A little friendly, summertime end of day competition to blow off some steam on a Tuesday evening.

Check out Simon’s sweet new ride. Disappeared with Darren only to reappear a couple hours later with this beast.

Just another day at The Uprising…

Since it’s friday we decided to give each other tattoos.
and yes we do not really know what we are doing.

Simon putting the stencil on.

Starting the outline. is this a good idea?

Darren enjoying the experience.

The weapon.

The finished outline. will shade and color in a few fridays.
we definitely realize the amateur nature of this and to be honest that is the fun part.

The Uprising Creative supports Homeboy Industries. You should too.
CLICK HERE to support the cause and help transform LA one life at a time.

Thanks to Mr. Rob Naples for these quick shots of our Echo Park Studio. We’re that window above American Apparel. See it? The one with the Income Tax sign?

Wait.. what’s that sign say?

Good times, good times. A few lo-fi looks at our couple of days in the desert
(thanks Hipstamatic for iPhone!)

And if you were there, you got a chance to buy this gem. We can finally show this one.
Good job Doug.

The Uprising Creative would like to welcome Brian to the fold.
Brian has joined our web development team. He has worked on
other cool sites such as SuicideGirls. Lucky for him we are way hotter than those chicks.

We couldn’t be more pleased with the way our Black Rebel Motorcycle club vinyl and CD album package turned out. From the vinyl cover die cut to the limited edition “black” CD the whole piece really came together. Check it…

photo by Rob Naples

I think we ended up with 3 today. In fact this here post is from one of them.. We’re in love.

Today Darren and I visited Horiyoshi III out at his original studio in Yokohama. Amazing experience with Sensei. Here’s a little teaser from that visit.

Much more to come from our visit (and our partnership) later.

Darren and I (Jeff) are in Tokyo this week for a few meetings, but primarily an inspiration trip. Wandered around Harajuku, met up with Taka from Nixon who showed us around Shibuya, and then met up with Steve from the Horiyoshi III clothing line to check out their offices and the new line. And a bunch of wondering, trains and wide-eyed staring in between. Come with us..

Darren is scared…

This is definitely the new fashion for 2010. Coming to a mall store near you.

Lost in translation… Harajuku.

WTF.

Taka took us to this great little shop in Shibuya called Phorgun, nestled under the train tracks just outside of Shibuya Station. Great setup, great style, and really down owner. You’d never know it was there, but worth the journey to find it.

And to end the night, Inakaya in Roppingi. The chefs sit on these wood blocks and cook the food in front of you on these charcoal grills. Then they serve it to you on the big sticks behind them. Crazy good, great vibe, and the Kobe Beef just melts. Big thanks to Steve Suk for taking us out, and big thanks to the chef’s for making Darren beat rice into Mochi. Classic.

A few months back we launched the new site for Bodega. Bodega brings large scale, eco-friendly, indoor art by ground breaking artists to the masses. Yesterday, we got a visit from the Bodega crew bearing a sweet Cleon Peterson piece for our studio. We like… a lot…

Introducing the newest member of The Uprising, Mr. Chris Donohue. While Chris will be wearing multiple hats, his main focus will be Business Development and Client Services. Chris has been involved in the creative/music industry for over 12 years and comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and professional experience. We have been searching for the best way to get Chris involved for a while now and the day has finally come… Our own Darren Craig has personally known Chris for over 15 years so needless to say, there is a bit of history there.

Now, to answer the question you are all dying to ask. Yes, he is married! Sorry ladies.
Welcome to the carnival Chris.

Our man, and long time client, Jason Mraz, snagged TWO Grammy’s last night! One for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the song “Make It Mine”, and another for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for “Lucky,” featuring Colby Caillat. Jason has been kicking ass and shows no signs of slowing down in 2010. Congratulations to the entire Mraz camp!