Lowdtown April Release: Public Radio is now for sale!

Get yours today!

The Lowdtown Public Radio tee

Product Info:

Description:

This is Lowdtown’s very own premier DJ. Providing his music to all of the listeners through the Lowdtown Public Radio.

Note:

-This is a first edition shirt that comes with a limited edition embroidered seam tag.

Details:

-4 color print on super soft 100% cotton, sweatshop-free white American Apparel t-shirt with softhand ink.

-Comes with tagless screenprinted size tag.

Lowdtown Friends & Freaks

Product Review: Ashi Dashi “Kick The Habit” Socks

So I’ve been corresponding with the owner of Ashi Dashi, Ken Macy. The basic concept behind Ashi Dashi is that it sells really sweet socks, and that’s pretty much it. It’s a very focused brand, and the designs and styles on these socks are really cool. A lot of the designs play on the shape of the sock which makes it extra fun. For example, there is the pencil sock that makes your foot look like a pencil! Pretty amazing stuff!

The Trade

So anyway, Ken and I, we proposed a trade and I gladly received his “Kick the Habit” socks that look like cigarettes in trade for the Lowdtown Logo Tee.

The Cigarette Socks

I eagerly awaited my new pair of feet warmers, and I finally got them. Now, I’m no smoker, and I don’t advocate it by any means, but these socks look freakin sweet! If you look at the sock straight on, the tube part of the sock looks like the filter, your feet look like the white part, and the toes look like the ashes at the end of a ciggy. Genius!

And I really must say, the quality is impressive. Not only are they extremely soft, but the “print” or whatever you’d want to call it, is extremely professionally made. You can tell that Ken really thought about the production and that he really didn’t want these to be any ordinary socks. I would say that he definitely succeeded, I would definitely recommend a pair to anyone.

Great Packaging

Another thing I was very impressed by was the packaging. Coupling extremely well with his website, the packaging is minimal but well designed. You can really tell that Ken has an eye for detail.

Congrats

I really must tip my hat to Ken Macy of Ashi Dashi. I feel that he has made a mark in a very original market that we don’t see too much nowadays. Honestly, he gives me some inspiration, and perhaps I’ll make some sweet socks someday for Lowdtown, maybe even a collaboration with Ashi Dashi! We’ll definitely keep in touch.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with the trade. I’m going to be bragging to all my friends about these socks. I’ll probably be taking off my shoes a lot and be like “Oh, I see you’ve noticed my socks, let me show them to you.” Haha. Well I hope he likes my shirt too.

And to anyone who thinks they have some awesome products (not necessarily t-shirts; I love toys by the way, haha) I’m always willing to trade. So shoot me an email if you want to score some sweet Lowdtown swag.

Be sure to check out Ashi Dashi at ashidashi.com! This definitely looks like a hit in the making, so I wish Ken the best of luck.

Lowdtown April Release: Public Radio Preview

Just to show you how nicely the print came out, here’s some sneak preview shots of the Public Radio tee.

Be sure to pick one up on Wednesday!

http://www.lowdtown.com

And thanks to Coty for featuring this design on his blog! I’ll be sending him a little present, that I hope he likes!

Lowdtown April Release: Public Radio Tee

This is newest Lowdtown Friends & Freaks design called: Public Radio. This was a fantastic collaboration between me and illustrator/motion graphics artist, Nathaniel Milburn. I felt that our whole design process was really great, so I feel like sharing how this tee came to be.

And for any of you interested in purchasing this shirt, it’ll be available on the Lowdtown Friends & Freaks website at April 1st, 2009 EST.

1. Brainstorm

In the brainstorming process, Nath and I corresponded by email and just threw out random ideas. I sent Nath a bunch of keywords that I felt represented Lowdtown. After that, he sent me some rough sketches of some ideas he had. One idea that struck me in particular was a fun design of a DJ character.

2. Sketch Tag

After I saw Nath’s DJ character, I played around with the idea a little further. I came up with a character that has a bunch of radio and DJ tools in his hat. This formed the theme of public radio, and the idea that this character supplies the public radio music to the Lowdtown folks.

3. Sketch Tag Continued

I sent Nath my sketch, and he refined my sketch and added his own style. I had to abstain from my habit of drawing big eye brows this time, haha.

4. Sketch Refinement

At this point, I felt that Nath’s last sketch had the look that I was looking for. I wanted the kicks to be a strong motif so I added them in to form to Lowdtown’s quirky streetwear style.

5. Lineart

Nath took over the final lineart, which came out amazing! It was extremely smooth, and just what I wanted.

6. Coloring

After Nath did the linework, I took over the coloring. To really push the quirkiness of the character, I felt I needed a really bold color scheme. Though a bit cliche, the CMYK color-scheme worked extremely well with the design. I tried many other color-schemes, but I was most satisfied with this one. Also, to add a splash of color, I added water-colored bubbles coming from the turn table. I felt that this was necessary to complete the composition.

7. Finalizing

Finally I mocked it up on a tee, and sent the final design over to the printer. And mark your calendars! This awesome shirt comes out on Wednesday April 1st, 2009.

Be sure to visit Nath Milburn’s portfolio at: http://www.heynath.com

Lowdtown Labs: Mook toy (part 3)

I finished the first six ever Lowdtown Mook toys! I’m mighty proud of how they turned out, and, frankly, I think they’ll sell pretty well. I put so much time and effort into each and every one of these little suckers, so it’s going to be tough when I have to give them away. Well without further ado, here’s the final part to the Mook creation process.

1. Spray Primer

I wanted this set of Mooks to be plain white, so I started off with white primer. The trick is to coat it with many thin layers, rather than going crazy with it. That way, you won’t get any dripping or chunky uneven-ness.

2. Final Sanding

At this point, I used an extremely fine grit sand paper to give it that smooth finish. This is what they looked like after I sanded them down.

3. Painting

This was the tough part. It took a lot of concentration because I didn’t want to mess anything up. I used regular acrylic paint and painted directly onto the figures. I painted them in a production chain sort of thing where I painted a single detail for all the Mooks and then I went to the next detail and so on.

This is what they looked like after I painted every detail:

4. Finishing

After the painting process, I coated the figures with gloss to give it a nice finish. The gloss also helps to protect all the paint that’s underneath it.

5. Personalize

Finally, to add a little personal touch, I decided to paint on the number of the figure so that every person who decides to buy one knows exactly which one they got. It also adds to the collector’s value of the figure if I ever get famous, haha.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it! The first six Mooks! I’m going to start working on packaging concepts as well as making more Mooks. My hopes are to have six different sets of Mooks in different colors. And in the future, maybe it can be like a Munny and I can collaborate with various artists to do their own custom Mooks. We’ll see… Thanks for all the support, by the way. I want to have these for sale by May, hopefully.

Lowdtown Labs: Mook toy (part 2)

I completed the casting of Mook today. Today was much more successful than yesterday because I took everything very seriously this time and got everything just right. The final result came out better than I could ever hope for, so I’m really proud. After I make the amount I want, I’m going to try to add some color to the Mooks, and after that I’m going to think about the packaging; this should be fun!

Well here were the steps I took to make the cast.

Step 1: Creating Grooves

I took the mold I made yesterday and added little grooves so that I can actually pour the liquid into the mold. I achieved this buy simply using a blade and cutting a cube to the feet.

Step 2: Pouring Liquid

After I cut the grooves, I sprayed both sides with the release agent. I then taped around both sides with masking tape so that it doesn’t accidentally come apart while it’s hardening. After doing all the preparation, I mixed the resin mixture together and poured it into the hole in a very thin stream. To make a thin stream, I let the resin drizzle down the end of a chopstick.

Step 3: Open the mold

After the ten minute wait, you could tell that the resin hardened because it turned into a milky white.

I opened the mold and Mook was lying there perfectly! The cast was still a little warm and a little soft, so it was a good time to cut the cubes that were attached to the feet through the pour holes.

4. Sanding

This is what my figure looked like right after I removed him.

The ricepaper-like sides is formed by the resin that squeezed through the cracks. Simply by using a blade or exacto knife, you can peel off the excess. After that I heavily sanded the areas where the mold came together. There’s a visible line where the two sides connected, so I tried to sand that down. After I sanded Mook, this is what he looked like.

5. Finishing

After that I sanded Mook down with some fine-grit sandpaper to give him a shiny finish. I also used some air dry craft porcelain to fill in some visible bubble spots. Then I repeated all the steps and this is what I came up with.

Once I finish creating all the Mooks, I’ll get into the painting process, so I’ll document that and post it up here soon too. Stay tuned!

Lowdtown Labs: Mook toy (part 1)

I started production of my first Lowdtown toy today. I showed a preview in an earlier post, and today I completed the mold to cast my character, Mook.

Since this was my first time, I made a whole shit ton of mistakes but I’m glad I finally got it. When I say that I made mistakes, I’m being serious. I had to do the whole thing over because I messed up really badly. Live and learn, I suppose. When reading the little step-by-step thing below, keep in mind that I’m a complete amateur and that there are much better tutorials out there. Read this only for the purposes of seeing how I made Mook.

1. Set up housing

I constructed the box out of cardboard I had lying around. For larger projects, I recommend using MDF board, which is much more sturdy. I covered it in aluminum foil so it doesn’t stick as much when I’m removing the mold. If you can see all those little dots on the bottom, that’s for registration. This way, when you have two sides to the mold, they perfectly align rather than unevenly. Make sure the sides are sealed well, that way the silicone won’t get in the cracks.

2. Mix and pour in Silicone

Ok, so here’s where I made the dumbest fucking mistake ever. The silicone mixture is made of two even parts, and being the dumbass that I am, I didn’t do it accurately. So what do you know, the little thing doesn’t harden! Argh!! After I waited for 6 hours and excitedly removed the housing, I noticed this gloopy mess! It stuck to my hands like the alien thing from Spiderman 3. So a word to the wise, make sure that your mixtures are perfectly measured.

When pouring in the silicone, try to get it in a thin stream and pour it to the corner of the box. If you pour it directly over your figure, there will be bubbles everywhere. And bubbles ruin your mold.

3. Repeat with the other side

At this point, you’ll notice that the shape of the mold is different. That’s because I had to start over!!! AHHHH!! Good 7 hours of my life wasted.. Oh well, needless to say, the second time went well, because I actually paid attention to how much I was pouring. When you’re pouring the silicone on the other side, don’t forget to spray it with release spray before you do. This way, the silicone won’t stick to your first side.

Conclusion

Well that’s my down and dirty way I did things. I’ll be posting up part 2 hopefully tomorrow if the casting process goes well. If you’re interested in making toys, don’t ask me! Haha, there are far better resources out there. Maybe ask me in a year, when I actually know what I’m doing.

Lucky for me, I live by Compleat Scupltor on Vandam St. in New York City, and the people there literally know everything. They were extremely helpful and taught me how to do everything I needed to do. There are also obviously places online you can look at. I recommend the Kidrobot forums where they have a whole section on DIY.

Favorite Eats in NYC

For me, when it comes to eating out, I like three things: tasty food, cheap food, and a lot of food. I’m currently a freshman at Parsons School of Design, and since living in the city I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a lot of good places to eat. Since I haven’t been in the city too long, I’m sure there are a lot more places to eat that are amazing, but I just haven’t gotten to them yet. This will be a growing list for sure, but here are three great places that I have enjoyed the most so far. If you’re a city slicker and know of some great places, be sure to comment below. If it sounds good (and it’s affordable enough) I’ll be sure to check it out in the future. By the way, I’m looking for some good and affordable Tex-Mex, so if you know of such a place, you get bonus points!

1. Halal Brothers (aka Platters) – 53rd St. and 6th Ave.

If you’ve been to New York, you’ve probably noticed the excess of Middle Eastern food, and most commonly the whole chicken and lamb over rice thing. Most of them are very good and quite affordable, but when it comes to my Halal food needs, it has to be Platters. Though Platters is also just a normal-looking street stand, don’t get the wrong idea. It has some of the best chicken and lamb over rice, ever! At a very affordable $6, you get a whole “platter” of food that comes with lamb, chicken, or both over rice with some lettuce and pita bread. There is the white sauce and hot sauce you can also add to complete the ensemble. But be careful, the hot sauce is extremely hot, and I’m a man who knows my spices. The first time I went, I ruined the flavor of my platter because I put extra hot sauce. That thing is no joke. It’s really a full meal too. I often save some so I can eat it later, or if I do choose to eat the whole thing I have a food baby of satisfaction. The place opens at around 7:30pm but there is always a line. My friends and I literally go at 2 or 3 in the morning sometimes, and there is still a line. Expect to wait at least 15 mins. to get your food. Highly recommended!

2. Pommes Frites – 123 2nd Ave.

Pommes Frites is more of a snack place than a place to get dinner or anything, but if you like fries, this is the place to go. At Pommes Frites, you can order a single, large, or double size of fries, which are all respectively served in paper cones of various sizes. The fries come in thick wedges that are perfectly hot and crispy. The potatoes taste fresh and are really quite delicious. Normally, I don’t think that there is much of a comparison between French fries, but after eating at Pommes Frites and eating elsewhere, the Pommes Frites’ fries really did taste better. So the special thing about Pommes Frites isn’t really the fries, it’s really the sauces. They come in like some absurd amount of flavors like 20 or something, and they are obviously all very well thought out. My favorites are mango chutney and pomegranate teriyaki. Seriously, to die for! I wish I could literally get a tub of it and swim in it or something, and then lick myself afterwards. That sounds really perverted, but it’s really that good! The fries are priced at $4.00, $6.25, $7.75 respectively, but honestly, the regular is a very decent sized portion. I don’t usually like paying for sauces, but this place you have to forgive. The sauces are .75 cents each or three for $2.00. Great stuff!

3. Soy and Sake – 47 7th Ave. S

Soy and Sake is a vegan restaurant that’s located in the West Village. Mind you, I’ve never tried vegan food or imitation meat before, but I was pleasantly surprised. Soy and Sake is set in a really hip atmosphere, filled with blue lighting and a sweet little aquarium. I felt really sophisticated when I ate there. So I ordered the pork katsu curry bento set for my meal, and I was served a very nice portion for $12. It came with the vegan pork katsu curry, salad, soup, vegan sushi, and vegan dumplings. When I bit into the pork katsu, I literally could not believe that it wasn’t meat. If someone served it to me without telling me that it was vegan, I would’ve just enjoyed my meal altogether and thought nothing of it. Seriously, the texture was right, and it even looked like meat. Soy and Sake must have some seriously talented chefs or something, because to me, it was nothing like soy. Overall a really chill place to go if you want to eat some good vegan Japanese food and maybe enjoy some sake while you’re at it. I really recommend it!

Places I want to try:

(comment and I’ll add it to the list if it sounds good)

- Artichoke: 328 E 14th St
- Yoshinoya: 24 W 46th St
- Paul’s da Burger Joint: 131 2nd Avenue
- Red Bamboo: 140 W 4th St

Lowdtown Street Team Flier

So it came to my attention that people who are interested in joining the street team aren’t just all bloggers and website owners and stuff, so I decided to make a flier that you can post up everywhere! Here it is: The Lowdtown Street Team Flier. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to join the street team and receive 10% off all future orders. If you manage to get 10 uses out of your street team code, regardless of who uses it, you will get a free shirt! So it’s a fair trade; send some exposure to Lowdtown and score yourself some free clothes!

Here’s what the street team flier looks like. When signing up for your street team code you can request a specific code or receive the default randomly generated code, so please specify on the contact form if you choose to get a specific code.

Sign up here: http://www.lowdtown.com/street.php

Lowdtown Labs: toys in the future?

So one of my life goals is to make a series of vinyl toys, and this weekend, I decided to start that life goal early. It’s still really crappy and in its early stages, but I’m going to keep working on it.

Either way, I’m pretty proud of it, and I’m going to be working on some other prototypes, and during my spring break I’m going to be molding and casting a bunch of them. Hopefully if they’re polished enough, they’ll be ready by summer for Lowdtown. Since I don’t really want to work overseas, I’ll most likely be doing them all by hand, but I think it’ll be worth it. They’ll be in super limited editions, but it’ll be cool.

Check out the preview! Sorry for the crappy pic, it was taken with my laptop.