JULY 2025

Big Event Design is Fun

One of the fun things I’ve been able to work on over the years with Tony Hawk is our big events. Not just like a big birthday party with some streamers and a cool cake. We’re talking about the biggest sports arenas in the country, world famous amusement parks, and even charity events in the (very large) backyard of one of the wealthiest people in L.A. When I first started working for Tony, he was just launching his first Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom HuckJam tour across the biggest cities in the United States. From a design standpoint, these shows included intricate set designs, semi-truck and bus wraps, a full line of tour merchandise, marketing materials, social media designs, dedicated websites, and all the behind-the-scenes stuff like sponsor sales decks, radio spots, the little logo on the microphone the announcers use, wristbands, backstage passes, promo posters, TV commercials and voice overs (yes, I was the voice of some TV spots over the years… “BE THERE!!”). And then, these tours spawned licensing deals for which I created designs for kids’ bedding, backpacks, party supplies, spiral notebooks, lunchboxes, posters, skateboards, and bicycles. And yes, there was even a Boom Boom HuckJam Happy Meal at McDonald’s. It’s a lot of stuff to design, but it’s a lot of fun to see it all come together in the end. And with the great crew at Tony Hawk Inc., the vision always comes together perfectly to create great events.

At some point we got away from doing the big mega-tours, and the charity events morphed into different kinds of events. But, these days, we still get to gear up for a big annual summer contest event called Tony Hawk’s Vert Alert, held in Salt Lake City, UT. Other than the X Games, it’s the biggest vert skating event of the year, featuring both the Legends of Skateboarding and the best up-and-coming skaters that you eventually see on ESPN and the Olympics. This year’s event is happening in a couple of weeks (July 18-19) and is a FREE event if you happen to be near SLC. Once again, I got to design all the fun stuff that goes with an arena-size event like this. It’s fun to take an event design and let it evolve each year while still staying on-brand and never straying too far from the look you’ve cultivated. Here are some images from events over the years all the way through this year’s Vert Alert event.

And if YOU have any kind of event coming up, from a corporate function to a sporting event or convention, hit me up. I can help.

Case Studies...

Recently I have added to my website some of these more in-depth looks at projects I have worked on. Some of this content has creeped into previous newsletters…but not as in-depth as the versions on the website. I just added a couple of new Case Studies for projects that were a lot of fun to work on. Click the image below to check them out!

American Basil

Do you like pesto sauce? Reeeeeaaalllly good fresh, locally made pesto sauce that lasts MUCH longer than most pestos and comes in a large variety of flavors (I have only shown a few flavors below). Then you might want to run over to Whole Foods and grab some American Basil or order directly online. I don’t even know how I originally got connected to American Basil, but in the beginning, they were known by a different brand name that I can’t mention here. The company was owned and run by a lady who was very hands-on and very protective of her brand. When she passed away, she left the entire operation to one of her dedicated employees, but only under the stipulation that she had to change the name of the brand. Seems like an odd thing to do to the product, but that was the deal. So I came on board to help rebrand slightly…taking the original label designs and reconfiguring and rebranding and giving them an updated look to make the product both new AND recognizable as the same great taste as it’s always been. We did a quick logo design, new packaging, and a very simple but effective website you can order from directly… www.americanbasil.com Check out ALL their great flavors!

Shirt for Charity

My friend Suzie does good stuff. If you are reading this and you are one of my local friends, you would know her from Milk Organics, the best vegan (and non-vegan) smoothies and avocado toast (and more) shop in North County. Recently she and her team started a new charity called Good Neighbor Vista, investing in community. You can read more about them HERE. I designed a new t-shirt and $10 from every purchase will go directly to Good Neighbor to help fund their new mobile thrift store trailer and do good in the community. You can buy one of the shirts HERE.

All paintings STILL 50% off!

We sold more paintings again after last month’s big 50% off sale, so we’re keeping it going. Just enter the code FEZ50 at checkout and you’ll get 50% off any of my paintings in my online store. That means the little ones are only $25! This might be a last chance on the paintings…get one now! (please).