Unique Studio Tour: Inside Artist Jeff McMillan's Long Beach Studio

Artist Jeff McMillan was born in San Jose. He graduated from Art Center College of Design in 2004 with a BFA in Illustration. Since then he has been working as a freelance illustrator and a fine artist.  He has exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, as well as internationally.  Jeff has worked with some pretty notable clients including Nike, Disney, Mountain Dew, Justin Timberlake, Mike Tyson, and Linkin Park. Jeff lives and works in Long Beach with his wonderful wife Liv, daughter Elsa, and two disobedient ex-pageant Siamese cats. As you can see, his studio is filled with creativity, art and inspiration…  -Photography by Scott Simock

Proprietors Studio Tour

This week, we paid a visit to one of our partners for CAMP - Proprietors LLC and sampled the drinks that will be served to CAMPers this June! All we can say is YUM*

*We would say more but we're buzzed from sampling all the cocktails...

Everlane Studio Tour

This week, we had the chance to visit the Los Angeles offices of Everlane - one of the Internet's most legit fashion brands that wants you to know that you're probably paying too much for you name-brand basics (t-shirts, totes, oxfords, belts, etc). With an insane amount of detail to design and BFF relations with the factories that produce similar products for designer labels, Everlane is making ripples in the industry by simplifying the equation and cutting out the middlemen.

Their studio is based in the Arts District in Downtown LA and serves as the hub of production and creative. Everlane's entire production team (both domestic and international) is located here as well as creative team including the art director and graphic designers.

"We refer to this office as the heart and the San Francisco office as the brains." - says Everlane's Head of Culture, Eva Goicochea.

Enjoy the tour!

Warby Parker + UNIQUE

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 Last week the folks from Warby Parker stopped by the office to talk with me about the work we do at UNIQUE USA, and what new projects we have up our sleeves. It was an energetic and fun meeting, and it gave me the chance to meet the amazing photographer Collin Hughes, who snapped my portrait. To read the interview and see the fab pictures of our office space, visit the Warby Parker Class Trip! And make sure to go see (hehe) the Class Trip bus in LA or on a future tour stop - they've converted an old school bus into a rad store on wheels, complete with their full collection of frames and vintage anatomical charts of the human eye. If you're not familiar with Warby Parker, it's a truly innovative company that has managed to not only bring stylish, affordable eye-glasses to the market ($95 including prescription lenses) but has been a leader in the one-for-one social enterprise model - for every pair of glasses purchased, Warby Parker gives a pair of glasses to someone in need. Visit their website to read more about their worthy cause.

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Behind the Scenes at MNKR

Earlier this month I had the pleasure to hang out at MNKR's headquarters while they were shooting their new collection. Obviously I brought my camera and took some behind the scenes shots of the photo shoot as well as a few shots of their new place in the Arts District in DTLA.

Backstreet Skateboards

Deep in the alleys of Brooklyn (Greenpoint to be exact), a box truck is parked. Inside of the box truck, DL Skateboards makes custom, handmade skate decks "one hundred percent hand-sawn from a 3/4" solid oak slab. Then sanded, drilled, painted, and gripped"... As handmade as it gets! CoolHunting documents the founders Lauren Andino and Derek Mabra in their studio/box truck shaping decks before their great move to California.

Erik Otto's Studio Tour

We first met Erik Otto in NYC while working on the Re:Form School art show and immediately liked him - not only is he a prolific artist but he is a truly humble person who is very sweet and down to earth. We stopped by his San Francisco studio for a tour last month and were blown away with the space, which even boasts a photo booth. Being in his studio gave us an inside look at how Erik works and the things that he surrounds himself with - getting to see everything from large pieces of art to his little scribblings and notes on scraps of paper was inspiring. He also showed us a few cool items that he sells in his store, such as his RAD geometric tealight candle holders. We loved being there and hope you like seeing his studio too!