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| Rusty Knuckles new mobile store display shelving |
Not sure how most folks approach their days, but on this end of things, every day seems like a race to make something happen. It is not in the sense of rushing to get things done, but more along the lines of the sand running out of the hourglass. The drive to create new ideas and build items to help promote our work through better advertising and displays rattles my brain, day in and day out. Often I think it could be a curse or a disease as relaxing is just a far off notion, that I think will be achieved one day, but it won't. This is not a bad thing though. Hard work and determination pay off in many forms, but true relaxation is just not part of the equation, nor would I even understand how to do that. Hell, when at the beach, I have to swim until I am tired. When on a vacation, I have to go explore every nook and cranny of the location to be sure that I fully saw what was there. High five to all the workaholics out there, as we just have to keep that fire lit.
Let's talk turkey though about what it's like to be on the hunt for something. We all have our hunting grounds. Maybe yours is a soybean field for whitetail deer, a vintage swap meet for that one year motorcycle part which fits just right or maybe a wall or sitting train car for attacking with spray cans. Our favorite hunting grounds tend to be places that fit within our way to promote new products, albums, or builds for our show booth which keeps us at upwards of fifteen festivals per year. So guess what, second hand stores, flea markets and Habitat For Humanity are amazing spots to find unique items for builds.
Within our festival season, which runs from roughly late April to Early October, we push to be at about 10 to 15 varying festivals per year. That may sound like quite a few and it is. Biggest part to know and comprehend is that every festival is different and has a unique approach akin to the crowd in attendance. From our end, making things simple and easy, is always the best approach. Simply and easy, generally only comes at the end, when one of these products is completely finished, but hey, gotta have steadfast goals to get there.
One day while perusing my favorite hunting grounds, I ran across this old store display for $35. It had a good framework and structure and I knew that it could be made into something really unique. So I scooped it up and sat on the idea for about four months. Not sure exactly with what I wanted to do exactly, rough plans were draw up and then after a lot of sanding and prep work a new mobile store display was a in place. Yep, it was much more difficult than it sounds with fabricating and welding up a metal chassis on pneumatic tires, sanding and scuffing the entire piece. Cutting up new wooden planks to build shelving and then the multiple coats of ebony wood stain, more sanding, adding in hand painted lettering and then to finish it up, three coats of polyurethane.
Making items look simple and effective is damn hard, but ease of use and a clear approach for the customers is what matters the most. Weeks of deliberation on build ideas to final construction is all that matters in the end. Don't settle for what you don't want and believe in the bigger ideas to help fuel your approach. This is the only way to keep an unrelenting mind at ease.
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| Old store display for sale at Habitat For Humanity in Raleigh, NC |
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| Fabricated and welded up a new steel chassis for the mobile store cart for ease of use |
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| The inside of our new mobile store display cabinet after multiple coats of polyurethane |
