Since wearing out my Johnny Cupcakes wallet I have been on the hunt for a cool new slim wallet. I stumbled across Holstee while searching around JackThreads and really liked the look of their wallets. Upon further reading I found out that each wallet is actually made from plastic bags and newspapers off the streets of Delhi, India!

The wallet comes in three different colors, but each wallet is completely unique since it has been made from recycled garbage. Knowing that the wallet was made from recycled plastic bags and newspapers I was a bit weary on how durable the wallet would be and feel. But after receiving my Holstee wallet I am more then impressed with the feel and overall ruggedness of the wallet.

The actual wallet layout is really nice. It had several “pockets” on one side for cards, and the opposite side features a nice slide out pocket for easy access to your ID. The middle folds open to hold your cash. Overall one kick ass wallet!

You can pick it up HERE for only $25! Also visit shop.holstee.com to check out all of their amazing vegan and recycled products and make sure to check out the video below!

The eco-conscience Cultural Cotton is unfortunately going on hiatus from the t-shirt game for the time being. From the looks of it the brand will try to be revisited in the future but there are no immediate plans for when they will reopen.

So now that the bad news is out of the way, here is the good news. Cultural Cotton is dropping the price of all their tees to only $9 and are also offering FREE SHIPPING on any orders that amount of $20.

Definitely check these guys out if you want to grab some tees on the cheap!

www.culturalcottont-shirts.com

With one glance at indie clothing new comers Flower Children’s website and apparel I was impressed. Here is a company that has seemed to come out of nowhere and have delivered on several levels including their branding, storefront, photos of their products and the products themselves.

I must say I was a bit hesitant to check them out with a name like We Are Flower Children. I know I am generalizing but when I hear the words “Flower Children” I immediately see images of tie dye, Grateful Dead bears and peace signs, honestly stuff that I am not into. But Flower Children have really taken that stereotype and turned it on it’s head.

While the overall brand vibe is definitely a bit “trippy” and “free loving” you will not find any tie dye or peace signs adorning these tees. Instead you will find some very well thought out and executed designs and illustrations along with some nice typography work.

Aside from some great looking tees you can feel good about your purchase as well because everything FC print on is 100% Organic Cotton and is printed with water based inks. Water based inks provide for an extremely soft hand feel and a more “worn” look after a few washes which I think really fits this brand’s vibe.

All tees are priced at $25 and hoodies at $40 which are both more than fair prices considering they are using water based inks and organic cotton.

I am more than impressed with this initial offering. Check out their website at: www.weareflowerchildren.com

Tim from Subeco has been busting his behind working on the new line and website for his brand Subeco, and his work has now come to fruition.

The new version of wearsubeco.com features a very fresh, clean and minimalistic dominated by white, black and grey. I really like the new fresh feeling of the site. Everything is very simple, straightforward and easy to navigate which is of course everything you hope for in a website. My only issue with the site is when you visit the store page the only way to get back to the main site is by hitting the back button. This maybe an issue with having a Storenvy cart, either way it’s not a huge issue.

I am also LOVING the new product shots for the Winter Line. The trees in the photos provide a great backdrop for the new line and make perfect branding sense with the “green theme” Subeco pushes. After all Subeco plants a tree for every shirt purchased on the site.

Lastly the line itself is extremely solid featuring two new hoods and four new tees. Once again all the designs tie directly in with Subeco’s brand image, either through wildlife or trees. Everything is also printed on organic tees and hoods which is just one more great step and addition to the Subeco brand.

My favorite tee of the new line has to be the Forest design, featuring a very cool Matthew Rupp design.

Overall Subeco has made a HUGE step up and forward with the release of their new site, photos and winter line. This is a great example of creating a cohesive brand image from start to finish. If this Winter release is a sign of things to come, 2011 looks bright for these guys.

Check out the new site and line at: www.wearsubeco.com

In this week’s video we review tees sent in from both Monster Mash and NY Illustration!

According to their site using a Baggu bag instead of a traditional plastic grocery bag for one year replaces 300 to 700 plastic bags! Each bag is very lightweight yet durable allowing you to carry them with you with ease and comfort.

With a variety of different bags from produce bags, to backpacks and grocery bags, Baggu has you covered. With bag prices ranging from $5.00 to $28.00 not only are these bags awesome they are affordable.

Check them out at www.baggubag.com

Have you ever been on vacation and go to text your friend about how awesome your trip is going and hear that horrible “beep beep” and you know your cell phone is dead. What do you do? Well if you are me you get out your secret safety mechanism out! Also known as a portable solar panel. You are probably thinking “What his this guy talking about? Don’t solar panels only belong on rooftops?” Well if it was 1999 then I would say yes but it’s 2010 and I have a small yet amazing device to help out anyone and everyone!

See I told you it was small! Literally under four inches long and slightly over one inch wide. This little bad boy can charge my EnV Touch for about 45 minutes and can charge about 40%-60% after the solar panel was left out in the sun for about 8-10 hours.

The best thing about this unit is that it cost less then $15! It also is very easy to slide into your pocket or purse and bust it out when you need it for your cell phone, ipod, iphone, or even a macbook!

Not only are these small portable solar panels a life saver when you need something charged and fast but they are also very green! By green I mean that they are environmentally friendly. Meaning that the panels literally don’t use any energy. You leave them out in the sunlight for a period of time and the panels have Silicon that is mounted beneath non-reflective glass to produce photovoltaic panels. These panels collect photons from the sun, converting them into DC electrical power. That electrical power is what we all use to power televisions, charging cell phones and pretty much anything in your home. Now the small 5.5 Volt one featured in this article isn’t the only one you can get.

I also own a 20 Volt panel that is about eight inches by eight inches that I actually leave in my car in the back under the rear windshield in full sun. I use that one for emergencies when I am on the road and I also take it to live events were I need to charge my macbook or cell phone. Now that one cost me about $75 but it can charge for about 12 hours straight.

Not to shabby for just throwing it in the back of my car. The sun is not only great for tanning but is also an amazing tool to use for energy. And of course its free and there’s plenty of it!
Some good sites to purchase small portable solar panels:

-Ebay.com (search solar panels) Prices starting around $8 USD.
-Solio.com http://store.solio.com/s.nl/sc.7/category.109/.f (Prices are a bit more then ebay)
-Solar Charger http://solarcharger.org

Originally starting out as a solo project by Craig Minowa, Cloud Cult has blossomed over the past 15 years into a band that has managed to stay independent and true to themselves. Here is an interview we recently did with Craig!

For fans of: Menomena, Mates of State, Anathallo

Check out Cloud Cult on:
www.myspace.com/cloudcult
www.cloudcult.com

For those of our readers who may have never heard of Cloud Cult, tell us about yourself; who are you and what do you do?

We’re a band from the Midwest working on our 9th album. We write and perform music for the sake of spiritual exploration.

How would you describe your music and style?

It’s very eclectic, as some songs are folky, some have electronica. We use a lot of orchestration, so we’ve been called orchestral rock.

What would you say influences your music the most?

The Grand Mystery. The big unknown. The hereafter. The search for the purpose and meaning of life. Ghosts, life, aliens and magic.

What is the writing process like for you guys?

I have a recording studio at earthology here in the woods of Wisconsin. I spend my days writing and recording. I send those recordings to the band, and we figure out how to make them better.

Your record label that you formed, Earthology, is environmentally and socially friendly, focusing on sustainability and being environmentally and socially responsible. Why do you think that you are the only record label to go this route thus far?

There are other record labels that have taken steps in that direction since Earthology’s inception in the late 90s. It’s getting to be a trendier thing to do, and more people are starting to understand the importance of trying to establish some sort of balance when it comes to looking at how our businesses impact the environment. As human animals, I think our evolution has taught us to usurp as many resources as possible, because there’s always been plenty, but our population and our massive consumption levels have tipped that into a new paradigm where our educated brains need to override the genetic desires and consciously make choices to live in moderation.

What do you think more bands/artists could do to be more “green” such as Cloud Cult is?

There are very simple things that can be done to minimize your ecological footprint. Look at your merchandise first. Look for 100% postconsumer recycled packaging for your cds. Don’t fall for the “recycled” sales gimmick, if it’s not “postconsumer” content, then it’s not truly recycled. Yes, it costs more to do organic t-shirts, but cotton is the most pesticide intensive crop on the planet. We need to take responsibility for our
actions. You can’t poo-poo the Exxons and Monsantos of the world, if you aren’t taking the steps to run your own business in a responsible fashion. Just because it’s a smaller business, doesn’t mean you can’t afford to run it ethically. Get creative with your merchandise. In the early days, we’d buy used t-shirts in bulk and sew our logo on them. They were cheap to make and they were totally green. You can also minimize your touring
footprint by planting trees to absorb our greenhouse gases and buying wind power from companies like nativeenergy.com to fuel the grid for what you consume.

I have never seen anything like live paintings being done during a show before, and think that it is a totally unique and amazing! What is the concept/reason behind having the paintings going on during the live
performances?

The painters are Connie Minowa and Scott West. One is my wife and one was one of my closest friends in college. They went to school for painting, so they were painting around me a lot when I was writing
music. It just felt natural to bring that to the stage in order to bring another artistic dimension to the performances.

I love the artwork that is on the cover of your latest releases this past December, both the Limited Edition “Lost Songs from the Lost Years”, and the double-disc of “They Live on the Sun” and “Aurora Borealis”. Who did the cover art for those albums?

The artwork on “Aurora Borealis” was done by Scott West. The artwork on “They Live on the Sun” is a photo by Joshua Mohr of our son, Kaidin. I did the artwork on “Lost Songs”, but 90% of it is manipulated imagery of old archived public domain artwork of fairy tales.

After being in the music industry and performing for over 15 years now, what kind of advice do you have to give to up and coming bands/artists?

Don’t fall for the old myth of instant success. You have to be totally in love with creating music if you want to survive the years of uphill struggle. But if you’re in it for the true love of the art, the struggle
won’t be as noticeable. Also, don’t think that you have to get signed to be successful. You can do it on your own and oftentimes make it more profitable at a smaller level, because you aren’t paying someone else
to do all your work. Learn the business and get active in taking care of yourself.

What can fans expect to see from Cloud Cult going forth in 2010?

We have a new album coming out this summer and a national tour to follow.

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I am and have been an iPhone user since the first generation phone and I absolutely adore my phone, but the one the problem I have always had was shelling out $30+ for a plastic case that I know someone has made for a quarter. Yes it is important to protect our phone, but do we really need to be taken advantage of?! Alright enough ranting and raving and on with the some pretty hilarious specs:

Q) Is it waterproof?
A) No, so dont put it in the dishwasher

Q) Is this case flammable?
A) If you light it on fire it is

Q) Does it come assembled?
A) no, see our animated gif for a step by step demo!

Q) What device does this case support?
A) iPhone 1G + 3G + 3GS

Q) How does this case stay together?
A) It has locking tabs at the bottom and top of the case, as well as an adhesive strip to keep the case held together

Q) Can I use this case to microwave my frozen pizzas?
A) I dont see why not, although we cant insure quality taste

Q) Will this case make me awesome?
A) I think that goes without saying

Q) Is there a warranty?
A) no, it is cardboard afterall

Q) Can I get a paper cut on my ear while using this case?
A) My first guess would be no, but anything is possible, we dont promote unsafe use of the recession case

Q) How long will the case be sold?
A) as long as it needs to be to get us out of this recession! or while supplies last

Q) Does it come with a screen protector?
A) no we are in a recession!

Q) How long will the product last?
A) forever as long as you don’t destroy it!

Q) Is this case made from recycled cardboard?
A) 100% of only the best for you!

Q) Will the product scratch my device?
A) no! its cardboard not brick!

Q) Is the CM logo impressed on the case?
A) this is known as the “peoples case”

Q) Will this product be sold at case-mate retail locations?
A) Nope! The recession case is sold exclusively here at case-mate.com!

There is also a very cool unboxing and installation video from MrDoubled50 below:

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Who are you and what do you do for the company?
Graham Bergh, founder of Resource Revival. We turn discarded bicycle parts into function art objects, from key chains to clocks.

When did you start and what got you interested in making recycled goods?
I got a flat tire bicycling to my recycling job in the early 90s in Portland – Resource Revival combines those two passions: recycling and bicycling.

Why do you work with parts from bikes as opposed to other materials?
Bikes are our focus but we incorporate a variety of used materials in our designs, from auto parts to computer parts, and of course lots of recycled paper in our packaging.

What inspires you and how do you come up with new designs?
Sometimes the parts tell us what to do with them, other times we have an idea in mind and need to figure out how to get the parts to become that thing.

How did you come up with the name of your company? I made a long list of names and that one stuck. I like that it is both serious and fun.

Any advice for someone trying to open his or her own online business/shop?
Decide how long you want to do it before you start. I’ve been doing this for 18 years. I love it. Most people don’t realize how much of a commitment a business is. The good news is that, in my experience, if you work hard and stick with it you can be successful.

What is your best selling product at the moment?
All of our products are selling really well: clocks, frames, key chains, bottle openers, bracelets.

What is the best perk that comes with your job?
Ha! Answering emails at 10:18pm on a Friday night so I can go surfing on Monday.

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Thanks for reading this IAMTHETREND Article!]]> http://iamthetrend.com/2009/10/23/resource-revival/feed/ 0 http://iamthetrend.com/2009/09/28/finroo-sell-limited-edition-t-shirts/ http://iamthetrend.com/2009/09/28/finroo-sell-limited-edition-t-shirts/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:54:59 +0000 Adam Hendle http://iatt.bluetideproductionsdevelopment.com/?p=767 Thanks for reading this IAMTHETREND Article!]]> WEBSITE: FINROO.com

Can you guys start out by explaining what FINROO is?

Finroo is a limited edition clothing company. Our products are all super high quality (and soft) bamboo material with organic cotton, and every product is numbered.

I see on your website that you are the first limited edition clothing company! Can you please explain this a bit?

Yes we are! We saw a lot of companies out there claiming to release limited edition products, but these guys never:

1. Say how many products were sold
2. Numbered each product

That’s why we created an entire company where everything was limited edition. Not only do we show how many are left in stock, but we number each garment so you know you’re wearing a true piece of limited edition art.

So what made you want to start FINROO and where did the name come from?
The story is I walked into a bar with a graphic T and saw someone else wearing it. I imagine this is how a girl feels when someone is wearing the same dress as them at prom. I decided no way would this ever happen again. And the birth of Finroo limited edition clothing started……

The name Finroo stands for “final round”. This is where the best of the best artists compete and where we only show you the cream of the crop. Crème de la crème

From the looks of it you guys only use white shirts, is this true?

As of right now that is true. When we started we found that artists spend so much time making so many kick ass graphics, but the companies who print them disregard this and put them on commodity standard T shirts. We decided no matter what we had to have the ABSOLUTE best feeling T shirt out there. Something you would wear to the bar and club, not to the gym. We spent the last 6 months working with over 10 factories around the world and finally built this perfect white Bamboo and organic cotton T shirt from Turkey.

We also are in the process of building an equally as sick GREY BURNOUT shirt and have experimented so the prints come out with a vintage look and feel. This should launch in the next few weeks.

What have been your biggest challenges in starting up FINROO?

The biggest challenge we have still to this today is that we didn’t want to be just another t-shirt company. We wanted to stand above the noise, swim against the tide. We wanted to sell wearable art rather than a commodity so we took a lithographic approach of numbering all of our products. Our products are in limited edition batches of 100 and each garment is numbered with its actual number in production. This is a huge logistical challenge but we felt that we owed it to our customer to spend the extra time and energy to make sure they got a real piece of art.

I love when companies donate a part of their proceeds to charity. What inspired you to do this?

These days you have too. There is so much suffering out there and a little help goes a long way. We wanted our customers to feel AWESOME when wearing our shirts and know that they are helping make the world a better place at the same time.

What can we expect from FINROO the rest of this year?

Our customers asked and we are giving it to them! Check out soon for our launch of limited edition quantities of 200, 50, and the ever-so exclusive 25.

Could you give us some of your favorite designs to date?

Yeah these are my top three favorite designs:

Thanks a lot for your time! Is there anything else you wanted to touch on before we sign off?

Yeah, if you just follow the crowd, there’s nothing special about you, and you like rough uncomfortable clothing. DON’T BUY OUR STUFF

But if you’re the opposite….caMON ova!

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So let’s start out by giving us a little background on yourself and what you do at OKOTO!

There’s two things I have always loved since I was a little kid … art and being outside. As I grew up, I’ve always stayed active in the elements, trying to see as much of the world as I could. From life guarding at the Jersey Shore to living in a tree house in St. John, I’ve traveled all around the globe, just to be inspired … and that inspiration has always showed in my art.

So aside from founding OKOTO, I am also the Creative Director and Head Designer.

For those not familiar with the OKOTO brand how would you describe yourselves?

We consider ourselves to be a brand that truly cares, not just about our customers, but also the way our work affects the world. We spend a lot of energy trying to make sure we not only provide high quality products to our customers, but the knowledge that together we are all part of something greater.

So what made you want to start a clothing line?

Well, OKOTO originated as my custom surfboard shaping company. But, one winter stay in Rincon, PR, my girlfriend, Amy, threw the idea out there that I should expand my art into the apparel industry. I didn’t put too much thought into it until she bought my first silkscreen kit and some blank tees.

Could you tell us a little bit some of the challenges you had come across starting OKOTO?

Being that I had no prior experience in this medium, a lot of time and energy went into researching how to get not only the highest quality tee shirts, but also how to print like a pro. Tons of mistakes later, here we are.

What do you feel makes OKOTO stick out among the crowd?

For one, the majority of our designs are hand drawn. That provides a style that is much unlike everything else out there. It’s also important to us that our brand is one that lives on for some time … not only staying up on trends, but also leaving a positive impact in the world.

The summer is definitely the time for festivals, have you guys attended any
festivals? If so which ones and how do you feel they impact your business?

We hosted an art and music festival last summer to raise money for SurfAid International, and it turned out to be their largest East Coast fundraiser to date.

We have other such festivals in the works, but most recently did Bamboozle out here on the East Coast. Being in the midst of such positive energy really helps fuel a business. It gets you stoked on the next strong move you want to make. Plus, it’s a great way to get an influx of sales and advertise at the same time.

What does the future hold for OKOTO?

Hopefully tons of great things. For now, we are in the midst of expanding our OKOTOrelief program into something very unique. It plays strong on our mission to keep all our work inspiring and positive.

Do you have any advice for upcoming brands?

Just know that pursuing something you genuinely care about takes time and dedication. There’s always going to be challenges and walls you have to overcome. But, if it’s something you really believe in, keep pressing on and you’ll get there. That goes, really, for anything in life.

Are there any sales or coupon codes that our readers should know about? (if not i will leave this out)

Yes. Hit up OKOTO.com and use the coupon code THETREND and receive 20% off your order until September 1st. After that, the same code will get you 10% off your purchase until September 1st 2010. Offers do not include Sale, Clearance or 6minus items.

And last but not least who is your favorite super hero?

Superman. Cause like every other guy my age, I also wore the pajamas, red cape and attempted to jump off my clubhouse roof when I was a kid.

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