Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written by: Poe

Creativity speaking, it was a way to escape from the daily grind and to tap that original inspirations which started it all. Of course, that “original inspirations” could be anything and everything, from a simple leisurely stroll on the beach to something as outrageous as a trip around the world. For Matt Stevens however, it was to reconnect with his love of illustration, its process, and his fascination with Nike Air Max. Those were the premises behind Stevens’ first project, AirMax1-a-day. But when and where there is a conjuncture between art and sneaker, there is sure to be interest from other sneaker aficionados, and a lot of it. In a short order of time, this commune of shared interest became such that Stevens took this once personal project forward a bit more and made it public. With help from crowd funding site KICKSTARTER, it became known as MAX100.

Fascinated by its origination, we recently asked Matt Stevens for narrative guided tour on how MAX100 got its start. Our conversation led off as the newest installment of Fresh & Creative…

Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written by: Poe

As the culture of “need to see now” has begun to command the way style is communicated to the masses, the popular attitude toward fashion illustration gradually became like that of the steam locomotive: reliable, yet just a novelty. Then, a curious thing happened over the past few years–a resurgence of the art form. Maybe it’s because the blogs, e-zines, and others have finally took to this nearly neglected expression of creativity. Or maybe it’s that the newcomers have arrived with a new set of concepts between art and fashion–newcomers like illustrator Vita Yang.

Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written by: Poe

“Kat-cha”, a crisp sound with a bit of lingering aftereffect, it is a sound all too familiar to photographers around the world.  Never mind the change in format, the adaptation of new technologies and replacement of old.  The sound of the shutter is that of a miniature time machine, a frozen moment in time where light glanced off an object, inanimate or not.  Hence, the self-described nickname to professional photographers, the lightstalkers.  In Freshness’ continuing series, Fresh & Creative, we visited one such artist, Dorothy Hong, in New York City.

As PDN’s 30 Emerging Photographers in 2007 and one of the official photographer for Nike in New York City, Hong is quite identifiable, since she’s usually the petite photographer logging around a massive bag of camera gears.  A factor, she is the first to admit, that there will be shots she can’t capture, like a recent brawl during Fashion’s Night Out in SoHo.  Stature aside, however, Hong makes up with her focus and keen awareness.  If you have the opportunity to shadow her during assignment, you will immediately realize her attention range goes beyond the subjects themselves, but the image as a whole, almost like a freeze frame on a 35mm film.  Perhaps it was her 4-year stint, from 2003 to 2007, as Photo Coordinator at Fader Magazine. Or maybe because Hong belongs to that generation of photographer, the first to have truly ideal digital photography gears at their disposable yet well versed in analog methods. On this point was where our conversation started off…

Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written by: Poe

The lovers of all things well designed.

Its very name extruded certain measure of fun and curiosity. Indeed, the original intents of Mark Graham and Ben Beach were to generate interest from potential clients. In ways, they got more than they bargain for…in a good way.

Trained in graphic designs and more, both Graham and Beach worked as freelance status for a number of years. And at every assignment, every project, both would hound people for more, just to get by. Then an idea, things would be easier if they combined their resources, so they thought. With the help of a backer, the duo decided on the captivated title head ILoveDust as their firm’s name. All went well…for first 3 months at least. Their backer pulled out. With no fixed list of clients or projects, they were in the red, quite literally. A doctrine learned during their times as “freelancers” was the unpredictability of the creative industry. That many times, a contract was a merely a piece of paper with ink on it. This in lulled to another tenet, be prepare for anything. And so, Graham and Beach “buttoned down the hatches” and kept the company afloat. During the process maxed out a few credit cards and took out new home mortgages. The question remain, with all the trials and tribulations, was it worth it?

Produced by: Dan Hwang
Written by: Paul Kim

Nike. Sneakers. Athletes. Scott Denton-Cardew?

Nike has established itself a long time ago as a powerhouse in our culture speaking to virtually everyone – athletes, artists, sneakerheads, etc.  As if staying relevant for over three decades was not hard enough, Nike has been a pioneer for just as long.  In order to continue their success, they need to stay ahead of the game.  One of the most trusted to execute such an extraordinary task is Scott Denton-Cardew.  Basically, he’s a sure-thing. Originally from London, now based in LA, Scott has come a long way from his days at the now-defunct seminal music magazine Ray Gun.  Nowadays he provides identities to super-companies such as Nike and Sony. Denton-Cardew has collaborated with Nike’s global brand design division since 2004 before starting his own company, D-CD – Denton-Cardew Design.  However, his work is not exclusive to Nike.  He has created motion graphics for MTV, TNT, HBO and Toyota, as well as a film for Bombay Sapphire for Heathrow’s new Terminal 5.  Today D-CD is a multi-disciplinary design company working with clients from Sony to Converse, to USC and Cole Haan.