Yes. That’s correct. We’ve started a new business. A year after we opened Haigh & Martino in our bedroom and a few years after we became internet friends with Brainstorm (remember the rad giveaway we did with them!!??) we combined forces and have opened Industry Standard, a screen printing shop with the greatest intentions. We’ll be working with talented artists whether they’re a big name already or waiting to be discovered by readers or kids with crisp bills at craft shows.
Things have been moving fast, to say the least. The pic above is from a recent open house for important people at 3S Artspace, where our studio (both HAM, Brainstorm and IN/ST combined workspace) is located. We’ve been lucky to become friends with the founder of 3S, all around amazing dude, Chris Greiner (he sings and surfs!!) and we’re ecstatic to be housed in the next hub of all things creative in Portsmouth, NH. 3S will be turning into a music venue, an art gallery and a farm to table restaurant. Not a bad place for us to be. I can just imagine working all day in the studio and walking downstairs to check out the band and grab a beer at the bar. WHAAAT?!!? Dreams, people. Dreams. They sometimes surprise you and come true.
3S was kind enough to offer us a ginormous (albeit real raw) space and with a little elbow grease, some pallets and a lot of love for what we do, we’ve got it into working condition with enough room for every-thang. And then some.
The greatest thing about Industry Standard so far? If it’s not the lunchtime frisbee/skateboarding breaks, the bobby bottleservice jokes, serious shop talk about paper stock or the sheer thrill of walking into a space that looks and feels like who we all are and want to be – then it’s definitely being in business with great people who love to work hard and play even harder.
If you’re an artists who needs screen printing, give us a holler.
If you’re a bright young thing looking to make your life truly yours, I hope this post inspires you to jump into it. Fully. We have and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done. So far.
If you’re a Portsmouth local like myself or Kristy or Jared or a Boston local like Nicole or…shit, if you live in New England, this Thursday in downtown Portsmouth, in front of local letterpress heroes Gus and Ruby Letterpress, Kyle Durrie and the Moveable Type truck will be teaching the art of letterpress and sending folks away with their own original print. Can you think of a reason not to be there? No? Me neither. BE THERE.
There are troves of posts on the subject of inspiration. There are great arguments negotiating where the line is drawn between inspired and stolen. There’s also a great quote from Chuck Close that made the Tumblr rounds. Basically, he says to stop reading and looking at shit and just get the work done already. I could almost agree, but I’ll be damned if I miss out on all that glorious time lounging around, flipping through magazines and reading my google reader.
For inspiration, of course.
I think it’s good for us to seek inspiration but there needs to be some limits, some…routine, maybe? It’s easy to get sucked into the internet (particularly when you have a turntable.fm chat dinging in your ears) and it can get stale, boring, routine in the worst sense of the word, so I get away from my desk. I look for inspiration elsewhere and I try to allow myself a specific amount of time to revel and ruminate before a project begins. So, I thought I’d share what we do because IT’S FRIGGIN AWESOME. Not to mention, inspiring.
This is the Phillips Exeter Library, part of the Phillips Exeter Academy (see super serious and world renowned prep school) in Exeter, New Hampshire. 20 minutes from our office. The architectural style of the building is Brutalist. I mean, really? Can that be any cooler? The architect who designed it was Louis Kahn and this building was his opus. Again, it’s 20 minutes from our office.
Read and see more after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Ghostshrimp is a guy named Dan. Dan is from my homeland, New Hampshire. In the past, I avoided Dan at parties and avoided his illustrations because of an overwhelmingly large and present community of hipsters that jock his style relentlessly. Tired of hearing about how so many people “knew Ghostshrimp” (not liked his art, just knew him), I subconsciously boycotted homie’s work for the past few years.
I don’t live in NH anymore. I live in NC. And no one here talks about anything from NH. Hell, no one anywhere outside of New England talks about NH. So here’s some work from Ghostshrimp. It’s a lot easier to like when you don’t draw an immediate association between it and nerds at house parties. The relevance of this backstory? There isn’t any, I guess. Look at the illustrations.
Unwavering style is my new favorite thing. I feel like 75% of the artists portfolios that I look at have two or three disciplines and only one is good. So, hat’s off Ghostshrimp for doing everything you can with a single aesthetic. I like it.
If associating Ghostshrimp with me and this obnoxious post hasn’t turned you off, you can see more (a lot more) of his work (and buy some stuff) at his site. Do it!
