Feb 25, 2013
Stay Hungry
Feb 13, 2013
MONSTERS!!! Man,....this shirt...it's so friggin' clean! My favorite piece to see come out of HH so far for sure...so much to tell about this shirt.
The story about the MONSTERS tee is...just as random as that last sentence.There is a lot to such a simple design,but it started way before HH even had a name.
Ever since I've been young,there's been a degree of nausea that I get when I find something to be disgusting.The smell of cinnamon,poorly written sentences,bad color choices, just things that don't necessarily make sense or are difficult to justify make me want to hurl.
There is a feeling right before I feel this nausea, and I never had a name for it.It's like seeing stars bubbling steam,something volatile happens and usually it results in a sort of struggle that translates from a mental 'bug' of sorts, into a full fledged ailment.It's quite unusual , but it's something acknowledged that is worked around...basically don't put yourself in disgusting or bothersome situations.
As stated in previous rants,the last few releases have been based around dealing within business and the industry.I have had all sorts of run ins with just tons of people, and a strong majority of them can't and never will make sense.This as you can imagine, has just lead to many a disgusting situation.There was one interaction that was so bothersome, I threw up for about a week anytime I thought about it.
While trying to explain what the image I see looks like, I just kept drawing slime OVER and OVER anytime I felt like throwing up.During this time, there was a character on the anime One Piece that had an issue similar to mine with stomach flu and nausea that came to mind and coincidentally,the slime or poison he ommitted looked EXACTLY like the slime in my head that I was drawing! So it seemed natural to do something with that.
This is JUST LIKE THE SLIME in my head! Haha! But not as black...mine changes colors! Haha!
The thing about the piece that was difficult however is that there was a need for me to make something negative into a positive,well-designed work.So,I couldn't think of how to do that....but it seemed to be that if you take the most negative things you can think about and turn them into a sort of compilation,that translates into an awesome shirt (think Footsies, or Jimmy Loko).
So, after a bunch of head scratching, I thought to myself, "what's the most disgusting thing you can think of right now"..and "how do you make that into a positive?"...during my toiling, I was in the middle of a stream chat and someone was just laying into HH HARD. And I felt so disgusted...then it clicked, "MONSTERS".
The thing about MONSTERS is it's actually one of the most overused wonky words in our circle.It's kind of a catalyst for good or bad, but people, often try to label or box monsters into these unhappy internet people.The thing about a monster is they can be anywhere or anyone.Almost everybody is a monster in some way.Whether it's a person following hype,typing,or just being a jerkface, MONSTER moments come over just about any person on the planet.It's more of an energy than anything else...
The Monsters Tee Sketches before they got all prettied up...
So why label it or put it in a box? Once you get rid of the word 'stream' or 'chat' or any descriptive noun ahead of the word, MONSTER is this super clean and powerful word.It actually brings people together and creates a sense of unity.Just say it: MONSTERS. It's tough.So why not give it a design as badass as the word is?
So after referencing a bunch of slime and getting the design hammered out.The piece really just became it's own thing.It's the opposite of the feelings that spawned the design, clean,unified,makes sense....I smile anytime I see someone rocking it.So, it's just a testament to what the world can be with the right mindset and thinking.
End result turned out wayyyyyyy better than expected!
The colors are a Nod to people that were around during it's conception, and they work together to make the piece pop and create that energy we wanted to capture while also remaining restrained enough for anyone to wear it day or night.It's a nice little piece of work.
Anyways, that's the MONSTERS tee.And it's in the store now...and you thought it was just a vector and some Pantones...shame on you.Rock with it already...MONSTERS. -h_h-
Stay Hungry
Feb 13, 2013
Been listening to a buttload of Antwon the last year or so.He's been in the rap game for a while and hails from San Jose (NorCal stand up)...I've watched him grow across the time I've been a fan and he's starting to make big moves that are translating to more work and better music with each release.The kid is hungry.
Everything this dude does is from the heart and despite being the straight edge I am..something about knowing about every possible way in the world to get "messed up" is forever funny.Thanks Twon,I owe you for that one ;) .
His newest release In Dark Denim drops on Valentine's Day and the first video offering , Still Guarded is just so ill I had to post it below.If you want to get jumped in on some Antwizzy right quick, the kid just threw up a couple FREE DOWNLOADS of his previous album End of Earth on his Bandcamp, so get on that life and be like your Dad kiddos...just kidding.Don't be like me, be better...and listen to some Antwon! Make sure to follow this dude on Twitter too (he's one of the only people more random than me, but he still loves burritos and he rocks HH, so it's good..BROTHERS!!!). -h_h-
Stay Hungry
Feb 6, 2013
Kid President is one of the only people that makes sense.....funny thing...he really says a lot of poignant,insightful stuff that is very much in line with the core values of HH....but he doesn't cry and get all teary eyed like yours truly....so I guess I owe him a fruit snack for saving me from yet another video.Thanks Kid President! -h_h-
P.S. when he says, "AND IT HURT MAN!!!" ...always cracks me up.
Stay Hungry
Feb 1, 2013
Alrighty, owe you guys a few good stories on some of the last pieces, let's go with the piece most prominent in my mind right now: Scumbags.The shirt actually came from another project originally and was being worked out to be a part of our first collaboration...due to high levels of grimey weird stuff, that never happened.But the template for doing a mascot shirt was there.
There's always a need to articulate thoughts and feelings, I felt it was done quite deliberately last year with pieces like the Jimmy Loko and Self Sponsored shirts.We have never used a mascot here,and it just seemed like a great direction to go for the vibe trying to be channeled.
Early Scumbag sketches
The goal was to address the parts of business and our community that has to do with exploitation and lack of action.There are a BUNCH of people that have a million gripes, but very few of those people actually do anything conducive to making a change.They're 'NO WORK,ALL SAY' ....they kind of just go wherever the flavor of the week jerkface decides to take them and play along, whining the whole way and doing nothing.This translates to their entire lives,and they get nowhere most of the time.
The Scumbag in the design is thought to be the mascot character, no he is just an opportunist.Whether he's selling,joysticks,DVDs,or whatever else, he is going to get by as long as there is a dummy willing to buy whatever he's selling ...or saying...and no one will do anything outside of watch him and whine a little while doing little to nothing to stop him.The Scumbags are those bozos that put up with this.
Despite the game references,the Scumbag mentality translates to all communities and worlds.Scumbags are everywhere.There are very little people that work in spite of whatever setbacks come into their life.This work is a nod to make people want to take action when pursuing their goals and desires...a sort of 'we will rise' within a fun to wear shirt.
As for aesthetics, the influences were propaganda,and old iconography.It just seemed super fun to make something super wearable and fun regardless of the heavy message.The iconography and colors seemed to make it just REALLY nice at the end of the process.
If you look closely, there's a small offset in the Scumbag's print, that is a nod to old comics where the printing is just a bit off from the press.Really smart stuff I can't take credit for.. my bud Matt came up with that like the smart butt he is.Too crazy.
In closing,this shirt is the one that probably got the most responses from strangers, and it was nice to see that the work can be appreciated on all levels,that's a great feeling and a new one..just really heartwarming,especially considering how much work went in and sleep was lost making this.Definitely a non-Scumbag effort.
Finished product,turned out ill right?
There are a few more Nods hidden in the piece, but it's no fun telling you guys all of them.If you have the shirt, look closely and you may catch some, if you don't have the shirt, make sure to get it while it's in the SHOP and we can get a pow wow going to talk about the shirt some more.Haha....anyways, hope you enjoyed the rant and deconstruction.Look out for some of the other stories soon! -h_h-
Stay Hungry
