The story behind “Hugo Street Productions:”

Years ago–like the 90s–I lived in the Inner Sunset district of San Francisco on 3rd Ave at Hugo St.  It was a quintessentially great neighborhood
where everybody knew everybody for blocks.  Really–you couldn’t go out your door
without running into someone from the neighborhood, and 7.5 times out of 10
you’d end up getting an espresso or latte at the Hugo Street Cafe. My GF
at the time would send  me to the store and literally say, “And don’t talk
to anybody!” Impromptu conversations caused more than a few late dinners.
A neighbor and good friend was (is) a flight attendant; he
had brought home a couple of panniers from Hong Kong with some inscription on
them.  I mentioned that they were cool, so he offered to bring  me back a couple.

“What do you want on them?”

“Oh, I don’t  know.  How about Hugo Street
Productions?”

And a few weeks later, I had two black pleather panniers with fancy
red lettering on them announcing my non-company.
I still have them, and have been using them to lug camera
gear around. Frankly, I didn’t want to waste the logo. Plus, it brings back
very good memories of an “old” San Francisco.