So I took a Draplin class on Skillshare yesterday called Logo Design with Draplin: Secrets of Shape, Type and Color. Aaron Draplin is a dude who's work I really respect and enjoy seeing. He seems honest, blue collar, hard working, and above all he really has a passion for this shit. His resume is incredible and if I could choose to swap resumes with anyone it would be him. Coming up in the design world when he did; when snowboarding was still raw, and a brotherhood. I started riding back in like 1992 and so I got to be a part of that. but the scene was very different here in Michigan than it was out west, especially the PNW. In a world of narcissistic, attention-grabbing, social media bullshit, Aaron feels genuine and authentic. I appreciate that so much.

Anyway the class project was to design a family crest. It took me awhile to wrap my head around this one. Family means different things to different people. To me it really only means Mom, Dad, Shawn and Jenni. That's it. We have always lived far from any extended family and I basically didn't have any grandparents cause they were either dead or out of the picture.

My family was a standalone unit. It was an island of a nuclear family. We didn't have much in the way of traditions. But when I look back and think on my childhood it is clear to me that life revolved around one thing. Going up north to the cottage every weekend.

Up north was (and is) Lake Mitchell Cadillac where my folks have a very small cottage on the lake. When I was just a kid we spent every single weekend up there year round. Engaged in outdoor sports year round. I spent my entire summers up there while my Dad worked at a GM plant in Saginaw that was probably a hundred fuckin' degrees. My home hill is Caberfae, just 15 mins away where I learned to shred the gnar. 

Every week, all year long, we were all workin' for the weekend. Looking to blast out of town to our own little slice of heaven for bonfires, badminton, water skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, croquet (don't fuck with me, I'm THE MAN at this shit), s'mores, boating, sunsets, and all things outdoors. The cottage is and was my favorite place and was easily the best thing that my parents and family gave me while growing up.

Colors on this bad boy are inspired by the old GM logo (blue) as well as the Detroit Lions whom my Dad watched every Sunday, while yelling at the TV. Sometimes that was the only place we could watch the games as they would get blacked-out for those that lived too close to Detroit because they didn't sell enough tickets to the game! We'd be up north outside the blackout radius, watching Barry Sanders juke the shit outta some poor linebacker. Meanwhile the team still manages to lose the game. 

Life was and is still good.