ART DIRECTION: Behind the Intervention

What is the main idea behind the "Intervention" imagery, and look?

Giving the riders (and haters) a taste of their own medicine. 

Where did the bottles come from, with the personalized labels?

The bottles came from a few different places. I had a really specific look and feel in mind so it took me a few weeks to get exactly what I wanted, but I found a good portion of them on eBay and a few different antique shops. My mom was also helpful because she had a ton of old bottles, and medicine tins from my grandpa's house. He was a huge antique collector and a big reason why I like really old stuff. 

As for the labels I printed everything on craft paper and hand cut them out. I got real crafty with it by adding ink spots, staining them with coffee, making watermarks, etc. It was nice that I didn't need to stress if I fucked them up, it actually improved them if I did!

What do you want people to take away from the Art Direction you have created for "Intervention"?

I want people to have fun and enjoy a little humor. Everyone involved wants this video to be awesome and taken seriously, but when you boil it down it has been all about having fun riding and creating.

How much time did you spend preparing the imagery for release? As an artist do you worry about spending more time on something these days, when you know it can come and go on the Internet in just a few days?

From the first day of searching for bottles and design inspiration to the last day of shooting photos this probably took 5 weeks, all while working on a bunch of other projects in between. I definitely worry about time constantly, but I think that comes with the territory. I believe that with "Intervention" we had a solid plan of attack on how we wanted to market it and so far I think we have done a good job of keeping people interested in what we have been working on. 

Who did the shooting, and video of the imagery we have seen so far?

Our in-house photographer, Jesse Stanek, shot all the bottles and the video for the teaser and bumpers everyone has been seeing on Instagram. He has done a great job interpreting my weird and confusing thought processes. 

What does Kink Intervention mean to the Art Director? 

...to me it means getting a chance to roast everyone on the team haha. Just kidding. But seriously they are all kooked. Jokes aside, the internet is just flooded with random edits that are forgotten as quickly as they were posted. I see Intervention as a way of adding value and meaning to BMX. Not only value in great riding, but also value to the time and effort put into making a memorable video and experience. 

Was it difficult coming up with each rider’s tag line?

Yes and no. I know most of the riders pretty well so some were easier to come up with than others. But Jay is obviously with these guys on the road constantly so he helped me a little bit by putting together a cheat sheet for me. I think the hardest part was figuring out how to layout all the copy in a way that made you see a medicine label first and all the silly hidden messages second. I didn't want them to be overly obvious or too subtle, so finding a good balance was key.