Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Jenkins.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ben. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born in Dallas, Texas. I was an athlete and artist as a kid and kept that going all the way thru college at Mississippi State University where I studied art & design as well as baseball. After a short professional baseball career in the Philadelphia Phillies system, I went back to grad school at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I studied mostly film and philosophy there. But I am a designer at heart so after I graduated I focused on freelance graphic design eventually turning that into my brand strategy and design firm ONEFASTBUFFALO which is based in Dallas. I think its about 20 years old at this point. Which is weird b/c I’m only 32?
For a decade I just focused on getting good at what I do, and also I would say getting good at figuring out what types of industries I enjoyed applying my skills in. At a certain point though we got big, and I got bored and lost the feel for making art. It became just a job, and I lost passion for much of the work. So, I kinda blew things up, made the company smaller, started doing the work myself again, vs being a boss, and also got rid of our office. I restored a 1958 Airstream trailer and started traveling around for long periods of time with my wife and 3 young boys in the west. This really got me back focused on the human experience and the reason design exists.
And that is, to communicate meaning between humans in engaging ways. Since then I’ve been on path of doing commercial art with I would call a human touch. Soul. We have added services to the offering over the last few years that have made it to where we can finish the full vision in our head. Namely Interior Design and Developing Marketing content for our client’s brands.
Then about 5 years ago I tried a second experiment and that was simply to create my own brand, vs doing it for a client. I tried a few different things but the project that clicked was brand I call WARSTIC. We are a baseball bat brand. I tapped back into my experience of being a player and my love of the offensive side of the game. That opened things up for me to explore 3d design and learn about manufacturing. I’ve been obsessed with being what some call a designtrepenuer ever since.
The brand is positioned as PRIME HITCRAFT FOR HUNTER OF THE BASEBALL. We don’t do much of anything like our competitors. We have fun with it. Right now it’s only baseball but soon to be in softball, then golf, hockey, lacrosse, tennis, and then even fishing, surfing snowboarding, and skateboarding. That’s the plan. To be a stick brand for people with an appreciation for great design and the mentality of a warrior. We are building our headquarters and retail store in Depp Ellum.
My business partner Jack White, the famous White Stripes musician, purchased the building this summer so we have a big year ahead of us building things out. Our other business partner is Ian Kinsler, former Texas Rangers second basemen and he brings a ton of insight and fun into the mix.
Funny thing is now Onefastbuffalo is better than ever simply because I have a greater appreciation and understanding of the full spectrum of how brand strategy and design help a business. We know how hard running a business is and we bring that sensitivity to our clients. We don’t do fluff, and we push them to do the work to be different with purpose.
We decided a couple years ago to nitch down our services into the industries we love most. We call it lifestyle. It’s hotel and resort, restaurant, and branding for alcohol and food companies. Some of our clients here locally include TX Whiskey, Western Son Distillery, HG SPLY, Shannon Brewery, Sugar bacon, El Fenix, Crisp Salad Co. But I do a few side projects every year outside of our core nitch like Six site hunting gear and Texas-based Nokona ball gloves. It’s hard for me to resist branding for sporting goods!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
What is a smooth road?! If it was smooth everyone would do this! Its hard as hell and I love it. Finding great people to work with is always the hardest thing. Ok, let me rephrase that. Finding people that can stand working with me is the hardest thing! But I have found some real gems along the way. Having patience to see my visions through is daily struggle. Everything thing you make takes longer than you plan so you have to be ok with that and learn to enjoy the journey. Every day you move a few pieces further down the road.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Warstic & Onefastbuffalo story. Tell us more about the business.
I am most proud that we, Warstic and our client brands, are originally different. We never copy others. Of focus to invent brands that became famous in the future. Nothing of that sort happens through ben conventional.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I wouldn’t call it luck but I do try very hard to follow the muse, what I see as an external guide that will show you signs that you are on the right track or not with your art. If you see and listen, you will have more good luck than less.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2900 Main Street Dallas, TX 75226
- Website:onefastbuffalo.com warstic.com
- Email:info@onefastbuffalo.com info@warstic.com
- Instagram:@warsticbaseball @onefastbuffalo
- Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/warstic https://www.facebook.com/OneFastBuffalo
- Twitter:@onefastbuffalo @warstic
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