Tag Archives: design

Kinfolk + Pals

Bon-est Voyaging Mon Cher Amis / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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Wishing safe and happy travels to all day international diplomatic renegades who are bringing their beautiful energy to this pleasant corner of Japan. Also, sending my very finest thanks for all the good wishes coming in from so many wonderful people throughout my life. So grateful you have stuck with me through these turbulent years and are able to witness this life reinvention from wherever you abide.

So much more to say, but the to do list still has many small but important details and my delicate body needs rest to recoil some energy for the next several days of festivities and showing off my new hometown to miraculous pals. In the meanwhile, note that every smoke signal is most welcome, well noted and will be reciprocated in due course.
Yours very fondly and fortunately, daveo/UW
 
Poster by Joanna / Gamamo Creative PS She is seeking her next gig. #HireHer #Tip #DRO420
 
Assortment of printed items in truck on car

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Party Invites

Poster Inspiration / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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The poster art for the party was one of the first things on our “we want to have” list for the wedding celebration. We both love music, especially live, and the posters which go along with the gigs.
 
So we asked the lovely Joanna and huggable Kenji who together have Gamomo Creative (a Chamorro warrior from Guam where Dave used to live for just another connection) to design up something special.
 
Joanna and I did many projects together at Hootsuite so she is familiar with my “here’s a big crazy idea with vague details, make something magical by reading my mind” way of working and Kenji being hafu-Japanese and an eccentric creative, is also uniquely qualified for input. They also made 2 lovely kiddos! Oh and Kenji is featured in one of my barber round-up posts getting a mullet from guitar hero/barber Rich Hope. 
 
 
Anyhow, I sent JoBot (coz she’s a robot who designs with love) 6 pages of notes and a folder of “inspiration” – way toooo much of course (i’m a maximalist when it comes to design) and she asked appropriate questions to whittle it down and see what it is i liked about each piece of inspiration. 
 
With this in mind, i’ve compiled various images and notes in a rather stream of consciousness manner to share for-the-record how we collaborated to make something truly special which will be the central design element for the goat farm party. 
 
Worth noting that originally we planned to just us the poster at the party and then in the gift bags but it was so wonderful (not surprisingly but still surprising), we created a number of home-done print runs on various stock to send in announcement dossiers to folks all around the world. About 300 went out in this form and we then pro-printed 150 for giftbags and another 6 BIG versions on foamboard to display at key locations at the party and another rollable 4 for other commemorative purposes. Thanks Joanna and Kenji for your huge hearts and exceptional work. 
 
Notes and images follow

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Party Invites

Guest messages and photo book / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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Of course, we’ll need a guest book and a photo album for the artifacts and sentiments from lovely attendee. In our case, we’ll combine the two (written and photo messages) into one mighty tome with the help of self-service insta-camera (we have 200+ films on the ready!) with snaps added to the book on the spot, then personalized with their written messages. 

The book itself is a classic Japanese lacquered artifact, heavy and handbuilt – btw these types of scrapbook are my favourite to make (loads of them usually using recycled board game and calendar paper) – purchased from urban history explorer Jason Vanderhill with assist from Laura Bzowy and hauled over by my kinfolk. 

Look forward to settling in on the following Monday to see the photo treats and scribbled missives duly noted by lovely attendees. 

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Party Invites

Transport card (English version) / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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transportation info card – English version – by Ryoko Fujita (Olson)

 

 

 

 

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Collections of Artifacts

Japan Pedicure Toes / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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Getting ready to head to Japan requires the appropriate toe decor, in this case, a tribute to the end of the Heisei era with a post-imperial period flag of Nihon/Nippon. 

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Party Invites, Post'd (cards + letters)

Invitations arrived, vol. 1 / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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What follows is a gallery of received invites “in situ” wherever they end up in the world / generally unannotated to protect erstwhile privacy unless publicly shared by recipient. 

Overall, 300+ packets mailed. Some will get lost in the mail (speaking from experience) but anyone who doesn’t receive a dossier in the post can create their own as desired, plus checkout the pieces not in your packet. 

The 6 (at least) tranches of mailouts had varied contents and packaging as the batches were sent from different countries, using different printers (pro and home) and different iterations of items, specifically a variety/sub-set of:

* Announcement storybook (4 panel, 2 iterations) 
* Invite to ceremony (2 panel)
* Invite to party (2 panel)
* RSVP card (pre-stamped for folks in Japan)
* Transportation info card (for folks in Japan)
* Letter to friends (on Grand Oriental Hotel letterhead)
* Gig Poster by Joanna Pag (mini-size via various printers and substrates)

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Collections of Artifacts

Outfit Inspiration / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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One of the fun things (as it turns out) about putting on a wedding, is all the different outfits. In this case, i’ll need 4-ish outfits throughout the 3 days of activities. Not to be limited in style, i assembled various snippets of inspiration – from poets to fictional agents to military troops – to create looks for the various bits.

In brief: 

  • Registration of wedding at city hall – glen plaid suit (custom made in Chiang Mai, Thailand), tie (tbd) and Italian shoes (thrift store)
  • Ceremony at Shinto shrine – black traditional formal kimono
  • Post-ceremony lunch – another kimono (yukata-esque)
  • Party & ring ceremony – “Prince Charlie” highland wear with Royal Stewart kilt, cape, sock flashes, wing collared shirt with french cuffs and ascot (silk), blue / steel broach and cufflinks and formal sporran, also brown brogues – switch to Jacobite shirt after formal part

What follows are various screencaps, photos and etcetera for inspiration and examples. Eventually we’ll all see how these various components come together for various guises. 

Note: No photo/link provided as these were simply harvested in the wild and used for enjoyment, educational purposes. Need a link? Send a note.

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Party Invites, Post'd (cards + letters)

Invitations in process and post / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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I kinda enjoy letting projects get outta hand (some call this “scope creep”) and what started as sending out a few dozen handmade announcement card packets has turned into at least 6 tranches of mailouts. The contents and packaging varied significantly as the batches were sent from different countries, using different printers (pro and home) and different iterations of items.

The (possibly) last batch was mailed from Japan – of course not in time for folks to book at trip but we are at the maximum size anyhow (93+ confirmed!) but importantly, i wanted to share the news and artifacts with as many people as possible in thanks for support and kindness.

Overall, 300+ packets mailed. Some will get lost in the mail (speaking from experience) but anyone who doesn’t receive a dossier in the post can create their own as desired, plus check out the pieces not in your packet. Of course, also assembling galleries of received invites “in situ” to wherever they end up in the world.

What follows is a compendium of evidence of various mailouts, post offices, envelopes, crafting sessions and related whatnots.

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Party Invites

RSVP card / Dave + Ryoko 4-20 Kekkon-shiki

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RSVP card designed and art’d by Ryoko (Fujita) Olson

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VWs + Buses

VW Earthship, from Salt Lake City to Okayama Japan

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My senpei & pal (and Japan’s biggest deadhead) Mac Kobayashi came to Salt Lake City on his honeymoon in 1991 and visited me and the noble old earth ship in The Avenues on a blustery day.

Note; Soon after, i bailed on Univ of Utah and headed out on Grateful Dead tour fulltime… including the “hostage incident” with Sooby Ahmed… then everywhere/thing else.

He shared these snaps (obviously snapped from a photo album) in 2019 as a pleasant flashback. 

As it goes, in April 2019, he’ll be hosting a wedding party for Ryoko Fujita and I at his goat farm. 

 

 

 

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