DREAMSDONTWAIT
The Research and Dream Development Dept.
Music, Skate Culture and Design played a significant role in my upbringing, so much that it wasn’t until I got older that I realized how much these influenced the world around me.
I wanted to create a brand that embodied everything I loved about that era, the references, the colors, the sometimes off-kilter aesthetic that filled skateboard magazines I collected growing up.
As the son of an Educator who hated school, I grew to develop an understanding that in order to grow, I needed to learn about the world around me, and more importantly to apply the knowledge acquired in real time.
In building DREAMS, I wanted to stress the fact that Education is everything and we need it in order to thrive and grow in order to reach our goals.
Not only did I want the brand to be a direct representation of my influences, philanthropy and giving back were also important ideals that stood at the forefront of my values.
Community and unity is at the heart of DREAMSDONTWAIT and without helping each other there is no growth or sustainability.
Our research defined the audience of the brand as a niche culture of anyone who spent time outside playing as kids, interested in pop culture and other interests that often lie on the fringe of society.
Initial brainstorming consisted of defining the pillars of the brand that we felt closely embodied our vision and the kind of tone we wanted to set throughout.
Using adjectives to describe what we felt aligned best with the concepts we had in mind, it allowed us to create a web of influences that we could then use to shape branding.
During Philosophy stage, I referred to the brainstorming done earlier and kept Education at the forefront. Imagination is creativity in it’s purest form, while development is key to building skills and confidence.
As for naming, there were a few options, however I felt DREAMSDONTWAIT was fitting because nothing you want will wait for you, and you have to go after it just like anything else.
Historical and Contextual moodboards were created in order to determine and inform exactly where and what the brand image would eventually become.
I wanted to also create a Contextual moodboard to showcase the aesthetic of design direction for merchandise and other pieces of apparel that would I would like to create.
The development of the logo type was really interesting, it allowed me to see the name of the brand in a different way that I originally imagined with type, weights, and other explorations.
I also got to break down the type to create a few lockups, ultimately deciding on one that would be the face of the brand.
For the logo mark I originally wanted to design an icon that resembled a core and manipulated it a few ways just to get some options. I liked a few but wanted the mark to be more abstract and convey a different kind of emotion.
This brought me to refer to a Sharpie doodle I made years ago that I’ve always wanted to use but could never find a home for. Scanning it in allowed me to digitize it and press it into a square and create a weird amoeba kind of shape that shared positive/negative space.
It was at this stage that I felt the brand really started to take shape and morph into it’s own unique piece of art.
The brand’s colors were inspired by an old pair of Nike Dunks I had as a kid, but modified to create it’s own speciality palette.
It also gave me a chance to play around with the logo mark and type, adding and substituting colors with different variations to bring about a range of emotions and looks. Very fun playing around in this stage!
I experiment a lot within every project I get my hands on so using the finalized lockup I made it so that it pops a little bit more by adding a 3D element to it.
Secondary type was also added using the type at the bottom of the lockup and the main type which are from the same family, but paired really well.
A few different type marks were also added here for experimentation and to see what else could be explored. Type could also be used as ideas for merchandise designs later down the road.
Skateboarding magazines always pushed the envelope with zany, sometimes obscure and funny advertisements and I loved and wanted to bring that feeling back with a few of my own.
Design for me doesn’t always have to be over the top, it can be simple and ironic and funny. I don’t take myself too seriously and I wanted to convey through these ads that it’s okay to have some fun with design.
Graphic Design has it’s niches and I found mine through designing merchandise for artists so creating the merchandise for DDW was pure joy.
I chose a handful of novelty and everyday items I felt represented the brand and used the colors to accentuate the merchandise options.
Tee shirts, everyone wears tee shirts. I created mocks for the lockups as well as some for the box logos on the chest, highlighting the brand’s tagline, “The Research and Dream Development Dept.”
Other everyday Items included coffee mugs, and totebags that could be used for a miriad of purposes.
Lastly, there wouldn’t be DREAMSDONTWAIT without skate culture so I had to create some branded decks that were similar to the tees and totes, it’s own merchandise family.
