BANDIT9. MY MOTORCYCLE DESIGN COMPANY.

I was hoping to unveil this later but I needed to keep up with the momentum.

As many of you know, I love motorcycles. And so I've opened up my own motorcycle design company here in Beijing called Bandit9.

Bandit9 is about injecting the spirit of innovation and instinct all bandits, pirates and outlaws possess. It's more fun to be a pirate than a sailor.

What's cool about being a bandit is that each is unique and that's what it's really all about. Bandit9 strips down the bullshit that hinder stock bikes. None of these obnoxious logos, dizzying graphics, pointless additional weight, no non-sense. 


Anyway, one of my favorite motorcycle blogs has featured our very first motorcycle, Loki, on their blog. This is pretty exciting stuff.

Read the full article at motorcyclephotooftheday.com

Okay so if you want to know more about my latest venture, visit the Bandit9 site:
http://cargocollective.com/bandit9
http://bandit9.tumblr.com

-d-

PS. Starting your own gig is a lot more fun than it is scary...but let's talk about that later :)

STEVE JOBS AND ME.

I've been waiting to do my next post to announce my next big project. This couldn't wait.

I thought about what I could say here that hasn't already been said by the millions of people who have paid their respects to Steve Jobs. And I realized it isn't really about saying something original but rather acknowledging the passing of a great man, getting this deep sadness out of my system and reminiscing about how he's completely influenced my perspective on everything. Everything.

I was fortunate to work with the agency that created all of Steve Jobs's iconic advertising work. Even though I didn't work directly with Steve, I saw a lot of his work take shape. From the ipod campaign to the "mac vs. pc" ads, you know the man had taste. He is one of the few clients who respected creativity and understood the value of creating a brand.

I believe this is the true secret behind Steve and Apple's genius. Their brand: humanizing technology. They believe in it down to their bones. You can see it in every mac, ipod, iphone, ipad. Steve was the one who made technology play time. If you've ever been to an Apple store, you understand. And regardless of how advanced their products are, Steve made it for accesible for everyone. How beautiful is that? Isn't that the most unselfish business decision you've ever heard?

And I think this is why his passing affects me so much. It is his genius that holds all my music, all my letters, all my photographs, all of me.

Anyway, I consider myself lucky. Once Steve left his post at Apple, I wrote him an email which I consider to be my goodbye:
To: sjobs@apple.com
Subject: Thanks
Hi Steve,
I just wanted to thank you for all the magic you've brought not just to Apple but to my home.
All the best man!
-d-

Paid my respects in the Apple Store, Beijing.
Thanks, Steve.