Great Seal Of The United States, Illustrated And Stamped Into A Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat, by Rusty Knuckles

Great Seal Of The United States, Illustrated And Stamped Into A Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat, By Rusty Knuckles

Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat, With A Detailed Illustration, Of The Great Seal Of The United States As The Design. We Are Here To Help Customize Your Ride. Creating a custom seat for a motorcycle is something we truly enjoy making over the long hours it takes to craft an object into a unique work of art. Our custom seats are built for a chopper or custom build, so they can be directly bolted to the frame, or be used with a solo seat kit. The seats are already built with bolts welded in so its an easy setup.

Build Details:

• Deep dish, tear drop shape seat pan with mounting studs and covered in leather
• Seat Pan is made from 1/8" inch thick or 10 gauge steel
• 15" length x 11.5" width
• 4 oz leather on top, 8 oz. leather on bottom

Buy the seat today on Etsy

Check out our full custom leather portfolio

Great Seal Of The United States, Illustrated And Stamped Into A Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat, By Rusty Knuckles

Bottom side of custom motorcycle seat

Great Seal Of The United States, Illustrated And Stamped Into A Custom Leather Motorcycle Seat, By Rusty Knuckles

Bottom detail on custom motorcycle seat from Rusty Knuckles

Dime City Cycles Wants To See Your Helmet Designs

Dime City Cycles Wants To See Your Helmet Designs

Dime City Cycles is offering Motorcycle Enthusiasts, Graphic Artists and just about anyone with a pencil or computer the opportunity to WIN a free limited edition helmet with your design on it, and a $100 Dime City Cycles Gift card.  

Does Your Vinyl Record Collection Need Better Organization? Check Out Kate Koeppel Design For Your Solution

Vinyl Record sections by Kate Koeppel Design

Organization is the key element to anything in life with a bit of complexity. If you collect vinyl records surely you have a complex way of organizing them either based on general, alphabetical and then maybe even a favorites section or rarities. Luckily for all of us that enjoy a keen sense of placement in regards to our record collection, a lady by the name of Kate Koeppel has created a clean and precise system of dividers to make life a bit easier for locating that perfect record to put under the needle. Check out Kate Koeppel Designs

Shane Martin Knows A Thing Or Two About Bending Metal

Shane Martin Knows A Thing Or Two About Bending Metal

One the greatest aspects of web searches or my new favorite, searching on instagram, is finding raw talent. There are a myriad of things in which we can find distractions in and one of the things I enjoy most is to see new artistic fabrication ideas in steel. What we think of as one secular object, being morphed into an entirely different object is just too damn cool. The patience to create these pieces along with the thought process speaks to the true imagination that might be lurking within any of us. Maybe it's time to take a page out of Shane Martin's playbook and work up some bolts into something cool. 

Master Penman, Jake Weidmann Proves That Craftsmanship Is Still Alive And Well In The Design Community

Master Penman, Jake Weidmann Proves That Craftsmanship Is Still Alive And Well In The Design Community

It is way to easy to open up a computer application today and just start to mock up a font choice or to manipulate an image. But to create imagery from a calligraphic pen and ink is the modern day equivalent of magic. Seeing an artist such as Jake Weidmann talk about his craft is a true inspiration and a valuable lesson in keeping your skills honed and on point.

Whiskeydick - The Bastard Sons Of Texas, Album Pre-order!

Whiskeydick - The Bastard Sons Of Texas, Album Pre-order!

At the lonesome crossroads where country and metal intersect, stand two swaggering badasses holding acoustic guitars. They're not interested in your soul they have plenty of soul already. Cult favorites WhiskeyDick blow minds with a double barrel blast of dreadnaught shredding and hillbilly bellowing that makes you want to knock back a shot, stand up tall, and holler "Oh-hell-yeehaw!"

The Fort Worth duo carry on the Texas traditions of super-powered guitar slinging and clever songwriting that make lone star music a worldwide curiosity, except Reverend Johnson will remind you more of Dimebag Darrell than Billy Gibbons and Fritz remains more lyrically akin to David Allen Coe than Robert Earl Keen.

Be sure to click some of the images below for our exclusive package deals for this album release on July 28th! The Bastard Sons Of Texas belt buckle is a limited edition and only available with the album pre-order.

Easton LaChappelle, Is A Teenager With Wisdom And Vision Beyond His Years

Easton LaChappelle, a teenager with wisdom and vision beyond his years

Reading and viewing articles about interesting individuals is something that propels every day forward for us here at Rusty Knuckles. If you are a casual reader of our blog and or news feed, surely you have noticed the breadth of articles that we post. If you are just noticing our site for the first time due to seeking out great music, new products or just a random Google query, we thank you for checking us out. 

Husky Burnette Digs The Dirty Blues Kind Of Shirt

Dirty Blues - Husky Burnette, brand new shirt design

Husky Burnette is gonna have a brand new shirt ready for next week at Muddy Roots. Sometimes keeping things simple is quite effective. The new shirt will be in available at our old store on site and online starting next week. Two color print on a smoke colored shirt.

A Motorcycle Design For The History Books, From Marketplace

The Bienville Legacy built and designed by JT Nesbitt

Read the full story on Marketplace

"This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one here.

Jim Jacoby wants to create an American Renaissance of design. He has a plan to give blank checks to master craftsmen, and give them the freedom and the budget to build their dream project. His first commission, a groundbreaking motorcycle by renowned designer JT Nesbitt, is nearly complete. It’s sort of a patronage system loosely modeled after the Medici, the wealthy banking family that gave birth to the Italian Renaissance. This new system is designed to remove the drive for profit from the act of designing. The hope is that through this process, breakthroughs in design and engineering emerge. And those breakthroughs will lead to business opportunities.

This system is called the ADMCi, American Design and Master Craft Initiative, and its first commission is called The Bienville Legacy.

The Bienville Legacy, built and designed by JT Nesbitt

When David Lenk, an industrial design expert, first saw the Bienville Legacy, he was so moved, he cried. He says the design rivaled the great industrial designers of history, “the genes of engineering greats like Barnes Wallace along with the ascetics, the fine touch of Ettore Bugatti. I know that your eyebrows may arch linking JT with these engineering and design icons, but I will stand behind it.”

What he saw, he says, “Was a motorcycle that basically challenges many, many engineering precepts that go back 120 years. This is a guy who not only stepped back to square one, but then he stepped out of the square.”

Let’s go back to square one. The origin of the motorcycle is essentially the bicycle. “Think about the first motorcycle,” says Lenk, “it was a bicycle that they hung an engine onto.” But for The Bienville Legacy, Nesbitt started from an entirely new origin point: The bow.

“The very first man-made spring is a bow and arrow. So this technology is Paleolithic. It predates civilization,” says Newsbitt.

Imagine a bow and arrow pointed at the sky. Where your hand grips the bow is where the engine of the motorcycle is attached. At each end of the bow is a wheel. So instead of having shocks like a regular motorcycle, the entire bike is one big leaf spring. It looks like it's part beast, part machine.

“These are the sort of things you read about in history books,” says Lenk.

Lenk has spent his entire life surrounded by industrial design. His grandfather was at one point the largest producer of soldering irons in the world. Lenk went on to study at the Rhode Island School of Design. “I guess you could say I’ve been born with this bug and have nurtured it my whole life,” he said.

Today Lenk designs museum exhibits for a living. After finishing a recent job at a museum in New Orleans his employer took him to a French Quarter bar called Molly’s to celebrate. By chance, he happened to sit next to JT Nesbitt and Jim Jacoby. “It was a real Motorhead moment,” Lenk remembered. “Within two sentences we were talking about French Coachwork of the 1930s and design, and the conversation ended with an invitation to visit his C shop that Saturday. But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.”

Nesbitt’s shop is called Bienville studios. It’s about a block from the Mississippi River on the edge of the French Quarter. When you step inside, it’s surprising just how spare it is: a small workbench, a few racks with parts, some tool boxes.

JT Nesbitt in his New Orleans, French Quarter studio

But the most striking thing in JT’s shop is in the center of the room, a strange looking motorcycle, balancing on a hydraulic lift like a statue on a pedestal. It’s a prototype that Nesbitt built. He’s named it The Bienville Legacy.

“There’s no example, as far as I know, of anyone else in the world doing that. It’s completely original thought,” said motorcycle journalist Alan Cathcart. He’s written about motorcycles for over 30 years. He’s been called the kingmaker because he’s often the first person to ride and review new bikes.

He described Nesbitt’s design as breathtaking, though to most people it simply looks strange.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a strange-looking thing because we don’t have to sell them,” said Nesbitt.

If this were a typical corporate motorcycle, the plan would be to put the bike into production and sell them for a profit. But this is not a profit-driven endeavor. “To look at this for short-term recoupment would be to undermine the overall purpose of what we're up to,” said Jim Jacoby.

He’s put up his life savings to pay for the building of three prototypes. Jacoby gave Nesbitt a blank check and told him build his dream bike without any constraints. The expectation is that by giving JT the freedom to experiment with new ideas and materials, breakthroughs in engineering and design will emerge.

When I visited Nesbitt at his shop, one of the first things Nesbitt showed me was a small box full of bolts

“This is titanium hardware,” said Nesbitt, holding up a wooden box. Nesbitt designed the bolts himself. The bolts and other hardware alone cost $30,000. Boeing's prototype shop in Seattle is manufacturing them.

Nesbitt says this motorcycle is the first to use this much titanium and carbon composite structurally. “I think that all motorcycle designers want to use those materials but they are limited by their budgets. The materials that I'm talking about are radically expensive.”

Motorcyle journalist Alan Cathcart mounts the nearly competed Bienville Legacy Prototpye.

Nesbitt calls titanium a miracle material, “and now it’s available. Ten years ago, I couldn’t have done what I’m doing now because the military industrial complex had sucked up all the titanium. It’s just now becoming available in quantity.”

One of the byproducts of Nesbitt’s motorcycle is eight original engineering patents related to his first-of-its kind suspension system. “The outcomes for the patents might be new ways of doing suspension in automobiles,” said Jacoby.

This is one potential long term source of revenue from the bike. If the automotive industry adopts these engineering ideas, it would have to pay to license the patents. But that’s a big "if." This is one reason this project is a tough sell to investors: It’s unclear if any of Nesbitt’s radical designs will ever be adopted by the wider automotive world.

When Nesbitt was commissioned to build his motorcycle prototype, he signed over the patents and intellectual property to the American Design and Master Craft initiative, the ADMCi. In exchange, he gets his rent paid, but zero salary. If the patents do make money, he will get a percentage. But again, that’s the big if.

“I think on balance, I’m coming out way ahead,” said Nesbitt. “I’m giving everything I can to live my dream. I get to reinvent American motorcycling.”

Motorcycle journalist Alan Cathcart has been called \"The Kingmaker.\" Here he is with Nesbitt and the nearly completed Bienville Legacy.

The next step for Nesbitt and Jacoby is to prove that the motorcycle is more than just a beautifully crafted, groundbreaking design; they have to prove that it can perform. So they’re taking the bike to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, to attempt to break a world land speed record.

“The weight advantage, for a variety of design decisions, is tremendous,” said Jacoby, “It’s probably going to net out as a 350 pound bike with a 300-350 horsepower engine which is, by any definition, a rocket.”

Jacoby has decided he wants to be the one to ride the bike across the salt. He’ll have to top 200 miles per hour to break the record in the category this bike competes in. He’s never gone anywhere near that fast on a motorcycle. He admits that this plan is completely absurd, but, he says, it’s necessary. “This is a design that needs to be proven on the field of battle. And the field of battle in this case is the Salt Flats.”

After Nesbitt finishes building the motorcycles, he will remain a part of the ADMCi. “I become one of the people who’s involved with selecting the next project.”

If the ADMCi can recoup the money spent on the three prototypes and attract patrons to fund more commissions, Nesbitt will help seek out another master craftsman to get a blank.

This time he will be the one asking the question, “What would you do if you could do anything?”

“I’m the perfect person to be a judge of character, said Nesbitt, “and when somebody asks you what you would do if you could do anything, you had better be ready with a good answer.”"

Is Your Latest Poster Design Worthy Of $2200?

A few of our favorite posters for the bands we work with created in house

One cool thing about social media is the amount of opportunities that pop up regularly and are wide open to the public. We just got this email blast from Pollstar about a poster contest. At the label, we don't create many posters for shows except the occasional ones that we need for bands on tour. If ya happen to know some folks with solid design chops, pass the word on cash money prizes available from the Pollstar contest going on in Nashville.

Great concert posters don't happen by chance. It takes great artists working with great promoters and venues. Do you have a favorite from 2013? Now's the time to submit it for our annual poster contest. 

Winners will be announced at the 25th Annual Pollstar Awards on February 21, 2014 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The Poster Contest is limited to the best posters only. 

Prizes:
1st - Full-page ad in Pollstar
($2,199 value)
2nd - Half-page ad in Pollstar
($1,299 value)
3rd - Third-page ad in Pollstar
($899 value) 

All entries must be:
- Maximum size 24" x 36"
- Shipped unmounted.
- Submitted by event/show producer.
- From a 2013 live event or show.
- Mailed in tube or flat - DO NOT FOLD.
- Received by December 16, 2013.
Posters will be mounted on foamboard for presentation and will remain the property of Pollstar.

Ship Posters to:
Pollstar Live Poster Contest
4697 W. Jacquelyn Ave.
Fresno, CA 93722 

Questions? Contact us at: postercontest@pollstar.com

Interview With Head Industrial Designer About The New Indian Motorcycle Engine, From Cyril Huze Blog

Greg Brew, head of Industrial Design at Polaris

Link to Cyril Huze Blog for original post

"Greg Brew is the Head Director Of Industrial Design at Polaris Industries inc., and as such, is overseeing all designs for all products the company is making. With his talented team he is the man who designs the Victory motorcycles and just created the all-new Indian Chief. He is also a very passionate motorcyclist who, after-hours, enjoy building his own custom motorcycles (watch the video at end of feature). In an exclusive interview, Greg Brew answers my questions and reveals the creative process that led to the conception and production of the first Indian model by Polaris.

Cyril. Polaris acquired Indian from Stellican (Indian Motorcycle of Kings Mountain) in April of 2011. Do you remember when your learned about it, who told you, what were your first reactions?

Greg. I heard about it in-line at the cafeteria from Scott Wine, our CEO, when we were considering buying it. Initially I was skeptical about how it would fit together with Victory and whether we could support such a campaign with 2 brands. That was mostly because I didn’t understand how much effort and money Scott was going to commit to the cause. It quickly became a beautiful thing once I saw we were going “all in”. After that I was just concerned whether I could pull it off.

CAD drawing of the new Indian Motorcycle engine

Cyril. When was your first creative meeting regarding Indian? What was said about what would be your assignment? What was your time frame?

Greg. The first real “Indian meeting” was organized off-site in a hotel between our Medina and Wyoming facilities. We had all parties at the table, marketing, product management, engineering, design. We hammered out the basic outline for what became the Chief. It was there that I gave an engine presentation and brand presentation that set out what we wanted to do for the first design. We also did a drawing of the motor on a big piece of paper that described the V angle, the head proportions, push-rod tubes, exhaust placement, right side drive. Wish I could find it now… We did a bit of work before that, early on, looking at different ways we could get to a bike quickly. There were many ideas about re-use of Victory components and how it would speed the development process and reduce costs. That off-site meeting is where we really decided that it would not be right to do anything other than a stand-alone bike that was purely Indian.

Cyril. Tell us about the process by which Polaris concluded to go first the Indian Chief route, not the Scout, not the Indian Four or other platforms? Did you belong to this decision making process? What are the marketing rationales for such a decision?

Greg. God those were fun discussions. At the beginning there were many different opinions and options, everything was open as far as possibilities. As you know there are lots of really smart guys at Polaris Industries, Inc. that know tons about bikes. I learned a lot. Plus we can build anything you want as far as powertrain, frame material, whatever. It was a time of open possibilities, big discussions, debates, campaigning behind the scenes. We had a huge discussion at our dealer meeting in Las Vegas. The whole team was there. We talked about an Indian 4, about a V-twin, about the American motorcycle. We had a few beers in us so it was pretty animated. It was very Polaris. It felt to most of us that the best path to acceptance was to do a Chief first as a v-twin.

Cyril. Can you summarize the first creative briefing you received to conceive the all-new Indian Chief?

Greg. I’d have to say that it was more a series of confirmations rather than a standard brief. I built a proportion study bike to nail down the overall size. I wanted something I was calling “majestic but manageable”, I felt the King’s Mountain bike at a 68” wheelbase was too long and that the bike felt too tall and top-heavy as well. I wanted a lower, more horizontal feel much like the historic bikes, and something where you wouldn’t feel like you were taking your life in your own hands if you had to get gas in a gravel parking lot. But I still wanted it to be impressive, one thing the size did for the KM bike was to wow people. I still wanted that. We also knew that it needed to be “historically informed.” It needed to recall a Chief. It needed to show we understood what was important to the brand, that we knew what to do with it. I also mentioned above the presentation I did for the engine. It can’t be stressed enough how important it is to get the damn motor right. If that doesn’t work then all bets are off.

Molds being created for new cylinder design

Cyril. Please, describe your creative team, number of people, responsibilities and how you managed the creative process.

Greg. There’s a bigger team to do all of Polaris’s products but for bikes it’s a small team. We mixed it up a bit by bringing in one outside consultant to compete as well. All the creative team reports directly to me and since I’m busy and distracted most of the time they’re all very self-sufficient. We do a lot of group critics to refine the 2-D designs, we all vote on which ones are best (you can’t vote on your own work) to down-select to the final design. They’re an amazing team, I fear one day people will see how little I actually do and get rid of me! Once we’re into the clay modeling the process is si
milar but with less people involved. There’s only one full-size model with one designer, plus a team of clay modelers. we still do reviews with the whole group and you’re working a lot with engineering by the time you’re in full-scale. Depending on how far off-base I think the design may be going I spend time with the designers. If I’m not around much, you’re doing good. If I am, you might be missing something. The work we do is never easy, most of the stuff Polaris makes leads the industry so everything gets attention.

Cyril. Was the creative process any different from the one you usually use for the elaboration of new Victory models? If yes, why?

Greg. No, our process is pretty well understood. We follow the same steps no matter whether it’s a Snowmobile or a Ranger.

Interview with Greg Brew, head of Industrial Design at Polaris

Cyril. Personally, do you sketch first, go directly to a CAD program?

Greg. I no longer sketch on vehicle programs and haven’t for at least the last 15 years of being a director, that’s why there are designers. Personally I think you better have done what you needed to do by the time you’re a manager. If you’re still competing with your own guys, something’s wrong. That said the design staff is free to work as they wish, traditional sketching, Photoshop, etc… Our process is tailored to Polaris’s needs. We try to get into full scale modeling quickly so we can give accurate info to engineering as soon as possible, but we are not very sexy in terms of CAD, animations, virtual models in the creative phase. We don’t want to spend the money or time on that. We look pretty old fashioned except for white light scanning of models and killer CAD surfacing work.

Cyril. Did you work knowing what should be the final retail price or worked first without any financial constraints?

Greg. I suppose someone in the company knows what it should cost. For most of the program I could care less and that’s how it should be. Do you really need to be thinking about that when you’re trying to bring back a brand like this and do the next Chief? I know our engineering director will kick over when he hears that…

Brand new Indian engine design created after their being newly owned by Polaris

Cyril. Do you like to present only one design, the one you believe in the most, or several directions to choose from?

Greg. We always have multiple versions, we generally pick the final one from 4-5 concepts. At the end we do just one full-scale model, I’ve often wished to do more than one model but it actually helps drive the decision process when you have to focus on one design.

Cyril. Was one full mock up of the bike made by you for presentation and approval? More than one? Or was the Chief approved on sketches before going to engineers?

Greg. We pick the final direction from drawings then we go to full size clay model. Sometime I would like the luxury of making more than one model for consideration but Polaris is a hard driving company and we go fast, straight to the final design.

Cyril. Did you conceive and design the overall shape of the new Thunder Stroke 111 motor?

Greg. Yes, there are 55 man months of industrial design labor in the engine, we made multiple clay models and thoroughly sorted out the design before we went into CAD. It was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever worked on. I’m not a nostalgic guy about stuff we’ve done. I’m always ready for what’s next but God I love that motor.

Cyril. Did you pre-test some designs? If yes, explain the process used. By focus groups? Only with current Harley riders, which age, socio-demographics?

Greg. We do qualitative focus group work, with large scale detailed drawings. Some was with Harley riders, some Indian, some aspirational. Age brackets were driven a bit more by who could afford it so they tended to be older.

Brand new Indian Motorcycle engine

Cyril. How many people have a final say on a brand new model? Can you mention their names and official titles?

Greg. Normally not many people are involved in the process at Polaris which is one of the reasons we are so fast to market. This time we had a lot of additional interest due to the high profile of the brand. Managing all the input was challenging.

Cyril. We all know about the usual “conflict” or “struggle” between creative people and engineers. Was that the case? Any design or feature where you had to be extremely convincing, or any concession(s) you were obliged to make? In both cases, which aspects of the design, for what reasons? Design, cost. feasibility?

Greg. I can be a real a-hole when it comes to this, and yes there were fights to get things the way we wanted. However, if everyone just goes along and there’s no friction, no discussion, then there’s no heat and thus no cooking. Passion for the profession means heat and we have a lot of passion… If we aren’t’ pushing and the ideas aren’t crazy then there’s no advancement. That said, if there’s no engineering, support and buy in, then it’s all time-wasting and there’s no bike, no production, no quality, no reality. Engineering totally stepped up and we got their A-game. There were seriously shit-hot motorcycle guys on this program. Amazing.

Cyril. Are you already working on new Indian platforms? Which ones (I know you will not answer this one…). For 2015 model year?

Greg. Oh yeah. You ain’t seen nothing yet. We’ve got a lot of work to do to build a full Indian brand. You can bet we aren’t even close to done yet.

Cyril. We go together for a long day ride. If I ask you to choose in my garage between a 1946 Indian Chief and a 1937 Scout, which one do you pick?

Greg. I’m lucky enough to have spent some time on a 46’ Chief, so I might pick the Scout. But I’d want to know the story behind each one. The first Indian that I really bonded with was a 46’ and the guy that let me ride it bought it in 69’ and it was his daily driver. That bike was so much a reflection of its owner, it was amazing to ride it."

Victory Motorcycles: Greg Brew’s Motorcycle from David Shelleny on Vimeo.

Recycle An Old Skate Deck Into A Guitar Body

Damn, our minds are just spinning with ideas after seeing these awesome guitars created from old skate decks.

"Made entirely by hand in a buenos aires workshop, Argentinian luthier Ezequiel Galasso and pro skateboarder Gianfranco De Gennaro Gilmour have collaborated to develop electric 'skate guitars' from reclaimed skateboard decks. both the body and neck are constructed with layered maple - with models equipped with features such as single volume knobs, whammy bars and humbucking pickups." 

Find out more on Facebook

Check out original post on DesignBoom

Skate guitar made from recycled skateboard deck

DIY at it's best, take an old skate deck and turn into a guitar, damn right.

Matchbook Illustrations By Jason D'Aquino

Artwork can be everywhere and anywhere. It all just depends on the item in which a scrawl, sketch, paint mark or crafted solution, was placed with the intention of creating a new object with a redefined sense of purpose. How does that sound for clinical and collegiate? Better yet, it could possibly be a way to describe art, in our modern context in which many things that are being created, rely on an element from the past as their springboard?

Some purveyors of "art" with the worst craftsmanship get away with being called "artists" and then there are folks such as Jason D'Aquino. His reliance on found objects takes his illustration style into a different level altogether. By using graphite pencils and old paper he is creating a sense of awe through scale and amazing detail. The depth within these illustrations is beyond good and the way the pencil lines flow within the context of the matchbooks heighten the story line to an almost hard boiled pitch. Mickey Spillane could have had a field day with these matchbooks as a storyline. Damn fine work indeed.

Check out original post on This Is Colossal

Pin up bondage, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Pre 1930's Vintage motorcycles, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Hot Date, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Marilyn Monroe, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Pistol diagram of a Colt 1911, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Internal watch mechanisms, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Famous Hollywood movie monsters, matchbook illustrations by Jason D'Aquino

Wrestling skeletons, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

True Cases of Women In Crime, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Vengeance Is Mine, matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

Illicit Desires matchbook illustration by Jason D'Aquino

"Jason D'Aquino is a miniaturist. He creates his artwork on an incredibly small scale, many works not exceeding one inch by one inch in dimension.

D'Aquino chooses to work on found surfaces such as strike-on-front matchbooks, 18th century animal-skin vellum, and antique ledger pages. His search for these found "canvases" has led him to strange corners of the world and to some unique treasures. He recently unearthed a hand-quilled, illustrated whaling manuscript from St. Petersburg Russia, which made its way to Christies Auction House in New York City.

Jason's influences include H.P. Lovecraft, Henry Darger and Hans Bellmer. His drawings, often political in nature, have graced the pages of the New York Times, Juxtapoz, I.T.A., The Stranger, and Gulliver Magazine. A hardbound volume of his work is fourth coming, soon to be released by Ignition Publishing."

Rusty Knuckles Custom Tool Bags and Belt Loops

For the last few months we have been schooling ourselves in leather work to crank out a plethora of new items for us and the bands. Needless to say we are damn proud of the new products coming out and getting a massive response. We will be debuting these products next weekend at Heavy Rebel Weekender. This fall stay tuned for another huge part of the leather goods to be arriving with a variety of saddle bags, belts, wallets and more band items focused on leather and metal etaching.

In the coming weeks we will be posting up videos of us creating these new items and also going into specifics about the types of leather being used. We are stoked to be able to offer cool items up for sale and to be able to back it up saying its all created in house by yours truly.

Rusty Knuckles 12 ga. Belt Loops in Black and Chestnut Brown

Rusty Knuckles new leather products in Black and Chestnut Brown

Chestnut Brown leather tool bag from Rusty Knuckles

Belt Loops and Keychains from Rusty Knuckles

Belt Loops and Keychains from Rusty Knuckles

Our new tool bags offered in Black and Chestnut Brown

Our new tool bags in Black vegetable tanned shoulder leather

Winston Smith's Punk Rock Satire

Collage can be an extremely powerful medium when it comes to conveying a multitude of messages. Old ads representing a distinct moment of time,juxtaposed with a thought provoking message can create an interesting form of satire. 

In this particular case you might not know his name but chances are that you have seen his work. Winston Smith has been quite the prolific designer when it comes to iconic imagery and one of those individuals that is a keen observer of pop culture. Have a listen to what makes him tick and check out more of his work.

Find out more on Winston Smith

Winston Smith collage - Idol

The Mona Lisa as a punk rocker by Winston Smith

Dead Kennedys logo created by Winston Smith

Green Day's, Insomniac collage illustration created by Winston Smith

Tijunana album cover of Contra Revolucion Avenue by Winston Smith