Wine Shack is an upstart wine store located in Huntington, New York. EC took on this project a few month’s back as Ted Ullrich, our lead in NY, brought me on to work on the identity for this brand. Ted worked on an interactive wine-pairing system for the store itself along with other digital elements. Here’s a first look at the logo and business card. There are a lot of brand touchpoints to see and we’ll update as soon as we have more photo-documentation of the work.

photos by Joe Martinez

On day 2 of the World Basketball Festival events at Rucker Park, Kobe Bryant came out to teach during a Chainlink Fundamentals practice. Chainlink Fundamentals seeks to provide top-notch coaching to any and every kid that comes to their program. And most importantly, free of charge in comparison to other skill camps or clinics that may cost hundreds of dollars that inner-city families just don’t have. Students stopped in their tracks as Kobe made a guest appearance that they were not expecting. Kobe stuck around for the rest of the training session to provide instruction and encouragement to the kids.

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The Apollo Theater in Harlem was the venue of choice for the World Premiere of the AF1 documentary. Lot’s of industry names were in the building: Bobbito Garcia, DJ Clark Kent, and Datwon Thomas just to name a few. Read the rest of this entry »

photos by Joe Martinez

The Jordan Breakfast Club event kicked off 2 days of non-stop basketball events at NY’s most famous outdoor basketball court, Rucker Park. The guests of honor were Jordan Brand representatives Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony, who were on hand to meet and greet the children from local communities. The children were given a chance to shoot hoops with them as well. It’s to be noted that the usual blacktop at Rucker Park was transformed into a hardwood basketball-ready court for World Basketball Festival. To the surprise of many, Michael Jordan made an appearance.
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After the USA Basketball scrimmage, attendees of the World Basketball Festival Kickoff event at Radio City Music Hall were treated to a surprise musical performance from one of NY’s most notable performers, Jay-Z. I delighted to see that he brought his full band with him. Despite only playing for 25 minutes, the performance was well executed and well rehearsed. Read the rest of this entry »

As part of this summer’s inaugural World Basketball Festival in NYC, Jay-Z has teamed up with Nike to design 5 pairs of “All Black Everything” Air Force 1’s to represent each of the 5 countries participating in the event - USA, China, France, Brazil, & Puerto Rico. Nike has donated the custom pairs for auction to benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarshop Foundation. Jay-Z owns a pair of each design, but now you can bid to be the only other person in the world to have these super limited Air Force 1’s. Bid Here!

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Tyson Chandler receives and alley-oop and dunks the game winning basket for the Blue team while Stephen Curry cheers him on.

The USA Basketball Men’s National team had an inter-squad scrimmage at Radio City Music Hall. Half of the team was suited in Blues while the other half was dressed in White. Notable players that were in attendance but have chosen to sit out of this summer’s USA squard were Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudomire, Chris Paul, and LeBron James. Read the rest of this entry »

Charlie Denson, Jerry Colangelo, and Mike Kryrzewski field questions about WBF and Team USA.

“They put a basketball court in Radio City?!?” was my first reaction upon walking into the World Basketball Festival Community Dedication at the historic Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center. Basketball names – Rajon Rondo (USA), Kevin Durant (USA), Yi Jianlian (China), Carlos Arroyo (Puerto Rico), along with Coach Mike “K” Kryrzewski, Jerry Colangelo (USA Basketball Chiarman) and Charlie Denson (Nike Basketball President) officially announced the start of WBF. A dedication ceremony from the New York City Mayor’s Office was followed by a light workshop with youths from Chain Link Foundation. Brief interviews with some of the game’s most notable players followed the ceremony. Read the rest of this entry »

photo by Joe Martinez

During last week’s Team USA showcase at Radio City Music Hall, I asked Coach K, “Which is sweeter: Winning your 1st NCAA College Basketball Championship or winning a Gold Medal at the Olympics?”

His response was, “It’s nice to have a lot of sweet drinks!”

What a joker! It’s nice that he’s humble enough to play off the question in such a humorous way. By spending a few minutes in his presence, you can tell that he loves coaching and really enjoys teaching groups of young men to be successful on and off the court.

Coach K and Team USA are currently preparing for the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship in Turkey. Starting August 28th. If anyone wants to get together to watch the USA games, holler!

The sport of basketball & it’s relationships with Nike, Converse, & Jordan brands are brilliantly mapped at The Ball Room pop-up capsule, located on Frederick Douglass Blvd in Harlem, NY. 100 years of basketball innovation are celebrated through memorabilia, unique product, and interactive digital experiences which are placed in exhibits and displays throughout the 1250 square foot space. Check out some highlights of The Ball Room after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »