Blogs

SMITH EXCLUSIVO

SHOOT IT UP, BURN IT DOWN

Smith Optic’s first Exclusivo line came in the form of a snowboarding gear collab blending their long-standing craftsmanship with Spacecraft's signature graphics — a volatile combination of mindful workmanship and haphazard DIY skills. Taking cues from the results of this dynamic combo, we built a majority of the visual elements for the site by hand. Utilizing an array of tools that would make any craft-freak proud, we merged x-acto™ knives, tape, glue, wire, topless cardboard boxes with Flash to create a scripted set of user controlled video dioramas. Production on the site ended in a hail of shotgun fire and a torrent of flame. Literally. We were listening to the Conet Project at the time, a 4 disc set of shortwave radio transmissions, many of which we used in early builds of the site. Recordings it turns out, were the inspiration behind sequences in Lost and a song by Wilco,who sampled it without permission to the tune of a 30k settlement won by Conet’s documentarian, Akin Fernandez. The piece just didn’t feel the same without the samples, but he obviously meant business. So we asked for permission. Not only did the reply contain approval, it also carried with it reasoning that stands out among the high compliments for Exclusivo. "I always check the work of people who want to use TCP, firstly to make sure that it isn't some evil corporation trying to sneak a free ride, but also to get a sense of the quality of the work itself. As I said before, this stuff is just so good I felt that it must go out as designed no matter what, and any barrier to that happening would be a bad thing."