Lightrail heading North...
ART finds me. It pokes at me. Pay attention. It screams at me. Listen. It shines it's high beams at me. SEE. Creativity won't let me sleep. Won't let me take a back seat. Won't let me walk away. I hear you. I see you. I feel you.
Okay, you got my attention.
~the Wolf
It begins with a scribble. A doodle. An idea surfaces on a sticky note, sketchbook, and in this case, a cocktail napkin. For the Geekwire Gala, a celebration of the years top ten Seattle Startups, Koru commissioned us to design a 6x6 ft cocktail napkin reflecting their pioneering vision for the company.
The process is organic. It begins with a hit. A flash. It can appear on the side of the bus, a billboard, the colors on a rusted out dumpster or graffitied on shipping containers and brick walls. When they hit, I pay attention. Nothing is accidental. Everything is on purpose. I see. I listen. I sketch. Spirit drives the vehicle from there. And when I hit roadblocks, I trust that the spinout will take form in a whole new, unexpected spectacular way.
The inspiration for Koru’s Cocktail Napkin came from Roy Lichtenstein's Masterpiece series, the wailing woman, reflected the unemployed millennial and Brad, the employer. The characters' expressions of dashed hopes and disappointment are buoyed by sticky notes illustrating Koru's solution of leveling the playing field for young job seekers and bringing great employees to employers. From there the canvas came to life.
Art is about the process. The journey. The finish result is never finished. Visions spin around in crazed sleep, in my dreams, and in my waking hours. I circle back and forth erasing, sketching, evolving. The deadline calls it closed. I take a breath. Hand it over to Spirit. Walk away.
~The wolf
October 15 2014, Nas and The Wolf in front of the "Why Not You?" wall.
Nas. Multi-platinum recording artist. Change-maker. Inspiration. For Koru's session with Nas, we transformed Koru 220 from a learning hub into an intimate afternoon, very MTV unplugged. We were deeply moved by the candor of the experience and the rawness in which Nas and his manager Anthony Saleh shared. Particularly memorable was Anthony's advice for young job seeking Korus "Don't be an asshole as there's no award for being asshole." So true. For us the reward comes in commitment - to the project, our clients, our values, working hard. When The Wolf tagged Koru with Russell Wilson's father's words, the mantra behind the Seahawks 2014 Superbowl win, "Why Not You?", it was in commitment to the belief that anything is possible. For seven straight days, respiration mask on, she dedicated herself to transformation space into inspiration. With deep love. As Nas was leaving that memorable afternoon, he stopped The Wolf, and they shared admiration for the work they both put out in the world. #theworldisyours. #designedwithlove. #whynotyou?
Pioneer Square, Seattle
They walked toward me.
Perfectly inked three.
Art.
Black shoes.
Squashed pristine white socks.
A cigarette.
Black polish pointing inward.
Branded knuckles begging,
"Please just take the picture."
Postures.
Needle induced color stories carved on skin.
Click.
An urban image etched in my brain.
Fueled.
~THE WOLF