John Mayer - Heavier Things artwork!

Here is another painting I created based off of one of my favorite artists, John Mayer. I based this painting off of the Heavier Things album. Like the Eminem painting I created, this is on a 16x20 canvas board and I used acrylic paint. Really new to the stencil affect, but look for new artwork coming soon! Trial and error here! I liked the way this turned out though. All input is appreciated! Song is "Neon" off of the Inside Wants Out [EP]! I liked the lyrics on the side too, they are some of my favorite and I feel like it makes the painting even more original and personable. Looking for something new to paint/draw so hit me up with suggestions!

Above is the video to go with the painting!

Eminem Painting

I saw some of the work that Brittney Palmer (former WEC and now current UFC ring girl) posts on her website via Twitter and I was really interested in trying to do something similar. She has done black and white paintings of Hendrix, Marley, and James Dean and I thought they looked pretty sick and not too terribly complicated. (Her Hendrix painting left)

Naturally I went online to see if there were any videos of people doing similar works and ran across the guy below, he has some pretty sick work check him out.

I wanted to create a piece based off of one of my favorite artists so I chose Eminem, I plan on doing a painting of Mike Tyson next. Featured below are some pictures of me in the process of creating the Eminem painting.

The sketch before I got started

Finished!

 Take a look at the video to go along with the painting. The song is by AWOLNATION.

Spray paint graffiti

Drake -Thank Me Later

 Here are some other pieces I have completed in the past. Materials range from spray paint to ink.

Fiery Siren mimic

Tank Tops Exclusive Pictures!

The Spring Far From Average Clothing Tank Tops are in stock! The price is $12 each! To get even more information, visit the Facebook page here.

Form Athletics - Competing in the MMA World

Photograph courtesy of www.mma-scraps.com

With mixed martial arts, MMA, being one of the fastest growing sports world wide, it is no surprise that there are many apparel and athletic brands attempting to tap into the market. With so many MMA based brands being advertised globally, how does one succeed? Form Athletics seems to have implemented the perfect game plan for MMA success.

Form Athletics was co-founded by Bantamweight superstar Urijah "The California Kid" Faber and Mark Miller. According to Sherdog, a very respected and prominent MMA website, Faber is currently one of the top ranked Bantamweight fighters and the world and he is the former Gladiator Challenge Bantamweight champion, former King of the Cage Bantamweight champion, and the former WEC Featherweight champion. Get more Urijah Faber statistics from Sherdog here. Mark Miller came into the brand as the former Senior Vice President at DC Shoes Company. The two teamed up and based Form Athletics out of Laguna Beach, California. Merely seven months after the launch of the Form Athletics brand, K-Swiss, also California based, took interest. K-Swiss has now acquired Form Athletics and is continuing to produce and advertise the brand to the MMA world. Read more about the acquisition here.

So how did Form Athletics do it? With so many brands trying to get their market share of the MMA world, how did they succeed in being acquired by the huge company in K-Swiss in only seven months? A lot of factors go into it, but in my opinion, an expert marketing and advertising strategy is at the heart of their success.

When Mark Miller teamed with Urijah Faber, that in itself gave the company a huge advantage. Faber is known for his tireless work ethic and is an outstanding ambassador for the sport, both inside and outside of the ring. In having Faber as the face of the brand, Form Athletics got a lot of support from the fans of MMA. Now, Form features signature lines from many exciting and respectable MMA fighters such as Jon "Bones" Jones, Chad Mendez, Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, and Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz.

(Listed left to right: Joseph Benavidez, Urijah Faber, Mark Munoz) Courtesy of www.formathletics.com

Aside from having many popular fighters represent the brand to give it popularity; Form Athletics has also been able to differentiate itself from the typical MMA clothing line. In a recent interview with Mark Miller, Ariel Helwani asked Miller why the brand did not use "skulls and the crosses" as many typical MMA brands are using. Miller is quoted as saying that Form Athletics is "a brand that was really associated with athleticism as opposed to aggression...We don't want to put skulls on our guys, we don't want to put weapons on our guys, we don't want to say it's a blood sport. Okay, our guys train like it's nobody's business." By focusing on presenting their MMA fighters as "athletes" instead of just "fighters," which no other brand seems to be doing in the MMA world, they have been able to gain a lot of commercial popularity. See the full interview between Helwani and Miller here.

Instead of focusing on aggression or hate, Form has realized what MMA is really all about, and that is competition. They realize that to be a mixed martial artist you need to be in the best physical shape in order to compete at the highest level. By creating a brand that has focused on presenting classy athletes, who train harder than anybody, and who are respectable fighters, they have had an incredible amount of success in a very short amount of time.

Checkout the latest Form Athletics commercial below to see how they are presenting themselves as a lifestyle brand in the MMA world.

Do you think that Form has done a good job competing with other major MMA brands such as Tapout, Dethrone Royalty, and Affliction? Personally I think they have done an incredible job tapping into a completely different market of mixed martial artists. I am looking forward to seeing what new marketing strategies Form Athletics pulls out next in order to remain successful in an industry as intense as the sport it represents. If the career of "The California Kid" is any indication as to how well Form Athletics will perform in the future, I'd say there are many good things still to come.

John Galliano Being Fired From Dior - Opportunity in Disguise

With all of the news lately about celebrities getting into sticky situations due to offensive comments, it should come as no surprise that John Galliano, famous Christian Dior designer, has found himself in a similar spot.

photo credit: vivavictoriavintage.blogspot.com

According to The Wall Street Journal, Christian Dior suspended Galliano on Friday with the intent of firing him after he made some "anti-Semitic" remarks in a bar in Paris. Galliano admitted his love for Hitler and even went as far as saying to fellow bar goers, "People like you should be dead."

In France, anti-Semitic remarks are deemed illegal and are punishable by six months in prison. It will take a while for Galliano to be "officially" released from Dior due to the fact that in France the procedures for firing someone are a lengthy process. See the full article from The Wall Street Journal here.

Natalie Portman, who has represented perfume by Christian Dior, has made it public that she will not be associated with Galliano in any way. This is not only bad press for Galliano and his own personal brand, but for Dior as a whole. The release of Galliano's fall-winter collection is coming up very soon at the Paris Fashion Week and due to the time crunch, Dior has stated they will continue to use the almost completed Galliano products. This is a very risky move for Dior as Galliano is getting so much negative publicity at the moment.

Should Dior continue with the collection? What will the public response be at the release? Personally, I think that although this is extremely bad press for Dior, it will ultimately prove beneficial in the long run. Although it is negative attention right now, the fact of the matter is that Dior is getting publicity. The word of mouth publicity of any idea or brand is extremely valuable. Like stated before, Galliano is the not the first big name celebrity to be caught with his foot in his mouth. Soon enough, another celebrity will come along, make a mistake, and say something foolish. Especially with today's media, it seems as though everything ends up on the internet. When this does happen, the public will be less likely to remember this particular incident and simply remember Dior in general.

I look at this as a great business opportunity. Dior can bring in a new, young artist to create a collection and give a fresh look to the brand. They could start a whole new marketing campaign and rally around the new designer. This would inevitably create new publicity for the brand and ultimately make people forget about the negativity that is happening right now. Dior has statistically made done worse than that of Louis Vuitton in both sales and operating margin. Also, it is stated in The Wall Street Journal that since 2002 Galliano, even with media buzz of his runway fashion ideas, did not really create much of a financial profit for the company. This leads back to my point in that a new designer, with a new take on the brand, would prove beneficial to reaching a new audience and creating a profit.

What are your thoughts? Should Galliano's collection be released? Is there a good business opportunity hidden beneath the scandal?

H&M Online U.S. Expansion?

H&M is a store that is relatively new to the U.S. consumer (H&M standing for Hennes & Maurtiz).  The first time I went into the store, I was amazed at how fashionable the clothing was and sleek the style was for the price. They have some pretty amazing deals as far high quality clothing for a very affordable price is concerned. Their brand allows people to be expressive without having to spend hundreds of dollars. This is something I strive to do with Far From Average Clothing. To leave people feeling as though they don't have to spend a lot of money to have fashionable looking clothing items.

However, in my opinion H&M is not utilizing their potential in the U.S. market. According to H&M's website, they have 2,200 stores in 38 different markets. Their top three markets are Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden respectively. All three of these countries have had H&M stores present for 20+ years. In 2000 the first H&M store was finally opened in America, over 50 years after the first store. It quickly grew from solely being on the East coast to being all across the country. Now there are over 200 H&M stores in America, which is more than the United Kingdom with roughly 190 and Sweden with roughly 170.

See the problem yet?
Although the United States has more stores than Sweden and the United Kingdom, they don't bring in as much revenue, why is that?
This is my point exactly.
In just 10 short years H&M Stores have exploded in the U.S. market so much so that there are more stores here than countries who have been exposed to the brand for over 20 years. This could be simply the size of the country, but why isn't the United States in the top three markets? One reason could be that H&M does not offer United States online shopping.

People nowadays are all about convenience. The top three markets, Germany, the U.K., and Sweden, all offer online shopping. Even though they may not have as many actual stores, they make more money. If H&M brought online shopping to the United State consumer, they would be able to tap into a rapidly expanding market. According to TechCrunch.com the E-commerce market is expanding exponentially. By 2012 it is expected that online sales in the U.S. will be between seven and eight percent of the total U.S. retail sales. See the article here.

Now I know there could be potential drawbacks of online sales for H&M in the U.S. because of shipping costs and distribution costs, however I think that overall this is a market that H&M cannot afford to ignore.

Personally, I think it'd be great for them to expand to online sales. They could simply implement the same approach they already have in their other markets. It's not a completely new concept for their brand.

What are your thoughts? Should H&M expand online shipping to the U.S.? Do you shop online for clothing?

First Post: A Few Announcements

What's up world?

It's been awhile since I've released a new shirt, but trust me, the new designs are coming along great. I have to make sure we only deliver the freshest and most exclusive shirts for the fans! All the support over the last year has meant so much to me! My plan is to finish learning how to print with the new machine and then I'll be coming out with roughly 2 designs for girls and guys, a bunch of different colors, and a few different types of shirts. Also, really pushing for a photoshoot for the new spring line too. I have a couple models and photographers in mind, but we'll see how it all pans out.

You will be able to stay up to date on everything from Far From Average Clothing and some of my side projects with this page better than on the Facebook or Myspace page because this is a little more free-spirited and creative.

I plan on blogging on business, fashion, music, art, and everything in between!

Feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts, the brand is all about the fans. BE ABOUT IT!