design + guitar = awesome

Austin here. Well, I'm always here, but this time I'm posting in first person. Laura thought it would be fun for me to do a post about my new guitar.

Some background: fall of 2011 I contacted a guy in Connecticut who builds beautiful 1920s- and 1930s-era guitars to see if he would be interested in some design/branding work, perhaps in exchange for a guitar. Fully expecting him to kindly pass on the offer, he called me the next day and we made a deal.

I designed a new custom script logo for him, chose period-correct typography styles, and put together a nice identity system which included stationery and various guitar-related applications such as headstock logo, soundhole label, hang tags, et cetera. I also designed the visuals/template for a new website and some other print materials like promotional postcards and dealer brochures. There were a few other odds and ends. I'd link you to the website but he's still working on getting product photography and moving his domain name over to the new version.

In return, he let me choose one of his guitars to build. I chose his F-35 model, which is a replica of a late 1930s Gibson J-35, a guitar famous among guitar aficionados for its deep, dry, and direct tone which is perfect for folk and blues. Rather than have him start on the guitar right away, I asked that he wait until he had the new logo inlays and labels so that I could have a little of my own work go into the guitar.

After a long wait for the guitar to be built (behind other orders he already had taken) and then a delay because of various holdups from travel to weather, I got the guitar this week. It's pretty stunning, both in terms of look/feel and sound. His guitars sell for close to four grand, so it's really cool to have an instrument -- which I really couldn't justify buying at this stage of life -- that fits my aesthetic taste and playing style perfectly. Even cooler is having this awesome artifact that combines two hobbies and skills that I'm passionate about. Pretty amazing.

I'm hoping this will be a catalyst to help me finish a set of songs/recordings that I've been meaning to put together as an album of sorts. Stay tuned...

...pun intended. :)