Pabst Blue Ribbon Can Art

September 1, 2019

It MF Happened!

August 31, 2019 is the official date when I saw my design on a Pabst Blue Ribbon in the wild! I couldn’t believe it. I was measuring a wall for an upcoming mural I’ll be painting…AND THERE IT WAS! ON A TABLE! ACROSS THE ROOM! I walked over to the nice lady who was enjoying her lunch, and asked if I could take a picture of her can. She was confused. Naturally. I then explained that I designed the can. She was stoked and asked for my autograph. SO I SIGNED THE CAN! The PBR was a little sweaty, so it was a weak signature, but still…I DID IT! I told her I felt like a musician hearing their song on the radio for the first time. And she was nice enough to agree with my analogy. After that, the nice lady hugged me, said congratulations, and went on her way. It was magical. Now I know how Taylor Swift feels. Pret-tay cool.

I mentioned earlier that i'll be painting a mural, and I can't wait to share the finished product with everyone. I was lucky enough to win the PBRart Can Contest, and even luckier that Pabst supports and rallies behind artist. I have a fun couple of weeks coming up, and I thought i’d document the journey! I hope you stick around :)

Cheers Bruh,

Kelly Ward

I MET AARON DRAPLIN

May 7, 2017

WHOA! I met legendary Graphic Designer, Aaron Draplin. If you don't know who he is, let me fill you in. First off, Draplin is my favorite designer. He's the king of thick lines, simple designs, and junkin. He's created designs for Nike, Burton, Field Notes, Ford Motors, and Obama Administration. Ever hear of those small businesses? He's written an amazing book called Pretty Much Everything, which talks about all of his work up until now. You get an inside look on his past, his design process, and some great advice. He's been featured on podcast after podcast, travels around the country giving talks, aaaaaand has been featured in a documentary called MAKE. And to top it off, he's such a nice guy. Do me a solid and check him out. You won't regret.

Back to today! You guessed it... I was in total fangirl mode. My girlfriend, cousin, and brother went to his Pop-Up Shop in the westside of Chicago. It was held at Field Note HQ. The building was beautiful- Super clean and open, Field Notes on display, people walking around, and BAM, Drap in the center of the room. He was standing by his merch table talking to everyone. There was a line to meet him, so my cousin and I hopped in. We both have his book and were looking forward to getting it signed. Right before go time, my cousin and I were talking about how 1. we couldn't believe he was standing 5 feet away from us, and 2, how nervous we were. IT'S OUR TURN. We stepped up and immediately told him that we were nervous. Smooth. He laughed and said he's just a normal guy who drives a van across the country. We talked for a little bit, he signed our books, doodled over his picture a few pages in, and then we took some pictures! PROOF. We talked a little more about the How Design convention he attended the day before, said our thank yous and our goodbyes. IT. WAS. AWESOME.

After we left the line, we snagged some DDC merch, looked around the HQ, and eventually headed out. All and all it was an amazing day. Being able to meet someone I look up to in my field is huge. It fuels the fire and makes me want to work 100 times harder in hopes to getting where he is professionally someday. I'll let you know if that happens. Until then, back to the grind.

Stay good,

Kelly Ward

Please Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself

May 5, 2017

Welcome welcome welcome! My name is Kelly Ward and I'm proud to say Vinnage is back. We took a month off to reinvent ourselves, and reinvent we did. Over the past couple of years, we've run into some growing pains trying to figure out our message, our style, and our voice. Our goal from the beginning has always been to create designs that we, ourselves, would like to wear and have around us. Most importantly, we wanted to showcase designs that we are proud of. We've stayed true to that goal since day one, but we had some issues funneling everything down to create our own identity. At this moment in time, we feel we've accomplished that task.

Vinnage. What the hell does that even mean? How do you even say it? Let me help you out with that. Try saying VINTAGE really fast. Yep. You got it. Vinnage. Kinda fun to say, right? Vinnage is more than just a fun word. It represents an appreciation of the past, all while making your own vibe in the present. It's mashing the two worlds together to create something special. Everyone has their own style and gets inspired by different things. We're here trying to create cool designs with our own Vinnage twist. Come on this journey with us. We're learning new things every day, and are excited to share our process with you!

Stay good,

Kelly Ward