Basic Version

Dear Hive-Mind

A warm welcome to everyone in this new era of hive consciousness, where each line we write has a character, unique like a pen strike making up a chain of quantum positions permeating a growing and expanding vision of human liberation and inviting the next paradigm of global economy.

I needed to redesign some of my art work to suit our new branding and trademark. For this purpose of course I considered the Hive logo as an integral element. Fiddling around with the logo made by @roelandp, I noticed I wanted to give my version of it a 3d effect. My mind immediately relayed a 3 dimensional logo as soon as I saw the design @roelandp had made here . Big ups!

Decided to share my process for a version of hive branding used in my blog, as I wanted to create a new animation for the footer of my blog.

1.

2.

Here I made a version completely with gradients:

3.

Do let me know which one you like best. The one in the thumbnail(Basic Version), 1, 2 or 3. ?

Apart from this there are several elements and graphics I would like to work on before my next posts.

Constantly on the move, traveling, I get to edit my pictures, sort them until I switch to a different work station. One with color pencils or Markers, another one with a canvas and spray paint or turntables connected to a studio with modules, synths and a recording booth for vocals that stares at me to record my lyrics. @termitemusic and his beats are also calling out some emcees with sophisticated lyrical content and poetry. At times I do have to clean up and make sure I put everything back where it belongs, so that I can find it again easily. I think it would be easy for me to be more consistent if I would focus on just something, yet because everything I do is related I embrace the challenge or organising at a certain scale. Since a day only has 24h a lot of things tend to take a back seat.

After connecting my time code, I do occasionally drift into small side sessions with a needle on a record and some sk, skr skratching...

After a short circuit and the entire heating system at my studio/office fried last year a series of setbacks had me running errands. During winter I was worried that some of my modules might get damaged due to the minus temperatures and moisture. Since I didn't have a car, I had to make several trips on foot to rescue some of my equipment. So far my Turntables are finally connected again. To the worst of it all, my latest camera, a sony 7r ii got a shutter error after I dropped it. This happened in November during the time I was filming and collecting footage of dancers I was hosting. These breakers were visiting to attend jams and battles hosted in Switzerland, where several world records were broken. Since I can't afford the repair of more than USD 2000 here in Switzerland, I decided to unsuccessfully disassemble it to tighten the shutter screws, which were apparently just loose.

ahh yeah, and i did give up on it after doing everything wrong.

Oh well, I am now using my old Sony Nex V-10 I bought in 2010. Since both are e-mount I can use all my lenses, but I can't really work much with the photography.

My world hasn't changed much since the outbreak. Except that the blind folded and media brainwashed zombies and their attitudes towards social distance. The frustrated faces I get in tight spaces in public spaces are hilarious. Specially when someone takes the other side and sticks to the wall while passing you in a tight alley. My job is currently also affected by this condition and everything recently came to a halt. Yes, I am a real Shinobi!!(that's my job, lol) ;)

Actually the short form of the story is that I got into pattern making and Textile Merchandising in 2006 by applying for a job at a textile factory in Mumbai. The company was making manufacturing uniforms and specialised in woven Shirts. Learning about patterns I began designing and sketching my own clothes on paper. Later I sketched a character that I gave more shape as I progressed. This character turned into a comic, for which I then started writing a story. I decided to use the same new name I chose to write graffiti with. Four Letters, "RANE". This Blockchain space here later became a way for me to time stamp my ideas. Having had a lot of records(vinyl) from the 80s with me in India, specially classics, I looked at an old album cover, where a rap group from 1988 had their own clothing brand. I liked that side zipper. At the time tons of merchandisers were roaming the area I worked at, working for zara and other large retailers like H&M. The name of the area where I got all my quirky ideas from 2006-2009 is Saki Naka, Andheri East, Mumbai, India. Meeting merchandisers and designers throughout factory visits, buying accessories felt like everyone was working on something greater than fashion and functionality. No one creative really wanted to do haute couture, everyone wanted to be avant-garde. They weren't allowed to. They had to comply to the instructions of their buyers. In the midst of all this there was just so much knowhow concentrated in fashion technology and skills in that area, that most of what I saw there always took at least another two years to get on a cat walk or to hit New York, London or Paris streets by people who wanted to make a statement. While stopping by a neighbouring factory, borrowing a meter of Zipper, I got some comments that whatever I was making. I got such great inputs from pattern makers, who were my her's at the time. I had soon seen many try some of my Muffle Shirts. I was experimenting with jabot, cascade, shawl and funnel type collars, but actually attaching very unconventional ideas to them. They hadn't seen the full pattern, but a lot of pattern makers tried similar versions. I kept deviating from the standard and was inspired by various collars. I went haywire during my time at the shirt factory. As my Shinobi character progressed on paper, various hoody's and jackets turned even stranger Kimono's. My dream of becoming a fashion designer ended by getting constantly stressed out by pattern plagiarism and the deterring capital requirement for brand equity marketing at the time. I still continued to make a collection for myself every year to make sure that I walk around with my own clothes. The fabrics I chose, the color of the thread needed to have my unique trademark. I could at least have my own style for the same price people buy medium segment brands. When people asked me to produce some of it and sell it, I just felt like it was easier said than done. I just answered that it would never sell/No one would wear it. When in fact I actually made pieces that were fit to mass produce, because really the intricacies of pockets and layers of hoody's and regular shirts were were fit for a mass market. With not knowing anyone with the channels, I also never came across the people with the right team spirit for common goals as values. I still refused to ever mass produce some of my pieces, because I never wanted anyone to wear my style. When people look at me strange in public, I stare back at the clothes they evidently didn't make themselves with one eyebrow lifted because they look just like everyone else. Where I grew up it takes a lot of courage to set yourself apart from the status quo when it comes to what you wear.

While living in Mumbai, very close to Kohinoor A couple of kids kept asking me where I buy my clothes from. Since New Era wasn't popular in India yet, I had ordered some of those buffalo(lived there in 1988) true fitted hats. I basically gave them away until they were available in stores a few months later. The only Hip Hop or rap music some Cats in my neighbourhood knew, wasn't really anything very conscious to me. Carrying a Ghetto Blaster while roaming the streets of Bollyhood, I became keen on letting people know that there was also other music than 50 cent, Eminem and Dr. Dre. Some of them would give it a listen, but still stuck to tupac. Having had brought over 200 vinyls to India since 1996, me and anther DJ from Brooklyn named Chris Mcguiness would alternate and at times share a Tuesday night at Zenzi Bar in Bandra back in 2006, 2007. The records I was playing were Swollen Members, Visionaries, Jurassic 5, Hieroglyphics, Masta Ace, Atmosphere, Psyche Origami, Foreign Beggars, Dj Premiere, 9th Wonder, Cunninlynguists as well a more sophisticated and poetic music. The music we played was also very uplifting and positive compared to what was known in India at the time. I also had a whole lot of Funk and Breaks from the 70s and 80s on record for the only two Breakdance crews in the entire city at the time. Since there were only very few clubs with turntables, while everyone was using CDJ's, we were a whole group of people that brought back and reunited the Hip Hop scene, that later grew into something much more authentic and elaborated. Not just local people who were very instrumental, but also Indians/Asians born in the west such as myself felt like it was their mission. Many of us learned their lessons from the humble locals and some of us even felt like we were contaminating the naturally forming elements of the culture with western consumerism. Finally India still had it's way for the culture to evolve. I later became known as someone who'd get people gigs, as I preferred to organise events with all the elements of the Hip Hop Culture through a movement to unite the 5 elements that became known as the Mind Force Gathering, that's based on seven or more senses instead. Due to my Swiss way of organising no one was doing flyers, posters at the time and getting them ready 3 months prior to the event with flyers for the next already ready.

Now that you know that all the clothes(at times even shoes) I wear on my pictures are my own designs, some of them even sewed by me, you might look at it differently.

During the virus, I was able to make use of the build in mask in all the many various Ninja Hoody's and kimonos I created since 2009. Note that this is exactly also how I came up with the 'Story of Rane' as that Ninja born in 1185 AD and appearing throughout the ages in separate volumes. By sketching out the dress and costumes as well as actually choosing the fabrics, making the patterns, tailoring them and making sure they also have functionality like pockets and a dynamic fit for people into martial art. My plot for a version here starts with the Hivemind and is a post from 9 months ago.

I visit the factories I produce at regularly and decided to work on a knit version that looks inconspicuous but has a lot of hidden pockets as well as one major one on the chest within the cone shaped stitch. The pockets are build in gloves so one can individually grab items without having to touch them with bare hands. Of course I mainly thought of disguise and fingerprints for graffiti artists ;). The hoody turned out to be quite high in cost as I wanted to make it from recycled polyester and the recycling process puts the rate at a regular one. I didn't just consider a factory that pays fair wages, is fair trade certified and has a GOTS unit, but it's also run on 100% renewable energy.

The MOQ(minimum order quantity) was 1000 Units. Another very close factory owner for knits I used to do jobs for as a fashion illustrator produces a unique quality of jersey/ knits and his factory and the people working there are also very dear to me. A few months after all the sampling and creating of an entire 2 piece track suit in 8 different styles, I remembered Patagonia(the brand). If I could sell this with a life time warranty, where one sends awesome ropes (not the one in the picture) of even patches to patch up holes.

Finally I have a version of the Hive logo that Spoke to me after playing around and hope I can get some comments on it. Thank you for reading.

I changed the 'H' in one more version to suit the black shape and match the hexagon.