db clay
All posts filed under: PORTFOLIO
November 24, 2008
z Portfolio - Remnants
Apartment search, strategic planning, and the proper utilization of space.
Me dad was an architect and taught me how to denote a door in a sketch.
Mark the path where it swings open.
9:33 in 1989 while AM vs PM is not known.
Took a trip to Alaska in 2008.
Drew me parents as a totem pole.
Fell in love with traditional Native American style art.
Cut off horn
“Oh, I got an Indian arrow head…”
Little sister Austi as she slept in church, 1989.
Me was drawing to kill the time.
I was in a maze to find the space cadet marked W in 2008; I never found him/her.
Taking a bite out of a balloon it seems.
A gold one.
A seemingly unpoppable one.
Banana, leaf, wood.
Diggles finally taking a vacation.
Battered figure in 1991.
Buzzing like a bee.
Big bad stolen wolf, 1990.
Big.M.small
Let me out of here…
Black smoXe
Played the donkey in 2005 Xmas nativity with nieces and nephews.
Terrible effort on the costume Garett.
Pastel Paradise Piece, 1991
The breeder plane has taken off
Flower pedal looks like a big candy corn
Drawing/photo of 2 younger brothers and me
Getting bucked off is no fun… I have feared horses ever since. Not much of a cowboy am I?
Buffalo by the trees
Bermuda shorts game day fiasco
“I heard it through the grapevine” in 1990
Call Nancy
Fast and gray
Carpet pad palm trees
Tyler’s upholstery in Eugene while attending university
Chinese currency
Childhood chores
Childhood Xmas card
Contengo
Cloud factory concept- me book coming soon!!!
I got tired of coloring myself in
Gary “The Clipboard Pusher” Stenny comic strip- me book coming soon!!!
Cut out your own star
Printed brown butcher paper
Awfultiger
Dark bushes, don’t be scared
Dead rabbit found on walk- compound fractures and crusty from the sun
Dear Dad,
My weapon of choice, sometimes anyways; sometimes I’ll take a sword.
Mr. Diggles 28th b-day
Another Mr. Diggles b-day, 27?
Mr. Garrettt Stenson
Doily
Dominique Wilkins
Eagle head done with light gray marker
Easter concept
“What happens to you when you are dead…”
Striped vintage ribbing
2000 self portrait drawing, stone faced.
Puzzle
Puzzle logo.
Puzzle remnants defining the campaign at the onset.
Every Puzzle wallet begins with a blank sheet of gaffers tape canvas (before its covered in paint).
Batch #3: Sheets 1 and 2
Batch #3: Sheets 3 and 4
Batch #3: Sheets 5 and 6
Batch #3: Sheets 7 and 8
Batch #3: Sheet 9
Batch #3: Sheets 11 and 12
Batch #1 collage
Batch #3: Sheets 13 and 14
Batch #3: Sheets 15 and 16
Batch #3: Sheets 17 and 18
Batch #3: Sheets 19 and 20
Batch #3: Sheets 21 and 22
Batch #3: Sheets 23 and 24
Batch #3: Sheets 25 and 26
Batch #3: Sheets 27 and 28
Batch #3: Sheets 29 and 30
Batch #3: Sheets 31 and 32
Batch #3: Sheets 33 and 34
Batch #3: Sheets 35 and 36
Batch #3: Sheets 37 and 38
Batch #3: Sheets 39 and 40
Batch #3: Sheets 41 and 42
Batch #3: Sheets 43 and 44
Batch #3: Sheet 84
Batch #3: Sheet 162
Batch #3: Sheets 175 and 176
Batch #3: Sheet 181
All the above done with flexible acrylic paint. Oh so purdy…
Screen-printing transparencies used in production of these precious pieces.
Foam brush and cardboard piece used for test printing.
Batch #1 remnant
Batch #1 remnant
Each Puzzle wallet comes gift boxed: gray card stock, white tissue paper, story insert card
Multi-head press, or whatever you call it.
Each wallet comes individually numbered; gold satin nylon lines the bill compartment.
Each Puzzle wallet comes gift boxed: gray card stock, white tissue paper, story insert card
Batch #1 in progress
Batch #2 in progress
Batch #2 in progress
Colorful ingredients
More colorful ingredients
Screen-printing transparency, partially printed sheets in progress.
Batch #1 on display at Project NY Tradeshow.
Screen-printing transparency- I drew these flowers in 2007
Orange left glove worn by us printers as we cleaned up after a printing session and as we washed out paint before it dried up in the silk screen’s mesh.
Spatulas, metal things, for spreading and creating textures.
Sitting in floral chair inside Burnside studio. Alex took a scrap from this chair and turned it into a Batch #1 wallet.
Paint and paint opener.
Batch #1 drying on wood table in workshop.
Spreaders.
Batch #1 poster mock up.
Collage for catalogue.
Cleanup rags.
Right glove worn.
I like flat better than not.
Wood and rubber squeegees.
Stencils…
Point of sale merchandising for Takashimaya NY exclusive in 2008.
Cut, scrape, cut, scrape.
Ply, open things, twist, tighten.
Puzzle: “A collection of one-of-a-kind wallets hand printed in Portland, OR”
z portfolio - myDuctbills
myDuctbills logo
“A Complete Do-it-Yourself Duct Tape Wallet Kit” - invented by db clay
After making nearly 30,000 wallets by hand… personally… it was time to let people make their own.
It was time to give away the secrets and move on.
All paths spawned from Duct Tape, though, if you knew me by heart, it was never really about the tape. It was simply about the possibilities therein.
Me trusty blue scissors.
By me side the time entire.
The best pair ever owned by far.
Still sharp though borderline retired.
Still willing to cut for me.
Tyler’s hands folding tape making certain pockets affixed straight. Tyler, an original member, helped design/invent our myDuctbills kit. Tyler is my younger brother and he has been by my side for years though we both knew/know his hands are better spent plucking git-box strings. As for me, Duct Tape was just the vehicle and me hands were meant to drive other things in life too.
Cutting out stars with wax paper and stencils became routine. I could do it really quick and with the utmost precision as long as I had a sharp blade to operate with.
An old Picasso piece I made using colored Duct Tape. The original is called “Three Musicians.”
Done during my exploratory years when I was just discovering the possibilities of me new found sticky medium. Wallets were less time intensive than recreating famous art pieces so I decided to go with the former.
Did you know Duct Tape comes in about 40 colors? Neither did I until a few years into the game. Once discovered, the design options in my brain blossomed and my mouth watered. This new palette (besides silver and black) was surely welcomed. I am a color freak.
I simplified me process for making wallets over the years. The instructions were kept locked in my mind until a few years ago when I decided to publish them on paper in the form of an instruction booklet.
This shot in my old basement should be a somewhat familiar site to most. Nearly everyone I know has a roll of silver tape tucked somewhere in their house. I’ve heard millions of stories for the millions of uses. Everyone can relate to Duct Tape in one way or another.
Examples of wallets made using our myDuctbills kit.
Tyler showing off the bill compartment. A space that is often empty these days.
Experimenting with colored tape. Made these to match my kitchen dishes. I love brown, orange and ochre together. It’s always been one of my favorite combinations.
Tear out from an early catalogue… if you could call it that. It was more of a crude one sheet.
Blue Collar.
Early on I was trying to get clever with me marketing materials. Though this campaign was never released, what I was trying to do was to reinforce the idea that our wallets were for everybody. I’ve sold wallets to ten-year-old girls and I’ve sold them to ninety-year-old men. Everybody loved ‘em and I’m not just saying that.
Lime Collar.
Pink Collar.
Black Collar.
Red Collar.
Tan Collar.
Silver Collar.
Like I said, in the end this never flew. The concept was directionally correct but the idea never made it past the cheesy stage. Rather than try and force it, I just let the customers decide for themselves and in the end, I feel this hands off approach performed better under the organic sales circumstances we were in. If everybody loves ‘em, everybody loves ‘em. You don’t need to say something that is already being said on its own.
Blue retro design was a continual best seller for us.
This blue on blue design came to me in a dream. I’m not kidding. It was real as day and I knew it had to be made.
Brown and khaki for those that weren’t quite ready to jump from the leather ledge. This was a nice alternative: classic, eel skin ‘esque and understated.
Drill?
Package design for our first kit. We aptly called it “myDuctbills Kit #1.” It was a good start but certainly left room for improvement as with everything else in life.
Oh, I got an idea. How about we print the actual instructions on the box?
Layout for one of my first business cards. Early on, I’m talking about as early on as it gets.
myDuctbills kit packaging concept/collage.
Let me first Duct Tape Wallet catalogue from 2002 begin… Let’s be honest, this was before I even knew what a copyright was. I was just trying to sound official.
Page 8
Page 5
Page 4
Page 9
Page 2
Page 1
Page 7
Page 6
Page 10
Page 3
Aside from the catalogue above, I was particularly interested in doing custom work. As an example, we needed a wallet to match our green Million Miler jacket. A jacket that is only given to Truck Drivers who log a million miles on the blacktop.
3-ring binder inside and out.
A fella we met in Canada made these Mario/Luigi wallets using our kit.
On a budget early on, I recycled CD jewel cases and used them for packaging. Cheap, kinda hip, musical, minimalist. But again, the key word is/was cheap.
This web layout snapshot occurred when the line between Ductbills and db clay began to blur.
This is the first logo I ever used (circa 2001) and it was foretelling of a greater “db” to come. I often thought this looked too much like a tennis ball to actually stick, however. Eventually it was replaced as with most young attempts at stardom.
Early marketing concept. A waterproof wallet with a wave design on it in a dishwasher being washed by water… it had legs though it never walked. Back to the water drawing board…
More designs and yes, my attitude as always, is endless.
THE VERY FIRST ORDER FORM EVER CREATED (thank you Gerren).
Skull wallet.
Brown and black wallet.
Canadian wallet.
The components inside our first Kit offered.
Gustav Klimt, “The Kiss”, made using colored Duct Tape. Again, I was in an exploratory mood.
A logo I designed that acted as guide to using and getting the best performance out of your wallet.
Mr. Diggles sliced his finger badly when helping me make wallets one day.
A raffle. A giveaway. A teaser.
A line sheet from super early on. db Executive, db Pocket Coach, db Tri-fold… good memories.
Tyler’s handwriting used in kit design. We wanted it to feel youthful and crafty and, a bit amateur.
Thousands of wallets sold over the years. My left arm is numb as I type this sentence because of it.
I have OCD. Everything had to be done/cut to the millimeter. In the long run this promoted efficiency, reduced waste and increased production capacity. A good lesson to learn early on.
Women’s purse in the works. Ladies have always been our best customers.
Early, early, early website design for Ductbills.com (Thanks Chad).
Early, early, early website design for Ductbills.com (Thanks Chad).
I kept records of everything.
I kept records of everything.
I kept records of everything.
I kept records of everything.
I kept records of everything.
