May 2012
5 posts
COLLECTIVE STATUS
Recently visiting Austin I had the chance to check out one of the hottest boutiques in the south! Inbetween takin care of the purchases, the boys at Collective Status took the time to talk about their great success over the past couple of years… Hosting some bad ass performers for their parties has definitely helped grow their fan base quickly.
Scrooge McBuckz and Zen Dutchmaster manage...
PRINTED THREADS
Thanks to Petey at Printed Threads, a new edition to Sleepy Dan gonna release next week! A little icing on the cake for the Series 2 line release next month…
You can take it from me, the creative team at Printed Threads is one of the best in Dallas! The shop is ultra clean and organized to maximize production quality.
Petey is printing some serious quality on both automatics and manual...
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SERIES 2 RELEASE - PLUSH
Saturday, June 16th from 6pm-9pm it’s going down! If you missed the gallery launch party for Sleepy Dan last year, here’s your chance to take part in another year of history. The series release party is the biggest event I throw all year, so you’re gonna have to wait another year if you miss it…
The Plush Gallery is located in the heart of Dallas’ design district....
CHINGO BLING TACO TRUCK
Every once in a while I have the opportunity to create a design for musician friends. Chingo Bling has been a great friend since wearing Sleepy Dan shirts in his music videos last year. This design was too sweet not to share…
I’m proud to say my favorite lunch comes from a truck, now Chingo Bling gonna give the taco some style! You can buy a shirt from the Chingo Bling site.
...
SLEEP BOOK
Whenever I see someone yawn, I am immediately yawning… Did you yawn when you saw the cover of Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book? Fans see Sleepy Dan and think I’m tired during the day so I must be lazy. The truth is I barely sleep because I’m workin all the time, that’s where my passion and creativity is born!
I love the abstract character design of Dr. Seuss’s, he...
April 2012
8 posts
DOUBLE WIDE CREATIVITY
A staple bar of Deep Ellum is the Double Wide and the up an coming staple muralist in Dallas is Justin Blanks and his Howdy project.
I had the opportunity to catch him in the middle of the newest mural addition to the Double Wide… So I just had to share some pics!
When you get the chance, you gotta check out the courtyard final… Another amazing addition to the Deep Ellum!
ZIPPY MOLDING RECAP 2
Time to finish up the Zippy molding recap! I hope you liked the first one, that was the easy part… Now it gets a little more difficult. Steps need to be followed exactly and measurements have to be perfect when mixing the casting resin or you get a pile of snot!
I left off just after the first mold is complete and able to make the first castings. This resin material is a two part mixture,...
DALLAS ART WALK
I’ve got a little present for you! The Dallas Art Walk was today, so I visited a bunch of local CADD and DADA galleries that were opening their doors to the public and sharing some beautiful art on a beautiful day…
This wrapping present at the Craighead Green Gallery was so realistic, I almost had to touch to test… Almost got a hand slap!
The impressionist detail of this...
STICKER ROBOT
Special delivery from Sticker Robot, just got the new Sleepy Dan stickers! So if you buy a fan pack you are getting the new Wake Up sticker too…
The first year stickers were ordered from Sticker Robot, but I did some crazy research and still found Sticker Robot is the best quality for die cut stickers… They’re screen printed and UV coated to last a lifetime is stuck in the...
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BATCH TWO RELEASE
Last night, my great friend Joonbug from Fresh Kaufee had his second release party at the Opening Bell coffee house in Dallas. Great event and as always and he delivered some creativity to entertain!
Joonbug is an amazing character artist, this screen printed poster design is the introduction of the Doughnut Darryl character! Nothing goes better with coffee than doughnuts…
All the...
POCKET NOTE PADS
Cutting up a whole bunch of pocket note pads for the Sleepy Dan fan packs, they’ve got a whole bunch of surprises… The pads have un-ruled pages great for drawing or writing notes. I always have one of these on me!
Sleepy Dan fan pack has it all…
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DEEP ELLUM ARTS FESTIVAL
The annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival was this weekend, from Friday till Sunday. Since this is my hood, I just had to hang with some friends and share some pics. One of the best turn outs I’ve seen so far, we heard there were 10,000 people attending just the first day!
A beautiful Dallas day, dozens of local and national artists, four band stages, drinks and Texas’ fried food = an...
ZIPPY MOLDING RECAP 1
The custom Zippy project was all hand made with the help from my great friend Scott at Monster Bot Studio, now I get to share a behind the scenes look at the process! It’s been a challenge sculpting for the vinyl shows, so it was time to make some Sleepy Dan zipper pulls!
The first step is sculpting the pillow logo and alarm icon out of Sculpey. The zipper pulls have to be very small, so...
March 2012
9 posts
ONE YEAR STRONG
Sleepy Dan is coming up on the first year anniversary with a Spring line release… Been a crazy year meeting new fans and making friends with clothing brands locally and internationally! I’m happy to help with advice or sharing production contacts, I believe artists should be competing with their art not who they know. Brands are sending me shirts to say thanks for the help, so I had to...
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VINYL THOUGHTS RECAP 2
Just had to share some more recap pics like this one! The line to get into the Vinyl Thoughts event was so much longer this year and we’re sorry about it. So this coming year the event will be moving to a much larger event space…
Lots of new custom vinyl fans in Dallas! Double the amount we had last year and the show had double the sales… So it’s gonna be amazing to see...
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SOUTH BY SO WHAT
On March 17th I went to Quick Trip Park with Alexa Machine to print some event shirts for the South By So What festival. One day event with 30+ hard core bands! Beautiful weather and bad ass music makes an amazing day with friends!
Live screen printing at the event meant someone that wanted a shirt could see their shirt get printed for them right there…
Sleepy Dan did not set up a...
VINYL CHARACTER SCULPTING
Immersed in the Dallas vinyl toy culture, I’ve been diversifying my style by learning to sculpt more creatively. The process of sculpting has many prep steps to master in order, or there are problems before the end. So I’m gonna share some pics of the Bald Bull and King Hippo character creation!
Whatever vinyl blank I use, the smooth surface has to be sanded down to create a rough...
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VINYL THOUGHTS RECAP 1
This year’s event was a complete success, so many new fans that we’re gonna have to move to a new larger event space! VT is quickly rising to the top as Texas’ largest custom vinyl toy event.
These are the two characters I created for the vinyl event this year! My event t shirt design had a Donkey Kong theme, so my vinyls are an homage to another favorite game from my...
VT2 EVENT SHIRT PRINTING
An inspiring night requires an inspiring shirt design… The theme of the Vinyl Thoughts event was Next Level. A tribute to retro video games, so I had to create something using one of my favorite games growing up, the classic Donkey Kong! With the help of Alexa Machine this shirt printing went perfect.
To line up a four color print on the press, you gotta tape one of the films to the...
Happy St. Patty's Day
Show Big D some love! Pinch anyone not wearing green, kiss an Irish ginger, and have a green beer on Greenville Ave. Get out and have fun, its a beautiful day in Dallas!!! But stay away from the shamrock shakes, they’re addictive…
DALLAS BRIDGE CELEBRATION
Bam! Sleepy Dan on the NBC 5 DFW 10 o’clock news! Showin off the Big D design and the first brand to honor the soon to open Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.
This monument celebrates our city’s dedication to innovation and is the newest edition to Dallas’ ever growing iconic skyline.
It was a beautiful winter day and great to see so much of Dallas coming out to show their...
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TREES DALLAS
Saturday night I was at Trees Dallas for the Dustin Cavazos x Big Krit event. I’ve never seen Trees sold out and packed out like it was on Saturday night!
Impressive sell out of the Dustin Cavazos tee design I made, so it was a celebration and lots of fun handing out pillow keychains to everyone! Even the band was diggin on the tiny pillows…
Sold several girls shirts and folded...
February 2012
11 posts
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VINYL THOUGHTS SHIRT DESIGN
The biggest custom vinyl event of the year in Dallas is coming up in a couple weeks! The Vinyl Thoughts event is scheduled for March 15th at Quixotic in Deep Ellum. There is no entry fee and lots of raffles going on all night… Get there early to see all the designs before they are sold! Yep, everything is for sale too!!!
Check out the history of the event and some teaser pics of projects...
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VINYL EXAMS
Takin these vinyls back to old school…
This past weekend, Mr. Sanders the Art teacher at Sachse Middle School, helped organize a vinyl toy painting event for all of his students. With the help of several artists from the Vinyl Thoughts event, about a hundred students got the chance to see how addictive the customizing of vinyl toys can be…
You had to sign up and pay for the event...
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ADA'S LAUNCH NIGHT
Last night was the grand opening of Ada’s Closet in Grand Prairie, the newest retail spot in the DFW area for you to rep some bad ass streetwear. The owners are launching a clothing brand called Bitter Streets which is selling in store already. It was raining all day and night but there was still a great turn out! Dustin Cavazos was there for a great set and even did a new track from his...
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COLLAB BLAB
This past week I started the Collab Blab column at I Am The Trend. The purpose of this column is to uncover and share the most creative design collaborations.
The second posting for Collab Blab just released this week. So I wanted to make a graphic to illustrate the column moving forward. Keep an eye out for the new column postings… if you worked on or have a favorite collab project you...
A SPECIAL VALENTINE
Hope you wore a little red today! Love really is all you need, but on days like today you need a little something extra to show how great your love is for that special someone…
I made a sketch just for today, so print it out and share with the one you love!
It does not matter who you love today… Your family, your pets, your neighbor… Just put a little love in your heart!
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CADD BUS TOUR
This past weekend, my great friend Brian from the Public Trust hosted the CADD Bus Tour. He invited me on the fantastic voyage to help and take pics to publicize the event from the inside out. So you’re coming along for the ride now!
This tour was traveling to several Dallas galleries but was focused on the Obey Propaganda installation by Shepard Fairey that took place a couple weeks ago....
TRIPLE SLEEPY D
This past week the Centre released new additions to the Triple D line. They worked on some great cut n sew pieces with varsity style chenille layered patches and some amazing print type layouts. Great new line and really cool for Sleepy Dan to be on the retail floor next to this new line representing Dallas style!
It’s a huge boost for Dallas to have brands like Triple D to compete on a...
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UNDERGROUND DALLAS
The Underground Dallas event 4 is this weekend! Hosted by Art Love Magic, this event has been a showcase of the most creative artists contributing to the Dallas arts scene. Painters, musicians, vinyl toy designers… everyone is there!
You can check out more details at the Underground Dallas facebook page, including the Underground 4 event invite page… See you there!
PRINTING FRESH KAUFEE
This past weekend, I invited Joonbug from Fresh Kaufee over to give him an in person tutorial on screen printing. Gotta see more of his amazing character art come to life, so hopefully so he will be printing on his own…
Setting up screens for printing, mixing inks to get the right color for his latest design, then sharing some printing techniques… Joonbug took to the process like a...
LACING IN STYLE
So what do you do when you get your hands on a new pair of kicks? Fresh out the box and ready to get laced… Do you lace em all different or do you stick to one style?
Going to local sneaker conventions like Kixpo, Sneaker Summit, Sneaks Up, and smaller trading parties - I have seen some crazy designs! You need the low down on some lacing style from Sneaker Freaker.
I like to stick to the...
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H TOWN SNEAKER SUMMIT
Traveled to Houston this weekend for the Winter 12 Sneaker Summit. A much better event than last year! Huge space at Reliant Center and heard that it was sold out… Took so many pics, so get ready for show and tell.
They did a great job creating some custom printed type designs. Every year the event gets a little better!
Better music and headliner artists were definitely great to see at...
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CUSTOMIZED HOOD SWEATIE
Sleepy Dan hood sweaties released in December, I had to release one cut n sew project for the first year so you can be sure there will be some more customized designs for the upcoming years! I can not emphasize enough, process is the most important part of any project. The rugby style hoodie is a design just recently hitting trend so I had to make some comfortable enough to bear the Sleepy Dan...
January 2012
6 posts
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HAPPY BEARD DAY
This past Friday night at the Public Trust, I decided to have a party at last minute… I turned 33 so I wanted to host a beard themed birthday party!
Joonbug from Fresh Kaufee helped me make these bearded characters for this design layout I have been wanting to make for a while… For the past several years I have been growing a beard for the Fall and Winter seasons. It usually starts...
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H TOWN SNEAKER SUMMIT
On Sunday, Sleepy Dan is takin a road trip to Houston for the H Town Sneaker Summit! Gonna bring several friends that have never been before, so they are crazy hyped up for the event. So many deals, so little time… Got an empty trunk waiting to be filled with kicks and clothes from one of the greatest events in Texas. Will share some pics from the road trip later this week. Not gonna set up...
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SLEEPY DAN vs FUR FACE BOY
In December Sleepy Dan & Fur Face Boy faced off in Artopia’s t-shirt battle. Guests of the event voted on their favorite shirt, then after the votes were tallied the bout ended in a tie! So the rematch will be held at the Public Trust gallery this Saturday, during the opening reception of the Breaking Rad show by our great friend Kyle Confehr.
If you were not able to make it out for the...
SLEEPY DAN AT CENTRE
So proud to announce that 2012 marks the first year for Sleepy Dan officially being sold at the Centre retail store! Located in the heart of Dallas at Mockingbird Station, this shop definitely is the freshness center of Dallas…
It’s an honor to be displayed on the floor next to a great catalog of local indie brands and a cream of the crop list of established street wear brands!
...
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SHOW ME THE MUNNY
This past weekend marked the second Show Me The Munny event sponsored by ATAMA and took place at Strangeways. Great space to have an artist event like this… drinks, music, and laughs by everyone! Right around the holidays and just before New Years it’s always great to catch up with friends.
Atama organized another great event with the help of some of Dallas’ most amazing and...
December 2011
9 posts
5 tags
HOODIE & CREWNECK SWEATIES
To cap off the first year for Sleepy Dan, I wanted to release a couple of cut & sew designs to show that the brand will have some clothing direction outside of screen printing for the coming years. So these two custom made sweatshirts were just added to the line before 2012!
The hoodie is all custom made with some seriously original details so you can be sure no one else will have a hoodie...
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CREATION OF THE PILLOW MONSTER CHARACTER
After the inauguration at Artopia for the t shirt battle with Fur Face Boy, the Pillow Monster design has been getting great reviews. Dallas Observer sponsors this annual event as their birthday party and I was proud to have their help bringing the Pillow Monster Lightning Strike design to life in the true nature of Frankenstein! So continuing with the success of the Behind the Design column...
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ARTOPIA 2011
Last weekend Sleepy Dan took part in the Dallas Observer sponsored Artopia event, taking place at the Dallas Contemporary. With the help of Brian at the Public Trust, the second year event was even better than last year. Check out all the art on the walls!
This was the inauguration of the Pillow Monster character for the Tshirt Battle with Fur Face Boy! Shirts were printed and sold at the...
DREAMING OF BROOKLYN
Turns out that Brooklyn has more style than NYC! There were so many indie shops spread out all over Brooklyn, there was no way I was gonna visit em all traveling by foot. I don’t even think I had all of them on my address list…
First stop was Skate Brooklyn not too far from the Flatbush / Atlantic Station. The guys at the shop were great to hang with, while we checked out their new...
DREAMING OF NYC AGAIN
Livin the life of a Sleepy Dan is up late all the time working on design and researching, which means sleeping everywhere you get the chance. Just gotta learn how to stay asleep thru continuous noise going on around you! So I guess I’m a pro if I can stay asleep on the train till the last stop…
Apparel shops all over the city are always packed out from floor to ceiling, with the...
DREAMING OF NYC
The NYC adventure with Billy last week led us all around the village area. Had the time to check out some of the best shops in the city so we hoofed it all over and now I’m taking you along for part one the ride… Gonna visit my two favorite indie brand shops - Reed Space and Yellow Rat Bastard.
There are so many clothing brands that have a small shop displaying their current line,...
MAC BAR MAKES ME HAPPY
Bartender, make mine a three cheese please!
Continuing the SoHo adventure with Billy from Regret Clothing, we walked and talked about everything that inspires us to create. Packaging always catches the creative eye, so when we got hungry I asked him to take me to his favorite local spot. Without hesitating he easily came up with Mac Bar which is right down the street from Kid Robot at 54 Prince...
KID ROBOT NYC
Last week for Thanksgiving, I traveled to NYC to visit family and took the time to meet with some retail shops in the city. Great timing cause the weather was perfect for walking to every shop on my list, so I gotta share highlights of the travels starting with my favorite shop Kid Robot!
I just happened to be there on the same afternoon that Tristan Eaton was being interviewed by CNN for a...
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PILLOW MONSTER IS ALIVE!
Come hang out this Saturday December 3rd, for Artopia at the Dallas Contemporary where the new Sleepy Dan Pilow Monster shirt will be released! This is the introduction of the Pillow Monster character, Artopia is helping bring him to life like Frankenstein!!! This Cyan shirt is a limited printing, so you better get there before they’re all nabbed up…
The new comer is up for the...
November 2011
11 posts
DREAMY BLACK FRIDAY SALE
Once upon a time… Sleepy Dan had a dreamy Black Friday Sale! 35% OFF EVERYTHING!!! Don’t miss it because “YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE!”
ALL STAR KREW
Before Sleepy Dan launched, free fan packs and shirts were shipped out to friends around the country to kick off the first season. I love the generous nature of the holiday season coming up, but surprise presents in the mail from brands doing the same thing is so much fun!
Gotta share this artist’s sketch book success… All Star Krew is making mini comics and I just got their care...