Get The Valentines Day Hook-Up at IMU The Inside Out

If you guys haven’t had the chance to check out IMU The Inside Out then I highly recommend that you jump on over and see what they have to offer. IMU is the brainchild of former University of Michigan basketball team captain, David Merritt. Prior to making the team, David had his share of challenges.

“It wasn’t so easy. Despite my hard work, I didn’t make the cut – two years in a row. But the more work I put in, the harder it was to surrender. So I gave it another shot. And on my third try, I made the team. Two years later I was named co-captain. That same year we went to the NCAA tournament for the first time in eleven years.”

IMU was born from a text message that David received on the road while playing a game at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City. The text read IMU, which he interpreted as meaning “I Miss You.” Since then, David was inspired to bring those three little words to life and he has done that through his clothing line IMU The Inside Out.

The IMU line reflects David’s drive to succeed. Their tees are bright, fun and youthful but with edge.

Tees from the first season of the IMU line were priced between $30 and $38 but from now until February 15 you can grab these shirts at just $15. IMU also released some new plaid inspired tees just in time for Valentine’s Day and these are priced at $25.

A Little Story About Kevin Garnett

I’ve featured A.J. Dimarucot aka Collision Theory on this blog many times before (read interview) and was excited when I read this post that he made over at Emptees regarding a Kevin Garnett design that he did a year ago. This story should be pretty inspiring for you would be and hopeful designer types.

I had a friend who worked in Adidas in my country and I emailed him the graphic, asking him to send it over to his US contacts. I was hoping they would pick it up and use it on t-shirts.

A year passed and nothing came of it. Until June of this year.

I got an email.

From Adidas.

They wanted to buy the graphic.

Fuck

I didn’t wait long enough….I had sold the graphic to a clothing line who liked the zombie quality of the design. And they didn’t really care that it was actually KG. I never expected Adidas to come back to me after so long. So I sold the damn design to someone else!

So I told the Adidas contact it was not available anymore expecting I would probably miss the only chance I could work with a client like Adidas. But good thing they wanted me to do graphics for Dwight Howard (fuck you SWH haha) and Derrick Rose. So I did! They’re not in stores yet and probably won’t be available until 2010 (if at all they print it).

So I was stoked. Thinking I was lucky enough to have worked for them. Damn good pieces for the folio.

I thought it would end there.

Come November of this year. Nike US emails me and asks if I could do some t-shirt graphics for them. Telling me how much they like my work. They actually showed me a design of mine they really liked.

Guess what graphic it was..

..KEVIN FUCKING GARNETT!!

So I did two Nike Air Max graphics for them for their Europe accounts. They paid me a damn huge amount and they may or may not print the design.

So there. I officially love Kevin Garnett.

Moral of the story. Do things you love. One day someone will pay you for it.

Nike Unveils Witness MVP Tee

LeBron James has been a beast this season and this has no doubt been his most impressive season to date. Nike has released the official LeBron James Witness MVP tee to celebrate his MVP season. I have to admit that I’ve been one of those LeBron skeptics since he first left high school and jumped straight to the league. But this season, something about his demeanor, confidence and team play impressed me. And I admit, despite not being a Cavaliers fan, that I am witnessing one of the most electrifying athletes to ever play the game of basketball. This MVP was well deserved .

The Witness tee is available now for $30 and the the Zoom LeBron VI MVP Edition will be available on May 30 for $150.  

Are any of you keeping up with the NBA playoffs? Who are you cheering for? 

Vintage Jordan Jersey

Vintage and Jordan seem weird to me when used in the same sentence since I grew up in the Jordan era. In any case I was ecstatic the other day when I came home to find a package for me in the mail. I immediately knew what it was as I felt the softness of the packaging. Tearing open the package and exposing the Chicago red, black and white brought back some astounding memories of the man I so followed in my youth. 

You would think that I would have a Michael Jordan jersey. I would think so to. But the thing is, I never did. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t own a variety of basketball jerseys growing up, because I did. It just means that I never received one as either a birthday present or Christmas gift. I did receive a variety of other flavors like that black and white Hardaway Magic jersey (remember lil’ penny), or that blue and red Hill Pistons jersey (wasn’t he supposed the next Jordan), and even that red and white Stackhouse Sixers jersey (no wait, he was supposed to be the next Jordan). In any case, I never had a Jordan jersey of my own.

By the time I was old enough to have my own job and potentially buy my own Jordan jersey he had already retired from the game of basketball. Just my luck. Two years later, to my chagrin, he returned to play for the Washington Wizards. Sporting a caricature of a little wizard man on my chest was not my style. So, Jordan was back playing ball. And I was still without a Jordan jersey. 

Flash forward to 2008. Something triggered my sudden desire to get myself a vintage red, black and white Jordan jersey. I’m not sure what it was, but that trigger was pushed. Being the tech maven that I am there was only one place to look to solve all of my Jordan jersey problems. eBay. Within minutes I found myself the perfect Jordan jersey from yesteryear. A  throwback jersey of my favorite basketball player of all time. 

Needless to say, I was quite excited when I opened that jersey containing package today. I proudly showed off the jersey to my sister and mom. They didn’t share in my enthusiasm but who cares, I was on cloud nine, as people say. I was in a state of blissful happiness. I was complete. And then a few minutes later, I was back on eBay hunting for his home jersey (White) and alternate road jersey #2 (Black).