 04/30/10
Just for shits and giggles, I made some shitty mockups of fake currency, that's based on the dutch guilder and euro, on Adobe Illustrator:

Exit Through The Gift Shop: An Informal Review

I saw Exit Through the Gift Shop yesterday. It opened on Friday and is currently playing in select theaters in New York and California. In Los Angeles, you have the option of seeing it at either the Landmark or Arclight Cinema. Personally, I recommend going to Arclight Cinema in Hollywood and getting there early because the venue itself is really nice – there’s a bar, a gift shop, and it’s right on Sunset. Also, reserve tickets online as seats are individually reserved. The best seats are in the lower middle section, but there really isn’t a bad seat in the house as long as you’re centered with the screen.

As for the movie itself, I think it’s best watched and appreciated without truly knowing what the movie is about. Watch the trailer here but don’t read any movie reviews on it; they give too much away. Without completely spoiling the movie, Exit Through The Gift Shop is billed as a Banksy Film, advertised as “The world’s first Street Art disaster movie” on www.banksyfilm.com, was the biggest hit at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and has a 98% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Personally, I loved the movie. It’s really different from all the other movies out there; it’s smart, entertaining, and made me really think about street art (and the hype and commercial aspects surrounding it), and the art world in general – much more so than Beautiful Losers, which I liked but didn’t love. I watched Exit Through The Looking Glass with mostly non-artsy people who aren’t really in-tune with street art and they thought it was really interesting too. So whether or not you care about street art or art in general, you should watch it.

MORE LINKS
Los Angeles Movie Premiere [Pictures] [Video]
Street Marketing/Graffiti [1] [2] [3] [4]

Ogilvy & Mather: An Informal Recap Of My Visit

I visited the Los Angeles division of Ogilvy & Mather yesterday morning for a short tour, presentation, and a Q&A session with a panel of workers from both the account and creative side of the advertising agency.

I left with pretty mixed feelings.

The first thing I noticed about the place, and the area surrounding it, was that it is very industrial looking. The first thing you see when you walk in is a big metal cylinder (with TVs hanging from the sides) that you have to walk through to get to the offices and conference rooms. The metal cylinder looked like it’d be a boatload of fun to skateboard in but it didn’t seem very practical; if I were a client, I don’t know how I’d feel about seeing a giant metal cylinder, which blocks the receptionist, as the first thing I see when I walk into the building.

The “cubicles” and offices were very open (no privacy much?), but the cubicles, and area overall, seemed really cramped to me. The one exception was the conference room, which had a pool table and basketball hoop. Noticeably absent however was a ping-pong table, which was a staple in other advertising agencies that I have been to and better identified with.

The presentation wasn’t bad but the sample creative work they showed me wasn’t very inspiring.

The people who worked there seemed pretty cool though. Most of what they told me was stuff I already knew, but very useful for anyone trying to get into a good ad agency. One person shared his story of how he made the transition from being an Account Executive to a Copywriter. Another person mentioned that if you're lucky enough to get your resume and cover letter read, and get extended an interview, you have to be pretty knowledgeable about the agency to actually get the job. This is pretty standard for any job you apply to, but I found this to be overwhelmingly true (much more so than with more typical jobs) with the advertising agencies that I have interviewed with. All the agencies I interviewed with in Boston spent at least 10-15 minutes of the first round interview just asking me stuff about their own company (ie. who their CEO is, who their biggest clients are, what clients they just got, what creative work they’ve done and which I identify most with, etc). Advertising agencies attract a lot of great talent and generally have a very strong culture, so my advice to anyone trying to get in would be 1) have the company extremely well-researched, 2) be prepared to tell them what their values are, and 3) be prepared to explain how you also have these same values.

Puma's Clever Little Bag

As part of a huge long-term sustainability program, PUMA teamed up with renowned industrial designer Yves Béhar to develop a new package design for PUMA's line of sneakers. The new packaging "uses 65% less cardboard than the standard shoe box, has no laminated printing, no tissue paper, takes up less space and weighs less in shipping, and replaces the plastic retail bag."

Now, I've gone through a few pairs of PUMAs in my life and was never really a big fan of them, but I have to admit that PUMA's new Clever Little Bag is... well, pretty clever. Besides the obvious fact that it's better for the environment and cheaper for PUMA to do something like this, the new packaging and overall effort to be green is a great way for PUMA to position itself away from it's major competitors and get positive publicity. I don't know if I'd use the bag for carrying groceries, but I could definitely imagine myself using PUMA's new bag to carry an extra pair of shoes (PUMA or not) around with me, which would inevitably result in even more free advertising for PUMA.

If you wanna see more pictures, visit here. Peep the video above too if you haven't already. It's short, catchy, and very well designed.


UPDATED 04/30/10
There's a lot of conversation going on on YouTube poking fun at the fact that it took 21 months to figure out that "you don't need boxes to sell sneakers." 21 months really isn't that long when you take into consideration how much testing needs to be done, how big of a decision this is considering how many shoes PUMA sells annually, and all the different levels of hierarchy involved in a company such as PUMA to approve something like this.