Story behind the BK Travel: OKINAWA Stickers/Postcards

By now, you probably know that travel inspires Baum-kuchen immensely. It always has and it continues to bring so much to life. I still vividly remember the time when Frido and I were brainstorming how to keep and share the lessons, insights and wonder we encounter while we are on the road. We thought it would be so neat if we could create tangible artifacts that can be incorporated into our BK community's analogue adventure. Frido has been so longing to spend more hands-on time making things so we thought that these artifacts can be like a glimpse into his sketchbook. And so the BK Travel Stickers & Postcards were born! We enjoyed sharing our thoughts about Hawaii via Hawaii stickers and postcards and now we are so glad to have our Okinawa stickers and postcards done!

The process Frido goes through each time to create these stickers and postcards is 90% analogue. He gets inspired by travel and captures the initial idea/sketch while he is still traveling. (We travel with portable watercolor kit and brush:) When he gets home from travel, he paints the main elements over and over until he finds the "one" that feels right to him. Then he scans the drawings and put all the elements together for production. It's labor intensive and I LOVE watching him get lost in this analogue process.

I especially enjoyed seeing how "OKAY" sticker came together for Okinawa. "OKA" is airport code for Naha airport in Okinawa and Frido thought it was neat that it was almost like "Okay". And "everything will be okay" is the kind of attitude we got from people and atmosphere in and around the Okinawa island. Frido wanted to get the effect of worn out rusted metal sign which we saw all over Okinawa. The beautiful wabi-sabi look and feel. It took him for a while to figure out how to actually get the effect in the most authentic way. I heard his happy dance when he figured out that he could paint "OKAY" graphics on an enamel container surface using gouache paint then gently sand off the paint to get the weathered look. Yep. Process.

I hope you enjoy these little gems as much as we do. And stay tuned for the update for the future destinations. Let's keep traveling:)