Recently I was up in San Francisco for one of my usual jaunts, a vacation from my vacation so to speak, kicking it with my boy John Mauriello (for the fun behind that trip click here). If your a regular reader of this blog then you have come across more then tale of the crazy character he is and our ridiculous antics together. My good friend Devin once put it frankly after hanging out with us for 24 hours straight “I need to go home and get away from you guys. No offense I think your both really awesome people but when you get together its intolerable. The pair of you is enough to drive a sane man crazy.” I implore any reader out there except for West and Kooky Kyle (cause they are out of their minds too, the four of us together has never happened, that is a force to be reckoned with. Shit that meeting could accidentally lead to the end of the world.) to come out here and spend a weekend with Mauriello and I and test the endurance of your patience.
John and I on another SF excursion years ago for that adventure check this out and then use the bread crumbs to follow along with the subsequent parts of the story.
While I was up there he pulled out this pair of eye wear frames unlike anything I have ever seen before. It was as if he had just stepped out of the Delorean with a trail flames behind the car holding the coolest pair of shades I had ever seen. Made of a highly break resistant space age material, quality frames and a 3D printing manufacturing process that will allow its wearer to custom fit each frame to his/her face I surely thought the dude had found away to make time travel possible. I was also a bit pissed of that, A: he embarked on a journey to the future with out me and, B: all he brought back was a pair of sunglasses.
I was about the beat his ass when he mentioned he designed them and had a hand in the company. All I thought he did day in and day out was sit around making doodles in his note book and eating cereal. Turns out the kid has skill. Since then he has teamed up with another friend of mine Marc Levinson and a few others to create PROTOS EYEWEAR. Although they have been designing and producing glasses on a small scale the past few years these guys are ready to take it to the next stage. In order to make that happen they need your help.
Don’t take my word for it. Why not read the words out of the horse’s mouth or pen. Here is what John Mauriello has to say about his en devour:
” Protos Eyewear is a company that I’ve been working on for well over two years. We’ve created a simple way of purchasing the perfect pair of eyeglasses/sunglasses made to order. In a crowdfunding campaign launched Monday, we have released a brand new line of 24 eyewear frames, along with our styling/custom fit service. We need your help in order to raise the funds to develop a web-app for our advanced custom fitting algorithm. In exchange for your contribution, we’ll be offering our glasses and a few of our other products at a highly discounted price. Our company has a rare synergy between technology, fashion, and design.
Technology:
The newest addition to the Protos Eyewear line is a service that allows a customer to order a customized pair of glasses. When ordering, the customer answers a few questions and uploads two photos of their face. From there, Protos’ software is able recommend basic frame styles based on the customer’s personality, face shape and other facial features. The chosen frame design is then altered to fit and 3D printed to order.
With 3D printing abuzz in the news lately, Protos has applied the technology in a way that everyone can get excited about. Though many have claimed to do so, they are one of only a small handful of 3D printing companies that have created something refined enough to truly be sold as a usable, lasting product. Protos spent years working with manufacturers to develop proprietary materials and production processes that actually exceed the quality of more traditional materials used in eyewear.
Fashion:
These frames don’t just fit well, they also flatter the wearer. Protos’ core team includes professional designers who have a deep understanding of microtrends in the fashion world. This knowledge allows Protos to develop highly resolved designs that range from classic to current, all of which are timeless. The team also includes a certified optician with decades of experience styling celebrities and consulting with world-class eyewear brands including Tom Ford, Prada and Oliver Peoples. His knowledge of frame design and how eyewear should fit on faces has been integrated into the way the Protos software works.
Design:
Good design is core to Protos’ philosophy and process. We has an outstanding commitment to quality control, from form language to materiality and surface finish. Most tech companies build a technology, then try to skin it with something that looks good. With Protos, every aspect of the design and user experience has been considered from the moment product development begins. We know that good design is as much about how something works as it is about how it looks. Protos’ customers are not consumers, they are discerning clients who are interested in receiving excellent service. All custom fit frames are reviewed by designers before and after they are printed. They continue to work with the customer until the frames look amazing.
Eyewear is just the beginning for Protos. We are focused on meaningful applications for 3D printing and are focused on executing them well. The goal is to open an entire world of consumer grade 3D printed products meant for discerning end users. ”
Wow talk about educational, informative and en vogue. Thanks for those amazing words John and an amazing product. Those of you who read here regularly know I rarely pimp products or anything for that matter. I certainly don’t give a forum for anything I don’t personally believe in. Protos is some quality shit right here and these guys are giving everyone an opportunity to get involved on the ground level and help bring an amazing innovation that will change eye wear as we know it to fruition.
Visit their web page today at ProtosEyeWear.com and help make a good idea become grand. The future is now, no Delorean necessary. Every dollar helps and these guys claim they are willing do one push up each for every buck earned. Mauriello was looking a little soft last time I saw him and could use the muscle tone from a good spell of push ups. I will throw in an incentive of my own: throw down a $1000 bucks or more and I will let you come spend a weekend out here in Santa Barbara, 48 hours in Fancytown with Bizarro and I. You probably won’t remember a thing but I promise to have someone around sober enough to take fun photos like this one:
Now tell me you don’t wish you were in this picture. Give $1000 bucks or more to Protos and this dream scenario could be a reality!
Seriously at least give the guys a $1. Even my cheap, broke ass did that. So check them out. PROTOSEYEWEAR.COM
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It did not take long of us not paying attention to our immediate route to realize we had lost the trail and been wondering about on this giant granite hillside. With out throngs of people all over the place our situation seemed a bit scary. Luckily a pack of foreigners came out of the trail head and up onto the granite hill we were meandering. Its a good thing they did because we were totally looking for the trail in the complete opposite direction of where the car was parked. At that moment it became apparent how easily it would have been for us to end as another national park statistic.
Surfing Ruined My Life 