Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody

Nice write up in the Hometown Paper

Big thanks goes to John Liberty for giving us a nice write up in the Kalamazoo Gazette's Ticket.

Click on the image below to read the article.

Play well.
Clovis

Who's having a party? We're having a party!

That's right people, it's time to have a good time, relax with some friends, get some really great drink specials and meet the ladies of Toi's 2010 Pin Up Calendar. They'll be signing the calendar from 10:00 to 2:00 and we'll be partying like it's 1999.

So come out to Waldo's Campus Tavern next friday night and let's have a good time.




Play Well
Clovis

Assassin's Creed II - Anyone, anyone?

So first let me start by saying that the commercials that they are playing on TV right now? The ones where they show your fresh kills' face looking up at you, as the camera slowly pulls away... Those are insanely creepy.

just down right weird.

But with that said The first Assassin's Creed was phenomenal. Every one here at Toi has played this game at least twice and in some cases three times through. and each time our enjoyment for the game did not waiver.

Which brings us to November 17th and a complete standstill of office work for the next week.

Assassin's Creed II comes out and I think everyone here is chomping at the bit to play it. I personally can't wait to play it. This excitement reminds me of being a kid and getting excited about the new Super Mario or Mega Man game. This game is going to kick so much butt and I can't wait.

Also Speaking of major events in November. Check back next week Tuesday for some major news.

Updated with creepy ads:



Play Well
Clovis

Interview with D*Face

D*Face, Artist :: Off The Wall from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.

Play well
Clovis

Internet Celebrities

I've never been to a bodega, all we have here in Michigan is the corner gas station or 7/11.

But this comedy skit from the Internet Celebrities makes me want to hop on a flight to New york and pick up some of the "yellow food group."

Hilarious
Play well
Clovis

They're here!

After months of photoshoots, editing, and planning our 2010 Toi Pin-up calendar is finally available for pre-order!

View it here

Play well
Clovis

Thoughts?

Mr. Kim Says - "Lacking Inspiration" from Mr. Kim on Vimeo.

I've been going to mrkimsays.com for years now. For those unaware, it is a blog ran by Rickey Kim, owner of Evil Monito, a guy for all intents and purposes seems to work with some of the most creative individuals that this world has to offer.

Which is why this post troubles me.

Let me start by saying that I completely agree with what Mr. Kim has to say. I think we have taken art in it's laziest direction. That schools of thought that exist in the art world now are just out of pure lack of creativity. This doesn't fall on everyone, but the vast majority have to own up to this, including myself.

We as the creative community have latched onto the idea of art=fame, or rather, very poor art + great marketing = fame.

I also think as one who calls himself a creative individual, how much blame do I place on myself.

And that is what troubles me.

So I post it to you dear reader.
Do you think we have reached the tipping point?
Do you think that because of over saturation, laziness, and all around not giving a crap, we have drained the well?

I don't know, but I do know this makes me want to try harder and really wow, not just make something that is good enough, but really wow.

Play well
Clovis

October is coming

A few things

• Limited to 150.
• Only available in our online shop
• Drops the end of October - so it will be in the mail and in your eager little hands before the Christmas Holiday.
• That's right what better gift to give than a Toi wallet
• There is no cooler wallet
• That's right I said it - NO COOLER WALLET!

Play Well
Clovis

Weddings

Congrats To Cassie and Brad.

Play Well
Clovis

We are getting closer!

The Calendar is done.

So what does that mean? and how long before you can have it in your warm, little hands?

Pre-orders start Monday October 19th, and run for the rest of that month. We're working out some special things for the pre-orders to make the calendar even more of a hot commodity.

I can't tell you how proud I am of the team that worked on this little puppy. It shows through in the photography and the packaging. This is just a wonderful piece, and I can't share in words how happy I am with the finished product.

What else?

Well, October on through the end of the year looks to be a busy time for us here at Toi. Our first cut and sew piece (limited to just 150) is coming along swimmingly and is on schedule for its late October/Early November release.

There's some other things coming along the pipeline as well, but I can't say much more than that.

So as always ...

Play Well
Clovis

Elizabeth Gilbert on creativity

Elizabeth Gilbert, (Eat, Pray, Love) has a very interesting take on what it means to be a creative, and how to handle it.

Play well
Clovis

this is amazing

This comes from the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium located in Japan, and it is simply breathtaking.

The main tank, entitled the 'Kuroshio Sea', holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world's second largest acrylic glass panel in which measures 8.2 meters by 22.5 meters with a thickness of 60 centimeters.

You can download the wallpaper here

Play well
Clovis

Tuesday Creative Fix

A little time + a little creativity + friends willing to help friends. = Great video.

Found on Brand Flakes for Breakfast

Play Well
Clovis

Detroit is dying

Yves Marchand Romain Meffre Photography (Say that five times fast.) has an excellent photo study entitled "The Ruins of Detroit" up on their website right now.

The photography is beautiful, haunting, and ultimately very depressing in that this once great city is slowly decaying right before our very eyes.

Enjoy it here

Play well
Clovis

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Summer Lovin'

Summer is in full swing here in Michigan, making an already hectic schedule almost unbearable.

So far in the month of June I've already attended three weddings (with three more to go through September), I'm working with no less than five clients on websites and such, and still chipping away on the full time day to day job.

So what does that mean for our beloved little company that could, Toi?

Well if you can't tell by the picture above, we're putting a little surprise together for later this year.

Our programmer just began work on putting the pieces of the fat monster© app. together.

And we're planning a special August surprise for those of you that live in the Kalamazoo area.

I have to give a special "and I thank you" to Matt, for picking up on some of the slack with our design clients, And to Rachel for helping keep yours truly sane.

And as a final gift to our readers, here is one more photo of things to come.



Play Well
Clovis

Superflat First Love

Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton have had an awesome partnership. And in what has to be one of the most interesting branding/artist collaborations ever we get Super Flat Love.

Play Well
Clovis

Bad Client practices in the real world

If you have ever worked in an ad agency this will make you spit up your dr. pibb.

Play well
Clovis

Maestro Knows

Maestro Knows - Episode 7 (San Francisco) from Maestro Knows on Vimeo.

You've gotta check his Vimeo page.


Play Well
Clovis

The Magic of Sean Clark

Received this in an e-mail the other day. Sean Clark, Magician, Psychologist and all around good guy has his website up and running.

The really cool thing is if you watch some of his videos you'll see that he is wearing one of our first Toi shirts.

Check his website here

And if you see him on the streets of Austin, show him some love.

Play well
Clovis

Thursday Music

Kings Of Leon - New Music - More Music Videos

Great song to help get through the day.

Play Well
Clovis

Kalamazoo X conference recap

This past weekend was the Kalamazoo X Conference. About 80 professional programmers, consultants, and creatives packed into one of the conference rooms at KVCC to listen to some really insightful presentations on programming, change, social networking, and of course, branding. It was a great time and I give credit to Mike Eaton and the Kalamazoo X team for putting on such a great seminar.

Saduki (Sarah Dutkiewicz) has a wonderful write up about the full days festivities over on her blog Coding Geekette

Stop by and take a gander.

Play well
Clovis

The Process: photo edition

A few months ago- Toi did a photo shoot for some assorted things, least being some designs for new shirts.

Anywho, over the course of six hours and over three hundred shots later, we came up with some good photos and some great ideas for some future designs.

Plus it doesn't hurt to have good looking models scantily clad in your studio.

Play well
Clovis

Things I want.

Michel Gondry has a new DVD out highlighting his music video work and interviews. Gondry is a pretty remarkable director and since you can only get this dvd on his website I give you the website.

Click it here

Play well
Clovis

Drongo Plays the Drums

Cute animation from Electric Eel-fish films

Play well
Clovis

I'm not sure if I'm wierded out or turned on.

This is a kids show - A KIDS SHOW! This is from the Japanese tv show Seireishojotai - which translates as “Elemental Girls". It's about 5 highschool girls who are actually sexy Eco-super heroes that fight polluters and other environmental villains in I'm guessing, the tiniest outfits known to man.

Crazy.



Original source here

Play well
Clovis

Maestro Knows

Maestro Knows - Episode 2 (Anthony Hamilton) from Maestro Knows on Vimeo.


Check the rest of the episodes here

Play well
Clovis

Monday music

Just some good music to help us through a monday.

Play well
Clovis

Food logos through the ages

A really fun article on some of food companies greatest logo's through the ages.

from: NEATORAMA

Play well
Clovis

Sunday Morning Cartoons

I was voracious about reading as a child, and I absorbed whatever I could get my grubby little hands on - to the point that I got a turtle in fifth grade and named it Dribble because of Judy Blume.

In sixth grade I picked up my first mythology book, it was a very superficial explanation on Greek Mythology, but from that one book I was hooked. I went through our libraries collection of greek mythology and then tried to read and understand norse, and eventually egyptian. All of them were incredibly important in helping me to form my world view. These were all religions at one time, these were all part of their times collective conscious.

All of this is to say, that when Gargoyles came out, I was amazed at how they mixed medieval lore with Norse mythology and threw in some roman mythology for good measure. It was a wonderful concoction of all these different ideas and beliefs mixed together for yummy goodness.

I was also amazed that Disney took such a chance with this cartoon. I mean think about it, the mouse house is known for making pretty straight forward kiddy fare, and here was such an amazing, deeply serialized, thoughtful cartoon.

If you ever decide to pick the DVD's up get the later seasons - it becomes incredibly interesting after season 2.

Play well
Clovis

Tough Times

Over at hypebeast right now there is a very interesting article on the state of the industry called streetwear.

Here's an excerpt from Frank Liew of Qubic/Quarters


"I think everybody needs to stop and breathe for a second. Consumers, support your independents. Retailers, stop blaming everything on “the recession”. Don’t be lazy. It doesn’t explain why you should ignore customers who walk in your front door. You know how it works. People moan to me about how it’s all media hype – but I don’t entirely believe that. I think there is a general paradigm shift at the moment kick-started by the economic situation in where people are now waking up and evaluating the way they’ve been spending, regardless of whether or not they’ve been hit in the pocket by the housing crunch or lost an entire stock portfolio. For our industry, I strongly believe the spending is still out there. I see it every day when I view our reports. People who were into it before the crunch are still into it now, I don’t think I’ve met a single person who’s completely given up on buying clothes & footwear just because the GDP has shrunken for the last two consecutive quarters. People still appreciate good product, and good service. It’s still a relatively young crowd, they’re flexible. Remember why you got into this in the first place. The need, the addiction, the want. That’s what your customers still feel, despite what you may think. If you can capture that then you’re set. "

The article gives some inspiration as well as sending a real message that now is the time to step up, be creative, differentiate your brand from the herd, and most importantly be true to your style ignore all the commercial mess, and build your brand to fit you first.

Check the article here

Play well
Clovis

Notte Sento

Notte Sento (English subtitles) from napdan on Vimeo.

This short was made from over 4500 shots taken with a Canon EOS 30D camera.

from the creator:
A girl misses her train to Milan and is set to wait overnight in Rome until dawn. However, a chance encounter with a guy changes her plans and the night lights of the capital turn into the background to a tender love story. An extraordinary chemistry made of knowing glances and small gestures fills the few instants that separate them both from the sunrise.


Beautiful

Play well
Clovis

Kalamazoo X Conference

I'll be speaking at the Kalamazoo X Conference on branding next month! click on the banner above to visit their site.

Play Well
Clovis

Sunday morning cartoons

Is it wrong that Bluto is my favorite character in Popeye?

Play Well
Clovis

Fat Monster is coming!

I am really bad at keeping secrets, especially if it is something that is exciting. and today I am very excited!

I just recieved color artwork for our upcoming apple app, fat monster.

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, and hell who knows if it will be finished before next year. But, seeing this and the other color pages put together for the first time, I'm starting to get a feel for how the game will look and play, and I can't tell you how proud that makes me of the team working on this project.

It's a good day to be TOI.

Play well
Clovis

$100.00 houses

We have all heard the stories of how Detroit is falling apart. Living and working in Michigan it has always been a Thorn in my side that we do not have a major city, like Chicago or New York to call our own, instead we have a major city with a former very corrupt mayor, and a winless football team.

Well here is a story of a group of people who are taking advantage of the city's fall and are at the beginning stages of rebuilding it into something new and different.

I have to admit this excites me a little, these small steps will hopefully grow into something very big and exciting.

Read the article here

So who watched the Watchmen

Overall loved the movie - Most of the changes and deletions made sense. My only real beef was the ending, subtle changes can make the world of difference, and unfortunately not always for the best.




By the by this comic is hilarious. Check it out here

Play well
Clovis

What's new with you?

So what's been going on in the world of TOI?

• New fabric just came in for our limited edition wallets. 150 total, with supremely cool packaging.
• First introductions and meetings on "Fat Monster"
• Finishing up decisions on the line for the rest of the year.
• Welcoming our new PR Person
• Saying goodbye to our intern
• Looking for a new intern

I've been trying to figure out how to share the process of running a small business a little bit better on this blog.

In the last few months I've kind of focused a lot more on our pet projects, movies, girlfriends and cartoons. and less on what goes on behind the scenes of the day to day growth of our little empire that could.

As we move forward there will be continual tweaking in what I think the blog should be, and as that happens I hope to make it more of what I personally envision it to be.

With that said below are two of our shirts coming out towards the end of next month. Hope you likes.



Play well
Clovis

Sunday Morning Cartoons

Love Pluto.

Play Well
Clovis

this is fantastic

Saw this on Johnny Cupcakes blog and thought it was really beautiful.

I'm jealous in how creative and simple this really is.

Play well
Clovis

Who Watches the Watchmen?

I... Can't... Wait...

Let's be honest, a large part of my childhood was spent reading comics, writing comics and illustrating comics, my love for illustration can be traced back to a mighty mouse comic I tore apart and traced when I was about 5 years old. And I can also remember crying when my mom wouldn't let me see the first batman movie.

I have watched every comic to film adaption that has come out, yes even Electra. These comics were my childhood mythology and the movies are that mythology come to life.

And I Can't Wait for the Watchmen.

I've read this book multiple times, I've studied Dave Gibbons artwork, and I have always wanted to sit at the altar that is Alan Moore.

Anyway, Drew McWeeney from HITFIX continues his superb coverage of the Watchmen movie with a set of videos talking to the cast, director and original artist of Watchmen.



Here is Dave Gibbons discussing the surreal feeling seeing his and Moore's child jump off the page and into a big budget movie.

You can find the rest of the interviews here

Play well
Clovis

I know where they can stick their snooty

First let me say that there is a part in here where they offer the theory that an 80 year old grandmother who dabbles in Illustrator could possibly be a better designer than someone who has spent Four years in college, an internship, and gained years of marketing and design experience.

What? Really? How can they possibly be selling this line.

I understand that they had a bad experience with a design firm, but that does not mean a monkey could do a graphic designers job. It also does not mean that holding open competitions for anyone with Adobe Suite is somehow going to improve our industry. I would argue that in fact it is quite the opposite. That good designers, just like good dentists, or doctors. Is a learned ability. It takes time, practice and a true understanding of the field that one chooses to work in.

And Secondly there is a very big difference between snooty and actually passionate about ones job. I have never been snooty. Maybe an ass, but never snooty.

And finally I would like to say that this article is coming from Forbes Magazine - FORBES Magazine! Come on, they are the pot calling the kettle black.

You can find this article here

Fine I am now off my soapbox

Play Well
Clovis

Big Man Japan

This preview has crazy cool written all over it - a mix of computer animation and live action, Big Man Japan looks to be a mixture of everything I love - mainly animation and kooky cool old giant monster movies (Who doesn't love a monster detroying a city block?) anyway you can check out the preview here



Play well
Clovis

Sunday Morning Cartoons

One of the best openings to a cartoon - ever!

Play well
Clovis

Cheese of Nazareth

I find that more and more I'm writing about interesting stories that happen to come up dealing with Marketing and Design. The reason being is that, along with my duties of being Toi's chief doodler, my other job includes being a graphic designer/marketer/consultant and all around funny guy. So along with the previews of up-coming Toi apparell, pattern designs, Toi musings and the day to day of running a small business, you'll find that I'll focus pretty heavily on marketing and design related topics.

Because truth be told I believe they are all one and the same.

I could talk at length about arguments I've had with other designers and marketers who make it very clear that these are two very seperate professions. But I truly believe that these can and should be one and the same. A designer who doesn't understand the marketing and testing and branding and final execution of their work, and a marketer who isn't paying attention to details and who isn't part of the creative process. Well I believe both are doing a disservice to the client in some way.

Maybe this has something to do with owning a small business and having to be both Designer and Marketer.

Maybe it has something to do with I'm trying to quit coffee and cigarettes and the linked article made me "Mr. Cranky Pants."

Anyway, above is a logo from 50dollarlogo.com and clicking on this link will take you to a story about one man's year long journey into getting a decent logo from this website.

And believe me the logo's are even more horrible than the one above.

Clip art should be outlawed.
Play well
Clovis

Customer Service

Last night Rachel and I went to dinner at the Italian oven, It was a good dinner, minus the forty five minute wait to be seated and the hour wait for our food to actually be served. But once the food was served it was delicious. What made the dinner fun was that when you are seated, there is a white sheet of paper placed over the table, and crayons given to the guests.



This led to Rachel and I having a little contest to see who could draw us the best.


here's her entry.



And here's mine and yes I know in real life I have no hair, but that is what illustrations are for, embellishing.

So anyway we're taking votes to decide which one is better, I vote for me since I write the blog.

Play Well
Clovis

quick note

Howdy just a quick note before I head out for our valentines dinner.

The guys at five four do a follow up to the article from the Wall Street Journal I posted earlier in the week, which talked about how brands are faring in this economy - his feedback is just as insightful as the original WSJ post, if not more so.

Take a gander here and see for yourself.

Also the photo above references their blog, since he checks out peoples socks and shoes

Play well
Clovis

Sunday morning cartoons - Valentines day edition

From the Creator:

- When i was in third grade i got a valentine from the ugliest girl in the class. My friends told me to rip it up otherwise they would tease me by saying i wanted to be her boyfriend. I didnt actualy rip the valentine up, i crumpled it up and "michael jordaned" it into the trash can screaming "Fade Away"! So the girls of the class pressured her into a fight with me in the schoolyard during lunch. I wasn't gonna fight a girl but peer pressure is a mofo. I pushed her down and ran away. I was such a tool when i was little, easily pressured into doing things i knew were dum.
This animation is based on real events, enjoy! -


Happy Valentines day
Play Well
Clovis

Staying above water

Here is an interesting article from the The Wall Street Journal Which talks about clothing brand, Five Four, and their struggle to make it through these difficult times. A very interesting read.


Found on Hypebeast

This is why your fat

After looking through this site you may not want to eat for a week. This explains Why America is obese.

I mean seriously who eats a corn dog pizza.

Play Well
Clovis

What do using bad visuals mean?

Image via here

Ghost Bikes are a grass roots campaign to memorialize cyclists killed in New York City's traffic. The image above is from DKNY (A clothing company.) and another link here talks about Macy's (A department store) Valentine and Spring campaigns.
Both use similar images, specifically that of monochromatic bikes being used to promote specific events. The same types of monochromatic bikes sprinkled throughout New York, used by Ghost Bikes, to remind everyone of the loss of life.

So first, let me say that I mostly agree with Darryl Ohrt, from the blog Brandflakes for Breakfast, Any designer has to perform due diligence. Meaning that if you put an image out there for public consumption, that you should understand what the image actually means. Be it from history or pop culture.

But I guess my bigger question is, if you didn’t know about Ghost Bikes. If you had no point of reference to begin with, what would a monochromatic bike say to you? If you look at the display for Macy’s, well no offense to Macy’s, but I find it kind of boring. Looking at the DKNY bikes, it doesn’t really tell me what they are trying to sale me, and I’m not interested in the bike enough to want and try to find out.

Because, to be fair to both companies, I don’t think it is completely invalid to re- appropriate an image, even one with a negative connotation. As long as the team putting it together understands what they are using. My bigger issue is that without knowing about Ghost Bikes, both campaigns still leave me not that interested. And I think that is just as much of a crime here as the use of the inappropriate images.

play well
Clovis

Can't stop the hustle.

Tonight Kenyatta(Theologic) and I had a fairly in-depth conversation about marketing and how to promote oneself. It was great to catch up with him and to hear about all of the interesting things he's planning to release on the masses in the coming months.

It's good to see Detroit still producing creative individuals, and I can't wait to here the whole album.

Make sure you grab a copy of his album March 21st.

check his myspace hear.

Sunday Morning Cartoons

In my pursuit to keep childhood memories alive, and to showcase kickass cartoons, I bring you one of the great overlooked 80's imports. The Bionic Six

From the Bionic Six Wikipedia:

The main character, 'Bionic-1', was a machine-enhanced human being using bionic technology, much like The Six Million Dollar Man. On a vacation in the Himalayas, Bionic-1 and his family were testing out some new ski equipment. They were attacked by aliens and during the battle, in which Jack revealed his abilities to his children for the first time, there was an avalanche and the Bennetts were all buried alive under radioactive snow. All, but Jack (whose bionics made him immune to the radioactivity), were thrown into paralytic comas. Unsure how to save them, Bionic-1 brings the family to Professor Sharp's lab. Sharp deduces that giving everyone the bionic treatment would cure them of the radioactivity too. Each family member was given a specific bionic power, and they formed a team named Bionic Six.

... I just remember thinking how cool it would be to be a family of crime fighters.

Play well
Clovis

Tired? Overworked? Pasty?

This is just proof that anything is possible on the interwebs. A company known as ComputerTan has a website where you can actually tan while sitting at your computer. I reserve my personal thoughts on the subject, but I will say that this is definately and interesting idea and execution. check it out here

Play well
Clovis

Sunday Morning Cartoons

SPOOON!!!

The process 1/29/09

Here is a mockup of something coming down the pipeline - the new Toi Wallet will be a limited run, each one hand crafted, to give it just a little more goodness. These are going to be amazing and I can't wait to talk more about it and show some more in depth designs.

Play Well
Clovis

Sunday Morning Cartoons

I love this cartoon.




Here's part 2

Tips of the trade

Owning a business that primarily operates online has many plusses and a few negatives. One of those major negatives is the conversation with others that you are an amateur, playing at your respective field and are only dabbling in it, not really getting your feet wet.

Ryan Sohmer of "Least I Could Do" fame offers some advice on what it takes to sometimes sit at the adult’s table. Here is an excerpt.

"Rather than spend 4 hours of your day ranting on online forums about why another is so wrong, and you're so very right, ignore it. Every time a flame war breaks out, it accomplishes nothing but make all parties look like children. Keep your head down, focus on your work, let that and your success be what speaks for you.

Don't let your readers dictate what your work will be. Trust yourself, your direction. You may end up with a few less than stellar arcs or strips, but you need to follow through on your vision.

Accept your limitations. If you're not a business person, don't try to be one. There are many business-minded individuals who love to partner with a creative force such as yourself, you just need to find him/her. -

- Forget everything else, forget the drama, the arguments, it's the work that matters."

Now I know that this applies to creating webcomics, but the basic truths apply to anyone trying to create a strong business on this thing called the interwebs. And I can wholeheartedly admit to falling into some of the pitfalls mentioned.

You can read the whole thing at his website Least I could Do give it a good read.

Play well
Clovis

Twitter, it's us Toi can you hear us?

We've just added twitter to the blog! That is all.

Play well
Clovis

Happy New Year!!!!

That is my nephew during our families christmas this year - My brother and his wife put together a fabulous christmas morning breakfast and host both families to open presents, joke around and just have a pretty good time. I'm amazed how much work he puts into making his children's christmas as magical as possible. and to watch the kids rip open their gifts and just the amazement and wonderment that they have - it truly becomes a special day.

Anyway what is happening with Toi?

Well part of our new years plan is hinted at in the picture above. some limited edition things are coming down the pipeline and all around just moving forward.

play well
Clovis