Preacher holds an annual SXSW party we call The Early Service where we gather festival attendees, friends and family for great food, music and on-site activations.
In 2022, we presented a gallery featuring the much-talked about “NFT” which of course stands for non-fungible token, but also stands for the 50+ of items we put on display. Such as “Nevernudes For Tobias,” “New Friend Tax” replete with donation box; “Noodles Fused Together,” “Nimble Fingered Tetris,” and “Nice Fucking Try” which was accompanied by a pair of really, not real-looking security cameras overlooking the exhibit.
We knew that chatter around NFTs would be a highly discussed topic du jour for folks attending SXSW this year, and wanted to add our own stupid-smart thinking to the discourse. What is a "real" NFT? Is the value in the physical object? In the digital token? In the concept itself that makes your mind start inextricably seeing the world in terms of this acronym? Naturally, freakin' torn.
Ten of the most popular items ended up being minted into actual NFTs and auctioned on OpenSea. Winners received the digital token along with the physical object and its gallery card. Proceeds benefit Ukraine through donations to the IRC (International Rescue Committee).
This past October, Nike celebrated the launch of the RF x AJ3 ‘Atmos’ sneaker in Shanghai at the Nike Lab x158.
This enabled first access for Shanghai’s sneaker and art community influencers. I lead the design for the space; the first floor told the story of the sneaker collaboration; while the second floor was designed for Roger Federer’s visit and his meet and greet with media. Because Roger is a sneakerhead himself, we also designed a special sneaker exhibtion for him to better understand the development of China sneaker culture over the years through the lens of Nike’s China-relevant designs. These 26-sneaker showcase ranged from collabrations with brands such as CLOT to the annual highly-aniticipated, Chinese Zodiac sneaker.
Nike Shanghai worked with Buck Studio to create animations for their annual Chinese Zodiac sneaker, celebrating the year of the Rooster in 2017 which were ultimately placed in digital screens in their retail stores.
While Converse continues to have die-hard fans world-wide they were “ready for more” all-day comfort and wearability. The Chuck Taylor All Star II featuring Nike’s Lunarlon in-sole was launched in 2015. The volt green color of the sole along with the ‘II’ became the icons of the campaign. We combined our Shanghai launch party with a media meet and greet and invited only our closest hundred+ friends. We brought on digital creative collective SuperNature to create an interactive kinect experience that greeted guests as they entered the space. There they they could learn more about the special CII features. They then put on hazmat suits and given spray guns and water balloons filled with volt-colored paint to splatter the walls and eachother. The die-cut stickers were eventually pulled off revealing stenciled artwork from street artist Para. And of course, no Converse event would be complete without live music.
In 2015 Converse launched a global campaign that focused on the brand’s core message of self-expression. The campaign simply featured authentically worn and torn pairs of Converse from world-reknown names like Andy Warhol and Patty Smith to local influencers, artists and musicians from around the globe.
Quickly following this global launch, each region debuted their own MBY event which highlighted the work of local talent in music, art, food and fashion. The 2-day festival in Shangahi was held at an open air market with art installations, user-generated content space, and all day mini events such as customized totebags for guests. I art directed the event as part of the internal Converse team and provided close guidance to our PR/ Events agency. In addition, I also contributed large scale illustrations in the space.
As part of our annual participation at the Yohohood event we debuted the Jack Purcell Modern HTM . With a focus on JP’s badminton and tennis heritage, we created a mechanical dancing tennis ball installation that played alongside a video that featured a JP Modern sneaker exploding into dozens of tennis balls. At the booth, visitors could learn more about and even purchase the sneakers by scanning a QR code. There was also an easy social media share that placed the JP “smile” on a photo taken of each visitor by an on-site photographer. In exchage, the visitors walked away with a JP totebag and JP pins.
Jack Purcell is Converse’s fashion and style sneaker. As such we have started collaborating with local designers during Shanghai Fashion Week. In 2016, we created a space at the Labelhood event that featured up-and-coming, cutting edge designers. Media were invited to come by for a breather in between shows. There they could recharge at our coffee bar while being seeded the latest JP seasonal models.
On July 4, 2017, The Michelin Guide and IDEO hosted an immersive occasion in Shanghai to elevate the conversation around culinary craft and culture in China. Guest speakers shared their personal stories of their influences, hopes, and fears. Interspersed amongts these stories were 4 sets of group discussions, panels and “in conversation with” sessions to promote provocative and constructive debate around culinary culture in China. The 200+ guests were served a lunch designed by IDEO’s Culinary Expert-in-Residence and there was a celebratory cocktail reception and standing dinner with specially designed dishes by 4 chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants from Asia and the U.S. I was brought on as the creative director for the event, working on-site at IDEO for 2 months to concept and design the touchpoints for the day-long experience. We created a visual identity for the event that included a logotype and key visual which were used across things such as the digital invitation, digital program, event posters, opening event video and space design.
