2019 vs 2024 Work

"There's two ways to build the biggest building in town. You either just build the biggest building in town or you spend all your time tearing everybody else's building down." -- Gary Vaynerchuk

I've been trying to figure out a way to compare/contrast my work with "others" and it has simply not sat well in my guts. Sure, after a decade of working in the firearms industry, I've seen my fair share of "what exactly is that supposed to be a patch of" patches.. But it doesn't feel good to drag another company or marketing person through the mud to bring attention to my own work.

Instead I present to you my ZEV Technologies portfolio. On the left, a great example of two really solid patches that I designed had manufactured in 2018/2019 -- and the two patches I did for ZEV last year.

Oh the things that I have learned in the five years that span between these two sets. But an important thing to note here, seen specifically in the wireframes of my illustrations of these pistols - my artwork hasn't changed. Always high detail - always meticulously accurate to my subject. But what has changed over the years is how I communicate with manufacturers during the mold design process to drive the most detail into my work to even more perfectly recreate my client's products in PVC form.

I don't need a side by side of "competitor" work - the only person I compete with is the illustrator I was yesterday. 🤘🏼

Why I Manage *Everything*

I’ve mostly talked about the big projects that were completed without any hiccups.

But today I pulled open a drawer in search of my new Pantone book and came across these babies. I’ve done two firearm patch projects with Brownells, Inc. - including this BRN-180.

If you look closely you’ll notice something funny. The reflection post-delivery of this project reinforced several things.

• under zero circumstances will I ever drop ship from my manufacturers.
• no matter the pressure on me, I simply cannot forward that pressure past a certain extent to my manufacturers.
• mistakes happen, being forward about it to the client is always the best course of action no matter how upset they may get.

Imagine opening a box of 500 patches only to find that the pressure you passed along to meet a deadline meant some form of miscommunication down the line? 500 cellophane packed BRN-180 patches without ANY sewn on velcro. They rushed and left behind a pile of laser cut velcro.

I’d be lying if I said anxiety didn’t overtake my entire body. Simon had always been patient and is one of my dear friends — but the same can almost never be said about the ladies at the helm of ensuring invoices are delivered upon. They’re ruthless and rightfully so when dealing with the number of invoices flying in and out of a place like Brownells on an hourly basis.

Time out- email sent. Now to wait.
I ended up boxing all but a fist full (I needed this physical memory) and sending them back to my manufacturer for them to CNC sew the velcro on to, re-celophane, and send back to me so I could appropriately quality control what was re-delivered.

If you onboard with me, there’s a good chance you’ve heard my yapping about my quality control process. You’re hiring ME because of the confidence you have that my end product will exceed your brand standards - because I don’t let anything out of my studio that doesn’t match or exceed my own expectations of my work. Period.

Sometimes deadlines get missed for reasons completely out of our control - our responses, however, make a world of difference.

The Battlbox Jeep

My portfolio is quite firearm heavy - naturally.

However back in 2020 the BattlBox / Netflix Southern Survival team reached out with a particularly fun project.

This 6-Wheeled Jeep patch was challenging in an entirely different way than the firearms. The bumper and tire tread are still some of my favorite details in this patch - I've been itching to do more with vehicles and see just how far we can push the molds now that I have dialed in some practices on the firearm patches.

Do you work with an overlanding brand or a race team? We should work together. 🤙🏼

A Bucket List Project

Checking off a bucket list patch this week for a client.

Occasionally client's are unable to send firearms to me, for whatever reason. I'll never let that get between me and a new client being able to work together, so for this project I headed to my brother's gun shop here in Iron Mountain and picked his brain to solve the problem.

In most cases I can pull firearms from his showroom floor, but in some cases we call in favors to customers. In this particular case I called in a favor to my own grandpa who just so happened to have the exact Marlin 336 that I had in my mind to drive this project home.

Happy Thursday :) I'll just be in my dungeon illustrating my heart away - we should work together!

In The Studio: Aridus v2

Working on a fun project for a returning client who’s launching a new product in a couple of months. The intricate details in their product are a perfect match for my highly detailed PVC patch process.

Looking forward to seeing this project come to life.

Behind The Scenes: M60E6

Studio time with the M60E6

Quick look into the past week in the studio. The difference maker for my work is requiring hands on the firearm in question so that I can emulate every microscopic detail possible in patch form.

My work isn't for everybody, and thankfully, this industry is big enough to support an awful lot of creatives and patch makers. However, I am forever grateful for the clients that choose me to work on their gun patches.

This is the fourth patch I've done for US Ordnance since 2020 and I am very excited to add the M60E6 to my portfolio of work.

Jack Carr: Red Sky Mourning

Guns guns guns guns - except when Jack Carr USA's awesome team reaches out..

I wish I had a freeze frame from the security camera in my office when the inquiry came through. I re-read the company line probably twenty times and then called my brother.. "TOMMY."

Patches are not limited to trade show swag grabs, in fact, I think that they offer an even wider opportunity to connect with customers and fans. Patches have a cult following - and including them in larger touch point pieces such as this media bundle for the release of Red Sky Mourning is really a genius move. It creates a sense of exclusivity to those who receive them, and that naturally creates a stir online. Just like this patch did when the lucky dogs receiving this bundle (Like Kerry Davis of Dark Angel Medical who I absolutely stole this photo from) start posting their loot.

This then drives people to the site to see if they too can get their hands on a Crossed Hawks patch and identify themselves as a true fan of the series. (They can!)

This was such a neat project to work on, and absolutely an honor to be involved in a Jack Carr project. If you haven't read the books I highly recommend them. I can't seem to put them down. 🤓

Let's work together. 🤘🏼

The Najaf Rifle

There are some events that simply require the best. When the Haley Strategic Partners team reached out to me last year ahead of the 20 Year Anniversary of the Battle of Najaf I knew that I needed to pour everything I had in me into this patch. After a several-hour long FaceTime conversation with Travis as he recounted the story front to back to me, I was even more excited to get started.

I'm relatively quick at penning out line art these days, but this project still racked up hours upon hours of detailed illustration work. That rail - that rail was no joke. It's rare that a mold design takes just as much time as the initial artwork, but this was absolutely one of the most challenging molds to pull off in my entire career. Photos simply do not do this patch justice.

I'm not the first person to do gun patches, and the craft will live on long after I move on with my career. But when I look back on my portfolio, one thing I will be forever proud of is the amount of time and effort I put into making sure that they honorably represent the brands and stories that they are commissioned for.

I'm thankful to Travis and his team for trusting me with this project, it is hands down one of the highlights of my career.

If you want to hear more about the Battle of Najaf, you can hear it from Travis himself on the The Shawn Ryan Show episode 172 released earlier this month.