The RYZ Blog
Design of the Week - 03/01/2010
Monday, March 1, 2010 at 16:13:09
Another double-your-pleasure addition of Design of the Week. Things are heating up around the RYZ Global Headquarters, so let's get to it. Hate is such a strong word. While there are a few designs in the Vote gallery that might engender such a response, almost everyone is in agreement that " Things We Love To Hate " by addfueltothefire...
Design of the Week - 02/15/2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 14:36:57
It's double-duty this week... First, we have " Paperplanes " by midimoik . A clever design utilizing hundreds of paper airplanes. We can see this working in any number of colors. It's unique, versatile, worthy. Just don't get caught throwing them in class - some cultures consider tossing your shoes to be the ultimate insult. ...
Design of the Week - 02/01/2010
Monday, February 1, 2010 at 21:10:20
In this edition of RYZ Design of the Week, we have " In the Lab " by Vo1ture . If Escher and Dali collaborated on their own line of footwear, it might look something like this. Vo1ture does a nice job of combining art and footwear AND pass the wearability test.
Design of the Week - 01/25/2010
Monday, January 25, 2010 at 19:36:04
Who knew that a rare eagle domestic to the Philippines that feasts on monkeys and lemurs could make an excellent sneaker design? Thanks to song23 's " Haribon ", one of the most powerful birds in the world has also become one of the most powerful designs in the running at RYZ. The keen illustration, splash of texture and minimal...
Design of the Week - 01/18/2010
Monday, January 18, 2010 at 16:32:58
RYZ Design of the Week #7 is " Cat-Eye Doomscape " by BenFoot . What does this cat know about the apocalypse that we don't? Can its extra pair of eyes see deep into the future? Come show your love for this design and cast your vote for the all the other great designs in our Vote gallery. Our designers are stepping it up and we need your...
Design of the Week - 01/11/2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 12:03:25
Last week it was a blood-thirsty spider straight out of a graphic novel. This week it's an abstract design that smacks of Miami Vice. Either way, with 2 wins in-a-row, beadler is rockin' a lot of free RYZ kicks on the house. " Scattered " is beadler's latest creation. We like the throwback colors and the well thought out design....
Design of the Week - 01/04/2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 18:14:39
Arachnophobes beware! This week's winner is " The Pincer " by beadler . Whether it was the graphic novel/comic book appeal or the giant incisors and web of curiosity, it was easy sweep for this monster. It's lookin' a little hungry, so we're gonna chock up $100 of RYZ store credit to Beadler to feed that thing. Keep the votes and...
Design of the Week - 12/28/2009
Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 14:24:23
To close out 2009, we present another excellent sneaker design. This week it's "Fragments" by amarillo . Using an excellent blend of colors, shapes, and wearability, amarillo racked up enough voting interest to score some RYZ credit and put this design on the short-list of potential production candidates.
Design of the Week - 12/21/2009
Monday, December 21, 2009 at 19:23:51
We have a fresh winner this week. RYZ Design of the Week #3 is " Unity in Duality " by nicebleed . nicebleed describes this slip-on sneaker as his Yin and Yang design. We'll be sure to send out two 50-dollar bills so nicebleed's wallet remains in perfect balance.
Design of the Week - 12/14/2009
Monday, December 14, 2009 at 21:17:37
After validating and tallying the votes this week, we present another great slip-on shoe ... but the same winner! For the second straight week, wotto scored highest with " What a mess! ". The title aptly describes this excellent doodle design, and wotto may have put it best right there in the description... "Doodle overload". We love it....
Design of the Week - 12/07/2009
Monday, December 7, 2009 at 19:23:48
Congratulations to wotto for winning the first RYZ Design of the Week with " Doodle Foot "! wotto will receive $100 towards merchandise in the RYZ online shop. Given the strong voting, we definitely hope to see more contributions from wotto in the future. Keep spreadin' the word about RYZ, the next winner is just a week away.
Welcome to ALLRYZ.COM
Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 13:19:18
We've been hard at work over the past couple months preparing to unleash what you see before you. We believe we've taken a big step forward in laying a foundation that will allow us to grow into the future. First, the visuals... Our new logo and website, all built in-house, come together to create a sleeker and more refined...
TRUST ME
Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 10:05:48
Thanks to everyone who participated in RYZ's first t-shirt design competition. Like a true Luchador, only one can be victorious. Congratulations to Santiago Uceda - with his design 'Trust Me.' We all need more luchadors and snakes in our lives, and with this shirt available for purchase soon, your life too can be fulfilled. We will keep you...
Interview with Truen Pence
Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 20:41:47
Congratulations to Truen Pence for winning our 'Make it Gold' contest. A designer based in Oregon's Willamette Valley, we caught up with Truen to get his backstory, some words on art, his dental records, and how the 'Poop Deck Yachting Loafer' came to be.... What was the inspiration behind your design? (said with pirate accent)...
We Found Gold in a Yachting Loafer
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 23:38:38
Winner of our latest contest - Poop Deck Yachting Loafer - by Truen Pence aka Orygone. Both a favorite of the RYZ team and our popular vote winner! Look for these in our store coming soon and our interview of our latest RYZ designer.
On the RYZ with XLR8
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 10:41:52
Anthony Faucheux aka XLR8, is a 25 year old French graphic designer. His surfing background gives him a fresh and light illustrative style. His sources of inspiration - nature, street culture, and some bends in his personal universe filled with a crowd of characters and small charming monsters. We had the chance to chat with Anthony and...
Contest 23 - You Can't Polish a Turd
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 21:41:39
You Can't Polish A Turd - this is your chance to shine (direct pun intended). After a couple rounds of themed contests, we at RYZ decided it was time to leave it open and let our present community show us what they've got. Anything goes...but we only want to see your best. Its gotta be so good that more than just your Mom will wanna buy...
Contest 19 Winner
Monday, July 13, 2009 at 15:41:02
Hey people, Here are the belated results for Contest 19: Congratulations to Mezo (A.K.A Stef McFeters)! Her design Octop-I, Robot turned out to be a real crowd pleaser throughout the critique and voting phase. A bold design, with an even bolder color scheme made for a creative and very cool shoe. A big thank you to everyone who...
Would you Buy your Own Shoe Design?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 08:18:02
That's the question we are asking you in a survey we sent out last night. We have seen over 500 submissions for our Magic the Gathering contest and over 1,500 submissions for our Colourlovers contest. This is clearly beyond our expectations and the community are highly engaged in using our design tools. We will proceed to follow...
TIME KEEPS ON SLIPPIN'
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 11:45:52
Contest 19 is a wide open look INTO THE FUTURE. This time...anything goes. We're giving you your space. Only rule this time is you have to tell us how your design relates to the future. This can't be any more simple. So for all you rocket scientists out there that couldn't follow the 'one color' rule of our last contest...you're on...
Jopancake Interview
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 22:47:05
Born in Poland, now lives in Bristol/UK, Jopancake aka Joanna Wylegala is a graphic designer who loves to play with vectors, but she never forgot about her true love: etching- from that everything started. For almost two years she worked for apparel company in Poland, now she seeks for her own way. The most favourite motif: monsters -WHAT...
ONE Color - ONE Thousand Dollars
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 19:54:07
Alright heads...new contest, new rules, new dough. A grand doesn't come for free and we're not giving it away this time...you gotta show us you want it. Bring your skills and pay the bills. This is how it goes. We're giving you the neutrals. So black, white, and every gray in between is available to use if you'd like, but not a must....
Sputnik's Word
Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 17:51:35
This week, we chatted with Oscar Perez Barragan, aka Designersputnik , designer and mastermind behind Blumenkohl ist Cool , which took the prize in Contest 15. Born in Barcelona, Oscar went to school for fashion design and currently lives in Germany where he does freelance work for clients such as Sony (PlayStation3), Paul Panzer,...
BLUMENKOHL ist COOL
Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 19:54:59
Congrats to our newest winner, Designersputnik , who took contest 15 with BLUMENKOHL ist COOL . We'll have an interview up on our blog next week, and BLUMENKOHL ist COOL will be on sale this summer!
...You should've been there
Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 19:54:40
Thanks to all who came out to our launch party at Lizard Lounge on Thursday! We had drinks, break dancers, a DJ...and of course, RYZ shoes on display. A special thanks to our featured RYZ designers who made the trip to display their artwork. Check out some footage on YouTube from the event: Launch Party @ Lizard Lounge on...
Saltyshadow's Secret
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 16:56:22
Leiying Chen, or Saltyshadow , is from China and won our most recent contest with the WASP . Leiying majored in industrial design, but develops as an illustrator and graphic designer. She loves to put a lot of emotion into her artwork by using interesting compositions and abstracts, with special line works and delightful colors. She stays...
Guest Creative Panelist
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 16:56:08
At RYZ, we love our winning designers so much that we formed a plan to keep them around as long as possible. From now on, each contest winner will stay on board an extra cycle as Guest Creative Panelist, and will act as critic, mentor, and all-around design guru. The first Creative Panelist will be Justin Delacuesta, San Francisco artist...
Launch Party at Lizard Lounge
Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 13:45:17
Come check out RYZ at Lizard Lounge on first Thursday in Portland's Pearl District! We will be showcasing four of our designers, and drinks and DJ Verbz will be on hand for the party. Computers will also be set up for you to have a chance to design the next shoe RYZ produces. Plus, all proceeds from purchases made at Lizard Lounge the night...
RYZ Sample Sale This Saturday: One Pair for $40, Two for $50!
Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 13:45:07
We will be holding a sample sale of our latest shoes alongside Nixon Watches, Lifetime, Holden, Obey, Insight and Lizard Lounge. If you live in the Portland, area, come visit us in the Pearl District to check out our gear and pick up some new shoes at a great discount! Date: Saturday, March 28th Time: 10 am- 7 pm Location: 525 NW 10th...
This Week's Feature: Favorite Designs/Designers
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 14:42:05
Want to show the love to your favorite RYZ designers? Add any design or designer to your list of favorites, and new activity by your favorites will be posted to your customized feed on your member page. You'll be updated when your favorites have new designs, critiques a shoe, and posts on the forums, so you won't miss a moment as they...
From Spain with Love: The Valistika Interview
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 12:54:37
The contest 13 winning design comes from Spanish design studio Valistika with the G-NOME PROJECT . Artists Guadalupe Cos-Gayon Alia and Miguel Abio Ruiz make up the creative tandem, and we were able to chat with Miguel about designing and their studio in Madrid. RYZ : FIRST, BEING FROM SPAIN, HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT...
Pseudo's Daughter goes International
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 23:37:47
We caught up with artist Jared Nickerson via Skype before he took off to do some work in Berlin. Jared and Camilla D'Errico won contest 11 with their Psuedo's Daughte r design. Jared runs a design studio out of Seattle, and specializes in character, editorial, video game and product design. We'll bring you part 2 of the interview with...
RYZ Winner Justin Delacuesta Exposed
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 22:07:55
We sat down with artist Justin Delacuesta, who won contest #9 with his FREE DOM RYZ design, and talked with him about his current inspiration, favorite artists, and upcoming projects he is working on. Justin has studied illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. His art has been featured in several galleries;...
ALPH is the New Black
Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 18:09:13
RYZ has partnered with Boston street artist and designer ALPH to bring our latest shoe, Alphabet Soup. A member of our creative panel, we thought we would show ALPH some love and have him design a special shoe outside of the competition, and he returned the favor by bringing his A game with Alphabet Soup. The Soup's black sole...
G-Nome Takes Contest 13!
Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 17:35:33
Our newest winning design comes from Spanish artist Valistika with his G-Nome Project. You can check out additional views of the G-Nome Project here . We will be conducting an interview with Miguel soon; so keep checking back to learn about his inspiration for the design (where we will also counsel him on any bad experiences with...
laFraise and RYZ do it together
Friday, January 9, 2009 at 08:30:10
laFriase - our buddies from the t-shirt world, are doing a contest with us through Jan 19th. 1 winner will get 1500 Euros, their design on a RYZ shoe and a limited run of t-shirts through laFraise. Check out the info at the laFraise blog at ( http://blog.lafraise.com/en/2009/01/lafraise-and-ryzwear-contest-2009/ ) and visit their site...
WHERE WE HAVE BEEN, WHERE WE ARE GOING
Friday, December 19, 2008 at 02:10:38
We started RYZ with the goal to provide the design and art world with a way to express themselves on shoes. For most of us, our shoes have been a way to express and tie together how we present ourselves with fashion – like that special pair of bright yellow sneakers to make an outfit pop. Shoes are an expression of ourselves, RYZ is a...
RYZ on the street with Olio United
Monday, November 10, 2008 at 03:59:57
Thanks to the team at Olio United , we are now selling Winner , Country Club Nouveau , From Sea 2 Sea , Cables , Kicking Television , and the Creep at their shop located at 1028 SE Water Ave in our home town of Portland, Oregon. Last Friday night, Olio held their November Art opening - some photos below. ltg and an Olio...
TENDER LOVING EMPIRE PICS
Friday, October 3, 2008 at 10:26:48
Last night we went to TENDER LOVING EMPIRE to see Santiago Uceda's show. His art will be on display, including his RYZ sneakers "From Sea 2 Sea" until mid November. Stop by and check it out. And for those of you who missed it, here are a few images from the night. Santiago get's to see his sneakers for the first time. ...
TENDER LOVING EMPIRE, TONIGHT!
Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 15:25:45
Hey all you P-town peeps! Tonight we will be at Tender Loving Empire to support Santiago Uceda for his the launch of his instillation. Come by and check out his RYZ sneakers in PERSON! -ltg
LTG vs. Todd Alan Breland
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 12:37:36
This afternoon after many trial and errors, Laura/ltg chatted it up with RYZ's latest winner, Todd Alan Breland. Read on . . . ltg: Hi Todd! I swear I'm ready to interview now, I am just debating on if I should throw this egg salad sandwich out the window it was gross. toddalanbreland: NO WAY TOO LATE ltg: nooooooo ...
St. Agnes Interviews with ltg
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 11:41:46
St. Agnes aka the patron saint of virgins aka Jennifer Wannaruche of WorshipWorthy chatted it up with ltg aka RYZ community manager aka Laura who is both sweeter and better looking that BOMBIN' Magazine, today to discuss the launch of her shoe, "Winner". From discovering they are both from middle of nowhere towns in Washington, to...
RYZ Changes
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 10:34:12
Change - it's a popular word in some camps these days. It's coming to RYZ. We are making a few changes to how things work around here. Here's the rundown. 1. Voting cycles are being shortened to 1 week. This one is pretty simple. This will keep things fresh, create more winners, and put more shoes in the shop. 2. Only some...
Suceda Interview
Friday, August 29, 2008 at 10:38:57
From a young boy growing up in Peru educated in an all boys catholic school, who then moved to the OC in the mid 80's to spend his youth, ultimately ending up in Oregon, the home of RYZ, Suceda, contest #4 winner sat quitely at his Oregon State University office yesterday afternoon and chatted with RYZ community manager Laura aka ltg about his...
Leon Interview, a hand model, lion tamer and oh so much more!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 18:23:34
Laura aka ltg, the community manager at RYZ recently jumped on skype and chatted with Contest #4 winner, Leon. Leon who lives thousands and thousands of miles away, had just dropped the kids off at school and was beginning his day in the capital of a country most widely known in the U.S. for characters like Crocodile Hunter, Nicole Kidman...
Interview with Suraj of the Sneaker Room
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 17:55:43
The guys at BOMBIN' Magazine were kind enough to get us an interview with SURAJ, the owner of Sneaker Room. If you don't know what's up with the Sneaker Room, check their MySpace page . BM:Tell us your name and title. S:Suraj AKA the sneaker ambassador/owner of sneaker room BM: What are your credentials in the sneaker...
BOMBIN' Magazine Interview - Cops Hate Me Sneaker
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 17:08:23
Hey RYZites, I have a special gem for you today, last night I made a call to BOMBIN’ Magazine and they were generous enough to let me interview them regarding the release of their shoe “Cops Hate Me” . These guys are very funny and can be at times, crass so readers be warned! ltg: Ok enough of the pleasantries lets get down to...
Ban This - RYZ Banners
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 15:06:01
We have a bunch of banners now for people to use to promote their own shoes, the site, etc. We'll be sticking these up on our social networking sites, but I figured I'd post them up here also. Some of them are blank, or have extra space, where you can paste your own designs etc. 1. Code: 2. ...
New RYZ Winners!
Monday, August 4, 2008 at 18:41:48
After three weeks of voting the RYZ nation has spoken! Two designs emerged victorious among the 83 total designs submitted. We want to thank everyone for their great designs and can’t wait to see what you all come up with next. So without further ado, drumroll please . . . .dada dadaaaaaaa. . . RYZ’s contest 3’s winners are Cables...
Contest 3 Voting Has Ended – Contest 4 Voting Has Started
Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 07:50:22
Wa wa weewa three weeks just flew right by! So as most of you have realized by now, our first online contest has come to a close. We are currently working like lab mice in a maze trying to get everything ready for the announcement of our new RYZ winners. Look for that in your inbox on Monday . . . . . . and with the close of our first...
RYZ in the San Francisco Chronicle
Monday, July 21, 2008 at 10:07:15
We got some press in the SF Chronicle in an article by George Raine about crowdsourcing. We were nicely placed alongside some big brands like Mountain Dew, M&Ms, Threadless, and Converse. Check out the article when you have a chance. -Adam
History Lesson
Friday, July 18, 2008 at 14:47:42
Woowee so RYZ had our official launch event on June 26.2008. It was held at souk , a super fresh urban space in Portland’s china town. We had great turn out thanks to 52ltd who helped sponsor the event. Over 200 people showed up for drinks and to submit their vote. In the end, Caveman received the most votes for...
Befriend Us?
Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 16:00:14
Mmm ok so I seriously have been sitting here for the last 15 minutes writing the same sentence over and over again. Jeebus introductions are tough!! Cuz I mean it’s all about making that first impression right?? Well balls. I finally just said screw it. I highlighted, deleted, and started a new. This is my fresh stream of conscious you...
Voting Starts!
Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 09:56:12
We were thrilled with the number of cool designs that were submitted onto the site in the last two weeks. We almost broke 100 entries...yeah! There are a lot of great designs and we are looking forward to watch the contest unfold.
Happy Caveman
Friday, June 27, 2008 at 17:03:46
Wow! Last night was incredible. Almost 200 of Portland's creative class chose the first winner of a RYZ sneaker design contest. The hero of the night was Jason Ehlers, aka Caveman, whose design, "The Creep," was the crowd favorite and earned Jason $1,000 and $1 royalty on every pair sold on RYZwear.com. Caveman, a graffiti artist...
Hey, welcome to RYZwear.com!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 15:04:04
Thanks for stopping by the RYZ Beta Site. We’re still putting the finishing touches on the site so please excuse any bugs you come across (and please report them in the bug forum). At RYZ we’ve set out to create a people’s brand – a community of designers, sneakerheads and anyone that cares enough about art, fashion or sneakers...
