The Tools Engineering Superstar is one of my latest belts, completed on the 22nd of April, 2002. When I first started making title belts as a hobby, one of the first images that I converted into a vector file was Excite@Home's infamous @Ball, thinking that I would incorporate it at some point into one of my belt designs. Well, after completing six straps, I still couldn't find a use for it, so I decided to build a belt with the @Ball as the centerpiece.

Excite@Home's Tools Engineering organization was part of the Subscriber Products division, which had a weekly/bi-weekly "Happy Hour." Aside from the free alcoholic beverages and engaging product demonstrations (read: pointless and boring), one of the high-lights of the Happy Hour was when Melissa Criqui would hand out "SuperStar Awards," which were these little pin-on ribbons and a $25 gift certificate to Amazon (I think that's what it was).

Everybody in Tools Engineering received a SuperStar Award at one point or another, except one -- ME! Despite what I believed to be THE most productive run as an Associate Software Engineer (that's right, I wasn't even a real Software Engineer), I was always overlooked for a SuperStar Award. That no good Rich Stanton even had the nerve to rub my face in it, after I had worked THREE weekends in a row, including the 4th of July! So what do I do???!!! I declare myself THE Tools Engineering SuperStar, that's what!!! And I dare the candy-ass jabronis and the little brains to dispute it!!! DELPHI RULZ!!!

All kidding aside, this was a fun design to make, primarily because I was staying within Excite@Home's "Corporate Identity" guidelines (as if anyone would care at this point). Although printing on mylar eliminated the possibility of having white on the design, I used ExciteHome's familiar black-red-gray color scheme to stay consistent. Adapting Michelle Stratton's Tools Engineering logo was a little challenging, but a few adjustments made it work out well. And, for the first time, I was able to use flourishes without distracting from the major design elements!

Here are some images of the finished belt: