So I checked out the hipster messenger favorites, Chrome and Timbuk2. Chrome didn’t have many options and the ones I’ve seen looked bulky, so I tried out Timbuk2. They let users post product reviews (positive & negative) on the site, which was an awesome way to learn about the bag from people riding with it, not just a flowery description. Loved the custom bag maker. I chose a monochromatic look. 2 panels of lightweight black and 1 panel of reflective restaurant-booth-style vinyl. Like an Orca.

But the most impressive part of the purchase was the personal touch they put on everything I got from them. This snippet from the confirmation e-mail was so much more entertaining than the usual confirmation receipt:

We suggest that you actually read it and like it because this is what you are getting and the address below is where we are going to send it. If you must be That Person, we can TRY our best to make changes or cancel your order.  This is only if we have had enough coffee and our warehouse hasn’t… Remember, this is only if your order is NOT IN PRODUCTION. Once your order makes it to our production line, we can’t change it for you and if it’s custom, we can’t take it back. Not because we don’t love you; but because we already have really, really nice custom made Messenger bags from Timbuk2.  It’s part of the uniform.

It was refreshing to get something with some personality. Made me feel better about spending $200 on a backpack. When I actually got the bag in the mail there was another surprise. It didn’t come in a bloated box like everything from Amazon. It came in a plastic shipping bag with a map on it. Not just any map. It’s a bike route map of San Francisco with all the locations you can buy Timbuk2 bags tagged. They encourage you to cut it out and reuse it for something. But the writing is brilliant. Not your average Starbucks corporate eco-friendly statement.

Now every time I need a travel bag, I know exactly where I’ll look first. Next time I go to San Francisco, I want to go check out their office. I couldn’t care less about visiting the Jansport factory or the Nike factory. But because of the extra personality Timbuk2 gave me, I am now fascinated with their brand and want to support anything they do.

This is powerful branding. All about knowing your audience and taking every opportunity to be genuine and personal with them. Timbuk2 has a mission and it’s not to be the biggest messenger bag company on earth. But it is to be the best. And to not destroy the earth in the process.

I’m a fan. And the bag is awesome, too.

First thought was inspired by a tweet from @wblau:

This is what happens when one looks at a new world through the lens of his old world : the iPad-Kiosk. http://bit.ly/aCnPlW

The link is to this video. Take a look at what people are trying to do with Microsoft’s Surface tech, and see if you can figure out the problem.

What I, and @wblau, see is a product and software trying to force new technology to act like old people. Why on earth would I want to go to a table, wait in a line, pull a device out of my bag, put it down and go through all this work to buy a magazine? Seems ridiculously inefficient to me. With an iPad, the whole marketplace is in my control. I don’t need no stinking kiosk. I’m buying a digital copy of a magazine with an already-capable-and-connected device. This may be cool right now because it’s new and you can touch it, but I tried it in person and it’s pretty freaking lame. Felt like I was using a fancy ATM touch screen. Pardon the pun, but it didn’t have the “Apple touch.” It had Microsoft written all over it. Trying to play catch up with old ideas crammed into trendy crap.

I prefer this method of media consumption.

I got back today from the SXSW interactive conference in Austin, Texas. Aside from falling completely in love with the city of Austin again, we managed to get to a few sessions and do some networking with major tech players. We met some of the lead developers of WordPress and a few fellow themers and hung out with the super-cool author of WordPress For Dummies, Lisa Sabin-Wilson. We also met Darren Rowse of Pro Blogger.

SXSW is all about meeting people and taking advantage of the 100% geek saturation of Austin for 5 days. Matt Danner tweeted during the conference, “I’m looking for @adbrad. It’s like… Looking for a hipster at #sxsw.” It really was tech hipster overload, but in the coolest way possible. I’ll be going back again for sure.

So I have a lot of blogging to do about SXSW. I’ll be posting some video conversations with Matt over the next week or so on our thoughts about the conference, blogging, business and social media. They’ll be in a group of “Little Thoughts from a Big Event.”

Check out the quick blog Matt and I put up to document the trip. sxsw.ithemes.com. And look for more posts on here later this week.

I’ve been waiting for about two months now to move into my new digs. Now that I work for iThemes, I figured it was only fitting that I move everything onto the Builder Theme and especially get everything onto WordPress. I’ve got all new work, a new blog design and a much more integrated layout overall. So instead of having an HTML web site, a blog and the snacks blog all separate and linking to each other, we’re all under one reliably-hosted roof. No more static pages and no more GoDaddy.

I’m still working out some kinks, fixing some code and trying to find a lot of images that GoDaddy apparently didn’t like. But it will be a good fresh start.

Please check out the new site and let me know what you think. Try to break it. Click any link you see. Tell me how much you love or hate it.

They’re all original vector drawings. No stock stuff. I’m really enjoying working on these and developing my vector illustration skills. I have some more in the works for future plugins that I’m really excited about that I’ll post as soon as they launch.

I’ve made my favorites a bit bigger.

[design] Space Invaders

[design] Dirty Mouse

[everything] Kitsune Noir

[art/stories] Missed Connections

[religion/movies] The Search

[music] OSU On

[graffiti] Wooster Collective

[design] Aisle One

[design/culture] The Apache House

[identity design] Brand New

[beauty] Design Is Mine

[design] Design Porn

[architecture & furniture] Dezeen

[package design] The Dieline

[design portfolios] Form55

[print design] For Print Only

[design/electronic music] ISO50

[package design] Lovely Package

[interior design/furniture] Nook

[fashion/photo] Sartorialist

[typography] Typography Served

[typography] We Love Typography

[fashion/photo] Wear Palettes

[photo] Sarah Rhoads

[design] Wanken Blog

[tech] Wired: Gadget Lab

[tech business] Wired: Epicenter

[ampersands/daily] Ampersand Ampersand

[stories/hell] Clients From Hell

[photo/design/daily] Destroy Every Day

[design/lomography] Emmadimes

[design/local] Foundry Collective

[typography] Friends of Type

[design/photo/local] Okie Creative

[photo] Zach Gray

[design] Reform Revolution

[funny/architecture] Unhappy Hipsters

I called it Astro because 1) I’m obsessed with space, and 2) the original header had a picture of astronauts in it, before I made the space screen robot hands guy. It was originally going to be named Stillwater, but I didn’t think it fit.