The Workbench Dispatch: 004

"The Positivity Edition 😃"

Well, here we are…again. It’s hard not to be a pessimist and shift into full doomer mode at what we’re looking down the barrel of. Hard not to think about what the future looks like. Education, infrastructure, public safety, who knows what will happen in the next 4 years and beyond. The previous deregulations put in place are already catching up to us. To quote one of my favorite movies, “we know our food is unfit to eat and our air is unfit to breathe”. The hope black hole of a genocide overseas continues business as usual with a different freak about to take the wheel. The desolate narcissism and willful ignorance of the general population once again rears its ugly head and once again tears the curtain away. Maybe this is the slap in the face a lot of people needed, who knows. The proverbial bandaid has been ripped off twice now, maybe this is when we realize it wasn’t just a fluke, that there’s something deeper, darker, more sinister that we witnessed gradually metastasize that needs to be addressed. Every bad joke or backwards leaning meme we watched float by on our screens, the vapid yearning for a time before “progress”, the intoxicating cocktail of tastelessness, stupidity, and nostalgia. We saw it all in real time, and now we have to grapple with the idea that we might have “let people enjoy things” and “nah this lowkey goes hard”-ed our way into where we find ourselves now. The time to just accept bullshit is over. No more letting tasteless narcissistic detritus fester. I want to hope that despite the growing illiteracy, despite the de-prioritization of art and critical thinking, despite the noxious selfishness and regression permeating through American culture, we can somehow think our way out of this. I want to hope that we can progress after sliding backwards for so, so long. Once again, we have been plunged into the ice bath, and one can only hope this is the time that jolts us awake.

This edition of the dispatch, I’m taking a break from hating. All of the symptoms that make this American selection unsurprising can all be found in past write ups, and there’s no point in yelling into the abyss right now. Only talking about stuff I like this time, because there’s no better time to. Also as usual, fuck that worm Elon Musk and his legion of brainless suckling groyper parasites, but I digress.

Table of Contents

1. Brands I Love Vol 1: Brain Dead

2. 5 Things I Actually Like

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A Word From Our Sponsor

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Brands I Love Vol 1: Brain Dead

This will be an ongoing series where I take a closer look at some of the brands that I fully support and analyze the things they’ve done successfully from every possible angle (product design, marketing, branding, aesthetics, and more), in order to give some insight into what I think makes a brand great. Additionally, I hope that the things I’ve noticed with these brands can be translated and applied to whatever you may be working on, maybe trying something new you hadn’t considered before. I want to provide some spotlight to the labels that make me actually want something, time and time again. The first on the list is a brand that I’ve been extremely vocal about for the last few years, the tastefully eccentric California weirdness of Brain Dead.

I. A Short Intro

For those that may not know, Brain Dead is a collaborative collective cofounded by designers Kyle Ng and Ed Davis that began in 2014 as a tee brand, and has since blossomed into an entire subcultural ecosystem. From a clothing label with full collections and standout collaborations, to art shows and other pop-up projects via a now neighborhood staple movie theater, they have their hands in seemingly everything that they know is cool. 10 years into the brand, I believe that not only is there a lot to learn from what they’ve done, but also the way they’ve done it. In an age where so many brands are at a loss of direction, where everyone seems to play it safe and bite what they see work, there is so much value in having such an understanding of what your brand is at its core, and being unashamedly true to that. The success of Brain Dead shows that people respect that truth way more than big brands want you to believe, and I think they are a perfect example of how to build your own lane.

II. Product

The most accessible, and earliest section of the Brain Dead world is clothing, but the label has flourished since their humble tee shirt beginnings, adding products like footwear, accessories, home goods, and so much more into the mix, all feeling perfectly in line with the rest of their catalogue. Besides the aesthetics, worldbuilding, and other things I’ll get into later in this piece, one of the main core tenets of the brand is just making really, really good shit. There is a perfect blend of equal parts consistency and risk, punk nose-thumbing and classic fundamentals. These contrasts flow through everything under their label and create something that feels alive, always ever-changing while still retaining a familiarity. A selection that you can return to and know that you’ll find something you like, as well as something you might not ever have expected to like. I personally have just as eclectic of a collection of Brain Dead goods as any, including one of my favorite shirts, a rug, and some dishware just to name a few. In this section I’d like to highlight some specific products that I think lay out the thesis of the brand which is, as stated on their website, “A meeting place for a network of contemporary subcultures, Brain Dead bridges different worlds, scenes, and perspectives under the same roof.”

“Grown-Up Streetwear”

Slides 1-3 available on their site, slide 4 is a collaboration with APC

I’ve said it before, but nothing is better to me than when a Streetwear brand does their twist on “adult” clothes. A subversion of more traditional or “classic” pieces with an edge that makes them feel distinct or a little more casual and wearable. Brain Dead speaks that language fluently. Whether through color, fabric, graphics, or something else, they do a great job of flipping and remixing classic pieces of clothing and making them their own. There is a level of sincerity present, an appreciation for garment construction and graphics, while still not taking themselves overly seriously to the point they don’t have fun with them. One of the main reasons why I enjoy their products so much is because of this looseness. They take risks. I don’t necessarily like everything they make, and I love that about them. Most of the things I’d say I don’t like from them are usually because they’re simply not my style, never because of mediocrity or boredom. That willingness to make things that are truly out there is something that separates them from the swarm of milquetoast diet Polos and predictable post-Balenciaga edgelord trend fodder that crowd e-commerce now. They don’t feel reactionary, but rather genuine, earnest expressions of actual interests. Graphics can range from high art references, to pulp science fiction, to hardcore music, and anything in between. Shirts and jackets are made in textiles I’ve never seen before or in psychedelic color schemes I wouldn’t ever think of trying. There is a level of real experimentation that I have nothing but the utmost respect for. I love the fact that I wouldn’t wear everything they make, because it shows they prioritize trying, and taking actual chances on pushing ideas forward. This isn’t to say that I don’t love a ton of their stuff, there is no shortage of amazing product to be found every time I go to their IG or website. There’s always something about their stuff, tweaked just enough to show that there were real humans designing them, with personal tastes and preferences and opinions, not just some plug and play boring cog. Sometimes they line up with what you’re looking for, sometimes not, sometimes they can change your mind. That constructive contrast makes interacting with the brand that much more rewarding. Another key element of their product is fully embracing the world of Streetwear that it inhabits, when so many other brands have started to mute that aspect. While other brands believe that it’s impossible to “Mature” with Streetwear, Brain Dead provides a strong counterargument. Without being tied to skating like Supreme or surfing like Stussy, they are free to make their own definition for what they consider Streetwear, and they wear that badge proudly. There’s a “fuck you” punk artist irreverence to traditional 80s and 90s Streetwear that they are keeping alive, while still never losing the (no pun intended) cerebral quality that goes into their inspirations and graphics. The stoners that read philosophy. They aren’t trying to be another Amalfi coast lookbook midcentury modern store “Elevated” “Lifestyle” brand, they make old school, classic, unashamed motherfucking capital S Streetwear. But that’s not all.

Everything is “On Brand”: Home Goods, Accessories, and Collaborations

Slides 1-3 available on their site, slide 4 sold out

You don’t need to be an expert to know there are a lot of collabs out there. I and many others have voiced our concerns and complaints about the near endless amount of brand link-ups leading to an excess of pretty mediocre product. A lot of the time, it feels like these just exist strictly for something new to post on social media, something to perk our ears up slightly for a half second before forgetting it and returning to the doomscroll. More often than not, they feel hollow, half-assed, and haphazardly shoved together because there is no care given to the story being told. Why should I care that two business conglomerates traded a bunch of emails back and forth to make some tee shirts? Brain Dead however, answers this issue by using collaborations as a way to genuinely expand the world of the brand. Although it can feel very eclectic at times (with products ranging from a watering can, to hand soap, to roller skates to name a few), it never feels disingenuous. It’s honestly the path I want to venture down with what I make. There are plenty of places with production methods readily available that need a jolt of something fresh every now and then. They’ve shown that it is a mutually beneficial relationship. They make something they wouldn’t normally have the facilities to, and the other company looks way fucking cooler in the process. Everything makes sense for the brand because there’s no strict rigidity to what they define themselves as. They’re not just a clothing brand, they’re a collection of artists, designers, and more, again all with their own tastes, quirks and obsessions. There is no incentive to be a poser about Harlan Ellison stories or wrestling or guitar pedals, because they aren’t the mainstream idea of what Cool is. They’re more importantly cool to the people that know they’re cool, the people that really care about them. As a comparison, think of however many plug and play brands suddenly got into chess (the huge Netflix show that made it look really cool totally had nothing to do with it btw) as a way to signify some ascended taste or sophistication like a 10 year old’s idea of grownup stuff. The brand’s prioritization of esotericism has also led to financial success, most notably through their steady collaboration history with Oakley, which played a huge role in the glasses staple’s recent footwear resurgence the last few years. They show the value of getting brands out of their comfort zone. Adidas collab? Perfect chance to make a bowling shoe. Time and time again they have proven that it’s not necessarily about selling as many products as possible, but selling the right ones to the right crowd. There is a staunch lack of cynicism that is such a refreshing break from the current online unyielding trend cycle. A lesson can be learned from them about authenticity when making something to put out into the world. In our time plagued by irony poisoning, they show that sincere eccentricity and passion will still resonate and cut through the noise. Embrace your weird interests and fold them into what you do, because they helped make you what you are.

III. Aesthetics

All images taken from their IG

This melange of interests and inspirations make up not only the products but aesthetics of Brain Dead. A scroll through their IG will take you on a wild tour of different styles and visuals, from analog psychedelia, to diagram-like modernism, punk comix, pulpy movies, and everything else that looks sick. On paper, it doesn’t sound too strong. After all, an unspecified blend of aesthetics is the very thing that makes “moodboard” IG pages so detestable, so why does it work here? Again, much like the products, the difference in style comes from the substance, and not the other way around. It arrives from a place of actual interest, actual ball knowing that explore page fodder doesn’t really care about. DJ Rashad and Fela Kuti tees a scroll away from a Magic the Gathering tournament isn’t really the same as the 50,000th Aphex Twin Kanye Sade Wong Kar Wai 2007 Nigo amalgam. Brain Dead’s aesthetics are inherently anti-algorithm while still being visually strong enough to garner organic interest, the perfect combination. Additionally, although they have fun, they still reiterate time and time again that they really know, and deeply care about, what they’re talking about. There aren’t many brands out there that can make both Jeff Goldblum and Korn feel right at home while still feeling authentic. Aesthetically, they perfectly embody the ongoing vein of “smart weirdos”, following in the visual lineage of such freaks like Primus, golden era Simpsons, adult swim, and so much more. The key is, all of these styles are tied together through more broad core tenets that allow them to feel cohesive. Be it practical effects, surreal visuals, a deep care for the details, there are recurring brand motifs that act as a thread to follow throughout all their stuff that helps ground everything and tie it back to the label. At a quick glance it can look stoned-out and lackadaisical, but upon further inspection you’ll see so much more philosophy behind it. There are books to read, movies to watch, things to learn. A very distinct voice with something to say about the way things should look.

IV: Worldbuilding and Community

I know, I know. Two absolutely played out, vacuous, near-meaningless words in 2024, at least in theory. In practice however, they are alive and well under the Brain Dead umbrella. If there is a recurring theme present in this write-up, and in the brand DNA of Brain Dead, it is an emphasis on creating from within. A design philosophy formed from genuine interests, real ritual, and actual dedication has a much more structural foundation from which to be expanded, challenged, updated, strengthened.

Photo via Hypebeast

To me the key to it all, the greatest example of actually being about what you say you are as a brand, is Brain Dead Studios, the dual storefront and rep theater that sits in the middle of Fairfax in Los Angeles. To me, this is flat out and without a doubt the single coolest thing a brand has done in the last decade. Bar none. I’ve already expressed my love for rep theaters in a previous newsletter, but this takes it to a different level. In terms of brand identity, it is the perfect self-fulfilling tool, putting clothing and design nerds onto great films, and putting the cinephiles onto cool clothes. Between the stellar monthly programming and the several pop-up events they run through it, there is genuinely nothing quite like it. A place to geek out with real heads, a place to bring a date, a place to buy incense and a pair of mules, all in one. I am eternally jealous that there is nothing really similar to it in New York. In a time defined by loneliness epidemics and impersonality amongst strangers, Brain Dead have managed to create what might be the perfect modern Third Space. Crucially, what helps set this apart from the phalanx of Streetwear Cafes plaguing metropolitan areas now is once again the passion behind it. There is no pretension or elitism present, no money grabbing heat lamp warmed pastries, just a place to discover something new. All of the programming of the theater is curated by the artists and designers that work there, so there’s a real feeling of enthusiasm that permeates through the picks. While so many vapid brands and companies use Culture as a buzzword to sell overpriced bullshit, Brain Dead set their sights on Subculture. The passionate underground that comprises the actual lifeblood of art, music, film, and so much more. Culture is inherently tied to the mainstream, constantly manipulated and ethereally redefined by sycophants and others that want to bend it to their will, whereas Subculture houses the historians, the archivists, the people that really care about the movements. By disregarding the mainstream and believing more in personal tastes, it allows them to represent something richer, becoming the glue that binds all these worlds together instead of the leech that takes from them. A prospective Brain Dead customer might find them through a movie screening and run into someone who found them through roller skating, or Faye Webster, or any one of the many spaces they venture into. By constantly reaffirming their care and passion for these subcultures by giving back to them, the support feels more real in both directions. Supporting them feels like you’re supporting future cool projects for the things you’re into because you know they’re not just going to abandon it when the time calls for a new hobby. Again, there’s no incentive or reward for being a poser. I am endlessly inspired by them and their ability to prove that trusting what you think is cool, even if it’s not “Popular”, will always be worth it.

V. Conclusions