Former Specialized Director of Graphics Joins Kali Protectives

Sep 30, 2019
by Brian Park  
Kali Protectives new designer Alain Lanusse.

Kali Protectives announced today that 17 year veteran of Specialized Bicycles Alain Lanusse has joined their team.

"We're super excited to have someone of Alain's caliber helping us with all aspects of the brand," said Kali founder Brad Waldron, "We have been focused on making the safest helmets on the market and it is exciting to have someone so focused on also making them cutting edge aesthetically."

His tenure at Specialized spanned from 2002, when he was one of three graphic designers there, through to May 2019 when he was running an entire department of nearly a dozen designers.

Kali says Alain's influence will reach beyond colourways and hang tag designs, and that he'll be working with all aspects of their products. "Specialized's loss is our gain," said Waldron. "It won't take long for even the layman to start to notice Alain's effect on the Kali brand. Things are getting very exciting around here."

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Morgan Hill

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Industry News Helmets Kali Protectives Specialized


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83 Comments
  • 56 3
 Kali is gonna get to the next level now. Theyre graphics are the only thing holding them back. This is great news!
  • 17 1
 Hate to agree but it's true. I love their full face helmets, never have been a big fan of the graphics. There's worse out there.
  • 11 1
 So true. Their graphics have always been horrible.
  • 11 3
 *Their and yes I agree.
  • 8 0
 the kali maya helmet is sweet...probably because it's understated with no graphics...
  • 8 0
 specialized has a graphics department?!?!?
  • 20 1
 @nojzilla: yeah it's the department that decides how big the specialized writing should be and in what colour, and where to use the S and where to use the whole word. Oh yes and italics, whether or not to use italics.
  • 4 1
 @nojzilla: of course they would, but a "director" of the graphics department.

graphics employee #37621: Boss, I work hard. I think I deserve a raise.
Boss: Ain't gonna happen.
graphics employee #37621: If I don't get one, I'm going to leave!
Boss: What if we make you "director" of the graphics department?
graphics employee #37621: done!
  • 3 0
 @jaame: @jaame: I'm of the same mind. I must however remind you that you left out the incredibly critical decision of how much the colors red, black and white to use. White on black w/ red seams? Black on white packaging? Red backing board with white or black lettering.
Red helmet? No...black. Maybe...white.
  • 38 5
 And in other news, Specialized sues Kali Protectives.
  • 1 0
 Specialized Truth Speak
  • 24 1
 Lanusse hahahahahahaha TABARNACK!
  • 7 0
 Hahaha. Pas chanceux.
  • 31 19
 A high level Engineer / Industrial Designer friend of mine interviewed with Specialized years ago ( he was 36 years old). The folks at Specialized loved his portfolio and design history but decided not to hire him. The person ingerviewing him said it was because he was too old. That comment made me boycott that company for life. Good luck to you Alan. I've always liked your style.
  • 22 1
 They definitely churn and burn over there. I've had 3 friends work their asses off just to get fired the moment they stopped to take a breath.
  • 27 27
 I have decided to boycott Specialuzed for their climate activism! What a complete contradiction, the bike industry is notorious for use of over seas manufacturing so they can save money, I am not so confident in these second and third world country manufactures and their ability to adhere to environmental policy. Specialized is such a hypocrite .. nothing more than a marketing company. Long boycott the machine called Specialized.
  • 21 3
 It is literally illegal to tell someone in a corporate intvw you are not hiring them because they are too old. He should have sued...
  • 13 10
 @br13: did you also boycott 99% of other bike brands then?like Commencal? Bobby on the other side of the road owns a third Giant in 3 years, it means that effectively, he boycotts Scott, Trek, Focus, Merida, YT, Transition, Cotic, Intense... 2h later: Bergamont, Kross, rock Machine...

“Specialized, a company known for their climate activism” Tell it to me with a straight face again baby.
  • 32 3
 Specialized hired @vernonfelton and he's old as dirt. Sounds to me like someone was trying to save face.

(miss you Vernon!)
  • 6 9
 @brianpark: No. My friend has nothing to prove and told me in passing. He's developed way crazier devices than anything found at Specialize that he should be bragging about. And doesn't.
  • 5 6
 @DirtbagMatt: I agree. And we had that discussion at the time. I was pushing him to look into this with legal action and he passed. He's the kind of person that just keeps moving forward. I'm lucky to know him.
  • 14 14
 @professionalamateur: that sounds as half arsed excuse as it gets. There’s nothing Specialized or any company does and will ever do that is “so advanced”. It’s a bike for fks sake. You my as well say the interviewer masturbated during the interview and he did it vigorously. So happy to know him, you use quite a few high fly affirmations to support your case. Why is it upvoted so much is beyond any common sense. Quite a few folks full of crap here.
  • 19 3
 @WAKIdesigns: You seem to know a lot about nothing.
  • 4 0
 36 years too old...lol
  • 17 16
 @professionalamateur: your story sounds like you colored it up quite a lot. Some guy you must admit greatly admire (warning sign no1) Spesh HR telling on the interview, guy is too old (what would be the motive for the interviewer to say that?! He could just say we'll let you know, sublime piss off methods are countless), he does some amazing inventions he could offer to Specialized (Bullshit warning siren at full tilt!) you don't even mention the name of your mentor which would be a direct slap in Spesh face if it was all true, and yeah he just moved on... cuz he so great.

Oh well... I just accused you of something just like you accused Specialized. What will you do about it? Except you with your little anonymous account have nothing to lose.
  • 11 11
 @professionalamateur: your credibility is ZERO and it would be good if morons who upvote you realized that.
  • 9 2
 Hello and welcome to "Things That Never Happened."
  • 8 7
 @excavator666: That’s genuinely funny Big Grin In the same league with “Behold! The field where I grow my fks... lay thee eyes upon it for it is barren”
  • 3 2
 @WAKIdesigns: your credibility is?
  • 9 15
flag WAKIdesigns (Oct 1, 2019 at 2:37) (Below Threshold)
 @schofell84: higher. I am genuinely sorry, but with years of being here, riding bikes, talking to many people in the industry I have some credibility. Hard to swallow and you may want to throw a shit smelling wrench into it and start twisting it and yanking on it to make me dig myself some hole, but I do have certain level of credibility in the bike world. If only for consistency. But I don’t paint bad pictures of companies using examples nobody can fact check. Guess what, I won’t reply to any more thread here, no matter what you write. And I am going to be a douche about it. Love ya.
  • 14 3
 @WAKIdesigns: You're an industry troll with zero credibility, but cool man. I occasionally get a laugh out of your garbage even though an honest 80% of it is terrible.
  • 11 2
 @WAKIdesigns: don't lower yourself man. Ps you missed 'modesty' off your impressive CV there. "Years of being here" is quite the KO punch though, I'll give you that.
  • 4 1
 @WAKIdesigns:
No ... only Specialized. These guys were the only ones audacious enough to jump on the climate band wagon. I think you misinterpreted my post, whi h meant to point out the hypocrisy of Specialized. No other bike manufacture vocalized their participation in a so called climate march or market their environmentalism. Just calling a spade a spade, Specialized is merely riding a marketing wave.
  • 2 2
 @WAKIdesigns: Not to mention all the amazing art content that you've had published on here.
  • 6 0
 @excavator666: All of that "art content" was just him being miserable about industry stuff. 95% of his "content" is just him being miserable to someone or about something.
  • 1 2
 @schofell84: I disagree with you.
  • 9 1
 @WAKIdesigns: riding results from racing and participating in events give you credibility not smack talk or hammering keys producing hypothetical bulshit. Sorry WakI keep dreaming you are only a legend in your own mind
  • 6 0
 @pinnityafairy: Only the most credible of people inform you of their credibility, right? Widely known fact. The old, "do you know who I am?"
  • 3 0
 @schofell84: I would like to buy your next round
  • 2 0
 @Grimes1405: glad to see that everyone on here is not a sheeple. Kudos to you sir!
  • 2 0
 @excavator666: I disagree with you
  • 3 1
 @pinnityafairy: do you know who I am?
  • 5 3
 @WAKIdesigns: You're the smartest guy you know.
  • 3 1
 The only thing I have a hard time with in this story is that Specialized actually told the guy it was because he was too old. That's illegal, and I can't believe the HR department at a corporation like Specialized ever would have done that.

Now, they could have told him some stuff that he interpreted as "you're too old," and that might well have been the reality, but never in a million years did those exact words come out of their mouths.

@brianpark has a good point -- they hired Vernon, but then they have different visions for the type of person they want in different roles.
  • 2 1
 @excavator666: probably a guy with way more skill on the bike than wacki. I know that's not saying much. Cheers n happy shreds.
  • 1 0
 @TheR: What Brian said.
  • 2 0
 @pinnityafairy: They hired Vernon for the vacant #Legend position - old is a prerequisite.
  • 7 2
 @WAKIdesigns: Sorry man. I just don't care what you have to say. I honestly don't think anyone cares about what you have to say. After you mentioned my account I went through yours and feel really bad for you. Your biking style is trash and nobody in their right mind would f*ck you. Please tell me your bunny hops got better since 2015. Poor bastard..
  • 2 0
 @professionalamateur your friend is a very lucky person. They definitely hire designers over 36 but they also lay off on a quarterly bases if the budget requires it. Mike is a good guy but his top management is really bad... no clue what's going on...
  • 2 0
 @professionalamateur: Why is your comment downvoted? You acknowledges your friend’s independent and strong nature and PB is downvoting you?
  • 3 2
 @DirtbagMatt: I don't know Matt. It all started with a Swedish f*ck boy named WAKIdesigns talking out of his ass. Then a bunch of his boyfriends started this negative thing. Then others started to open my eyes on who WAKIdesigns is. He sounds like a jealous person with absolutely nothing going on in his life except his pink-bike account. Did you see his crappy drawings? Awful. And his videos show his frail body trying to bunny hop a small chain? Dude, it's embarrassing. He's a keyboard warrior and nothing else. The kind of guy you can open hand slap across the mouth and watch him piss his size small pants. Someone tell the guy to do some upper body exercises.
  • 2 0
 @professionalamateur: He's not Swedish.
  • 1 1
 @endlessblockades: His flag next to his name is Sweden. He must blow a guy from there I guess.
  • 12 2
 I'm always happy to show my face in Kali gear

www.pinkbike.com/photo/13626321
  • 6 0
 This is amazing news Kali is probably one of the more underrated companies for what they are doing because they have lacked the trendy wrapper. So stoked to see what is going to come.
  • 4 1
 It's a company that always gets good reviews but that I would never buy, because they look terrible
  • 1 1
 Maybe the new stuff will be priced like an S works
  • 10 2
 So basically some dude left his job and then got another job in the same industry. Cool basis for an article...
  • 5 0
 So is this the guy I blame for mistakenly giving a 10% discount on a 2006 (?) Rockhopper? Was a brand new model, first we unpacked if the new model year and the customer complained there was what looked like a scratch on the top tube, had to agree and offer a discount, later that day we unpacked another and found the scratch was part of the design! We laughed and got over it quickly. Specialized were always easy to sell, can thank him for his part in that.
  • 8 0
 Goodbye 2004 Stoner Core Kali graphics
  • 4 0
 i like kali stuff. had a couple of their helmets, and a bunch of dh armor. hard to find a local dealer in some cities, though. hopefully that changes.
  • 1 0
 I'll be interested to see how their helmets start looking in the coming years. I just recently purchased a Proframe, so I'm set for about 5 seasons or if I crash again, and may take another look at them if they release a lightweight full face helmet
  • 4 2
 I love how the kids on here make Specialized out to be like C.O.B.R.A. Reality - It's a bike company, and you are not GI JOE because you ride a smaller bike brand. Knowing is half the battle.
  • 2 1
 true, but i AM gi joe cuz i dress like snake eyes.
  • 4 0
 On va pouvoir avoir un produit Lanusse sur la tête!
  • 2 0
 Head first hahaha
  • 1 0
 yeah, the graphics could use an update, but best dang pair of gloves I've ever owned. The 5 pairs of Foxes I had before them split at the fingers well before now and these gloves are still killin' it.
  • 3 1
 always liked the look of the big S's buckets. Never been a fan of Kali, though. Maybe its gonna change!
  • 2 0
 Alain! Haven't seen you since MTD in the '90's. Cool to see your career taking a positive turn. Best to you! Bobby K
  • 6 4
 ever seen graphics on any specialized mtb helmet, they look like a 4th grader drew them on an etch-a-sketch.
  • 2 4
 really? i just looked cuz of ur comment, and they seem pretty tame (outside the kids helmets).
  • 2 0
 He just moved down the road.
  • 4 3
 Pinkbike stealing bicycleretailers.com content. To put it in specialized’s own words, innovate or die
  • 4 3
 Lol, both locations in Morgan Hill, CA are only 0.3 miles away from each other. He must be making a big move.
  • 2 0
 Having a press release on Pinkbike can be a roll of the dice.
  • 1 0
 Looking forward to helmets that day Kali 15 times
  • 1 0
 Reppin the G-men!!! Kid's showing good taste already!
  • 2 2
 Sounds like all of the new Kali products are going to be black white and red...
  • 2 2
 And now the question that everybody ask: will Kali starts sue other companies now?
  • 1 0
 Love Kali stuff. Never had an issue with their graphics.
  • 1 0
 Rock and roll buddy .
  • 2 2
 Sticker director...can you say STOOPID. Pinkbike turning into CNN.
  • 1 0
 And proprietary







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