The blog of Gordon Eckler.

Last weekend we all went to see the Bay Area Derby Girls play against the visiting Montreal team. Derby bouts are always a blast, but when you roll in there 9 or 10 deep it’s even better! From left to right this is Mom (my mother-in-law), Grandma Barbra, Sando (my wife), Double-Double (my sister-in-law), Cam (brother-in-law, who you can hardly see) and Tanya (Cam’s lady). This photo was taken before Block got there (sorry Blocker) but we were holding a seat for her. If you ever get the chance to see the Bay Area Girls play, do it. It’s so fun.

This week I worked on a project for a client of mine that reached out to me asking if I could build a portable “set” (more like a prop) that they could take to a pitch meeting. With summer right around the corner, we decided to bring the client a little bit of sunshine in a box. It works like a children’s pop-up book. When the lid is lifted the fence, bird, butterfly and all three flowers stand up. I decided to keep the outside of the box a solid single color, black was perfect, and the inside filled with bright vibrant summertime colors.

I posted more photos on my portfolio here:
http://www.behance.net/gallery/Summer-in-a-box/8723975

This book could also be called The Little Book of Design Inspiration. The work published in this little 7″ x 7.5″ book is larger than life. My sister-in-law (aka Double-Double) got me this book as a gift while I was running the screen printing company. It has been a wealth of inspiration as I work on my own design and fine art projects.

And not just graphic inspiration. The story of this “Oil & water do not mix” poster is one of how print design can make a difference in the world.

By: Caspar Williamson
Publisher: Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.
ISBN: 9781452102597
MSRP: $24.95

I read on the AIGA site today that the Colorado chapter of AIGA is hosting a skateboard art show in NYC with an opening reception tonight. Not that I can make it (sorry dudes) but I checked out the site and some of the boards. some cool stuff up there.

Peep here:
http://www.aiga.org/reception-bordo-bello-NYC/

and here:
http://www.bordobello.com/bordobello-nyc/2013-decks-up-for-grabs/#.UYq3ayufGFc

For a few weeks now I’ve been working on my design portfolio, resume & cover letter. Since the closing of Plaid Again I have gone full swing back into the world of art & design, and I’m really excited about it. I’ve taken on a number of freelance design gigs that are basically portfolio boosters, but projects I really want to do.

I know I’ve told the story 100 times to close friends, but when I got out of college my heart just wasn’t into my work, and it showed. It was only a few months after Sept. 11th (I graduate in Dec. 2001) and only a few years after dad had died. Being 21 and confused about the world, I just couldn’t get my head completely into any design or even art. I tried numerous options but nothing worked. It was in August, 2004 that I uprooted my life and moved to San Francisco, hoping a major change would help me find my way.

Now, 11 and a half years after graduating from Art School, I’m really into making art again. Design projects, custom lettering, illustration, drawing, and woodworking to name a few. I gathered up my most recent design and production work and put it together into an online portfolio here:

http://www.behance.net/plaidagain

I’ll be adding new work as projects are completed. The next project I’ll be finishing will be a promotional design for Square State Skate. I’ll post it here as well as on my portfolio once it is ready for your viewing pleasure.

I recently worked as an assistant set dresser on a wine company’s photo shoot for a print ad. I was an assistant to photographic stylists Thea Chalmers, who is very much a pleasure to work with. It was a one day shoot, so as always, it ended up being a very long day. We started early and drove to a little valley just east of Lake Berryessa about an hour and a half north of Oakland. I was a beautiful day. It really was one of those days were I stopped to look around and thought to yourself, “I can’t believe I live here”.

This may seem normal to some of you and totally bizarre to others, but I was home sick the other day so I decided to watch a Potter marathon with Ol’ Porker. We watched every Potter movie back to back. I normally don’t sit around and do nothing (in fact I hate not being productive in some way) but when you’re sick you just need to sit there and do just that, nothing. I drank water and had soup for every meal. Being sick is the worst, so Ol’ Conehead and I made the best of it.

There is a sign in Emeryville, California that reads to passing motorists and pedestrians a simple message of hope. Not one from Jesus or of selfish capitalism, just a plain and simple message. One that many Americans like myself can see, understand, and apply to our day to day lives. “The dude abides”, it says. Don’t take life so serious, roll with the punches, and let’s see where this roller coaster ride is going to take us.

The sign can’t help but remind me of my good friend Jeremiah Brooks…
rest in peace little man.

Circe 2003. I had this little book when I moved back to Baltimore after my second trip across the country. I was 23 in 2003, and my life seems so far removed on some pages, then its as if nothing has changed on other pages. This spread was from one time I was sitting in DC traffic trying to get home from work. I hadn’t thought about this story since I wrote it down 10 years ago. Now, if I close my eyes, its as if it just happend. I can just see the dude in his car drinking vodka out of a plastic bottle while sitting in traffic. In another time, another life, I might have hung out with that dude.

I got a care package from my mom today that has 22 Disney VHS tapes, 1 nice dog toy (for pork), 1 nice dog blanket (again, for Pork) and 8 brand new tooth brushes. Do you think my mom is trying to say something?

This photo was taken a few weeks back but I’m just getting it up now. This was a shoot I was on where a Yoga class was taking place on a windy beach in northern California just as the sun was going down. So yes, it was cold as shit and so windy that I had to put large rocks all over the yoga mats to keep them from blowing down the beach. Whoever thought this one up has never lived in the bay area, that I can tell you for sure.

Too far?

I’ve been hired to do some strange things over the years, and this just made the list. I’m working on the Art Department of a Pepsi production and I’m painting the back side of white shirts. The world of production… its different everyday.

I had lunch with the Video Vampire the other day and he told me about Drehobl’s Esty shop. The master of doodling boners and animals humping is selling his stuff on ETSY. Check out his online shop. If someone wants to buy me the whale smoking painting and mail it to my house I wont be pissed about it. Sorry Dan, I’d buy it right now for myself if I had a job. Sucking at life is starting to get old.

With the closing of the Plaid Again warehouse and the wife and I moving into a new place, I’ve been taking the time to evaluate what I own and why. Tons of boards, thousands of skate magazines, and a ridiculous amount of skate videos (mostly VHS). I finally came to the decision that I needed to at least deal with the ones that I have doubles and triples of. Thats how I found out I own FIVE copies of YEAH RIGHT. Does that seem excessive or is it just me?