Sewcialist logo design competition: I won!

This is it, my winning design for the sewcialists design competition. It comes with this logo generator where you can pick your own colors, and received the most votes from the readers of the different sewing blogs that ran the competition.

I am very excited to have won, and really happy. I know that my happiness shouldn’t be dependent on the recognition of a bunch of people on the internet, but somehow this feels like a really big deal to me. Maybe because I’ve never really won anything before ;)

The prize for the winner is a 1-year subscription to Make magazine and 100 dollar in cash. Given that I am already subscribed to Make, and that I think there’s people out there who need that $100 more than me, I am currently talking to the jury about redirecting those prices to some other people.

As I told the jury president, I’m in it for the fame, and for the women of course ;)

I’d like to thank everybody who followed the competition and took the time to vote. Not only those who voted for me, but all voters (ok, maybe a bit more those who voted for me). And I’d like to give a shout-out to the other designers who entered the competition with some really great ideas.

Thank you all, now go and put that logo on your blog or something :)

Just ordered two custom skateboard decks

This skateboarding plan is getting real

My name is Joost, I’m 36 and I want to become a skater

I’m moving to Antwerp next month, and I need some sort of transportation to and from the train station.

My current commute consists of walking a few 100 meters to and from the subway. After my move, I’ll be looking at a 50 minute train journey and, depending on where I’ll end up living, a 20 minute walk to the train station.

That’s too long. And where I can’t do much about the train journey, I can try to shorten my trip to and from the train station.

So I have been going through alternatives. I considered other means of public transport, but given that Belgium is an administrative nightmare, I would need a pass for public transport in Antwerp, the pass for the train (that I need anyhow) and possibly a pass for public transport in Brussels. That seems like too much to me.

A bike maybe? I’ve looked at both the folding variety that I could take on the train, and the bikes that one can hop on and off in the city (if you pay). Neither of them seem like a very good plan to me.

Folding bikes are curiously expensive for what seems to me to be a rather shitty ride. On top of that, I’m rather tall so I’ll probably look very stupid on them (note: the same will be true for the solution I opted for so that’s not a real argument)

Those city bikes or good, if you can get one. And if you happen to live close to where they are stashed, and if on arrival you can find a spot to park it in. Too many ifs and on top of that, while I do enjoy riding down a hill off-road, I find regular cycling to be a very boring thing to do.

I tried inline skating to work, but it’s too much of a hassle to change to regular shoes. Also, those things are huge to carry around, especially if you wear shoe size 52 (17 in the US) as I do.

No, none of that will cut it. I need something else. My perfect means of transport would be:

• Something that is affordable
• Something I can own and care for
• Something that I can take on the train and in the office
• Something that makes sense to use for short distances too (as in, unfolding your bike only makes sense from a certain minimum distance)
• Something that is hassle free
• Something that is fun, and exciting to do. Or at the very least not boring

So, I have decided that my new means of transportation will be: a skateboard.

It makes perfect sense, it ticks all boxes in my wish list and I feel like now it’s too late to go back and add ‘something that won’t make me break every bone in my body’ to the requirements.

So, I am on the lookout for a skate shop in Antwerp (I prefer to spend my money to the benefit of my new homies) and maybe somebody to teach me how to do this.

Yeah, teach me. Because if I’ve ever been on a skateboard, I can’t remember it. And in general my skating skills are non-existent.

So, if you have tips, advice or now a 16-year old from Antwerp who could teach me a thing or two and hold my hand while I go to buy my skateboard, let me know.

joost
aspiring skater