October 28, 2009

Inspiration Wall at the L.L. Bean Signature Event

October 28, 2009/ A Restless Transplant

A few weeks ago, I made the trek down from Maine to New York City for the L.L. Bean Signature event. For the last two months, I had been looking through books, magazines, image collections and catalogs for a wide variety of images that captured the complexity of the L.L. Bean brand. For my research I focused on images from spring outdoor activities like fishing, camping and sailing that fit within Bean's sensibility. The end product was 22 feet by 9 feet high

Here are some select images from my search which appeared on the inspiration wall.

This is one of the most amazing images I have seen.

Hands down my favorite L.L. Bean Cover.

Bean has a long heritage of selling outdoor gear like fishing and hunting equipment and I tried to have some product-focused shots in the mix.

I prefer getting out and searching through books and image collections because the end product is far more unique than images you would find online.

I snuck two of my own photos into the collage...whooops :)

I like doing image research because it challenges you to get in the minds of people whose world you are trying to recreate and tell their story through a handful of 2D images. For example, to find camping/hiking images from the 60's of young men and women I looked through hundreds of New England Colleges' outdoor club sections in yearbooks from the late 50's to early 60's. Image research is akin to hunting; in order to find the best stuff, you have to go farther and dig deeper than other hunters.

Thanks Marc Desrosiers of the L.L. Bean Signature team for coming up with the layout and to Alex Carleton for getting me into the project, editing the images and the creative direction.

Here are some more links,
Inspiration Wall at the LL Bean Signature Event (Picasa),
L.L. Bean Signature,
L.L. Bean PR (Twitter).

October 27, 2009

Dan Freeman's Leatherworks

October 27, 2009/ A Restless Transplant

Dan Freeman learned to make shoes over thirty years ago in New Orleans. Now he practices his art in a small shop off of Route 7 in Middlebury, Vermont.

Dan custom makes all types of shoes including dress, sneakers and boat shoes but is best known for his equestrian and hiking boots. For every shoe, Dan creates a custom form modeled after the foot of a customer. Dan keeps all of these customers' forms in the back for future use.

Dan requires customers to make multiple sizing visits to his workspace in Middlebury, and ohh yahh, they cost $1,800.

Day Hikers. Dan uses Vibram soles for all of his rubber soled shoes.

Forms for Equestrian boots and a pair of his early work.

A view of Dan's shop and his apprentice.

Dan makes these labels himself.

I loved these sandals. Very simple, high quality and 1/10 the price of the Day Hikers.

I love the simplicity of the design. These will last forever.

If I ever have the money to purchase a pair of $2,000 custom made shoes, I will certainly support a shoemaker like Dan Freeman. His trade represents the last of a long tradition craftsman who learn by apprenticeship, not a $50,000 a year college or an online course. Dan doesn't have a website and does all of his business out of his workspace. Customers fly to Vermont from all over the US to have Dan make their shoes. After spending twenty minutes in his store I can see why.

Here are some more links,
Dan Freeman's Leatherworks (Picasa),
Dan Freeman's Leatherworks.

October 23, 2009

Nova Scotia in October

October 23, 2009/ A Restless Transplant

After spending eight hours driving down Route 1, we finally crossed over a small inlet in the Bay of Fundy into the land of "aboots," hockey obsessions and Tim Horton's. For three hours we trekked through gloomy suburbs and seemingly endless slabs of farmland until we made it to Canada's Atlantic Playground: Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia feels like Maine without the discount Burberry and Timberland outlets. It's rugged, has extreme weather, and is unpopulated.

A small camping ground and surf shop outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Sunrise on Lawrencetown Beach.

We woke before sunrise, packed up our tent and got in the water just as the sun was coming up.

Surf's up...

Surfing when the water is warmer than the air is an interesting proposition. The air was in the mid 30's and the water was in the high 40's. After 45 minutes the swell started to die down and the wind picked up. With the haste that only a surfer in freezing conditions knows, I jumped out of my wetsuit and into wool socks and my Mackinaw jacket.