The Inksie brand began as a side project of a larger company that specializes in online apparel sales. The company aimed to branch out and develop its own line of proprietary apparel. The idea was to expand the business in a fun, unique way while capturing apparel enthusiasts’ and designers’ interest with a quality brand. The success of several online t-shirt retailers helped form the vision for a community-driven company.

In the Summer of 2009, design and development on Inksie’s website began, and production planning and organization took place during Fall of 2009. The company’s blog, The Inksie Journal of Design & Culture, went live in late November. A lot of time and energy was put into The Journal as content was curated and artists and industry leaders were interviewed. Its initial goal was to attract interest to the Inksie brand and build community through thoughtful discourse and content.

Behind the public face of Inksie, more planning was taking place. Half way through development, the opportunity to develop the brand beyond a simple apparel shop and blog presented itself. As the ideas evolved, things became more complex. The brand was conceived as an exclusive source of artwork and apparel, to be designed by well known, notable artists. A plethora of artists were contacted and a complex designer program was developed, complete with a print handbook, hierarchy system and a separate sub-site. This was a perfect example of scope creep: these aspects of the project consumed time and resources beyond what was originally envisioned. The vision for Inksie became that of a “lifestyle brand,” one that spanned multiple disciplines. There were plans to self-publish The Journal, sell woodblock letterpress prints, open a retail space, release limited edition vinyl pressings, make custom shoes and even organize live D.J. events.

Inksie’s official website launched in late August 2010. We had been working on Inksie almost exclusively for the last eight months. Our time was a valuable resource, and working on Inksie – organizing Journal content, curating artwork and preparing and photographing products – meant that our parent company’s projects were put on hold.

This neglect reached a climax in the middle of October, as the lucrative Christmas season was approaching. Inksie hadn’t generated as many sales as we’d hoped. The owner decided to put Inksie on hold and told us to change gears. The idea was to come back to Inksie when we could afford to allocate resources.

So, for the next few months, we worked exclusively on projects for our parent company. The Holiday season was very successful. Unfortunately, by the time it was over Inksie had been seriously neglected. It remains in this state: funding for Inksie has not been allocated, although the shop is still open, and we’re processing orders.

We’ve had some time to reflect on our experiences. When we started working on Inksie, our vision was obscure at best. It clouded our judgement and made the brand-developing process difficult for everyone involved in the project. Needless to say, we’ve learned a lot about marketing, apparel and print production, and project organization. As difficult (and occasionally frustrating) as it was, we enjoyed the process, met some great people and got to interview some personal heroes.

There were a number of friendships that grew over the course of Inksie’s development. After Inksie’s figurative plug was pulled last October, we lost contact with nearly everyone. The project’s abrupt halt was both embarrassing and frustrating, and we didn’t know how to respond to it. We sincerely apologize for this.

To be honest, we’re not sure the what the future holds for Inksie. If any new developments occur, we’ll write about it here and post it on the Inksie Twitter.

Dave & Cory

Inksie’s online shop launched on Monday.

The shop, envisioned as a core part of the brand, is the fruit of a year-long effort. We currently have three custom designed t-shirts, two prints and a set of Scout Books notebooks available for purchase. We aim to increase the number of products and expand our product base as we evolve. Sign up for the newsletter to receive the latest news on Inksie releases.

The Inksie Shop and Journal of Design & Culture are currently in beta. Our team is tirelessly testing the site for glitches and bugs, but that doesn’t mean we’ll catch everything. If you see something that needs addressing, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

On the Inksie Journal

We foster an appreciation for design and its expressive qualities. To this end, we operate The Inksie Journal of Design & Culture, where we interview highly regarded professionals, feature exceptional artists and more. Through visual and conceptual content we aim to grow.

So goes the mantra for the Inksie Journal, aptly titled “Growth by Inspiration.” As you may have seen in previous posts, The Journal is not the place to search for the “latest,” most “advanced” Photoshop techniques or recent, re-appropriated visuals of mediocre, “minimal” “design.” Instead, we aspire to provide creatives and non-creatives alike with a source for traditional and non-traditional inspiration, education and relevant news.

Plans for the Future

Unfortunately, the shop launch has, due to time limitations, detracted from The Journal’s consistency. We’d like to put more of a focus on The Journal, as we feel it important to educate and provide interesting content to those in the industry and enthusiasts.

The Journal is intended to be a champion of reading in the digital age. We would like to continue exploring Design while also examining Culture. These topics are heavily influenced by one another – design directly impacts cultural trends, culture shapes the needs and requirements of design. In these realms, we seek to maintain a consistent level of quality and are continually striving to improve upon the content that we provide to our readers.

Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Visual work of interest and importance from well-known and unknown artists and designers
• Interviews with acclaimed artists and designers
• Tasteful opinion pieces of relevant content
• Cohesive editorial illustration
• Written series on various design- and culture-related topics

If you have an idea of what you’d like to see on The Journal, please leave a comment.

A Call for Contributors

The Inksie Journal of Design & Culture is looking to hire contributors – both writers and illustrators – in an effort to push its content. Please review the requirements. If you would like to be considered for one of the contributor spots, please email The Journal’s editors.

Update: We are looking to pay contributors, depending on experience. Please email us for more information.

Writers

We are seeking writers who are comfortable writing essays or brief discourses on various topics ranging from culture to design, specifically in the fields of design or the visual arts. In addition, we are looking for individuals with perspectives and opinions on various topics. Please provide:

• 2-3 writing samples
• A list of blogs you currently follow
• Topics you are interested in writing about

Illustrators & Designers

We are looking for illustrators and designs who are able to think conceptually and bring a new level of understanding to a written piece through visuals. We are looking for illustrators who are able to glean relevant information from an article and create a visual from it. We are looking for designers who work with information graphics, expressive typography and other visual elements to add interest to a written piece.

• Link to portfolio
• List of blogs you currently follow
• Topics you are interested in

The Inksie Art Team is pleased to showcase Brent Couchman’s Print & Production Poster, now available in the Inksie Shop.

We commissioned Mr. Couchman to create a design based on one of the four Inksie Principles:

Inksie engages artists and the public alike in the medium of print. We believe that it is a powerful, communicative platform. We exercise the medium’s strengths through distributing original works of printed art and design to the public.

The print is a three-color serigraph on 18″ × 24″, 80-pound cover. Mr. Couchman chose French Paper’s luscious Hot Fudge from their Pop Tone line. It comes in a limited edition of 100.

The Inksie Art Team is pleased to showcase our very first product, the Inksie Ampersand Print. The design, made by Portland, Oregon-based creative studio Colorcubic, was inspired by Herb Lubalin’s famous ampersand designs. It utilizes patterning of Inksie’s icons to form the symbol.

The limited-edition, 11″ × 17″ posters were printed on Neenah Environment PC-100 White 80-pound cover with a metallic gold ink. Rebecca from Stumptown Printers, a print shop in Portland, made the prints on a Vandercook Universal 1 Press.

The Ampersand Print will be available in an edition of 250 upon the launch of Inksie’s online shop.

Update: Giveaway Wrap-up

Monday, August 23rd: After five days of iPhone and Droid winners, the Inksie giveaway is over. Be sure to check back for the shop launch. Our winners are:

Adrian Kenny	Anna Schwartz	Nico Schneider	Dylan White	Chris Koelle

Original Giveaway Post:

Did you miss your chance to win some Inksie branded merchandise in the initial giveaway? We decided to give you a second chance, to win something even bigger. Can you possibly guess what it could be?

The initial Inksie Giveaway contest ended on Sunday, August 8th at 12:00 PM. We randomly selected and announced winners this morning. Be sure to check our Flickr feed for pictures of winners’ packages.

An Extension of Appropriate Proportions

We want to create the best possible experience to customers and provide the best possible arena to sell designer’s products. There are still some bugs to fix and details to iron out on Inksie’s shop. Therefore, we’ve set the new launch date for Monday, August 23rd.

The Newer, Grander Contest

We have found a new love for the number 23. Notice, we have given away 23 prize packs and set the launch date for the 23rd. Now, we would like to further utilize this wonderful number: we are giving away two Droid 2s and three iPhone 4s.

This Way to Enter

We’re sticking solely to Twitter for this contest. If you are not already following Inksie on Twitter, do so. Then, tweet the exact message found in this link:

Entries are valid until Sunday, August 22nd at 12:00 PM. You must follow Inksie and tweet this exact message to be entered into the contest.

To The Winners, The Spoils

Winners will be selected and announced daily from August 18th to August 22nd. We’ll announce an iPhone 4 winner on August 18th, a Droid 2 winner on August 19th, and so on until August 22nd.

Just Some Minor Details

• Winners will be randomly selected by computer system the day before they’re announced.
• Inksie will contact winners through Twitter. If a winner does not respond within 23 hours, a new winner will be selected.
• Winners will receive a gift card that corresponds in value to their respective prize in their respective online store (either the Apple Store or Verizon online store). These gift cards will be issued as electronic store codes via email.
• We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time. But don’t worry, we won’t pull a fast one on you.
• Contestants are limited to only one valid entry. Once a contest has won, he or she is no longer able to win again.

We are extending Inksie’s launch giveaway for one more week. Entries will be accepted up until Monday, August 9th, when the Inksie shop will launch.

We have received a lot of entries for the drawing. We want even more people to have a chance to hear about Inksie and win something neat. In addition, we’re including a new Inksie mystery t-shirt to the prize package.

As before, the ways to enter the contest are:

• Follow Inksie on Twitter
• Become friends with Inksie on Facebook
• Subscribe to Inksie’s newsletter
• Leave a comment mentioning your favorite Journal article

If you’ve not seen the launch page and counter, then beware: Inksie is launching its official online shop on August 9th. We’re hosting a giveaway in celebration of this momentous occasion.

The Goods

• A T-shirt with the Ampersand Icon design. It is a gold-foil print on a black, jersey cotton American Apparel shirt.
• The Ampersand Icon on an 11″ × 17″ letterpress poster. It is a limited edition print on 80-pound cover stock (edition of 250).
• Three Inksie-brand Scout Books notebooks, useful for sketching or jotting down notes. One of each: lined, blank or grid paper.
• Gift card to Inksie’s online shop for $23 (redeemable for one tee with free domestic shipping).
• A mystery designer Inksie t-shirt on a jersey cotton American Apparel shirt.

How to Enter

Inksie will randomly pick twenty-three winners, each of whom will receive a complete giveaway package. You have four ways of entering: follow Inksie on Twitter, like Inksie on Facebook, subscribe to Inksie’s newsletter, or leave a comment mentioning your favorite Inksie blog post. Each method is worth one entry. You may increase your odds of winning by entering four times. If you are already engaged with Inksie through one or more of these mediums, you are automatically entered.

Selecting the Winners

Inksie will announce the winners on the shop launch date, August 2nd. We will randomly select from all entries through electronic means. Entries are valid until August 8th at 12:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time.

Upon Winning

We will contact winners via their method of entry (direct message on Twitter, message on Facebook, or email). If winners do not respond within 24 hours we will randomly select another winner. Please expect your packages within four to six weeks from the launch date.

About the Design

The ampersand tee and print was created by Colorcubic, a multidisciplinary design studio in Portland, Oregon. Inspired by typography, it incorporates Inksie’s four icons in the shape of Herb Lubalin’s famed ampersand.

Interaction and Collaboration

Inksie assembles creatives from different mediums in one place for interaction and collaboration. We aim to open minds and build on old and new ideas alike. It’s a reliable place for honest critique, opinions and discussion.

Growth by Inspiration

We foster an appreciation for design and its expressive qualities. To this end, we operate The Inksie Journal of Design & Culture, where we interview highly regarded professionals and feature exceptional artists. Through visual and conceptual content we aim to grow.

Print Production and Distribution

Inksie engages artists and the public alike in the medium of print. We believe that it is a powerful, communicative platform. We exercises the medium’s strengths through distributing original works of printed art and design to the public.

Conducive to Creativity

We’re fans of a good challenge and growth as a consequence of it. We’ve structured Inksie with that in mind, with a community that not only fosters creative culture, but drives for progress.

About the Campaign

As you may have seen, Inksie released a new set of icons on the Fusion Ad Network as a part of a new advertising campaign. These icons represent everything that we are as a company. There is reasoning behind each one of the enigmatic shapes, please take some time to read about our thoughts and process behind the set.

To advertise, or to not advertise? This question became a long process as we are highly skeptical of advertising ourselves. We finally came to the conclusion that this was a necessary step in expanding our brand image and audience. Upon making the decision, we decided we would like to showcase our brand in a non-traditional manner – with the use of icons. We wanted to catch people’s attention with stylistically cohesive and visually compelling set of shapes.

In the initial steps of the process, we analyzed how we ourselves view advertising on a daily basis. We found that users have evolved and adjusted to the static and tasteless nature of advertising on the web. It has become second nature to mentally block out flashing banners and the all-too-familiar voice announcing that, you, are the millionth site visitor and are entitled to a billion dollar shopping spree. For the most part, modern-day advertising has become a tasteless, stagnant, and sometimes irritating experience.

The icon set started with Interaction and Collaboration. The logo needed to be a hierarchical image that conveyed smooth transitions instead of definitive beginning and ending points. This evolved into the bold sets of curving lines flowing into one, central point. As soon as the icon was created, the set’s aesthetic found its footing. The imagery found in all of the other shapes followed the three stripe pattern to create Growth by Inspiration, Print Production and Distribution and Conducive to Creativity.

All designers strive to produce good work. This is an irrefutable fact. What do artists use to base judgments and criticisms?  Are there absolutes in art? Is it all relative? This fundamental question has fostered entire art movements, fueled arguments and provided a healthy amount of confusion in the artistic community for centuries.

To counter this unsettled dispute, visionaries created manifestos, rules, lists and ideologies. In 1995 (revised in October 2009), Dieter Rams contributed his opinion to the historic examination with his Ten Principles of Good Design:

The list contains evocative and compelling demands. Was Rams’s intention that artists use these requirements as a checklist before finalizing designs? More importantly, how does this relate to modern design? Coming from an era of artists more preoccupied with product design, it allows room for a younger generation to question the relevancy of the list.

A number of inquiries, uncertainties and insights may be drawn from each one of these ten points. Conclusions may only be reached through a diverse collection of opinions. Alas, we are excited to commence a series of articles examining at length and celebrating each of these ten points.

I recently came across an article regarding stray dogs in Moscow’s subway system. These subway dogs are in the process of evolving into an unclassified species. Scientists have placed their newly formed breed between domesticated dogs and wolves.

Researcher and biologist Andrei Poyarkov researched these animals closely for over 30 years. He found that different packs of dogs are scattered around the city, and each has their own territory and characteristics. Dogs that aren’t accustomed to humans live on the outskirts of the city. They have exhibited the most wolf-like traits.  “With stray dogs, we’re witnessing a move backwards. That is, to a wilder and less domesticated state, to a more ‘natural’ state,” Poyarkov said.

During the past couple of decades a new sub-group of these stray dogs has developed. “The metro dog appeared for the simple reason that it was permitted to enter,” says Andrei Neuronov another animal researcher. During the Soviet era, dogs were not allowed in the subway terminals. Now, at least 500 of these dogs roam these subterranean railway stations.

Roughly 20 out of these 500 dogs are unique. They have developed a highly sophisticated brain (as far as dogs brains go). These dogs learn to ride the trains and arrive at specific locations at specific times. Neuronov says of this:

They orient themselves in a number of ways. They figure out where they are by smell, by recognising the name of the station from the recorded announcer’s voice and by time intervals. If, for example, you come every Monday and feed a dog, that dog will know when it’s Monday and the hour to expect you, based on their sense of time intervals from their ­biological clocks.

These dogs have even developed psychological profiles for people passing by. They need to be efficient: they only beg from those who will provide food. In some ways, they have more patience and a more sophisticated intuition than humans. Suzanne Sternthal of Financial Times states:

… a dog appears to be dozing as throngs of people walk past, but rears his head when an easy target comes into view… These dogs not only smell who is carrying something tasty, but sense who will stop and feed them.

It would be quite interesting to see these dogs populate the area and observe new skill sets that they develop. This is impractical, as many Muscovites consider the dogs a nuisance. The city has set aside money to build 15 animal shelters, which still won’t be close to enough to house the 35,000 roaming the city.

I was searching for the photographer that shot these images and finally found him: Maxim Marmur. His photos have been featured in GQ, Time magazine and the New York Times. We were quite thrilled to get a hold of him, and he graciously let us use his photos:

The Journal staff would like to thank Maxim Marmur and The Financial Times for allowing reproduction of photos. We find the body of images intimate and indicative of a relevant issue.