I was recently searching through the archive folders on my laptop and I came across some interesting things that I had long forgot about. These took such forms as bicycle sketches, notes on my thoughts, rim sketches, etc. In particular, I came a cross 4 sketches that really had me thinking back a few years.

The above sketch is my very 1st design in over 23 years and I was still trying to figure out what path I wanted to take as far as designs go. In the above design, my thoughts were creating a bicycle that had all of the elements of ‘Funk’ yet characteristics of old school bicycle design. This particular design was set to be;

- Pearl in color
- A 7 inch long- 2 dimensional- blinged out logo
- Huge diamond shaped mags
- Old School cruiser handle bars
- A HARD plastic frame
- Stretch. Limousine in length

As I look back at this design from ‘Back in the day’, I cracked a smile because this is the original Marshall Taylor Design that assisted in launching the vision. My designs now look nothing like this and as I told you when this blog 1st launched, I had to teach myself to sketch because I couldn't find a designer that could put my vision of design down on paper or IF I told them something that didn't make sense to them (because of preconceived notions of what a bicycle should look like) freaked out and started to let me know what I was saying didn't make sense to them!

I am telling yall this, I promise when you see my designs, you will say to yourself "This guy is delusional, but his designs sure are hot!"




You want to know my secret? Now, you poor designers that are stuck working for those GIANTS in the industry, although you may understand what I am about to tell you, it is to bad you are to scared to exercise these simple principles...


1) I never start my design process ASSUMING I know what a bicycle should look like.
2) My motto "Genius is the absence of reality".

If you think you know what it is supposed to look like before you begin, you are already STUCK in mediocrity people. Let me expand a bit on on absence of reality. There are some things that you just have to be gifted enough to do in order to achieve greatness. Those who tell you "Work hard at it and you will become great at it" are lying to you. Case in point, "Lebron James". Do any of you think that Lebron James works any harder on his game than the next NBA or College Player? Kobe Bryant? What about Wayne Gretzky? The answer to this is ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I am not saying that they do not work hard, only that working hard won't necessarily make you great absent the gifting you need to succeed!

I want to encourage all of you to look back into your own ‘Archives’ whatever form it is in (computer, scrapbooks, photo albums, memories) and remember when you believed anything was possible. I promise you that there is something there that will bring back a powerful memory…maybe not always good, but all of us had to endure something tough to get where we are. For me, it was simply struggling through to get this sketch completed. Oh yeh, I am posting this sketch realizing that it will make it ‘Public Domain’. The truth is, compared to what I am working on now, if you choose to use it, it will be comparable to those ugly cruisers that everyone is riding on now. Yes…yes…you know who you are! Enjoy