Kikuo Ibe, Optimism, and His White Casio G-Shock

When I think about some of the most influential watches of my youth, Casio is definitely up there. That iconic black plastic casing and strap found its way onto my wrist in about third grade as my very first watch. Actually, now that I think about it, I've pretty much had a watch on my wrist every day since.

Casio's G-Shock line, invented by Kikuo Ibe in 1983, was originally crafted as a watch designed simply to withstand a fall due to the forces of gravity. Unfortunately over time, it's become more of an ultra aggressive line of bro-y, tactical-style watches that I have no interest in whatsoever.

I was recently able to snag a re-release of the original Casio G-Shock designed by Ibe himself. Its retro vibe and iconic status scratched me right where I itched. I also recently stumbled onto this great little video by A Blog to Watch, interviewing the man behind this icon.



I instantly noticed that he also still wears his original design... but in white. I love this timeless, yet postmodern reinterpretation of what he imagined decades ago. With a little more digging, I came across this great article by Hypebeast analyzing Ibe's everyday carry, or ECD. Sure enough, there's his white G-Shock, pretty much front and center.

My favorite moment of the vid is how he describes his vision of a peaceful future. He says...

I like to imagine being in space with a friendly alien 

next to me and we are both wearing G-Shocks.

I love the wisdom and optimism of this little short film. In fact, I think a white version of his original design in some ways is sort of a physical embodiment of his optimistic outlook... almost the complete opposite vibe of the more recent militaristic models. Let's just hope some space marine sporting a tact-ed out version of a G-Shock doesn't take out his little alien friend first.

The Gear of Alien: Covenant

In July of 2012, I was Portland, OR with a ticket in hand to see The Dark Knight Rises. The night before, we decided to see Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi epic as a primer. Though I already knew that Prometheus was a pseudo-Alien prequel, what I didn’t know is that it that would fill my head with enough ideas to pretty much completely ruin my Batman experience and give me enough questions to think about for the next 18 months or so.

About 30 seconds into Alien: Covenant I realized it was in fact a direct follow up to Prometheus—not the indirect sequel we were initially led to believe. And I was stoked. Finally, answers would arise! Well, some questions were answered, others weren’t. But what was clear was—man, this movie looks awesome: the cast, cinematography, locations, sets, and yes… the gear.

Scott and his costume designer Janty Yates enlisted the help of fashion designer Craig Green to create a completely original, but familiar and functional look for the away team’s uniforms. I was completely struck by the textures and tones, the buckles and the brims. 

You can see from Green’s previous work that he has a knack for riffing on classic fatigues, giving them a futuristic and almost otherworldly vibe. 

From this interview with Yates, we learn that Scott instructed to his design team not to revisit what we’ve seen in the previous Alien films and do so with an eye for simplicity. Ironically, it was these fashionable threads’ lack of a space helmet that led to the team’s troubles. At least they looked good in the process.

Pile Style

The dream of the 90's is alive. I've been a fan of the pile fleece since high school. I love that thanks to a handful of retro brands, this classic look is making a killer comeback.

Autodromo: A Study in Intersections

Ever since I stumbled upon the Autodromo brand, I've been fascinated by how they've created such a perfect intersection of auto enthusiasm and horology. This short film by Crown & Caliber really captures the spirit of that intersection and brings it to life.

The Art of Curation

When I heard that Flipboard's founder/CEO, Mike McCue, would be speaking at this year's Cannes Lions festival... I knew we'd have to come up with something special to help spread the word. Luckily, the amazing Becca Clason was available... well, sorta.

Becca was just about to go on a break to have her first kid but she was able to just barely sneak us in. Mike's session is on the future of curation and he's being joined onstage by a curator from The Whitney. We decided that a combination of both gadgets and art supplies would fit the bill. I was completely blown away by Becca's own curation skills as she carefully selected each and every item.



The whole piece was handcrafted and photographed to capture our hero shot. Then the next day, she started her time lapse by removing each and every piece in a very specific order. Sure enough... I got this text from Becca moments later...

"My water just broke in the middle of the shoot. Haha. Josh helped me finish the shoot, but we're on the way to the hospital now."

You know... because life. Thank you Becca for being SUCH a trooper and we're so glad we got to be part of Ira's big day. Congrats.

And vote here to see Flipboard's session (and Becca's work) live streamed to the world.

What is Flipboard? An Introduction

Part of my responsibilities here at Flipboard is to help position the brand to new audiences. I was so excited when I was asked to script this video designed to help new and potential users understand and get the most out of an app that I love! 



It was also fantastic to work closely with Flipboard's stellar creative team to pull this one off. Special thanks to Byron and Ashleigh who killed it.

Morning Moodboard

Rendezvous Moodboard x2

I thought for my next moodboard it'd be interesting to build a story around a meeting with an indeterminate ending. Would this rendezvous result in someone getting lucky? Or would it wrap with someone getting full-on murdered? Jury's still out. But the real mystery is, which car is the dude driving? A vintage Porsche or this tuned touring? I still can't decide!

Just a Dude on Pinterest

So I've been on Pinterest for a few years now and I coincidentally reached some milestones this week... eight thousand pins and three thousand followers! What the what?!? Thank you for all the support. I'll do my best to keep the good stuff coming. 

Here's a quick rundown of the most repinned, greatest hits that I've discovered and pinned to my boards over the last little bit. It's so interesting to see which pins got some traction out here. Lemme know what you think! 

Avocado Awesomeness Moodboard

Stumbled on the image of the New Balance hiking boot (top left) and it instantly sparked the need to get my avocado on. Hope you like!

Castle Greyscale Moodboard

A couple of these images ended up right next to each other in my feeds recently and I thought that a groovy grey moodboard was definitely in order. Not too full of holiday cheer per se, but hope you enjoy anyway!

The Life Aquatic Moodboard

So last week, I strolled into work sporting my classic Steve Zissou Halloween costume. It wasn't the first time I rocked it and it won't be the last. It's my all-time favorite movie and its style is timeless. In fact, it got me thinking. Since Wes Anderson is the definitive OH (original hipster)... does The Life Aquatic's aesthetic still work today?

I combed through Pinterest and Tumblr and stumbled on this handful of images. And in my opinion, not only does its look work along with today's vibes... this movie very well may have inspired the tone that's permeating plenty of people's pins.

Danner = Awesome + Authentic

Man, Danner is a brand that just gets it and does it right. I was super stoked to be wearing their boots today when I saw a piece of branded content like this. Their commitment to replicating the magic of a classic product and then capturing that process just inspires me.

The reissue of their Mountain Light Cascade for Reese Witherspoon in her upcoming flick Wild is dead-on cool. Here's to wishing other brands had just as much get-it factor as Danner does. Thanks for the heads Upto12.

PS: Also watch for the #SockAndSandals appearance!

World Series Moodboard

Thanks to a challenge from Upto12 and Mrs. Kyality's hometown love for the SF Giants, I'm commemorating their World Series run with a new moodboard. Enjoy!

More Socks, More Sandals

Teva continues to crank out some great branded content around the thing haters love to hate on... #SocksAndSandals. And according to their lead stylist, Kira Sheppard, this combo isn't just for the granola types anymore. She makes a definite point to drop the term "urban" more that once.

Autumn Moodboard

I've been toying with the idea of curating more specific little moodboards lately and was inspired to create one that feels a little autumn-themed. So here are a few images I've recently sprinkled through my Pinterest and Tumblr feeds... all brought together in one place. Just click the image to enlarge. Hopefully you dig!

DENNY: The Ultimate Urban Utility Bike

I'm very inspired by this, yes I'm gonna say it, innovative bicycle design. DENNY is one of those rare whips that feels fresh and not compromised really in any way. Enjoy!

Socks + Sandals = Fun Fashion

A few months ago, I got ambitious one day and whipped out a solid combo of Teva Originals and some rag wool socks. Despite it not being nearly as egregious as oh say white tube socks and Birkenstocks, it nevertheless has had an extremely polarizing effect on both friends and family. Some have mocked me endlessly for perpetrating such an appalling fashion faux pas. While others have full-on told me that they're also going the way of the Teva.

I decided to trace back the route that led me to believe that the sandal and the sock can live together in fashion harmony. As far as I can tell, this current look got its start when retro Oregon- and Colorado-based campvibes brands like Poler and Topo started making gear about two years ago, specifically bags with that classic early ‘90s motif.

I noticed that not long after these brands started doing their thing, the styles I wore in high school began making their way back into my closet. It’s this combo of denim/chambray, hiking boots and fleece/rag wool sweaters, with random pops of color mixed in. 

I started a Pinboard called campvibes not long after that, dedicated to this look and stumbled on a Tumblr curated by a Japanese blogger called Miatagod. It was packed full of these amazingly colorful, East-meets-West images of camping-inspired clothes including sandals with socks. I love scrolling through this cleverly curated collection cuz all of the sudden, it made fashion feel fun.

At just about this same, Teva reintroduced their line of Originals with colors and patterns that’d feel right at home along side this fun look and feel I’ve been geeking out on. Here’s a peek at their lookbook vid that rounds out this vibe.



It certainly doesn’t feel to me like this is just a fad. I see a longer term trend that continues to blend comfort and style, as do others. It’s a trend that infuses fun into fashion and celebrates a form that falls out of function.

When the image of me sporting my Teva Originals plus socks was originally posted, it got its fair share of both flack and fandom. One fan in particular was the social media team @Smartwool. They also instantly recognized the long term trend at play here and decided they were in.

Our own Mr. @kyality stepping up his shoe game with a @teva wool sock combo. What do you think folks? #tevaoriginals pic.twitter.com/CoYZkMTNJF

— Struck (@struck) April 4, 2014

@struck @kyality @teva Think you need to step up your #sock game if you're going to blast your toes. That's just me though.

— Smartwool (@Smartwool) April 4, 2014

@smartwool Hook a brother up! CC: @struck @teva

— Kyle Snarr (@kyality) April 5, 2014

@kyality @struck @Teva direct me your email and we can connect, aka, hook it up.

— Smartwool (@Smartwool) April 5, 2014

Then this happened...

@kyality @teva Now we got the sock game where it needs to be. #socks #fanlove
— Smartwool (@Smartwool) May 1, 2014

VSCO vs. OMFGCO

Time for a stroll down inspiration alley. Loving this video interview by Visual Supply Co. with the creative directors at Official Mfg. Co.

Yes, lotsa super Portlandia branding and graphic design going on in this piece, but man... it gets me excited to go eat at Olympic Provisions and Clyde Common again... or at least their Brooklyn equivalents.

Will CarPlay Play Nice?

Thanks to the good old Geneva Car Show, Apple did something this week that it rarely ever does. It gave us all a sneak peek at product that's still a bit of a work in progress: the automotive onboard iOS system called CarPlay. (Ya know, kinda like AirPlay for your car... but you'll probably have to plug it in and no, you can't watch movies.)

Ever since the first iPod came out, I (and probably all of us) have wanted better integration with my vehicles. CarPlay seems to be the answer to that... finally. But I've got a small handful of concerns that hopefully won't derail the promise of real in-car integration.

Apple Maps?

Uh, not a bonus folks! I've been lead astray far too many times by Apple's cheap knockoff of the real deal. Gimme Google.

Plugged in?

I feel like they're showing the iPhone plugged in for a very specific reason... CarPlay better work just as well via Bluetooth. (UPDATE: Uh, sounds like this is a plug-in only deal, bleh.)

Knobs?

Who needs knobs? Or a touchscreen for that matter? The promise of Her has made me much more of Siri superfan. Why even reference those old inputs? Just give Siri Scarlett's gravelly sarcasm and trust me, we are good to go.

But if you insist on in-car multitouch... do it this way for sure:

Not this way: