November Gift Suggestion?

Any of you who're new here know that November is time for gift buying, and so I get my suggestions out there so you guys can hopefully cash in on the early deals and avoid the hassles of being in huge lines and buying gifts last minute. Well, after a quick back and forth with the Mix I've decided to kick things off with a product I honestly can't fathom buying - the Twitter Peek.

I try to avoid straight up knocking on things with this blog, and so I'll let you guys figure out why this thing makes me raise my eyebrow. Who knows, perhaps I've just introduced you to your dream device, and in a flurry of teary eyed emotion you are now buying one - finally to be one with a mobile device solely dedicated to tweeting.

The Mix, in his vast powers of story telling, has re-created what ultimately led to this device taking shape. I present it to you now for your consideration:

Somewhere in Twitterpeek headquarters.
Supervisor: Well, the Boss says we need a new device to save the company, and we aren't leaving until we come up with one.
Bob: Sir, about that, you know how popular twitter is?
Supervisor: Uh sure.
Ted: Hey, I bet I can eat a bunch of post-it's.
Bob: Well I got an idea about a dedicated Twitter device.
Supervisor: Can't people just use cell-, wait did Ted just say post-it's?
Ted: Yeah, I'll eat some goddamn post-it's.
Bob: Uhh... it's called the Twitterpeek, everyone will...
Supervisor: Jake! get in here-Ted's gonna go to town on some post-it's!
Bob: But sir, I think people will really buy...
Supervisor: Bob, shut up about the damn twitpoker already and get your ass to the supply closet.
Bob: But I think people will really buy...
Supervisor: Bob! Supply Closet! Now!
Bob: Uh... yes sir.

6 minutes later...

Jake: Wow, he really like those purple ones.
Bob: So, anyway, about the Twitter...
Boss: What's going on in here!?!? We need that new gadget before the holidays!
Bob: Boss, I think people would really like a Twitter...
Boss: Holy hell! is Ted eating post-it's?
Supervisor: Uh... I can explain... this is uhh... brainstorming....
Boss: God, I've never seen so many papercuts before...
Jake: Yeah he's going on the second pack now.
Bob: Guys, what about the Twitterpee...
Boss: Yeah, Twitpopper sounds great. Make yourself useful and go get the webcam.

Thus the legend was born.

In other news, I'm currently neck-deep in holiday commissions, but I do have plans for posts this month and will do my best to ship them out. Keep tuned - I also have a few gift ideas like usual!

-ic

Make it Fun!

Coming out of Volkswagen Sweden are a small set of commercials that propose doing things we "should" do can be easy if we make it fun.

This is a bit different than we're used to in the USA I think - more often than not we see people doing the right thing out of a sense of guilt, or even worse, a sense of righteous empowerment. I don't know, but is it really too much to hope that ego doesn't have to weigh into the equation when it comes to desiring to do something positive like exercising more, or recycling, or not littering?

If these videos are any indication, no, it isn't too much to hope for. I love the idea of making things fun to do, not just hoping we'll all do the right thing. With any luck we'll see more of this sort of thinking in the world!

-ic

Originally linked to from DivineCaroline, and featured on Digg!

Sky Drop

I've been dwelling on one of the jobs I've applied to, thinking about a concept I have for a game. Something has been bugging me to work up illustrations for it, so here's one of them. The concept of the entire game surrounds a falling character, which I think could be really fun, but for now it's just a quick Photoshop illustration.

With any luck the fact that I got this out of my system will allow me to get back to the other thirty projects I have going! Still though, it's fun to get back to some comic-style work, even if it's just concept art.

-ic

Employees Only - The Web is Worse pt 2

Another comic is up. You better watch out or I may make a habit of it.

-ic

Progress from the Front Lines

It's been a while since I've updated the blog with any of my artwork, so I figured that I'd show the current state of my latest oil painting, which I'm simply calling the "Kite Painting" for now.

I see this painting as being the beginning of a lot of things for me. Although I'm still job hunting and still working on all the things I always seem to be working on (my next book, a comic, a children's book, etc.) this painting has slowly progressed over the past year into something that I'm proud to look at and eager to work on.

The next steps are really just finishing ones, where I'll refine the definition of the sky, and maybe add some detail work to really bring out the image. Once I finally get some varnish down on this fella and call it "done", I'll find a framer and then hopefully a gallery to sell it from. Over the long term, the Kite Painting will simply be the first of many paintings that I hope will get my unsuccessful ass back into school. If I can make some money along the way...well, so much the better!

I'm hoping to have the painting done by the end of the month, but please let me know what you think thus far! Comments and criticism are welcome, so long as you keep it clean and constructive. Anyone interested in hanging the work once it's done feel free to contact me here.

-ic

Eight Minutes of Avalanche

I imagine that this video is making the rounds quite nicely without my meager assistance, but none the less I wanted to make sure my peeps saw it. Holy Cow this is a crazy thing to watch.

"He also got very lucky to be honest. In the time that he's buried, you can hear his breathing already accelerate. The ruffling noise back and forth is his chest rising and falling and the noise that his jacket makes. The intermittent whimpering noise you hear is him trying to swallow and get some air since the avalung wasn't fully in his mouth and instead just to the corner of his mouth. Still sends chills up the back of my neck. Oh...the luck? They located him so fast because his right glove came off just before he came completley to rest and there was an excellent visual of course."

Click here to go to the Vimeo page and read the full description.

-ic

Originally linked from Penny-Arcade and Gizmodo

Takano Tanpopo Photography

My good friend from the Academy of Art University has put together a new portfolio website showcasing his photography, and I immediately asked if I could post a blog about the work.

Kaz's work really has developed since I first met him, and I'm floored by his focus on color and choice of subject. I especially like his kindergarden series, which has a great motif of showing plants without any potting, yet still indicates the pot's shape. Check out his other series though - Duo-Faces has some really cool close-ups and his cityscape photos are great too!

-ic

Great photos Kaz!