Grafletics

As most of you know, we cut our teeth as a brand in Portland.
I started this thing in my garage over 13 years ago.

What some of you might not know…
I grew up on the East Coast with a single mom who worked full time. Latchkey kid. Apartment life.

So it’s not lost on me that we just flew to California with my family for a shoot tied to our small business and Sacramento Republic FC.

That wasn’t my experience growing up.
And it’s not something I take lightly.

When I leave this earth, I want my kids to remember what we built…what it felt like…and what it actually takes to bring a vision into the real world.

They’ve seen it locally in our stadiums, retail partners, pop-ups, street fairs, etc. But it’s different when you get on a plane and go make it happen somewhere else.

At the end of the day, we’re a family of athletes and artists.
Grafletics has become the platform we get to share that through.

Our roots are in Oregon with our branches are expanding into new markets. That’s always been the goal, hence the name Grafletics and this is the proof.

Evolution is a good thing.

I’m taking the wisdom I’ve gained here…the wins…the losses. The good, bad and ugly. Packaging them up, filtering them out and striving to create winning appeal and merchandising programs for our prospective and existing clients.

This one hit different for another reason too.
My wife’s from Davis, with deep roots in Gold Country.
When we’re down there, we stay with her lifelong friends—the Robinsons.

So we brought them into it.

What started as a shoot turned into something bigger.
Two families. Eight kids. A new stadium (for us) before the match.

It was chaotic. Took a lot to pull together.
But we made it work.

If you’re a parent, you get it.

These are brand assets we get to share.
But they’re also memories we’ll keep for life.

A pivotal moment for our brand as we keep building and evolving.

One of my favorite parts of the job… getting out of the studio and into the environments we’re designing for.

We spent time in Sacramento working on this collection with // Walking the neighborhoods, shopping, paying attention to what people wear, how they show up on game day, etc.

When it came time to shoot it, we kept things close to home. My wife grew up in the area, so bringing her and one of her lifelong friends into the process was meaningful.

It also gave our kids a chance to be part of it, creating a new experience for them in a place that already holds a lot of history for our family.

We partnered with a local photographer and kept the whole thing pretty natural. Creating imagery that feels true to the place the product lives in.

We also have fun while doing it!

One of my favorite parts of the job… immersing myself in the environments I design for.

You get to see what people wear, how they engage, the food they eat, and ultimately how to best serve the client.

This past week we traveled as a family to .

We’ve been working on a 9-piece collection that I’ll be sharing over the coming days. Also, Sactown food recommendations and places to visit in this Fridays edition of the GAzette.