Study

Now SPeCks can really be on your mind even when I haven’t produced any new pages to the comic since… what… August? Proudly presenting the first SPeCks hat available for purchase. It’s like a window into your mind. Spacious…

I also thought I might show a little behind-the-scenes action for the comic, by way of one of the character study sheets. And who better to do that with than with Bob. Originally, Bob was to be the absolute main character with Patrick as his “sidekick” (think Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza). As it turns out, the story (yes, I am actually still scripting) has Patrick as kind of the main character. Both Specks are the bulk of the comic, with one playing off the other, so I am not saying you will see one more than the other, just that Patrick seems to be the title-character at the moment. Anyway, enough of that - here’s Bob:

“a”

Congratulations! Your agency has produced award winning advertising for the following: theLOGO



Austin Advertising Federation.

Gaze

Item number 8 hits the SPeCks store shelves. What is it this time? A mini button for your bag, purse, wrist band, wallet, random point on your body…

I had so many other thoughts in my head, but they managed to escape. Lousy thoughts…

Sticking

Real quick post to announce this week's SPeCks item is up!

A sticker (oval) with the whole gang (and some you may, or may not, know). Kind of a teaser, I suppose. Who is that one with the glasses?

In other news: Jim Kersey is working on his online comic website. It is killer, folks. Killer!

Infinite Fancy

Wow! 2006 is here and today marks 8 years with my lovely wife. Our “infinity” year. Just fantastic! To commemorate the occasion, we did our annual What-a-burger meal at lunch and just yesterday we got matching infinity tattoos. My first, her third. Thought it would hurt something fierce (crosses over the spine area, just below my neck) but it turned out all right. I look forward to the rest of forever.

I have also managed to keep my new year's resolution of “one SPeCks product a week” and have posted the latest item: Light Switch Plate. Suzi is the star on this product and I am pleased with how it looks. Next week: another t-shirt.

Elsewhere: Once in a while, I take the time to pull into a parking spot in reverse so the front of the car is facing out. Who knew it had a name: Fancy Parking.

Sale

Today starts a pseudo-New Year’s resolution: SPeCks merchandising. I am attempting to make one (1) item a week until I fill up my CafePress store of the same name (here).

As you may, or may not, know, I have already put up some items for sell (3 shirts of the same “scene” and a wall clock). Today, I took the first step to this resolution and put up a mug (the small mug). Later this week, I will attempt to finalize the cover to the wall calendar.

Next week: Light Switch Cover. And January on the calendar (and Feb. if I get off my ass). Oh, and page 4 of Issue 3 this weekend (again… laziness aside).

ADDY Avatars

So, I entered the local ADDY’s for the 3rd time (as my own designer) today. This round is for my new logo. Hopefully it will get somewhere… It costs 95-clams to slap a piece into that show (non-member rate) and that, for me, is costly. And becoming a member isn’t exactly on the cheap either. Luckily, I don’t churn out work often enough to throw at award shows. I s’pose that’s another issue altogether…

I really must apologize about the lack of SPeCks. Not much to say other than I just need to do ’em. Not having the calendar ready kinda bums me out too. Was really hoping to spring a couple of those on family/friends for Christmas. Unless I whip out 12 months’ worth of art tonight, that’s not happening.

Elsewhere: After reading Mark Boulton’s Journal (quite a bit lately, actually) I was “introduced” to Gravatars. So spiffy, I now have one of my own!

meh

No SPeCks. Sorry… maybe Thursday?

Sneak

Next Wednesday. Hopefully.


Before December. Hopefully.

Crawl

Scurry on for more.

SPeCks has started to chew at my mind quite a bit lately. Most notably: the CafePress store. Turns out someone purchased a t-shirt. Very neat. I wish I could justify the expense of "owning" a premium shop, but right now, I am just sticking with the basic store. Of course, that means, only one version of one item for now (aka: one mug option, one clock option, one cap option, etc). Ultimately, when I fill up the store and actually generate more than $5 a month, I will move to the premium side.

In other, related news, I have begun work on testing my options for an animated version of SPeCks — done as a .GIF animation. The first test opened this post. I have an above average amount of excitement into this path for SPeCks. However, I want to continue to populate the non-animated version of the comic. Currently, it is faster to produce and I want to grow and mature the SPeCks universe more before trying to take on (in a full-time capacity) something of an animated series. For now, I see the "animated series" as little one offs, or one-liners, starring our little web-crawling friends.

I am working on producing a 2006 calendar for SPeCks that will be available on the CafePress store, but a lot of stuff has me tired in the evenings, so I can't really promise anything. Baby steps… or a crawl, rather.

Animated

One thing that I have always enjoyed, and have mentioned in previous posts, is working with animated GIFs. There are no better examples than the warehouse animations created by and for IconFactory's homepage. How interesting...

I took a deeper plunge into this medium of art (and sequential art, for that matter) with the creation of the FFXI mini episode. To be clear, and for all the asshats out there, every aspect of that animated GIF was either recreated and/or completely created by myself - the background was derived from an animated avatar "created" by someone else, I merely used it as the template for my animation.

Recently, I have also been involved with making animated web banners again. So there are some new techniques for frame-by-frame animation that I am discovering and/or learning. I use Adobe ImageReady for the animating and Adobe Photoshop for the "layout" of the animations. When I can figure out a good method of posting tutorials in this blog, I will do so.

I have ideas on converting SPeCks into an animated comic using GIFs as the method of delivery. In order for that to happen, I suppose I should really hunker down and come up with a plan to have SPeCks "episodes" come out on a consistent basis.

Value Add

Many companies have one thing in common, that being the need for customer retention. They are constantly asking themselves how to hold on to the customer base they currently have. Brand loyalty is a powerful thing and can be rather harsh if lost. And it is very easy to lose it. Oh really?

Take JiffyLube for example. I will never take any vehicle I own to that business again. Nor will any of my friends or family. The sordid story of deception and bad practice, that when involving a thousand-plus pound people projectile, is long and boring to recount.

Anywho, here in Austin, TX, we have this awesome sandwich shop called Schlotzsky's Deli. They have rye and pastrami, so I guess that makes them a deli. You can buy their peppers. I have been "dining" there for some time. It isn't so much fast-food as it is food, fast. Love the Original. Adore the Smoked Turkey. Never tried their pizzas... I digress. Customer retention.

What does a deli do to keep customers guessing and always coming back for more? Offer pizza? That just seemed weird. Flavored breads? Been done, but a nice approach. How about one thing that, in my many, many years of eating sandwiches, that all delis should have, yet Schlotzsky's seemed to lack? Pickles. Go into any other delicatessen-style eatery and you get pickles with your meal. Sometime during the course of your consumption, a cured cucumber is conspicuous. However, Schlotzsky's, while showcasing one here and there in their artwork, has never offered their customer a pickle with their meal.

Bring in the pickles! I only noticed this recently, and am not too sure when they started doing it, but now you get an individually wrapped pickle spear with your meal. Way to go, Schlotzsky's! It's the little things that mean so much, and those little things add value to your customer base and keep them coming back for more.

Persevering

It has been some time. Why? I have a daughter. All of 16 weeks. So cute.

But wait, there’s more!Anyway… I haven't posted in quite some time (duh) and don't really feel motivated to keep up with this blog even now (again, baby girl). However, some good news on my end — the site is moving to a new server, hosted by MediaTemple (mt). YAY! I will move everything over to the new server this weekend and will likely be without email for about 24-48 hours as the info updates across the world that I “live” somewhere else. This, of course, means this blog will move there as well, likely built and maintained using MovableType. If I can swing it, that is. Regardless of all that, I am not going to guarantee a more active posting schedule.

On the job front: Ya, I am still not working as a full-time designer anywhere. And, frankly, I fear I won't be for some time (again, crap). But I am not too worried about it. I got some freelance gigs here and there that pay absolutely nothing and there's always going back to being a waiter where I wanted to beat myself senseless with stale bread. To quote my lovely wife, "…makes me want to pull my eyeballs out with silly putty." Who knows, maybe the right job for me is around the corner and I just haven't walked down far enough on the block to see it yet.

Elsewhere: I have a CafePress store for SPeCks. It is completely non-lucrative and as it is only a basic shop, only has 2 types of items (a clock and 3 styles of women's shirts). I guess I could take the time to make more, but I would rather look for a job and keep up with the house when I get the chance right now. I am going to make a mug next, then perhaps a cap to wear to your favorite sporting event. Blah!

Also elsewhere: Despite all the above, I am actually having a good time with my “time off” and look forward to a couple more days of being “free”. I have started really teaching myself InDesign in ernest and just got informed that I received a 4 out of 5 on my Photoshop assessment test with AQUENT (a creative talent agency). I got only a 3 out of 5 on my Quark assessment and am severely bummed about that as I had all but the last 1/3 of a page complete (out of a 4 page newsletter) with only a few (at least in my opinion) errors regarding the use of style sheets. Quark’s style sheets suck major ass. InDesign has better ones, but I don’t know them that well as I only picked up InDesign back in July.

Completely elsewhere altogether: I am going to Carnaval next year. Wearing a skin suit and a dance thong. Two women are behind this and my wife is the ring leader posing as a showgirl on my arm at the celebration. What I won’t do for that woman…

Checking In

This is Terry's wife, Missy. Since his blog has had a lack of activity after the arrival of our bundle of joy, I thought I would pop on and let you know that everything is OK. Terry has not vanished off the face of the earth, or anything else. He is busy with me and our beautiful daughter as well as looking for a job.

Priorities

It has been quite some time since I have done anything for this blog. However, you can rest assured that I won’t try to cram almost a month’s worth of blogging onto you in one post.

So, why then…Babies. They are numerous and all around us. Now one lives in my house. Quite honestly, everything is taking a backseat to our beautiful new daughter, including this blog. Sorry folks, but this just isn’t a priority for me. Not that it ever really was, but it certainly isn’t now. I have only been back at work for this past week (since the 21st). Remember the foot? Here’s the rest of her:





Precious! I love them both so much and all my attention seems to be completely dominated right now by them. I’m cool with it. Hello, Serif Paige! The Canon Optura 50 has been working overtime to get video and imagery of our June Bug. When she does neat things, and I have time, I will post them. I am sure I am leaving a lot of stuff out, but like I said, I am not that into posting right now about anything. Be thankful you got this much out of me.

I struck up a conversation with WaveOrigin to host my website (and this blog), so it is just a matter of me getting off me arse to set that up. Don’t hold your breath.

Elsewhere: I thought this was a joke at first, but I am pretty convinced it is real. I am so setting up my training regimen for this, right now. I give you the World RPS Championships!

Modified

Edited the template for expandable posts. The old way applied it to all posts, regardless of a need for it or not. This new method I am playing with is a bit more cumbersome, but it will have to do for now.

Quick teaser for you on this post: Canon Optura 50, Nursery, Mini Cooper Craziness.

Read on...First up: the new digital camcorder we got last weekend. The Canon Optura 50 looked to be the best for our needs/desires when we visited Fry’s. My highest priority was compatibility with my home computer — an Apple iMac. 100% go there. Now it was just about all the features.

I had done some pretty extensive research on the Elura 70 and was pretty pleased with other Canon DVCs offered. When it came time to buy, however, we found ourselves browsing other brands (likely due to Fry's not finding the Elura 70 anywhere). Sony was a big runner up, mostly due to its competitive pricing with Canon's similarly ranged DVCs. Big beef was the lack of MiniDV (opting for the MiniDVD on HandyCam models) or, if it did support MiniDV, it was bottom loading. There were some other features I felt were lacking on the Sonys when compared to the Canons. The plus for Sony was it's steadiness (reduction of a shaky picture) and its zoom and focus. Of course, then we went up a price notch and Canon just obliterated anything Sony had to offer. I suppose I could consider the Optura as the first of my many tumblings into bankruptcy with regard to our new family addition and in that regard, I didn’t want to skimp on the memories.

In the coming week(s), I will try to formulate a more in-depth review of the camcorder as well as show how its 2.2 megapixel photo capabilities perform.

The nursery is all but done. We have only to wait on delivery of the crib now. The walls are painted and decorated. The major items are in place, or await better placement. The window treatment is a dream. The room is completely different and looks better than any other in the house. My wife and I are most proud of the fact that we didn’t buy a pre-packaged theme for the nursery, and instead fabricated the look and feel completely on our own. It has a very “in the park” feel to it, with butterflies and flowers sparingly placed about the room. We have some frogs here and there (4 total in various formats) to lend a bit of atmosphere and give it the soothing impression that a creek bed is nearby. I have decided not to paint a mural on the wall of a pond scene, but rather, I am considering making a painting/illustration which will be framed and hung on the wall. No way I am having a one-of-a-kind painted over in the future, hehe.

It is now our daughter’s room, whether she is here yet or not. It is so very nice to just sit in there.

Elsewhere: The Mini Cooper is a kewl little car. Despite it being ridiculously over-priced and phenomenally altered overall, it still looks fun and… well, it still looks fun. There isn’t a lot by way of advertising for this little car, but when you see it, it is usually quite dramatic. Often funny, never boring, any campaign for the Mini Cooper is sure to entertain.

New Trick

Just doing some testing real quick on this new trick (ok, new to me) called expandable post summaries. Let's see how it works, shall we? >>>

I will make a more legitimate post in a moment regarding how I recently bought a new Canon Optura 50 and we did some impressive finishing work on the nursery. The week has just been blowing by, leaving us with only 12 days before my bundle of joy arrives at our doorstep. Yes, I am holding out for the 12 days. If the little nipper comes any earlier, well… I don’t know what to do.

Green Music

I have a pretty good music collection. It is humble, only 2gigs worth. In the past, if I had a Quicktime .MOV of a video that I liked, I could drag the video over the iTunes icon in my dock and it would include the audio portion in my playlist. Was very neat.>>>

As you know, I recently upgraded to Tiger. Apparently, I hadn’t turned on iTunes since that upgrade. Upon activating iTunes, it required an update to 4.8, which doesn’t require Tiger, but I suppose it didn’t know it needed the update prior to Tiger. So, update. Many of my songs come with artwork. Artwork appears in the lower left of iTunes. These are generally album covers and the like. It got to ‘Satisfaction’ by DJ Benny Benassi. Curious… there is a video icon next to the song. Just a quick double click, and, HOLY GREAT GOOGLY-MOOGLY!!! The video started playing in the lower left where the artwork is supposed to be. Image below:



How ef-fing kewl is that?!

Earlier that weekend: The nursery is painted. Excellent! In one day, no less. Yesterday, we pulled all the shtuff out of the room and slapped the paint on the walls. The green looks magnificent! The hamper we got (office shower) is a dead match of the green on the walls. Kinda freaky. But it is painted and now we have but to move everything in that she will need. We also received the travel system/stroller from my office shower and that is just awesome. Now we can take the little bugger home after she is born!

Even earlier: My wife is now officially out of school! With her MBA in hand, we only have a mound of education loans slapping us in the face. No more teachers, no more books, no more semester bills that induce acute coronaries. I’m so very proud of her!

Seven

I am blessed with a magnificent work machine to practice my trade. Dual 2GHz G5 Mac with 1GB of RAM running X.3. And a monitor (older model) that humbles the TV I have in the bedroom. This machine can, literally, do it all. Apple doesn’t stop putting out stuff for it to play with, either. Particularly, Quicktime 7.

Fantastic piece of software. What with the HD content and the means to play it with such clarity and marvelous splendor — on my machine at work, that is. Now, I don't know if it is the monitor, the processor, the RAM or what, but the HD content for Q7 only works on my work machine. I am now running Tiger on my home computer (8?? G4, 512MB RAM, OS X.4) and HD content run through Q7 is fragmented and horrible. My wife’s laptop (15" PowerBook, 1.5GHz PowerPC G4, 512MB RAM, OS X.3) also suffers through HD content for Q7. So what is it? The RAM? The processor speed? Do I really need a gig of RAM to view HD content for Q7? Is it the graphics card? Do I need more RAM on the graphics card to view it? Why doesn’t Apple mention that? What variable makes watching HD content on any machine, other than my über power horse at work, horrible at best?

UPDATE: Budi was kind enough to direct me to Apple’s Quicktime 7 system requirements page. So, ya… it’s my lack of processor power. Oh well…

Elsewhere: Potter heads will soon get to see the fourth installment of the series. This one looks especially dark and a bit more riveting. I think this is the Harry Potter I could get behind, though both him and Ron could use a serious haircut.

Daniel Craig seems to still be the favorite 007 for the upcoming Bond flick (Casino Royale). Personally, I think Clive Owen would lend a nicely shaken mix to the franchise.

Pickled Takos

Damn! “Where’s My Pickle?!” was/is (as of 504|5) listed on IconFactory’s homepage under Pictures, Patts & Fonts. Insane! I have always been a huge fan of IconFactory and this is a real treat to have my website listed on their site.

I have a couple other sketches for the further adventures in the quest for missing pickles, so I will see what I can do about actually creating those into desktops as well. I would also like to make icons for the series… not promising anything though. We all know how well those SPeCks icons are coming along. However, there is nothing stopping me from coming up with a couple of desktops for SPeCks. We shall see!

Elsewhere: If you guys have never heard of Deep Fried Live! then you’re definitely missing out. I discovered this fantastic series back in 2001 or so. This octopus really knows how to lend a hand… er… tentacle in the kitchen, as well as teach you some delicious recipes! My wife is unsure on octopus sushi, but she sure likes Tako!