Toronto agency Reason Partners is out with new work for The Weather Network. The four spots, Tofino, Calgary, Saskatoon and Winnipeg, feature the same voice over but different imagery and a unique resolution.

The Weather Network - Tofino from Reason Partners on Vimeo.

The Weather Network - Calgary from Reason Partners on Vimeo.

The Weather Network - Saskatoon from Reason Partners on Vimeo.

The Weather Network - Winnipeg from Reason Partners on Vimeo.

The spots are currently on air in western Canada and the agency is working on an online tool that allows users to upload their own video clip or still. The app will then edit the shot into the video and change the VO to personalize it, so it can be shared with friends and family.

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Hammy's Pizza in Southeast Portland is not the perfect place for pompous snobs to eat.

Hammy's Pizza 'Pompous Snob Intro' from Brian Belefant on Vimeo.

Portland actor Christopher Toyne portrays the antithesis of Hammy's target -- rich, elderly, and erudite -- and he tries to convince viewers that he's far too superior to enjoy Hammy's pizza and movie offerings, but of course, he's not. Subtitles are used to reveal the truth of the situation. Writer and director, Brian Belefant, says the spot started running a couple of weeks ago and the response has been pretty amazing. "We're furiously trying to strike while the iron's hot -- coming up with T-shirts, posters, guerrilla ads, and personal appearances." There's also a follow up spot that helps promote Hammy's five-dollar DVDs.

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Thanks for all the messages, guys. Email andcassiesaid@gmail.com to be featured anonymously on cassiecares! Dear Cassie, I’ve recently friended someone on facebook from my elementary school days.  We enjoyed some back-and-forth conversation, catching up on the past ten years, and comparing notes…Then, she offered me her cell phone number, inviting me to call her. I [...]
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To refresh this blog, click here: NewHerbanism.Blogspot.com

Something has gone up 15 times in the last 5 years. And it’s GOOD!

Can you guess what it might be?


NPR Reports that LEED Certification Takes the Lead

Green building now accounts for nearly one-third of new construction in the United States, up from 2 percent in 2005, according to McGraw-Hill Construction.

The key to being green is being LEED certified. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is the green building rating system developed by the US Green Building Council in 1998 to encourage environmental awareness.

Getting LEED certification can add about 4.7 percent to the cost of a project, according to studies by the University of Michigan. But for many businesses, getting LEED certification is worth the expense, says Andy Hoffman, a professor of sustainable enterprise at Michigan.

"They created a cachet around the LEED certification," he says. "And they got people to want to do this as a marketing pitch — and I think that was really a stroke of genius to get a rather inertial industry to start to shift."

Source: National Public Radio, Franklyn Cater (09/07/2010)

Some definitions and links to more information:

LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

LEED for Neighborhood Development integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design.

Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products.
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I replied to a question in a forum today about intercepting and changing a SQL query, before it reaches SQL Server. I started typing a reply, and realized that... wow... "Does this take me on a trip down memory lane, or what!". So, just for fun, here is what I wrote (slightly modified): There used to be products on the market, called "Database Gateways", something that looks like one type of DBMS but actually accepts the SQL queries and submits them to some other type of DBMS. Basically an "in between"...(read more)
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Congressman Lee Terry's campaign has responded to the latest ad by Democrat Tom White, via the YouTubes. See it here: Res ipsa loquitur.

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Like most of Kasher's confessional catalog, it's an examination of his ongoing struggles with guilt. Guilt about his inability to commit, guilt for taking the easy way out, guilt over his unwillingness to accept contentment ("I'm Afraid I'm Gonna Die Here") and guilt over his unwillingness to change in the face of that dreaded contentment ("Cold Love"). Lucky for him, with that guilt comes numbness as a symptom of middle age. There's a certain sense of inevitable desperation that underlies this entire album, but don't feel sorry for poor Kasher. He knows (as we all do) that whatever misery he suffers, he brought on himself.
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Brian Davis and I will be presenting a session on managing database change via source control tomorrow evening. Developers use source control consistently and with great success, but database change has been resistant to it, largely because the change involves much more than just the scripts. We'll discuss this, and show you how to use both Visual Studio Team System, and Red Gate's new SQL Source Control product. The discussion and demo will be presented at the Northeast Ohio SQL Server Users Group...(read more)
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What is the O-Zone? The O-Zone is a student reward program designed to reward each student for their attendance at each athletic sponsored event.  Students will earn reward points for each Athletic event they attend.    Students must have their Maverick ID Card swiped before halftime of every event in order to get [...]
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According to Brandfreak, Quentin Tarantino is back with this short film Lemon Drop, a 10-minute webvertainment venture by TBWA\Chiat\Day on behalf of Absolut's lemony brand. But Brandweek jests, this branded short was actually directed by Traktor. Whoever made it and however derivative it is, will this effort sell more Absolut Lemon vodka? That's what the CMO wants to know.

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Adrants is reporting that there's a search on for a Mad Men-like ad agency willing to open its doors to a reality television crew. Here's the casting call:

Major network television production company is casting for a new series surrounding the lives based around the hottest Ad Agencies in America. Looking for MAD MEN type of agencies full of larger than life personalities and creativity. Think "The Office", not in the scripted sense, but in the sense that the home base is the office and surrounding the office are unique, individual characters. Understanding client confidentiality is a must, we believe with the right cast of characters and the right agency this can make for a groundbreaking show! If you are looking for the most authentic and innovative outlet to promote your biggest clients - take this television series as a commercial branding opportunity to promote like no other.

This reads like a joke, but I'll pretend for now that it's not. Personally, I'd like to see the show set at Wexley School for Girls in Seattle, although I don't know if they'd welcome a TV crew into their world. I guess it's a balance between being hugely disrupted for weeks on end, and the chance to put yourselves and your clients in the TV spotlight.

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I’m going to get back into a stock that served me well once before–Almost Family, Inc. (AFAM). I originally purchased it for about $22 per share in May, 2008, sold it at just over $40 per share last February and now it has dropped back to about $25.51 per share. Time to give [...]
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Atlanta has always been a bit of an anemic market for ad agencies. Many great talented creatives got a start here by going through The Creative Circus and The Portfolio Center. But few agencies here, if any, have done consistently great work and grown sufficiently to become influential in the city or the industry. So it'll be interesting to see The Atlanta Egotist's take on the market. Hopefully the blog will be a way to rally the creative community here and not be a simple bitchfest. Even better would be a way to show the city's Fortune 500 companies, like Delta, UPS, Georgia-Pacific, Home Depot and others, that they can find pockets of creativity here to keep more of their ad dollars flowing through the city. Or convince other big spenders to stop in Atlanta before they change planes and head elsewhere.

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Waaaaaah! Building a mosque near Ground Zero “hurts feelings” of Christians. Waaaaaah! Burning Korans “hurts feelings” of Muslims. Waaaaaah! So we’ve got Freedom of Speech/Religion versus “hurt feelings”? Sorry–but the First Amendment wins. My personal opinion is that Islam itself did not knock down the Twin Towers on September 11th–but that “religious thinking” did have a [...]
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Democrat CD-2 candidate Tom White is on the air with a new ad as well. See it here. White is trying to sell that Congressman Terry is really the one who wants to increase the deficit. Well, good luck on that one. First, no matter what he says, had Tom White been in office back then (Xenu help us...), he would have absolutely voted for TARP. And no one thinks differently. But in any case,

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Burton’s “Road Soda” snowboard description: “It’s like, have you ever wondered what all the people you don’t know do all day? Like look at TV, and there are all those people, they all have lives man, and it’s like you don’t even know any of them. But, then like, if you got swallowed by a [...]
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With all the anti-illegal immigration fervor in the country right now, somebody's not gonna like this. MediaPost reports on Toyota's latest venture to reach out to Hispanics:

The effort, "Somos Muchos Latinos. Somos Muchos Toyota" ("Somos muchos" means "We are many ") focuses on a series of 100 or so limited-edition decals specific to dozens of Latin American cultures of origin. The Torrance, Calif., automaker says it created the decals as a way to tie owners' pride in their origins to pride in their car. The decals say things like "Somos Muchos Chilenos" and "Somos Muchos Hondurenos." The effort includes Spanish TV spots shot as short documentaries showing Toyota street teams handing out the decals in target cities in the U.S. In the ads, people put the decals on things like cars, bicycles, and food trucks, or whatever transit they have when they show up for the decals.

Seems many Americans got over the animosity of World War II and decided Japanese cars were OK. Wonder what the new culture warriors of 2010 will think about this.

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People who work in advertising often held very different jobs before entering the business. Some drove a cab, others sold bonds on Wall Street. There are as many migration stories as there are ad people. Sometimes, the early experience informs one's ad career, other times people are just happy to have an ad career. Best selling author John Grisham also has a migration story (from lawyer to novelist). Writing in The New York Times, Grisham talks about a special criminal case that compelled him to write.

Writing was not a childhood dream of mine. I do not recall longing to write as a student. I wasn't sure how to start...One night I wrote "Chapter One" at the top of the first page of a legal pad; the novel, "A Time to Kill," was finished three years later. The book didn't sell, and I stuck with my day job, defending criminals, preparing wills and deeds and contracts. Still, something about writing made me spend large hours of my free time at my desk.

Grisham also recounts how he worked on a construction crew and in retail before making his way to law school. It got me thinking about my own path to where I am today. Like Grisham I never imagined I'd become an ad guy. A writer, yes. I did imagine that. When I was 15 my step-dad gave me my first real job. He took me to the dairy plant where he was the head guy and immediately had the crew there show me what the lowest guy on the totem pole does for work. I painted cinder block walls, donned a parka and stacked cases of ice cream in the freezer and I loaded semi-truck after semi-truck full of milk. A few years later, I ran a milk route during the summer months. I had to show up at work at 2:00 am and deliver milk, cottage cheese, sour cream and every other dairy product imaginable to homes, retailers, restaurants and institutions. I was yelled at by chefs for messing up their order and by a home owner mad that I'd been delivering milk to the wrong house all summer. Once, I made a special delivery to the state mental institution and when I left the kitchen area, I got caught on a locked floor. When I buzzed the nurse to be let out, she didn't believe that I was the milkman. What can I say, it was a tough job, all the way around. Between the two milk gigs I worked as a cook at Holly Farms Fried Chicken in Lexington, NC and after we moved to Philly, I spent my summer after high school graduation selling Chipwich ice cream sandwiches from a cart I pushed each morning from South Street to my spot across from the Liberty Bell. During college I worked as a house painter; I helped Armstong World Industries sort through their asbestos lawsuits, I worked at a factory that made big industrial batteries (until I realized they had to draw blood every month in order to detect any unsafe lead levels). I also worked as a dishwasher, a doorman and a bartender at three different establishments. When I got out of college, I sold t-shirts at Grateful Dead concerts but not enough of them to pay my way from city to city. So I started interviewing for journalism jobs in the Philadelphia area, before finding what looked like an interesting opening in the development department of a non-profit environmental advocacy group in Washington, DC. Some friends from school were trying to get me to move to Steamboat Springs that first fall out of school, but I held on in DC for two years before moving to San Francisco, where I was a temp for a few days before getting an offer from Conservatree Paper Company, a for-profit recycled paper merchant. Eventually, the call of the mountains and an alternative (to the office) lifestyle did lead me to Utah, where I skied the resorts up Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons and went camping in the desert a lot. My buddy Craig got me a job as a picker/packer in the Black Diamond warehouse. And my mortgage selling buddy Dave hooked me up with a well paying lead generation job. When I moved to Portland in 1994 I had a tough time finding work, so I signed up with a temp agency and proceeded to engage in the most humbling of all work experiences I've had to date. Of course, it was in 1994 in Portland when I first heard about Wieden + Kennedy and began the journey I've been on ever since. Up until that point in time, the idea of working in advertising was repulsive to me. It took Wieden, and Janet Champ's work for Nike in particular, to show me once and for all that advertising doesn't have to be bad. I realize this is a long-winded ME ME ME piece. But, hopefully it's not really about me. It's about learning how to work, and developing an appreciation for just how hard some people must work to make their livings. I've been a fry cook, a warehouse worker, a bartender, a temp and a telemarketer. All the while I knew I wasn't stuck in those jobs, so that changes things somewhat; however, I do know what it's like to sweat for one's dinner. I believe that's helpful to me when I work on a client's projects now. It reminds me that the communications my colleagues and I make must also be down-to-earth, value-priced and hard working.

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My favorite moment, scrub to 4:19 in the video.
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Writer and Cultural Curator, Maria Popova, writing on Design Observer argues eloquently against our industry's time-honored practice of insider back-slapping.

Unfortunately, much of the creative industry -- design and advertising in particular, but also photography, literature, the art world -- has become an industry of ego. And its currency is industry awards. Awards are awful. Awards breed ego, create false meritocracies and ultimately stymie innovation at every step of the award-granting process -- from entry to evaluation to owning the win.

Naturally, this topic comes up, and up again. Why? Because we all want to be recognized for our contributions, and nothing's going to change that. We also want to be rewarded justly for our contributions, and given that our contributions sometime help build multi-million and multi-billion dollar brands, we want the rewards to reflect this business reality. Interestingly, in the last two episodes of Mad Men, industry awards, the need for recognition and the team's frayed nerves over it all, are central to the scripts. Roger complains they don't give awards for what he (an account guy) does. Don, in a moment of complete vanity, wonders if he looks good on his way to the podium to pick up his hardware. Jane, of course, satisfies both of their emotional needs. Don and Peggy also argue over the Clio the agency just won, and how Don never recognizes Peggy's contributions to the work, the Clio-winning work, in particular. Don smartly says that's what the money's for. Which reminds me of Sally Hogshead's claim in her book, Radical Careering, that a creative working in advertising can either become rich, famous, or go home at five o'clock. She says they're all valid paths, but only the luckiest among us will be able to realize two of the three in our careers. No one gets to enjoy all three.

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Good grief, there's a lot of travel in my future. <sigh ... deep breath> It'll be exhausting and it'll be hard to lose so much time with the family. But if I'm able to avoid travel mishaps, it'll be fun. Meet Me In St. Louis I'll be speaking in St. Louis, MO on Tuesday, September 14th for their mid-day meeting. The details, as I have them, are: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 1-4pm Location: Microsoft St. Louis Office, Three City Place Drive, Suite 1100, St. Louis, MO 63141 http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/usaoffices/northcentral/stlouis.mspx...(read more)
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Fresh off the first game victory over Western Kentucky, Nebraska has jumped two places in both the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll to #6 and #7 respectively.
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On "Census" there's a drama that only could come with a steady diet of Sonic Youth. It's common to hear people slap an SY comparison on anything that's noisy, and rarely does the tag fit. Here, and on the ultra-dense "Supertoys," it makes sense in their obvious tone and structure.
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UNO  will host “An Evening with Two Irish Poets: Seamus Cashman and Joan McBreen” on Tuesday, Sept. 7, at the William H. & Dorothy Thompson Alumni Center. The free event—open to the campus community and public–begins at 7:30 p.m. A poet and publisher, Cashman founded the Irish literary publishing house Wolfhound Press [...]
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SecretPenguin has rebranded and launched a new website for the Moylan Iceplex. SecretPenguin's goal was to create a logo that based around the idea of "Family-Friendly" which could appeal to the young kids but also to an older crowd. Check...
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Summer's over. Time to get back to work. Where to start? There've been quite a few departures and arrivals in the past several weeks. We see the exits of weekend anchor Devon Patton and Kerri Stowell as positives for the Channel 3rd. Then again, lord knows what they'll hire. So far Dave Roberts doing weekends has worked. Maybe they should stick with that. At Channel 7, longtime morning field

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Over the Rhine is playing in Omaha tonight. Over the years, they have slowly climbed the rank of my favorite bands and as of now, they sit at the very top.

In preparation for their concert, I’ve been working my way through their catalogue on my iPod. The other night, as I listened to “Live from Nowhere, Vol. 1,” the song “Spark” spoke to me:

Obsessions with self-preservation
Faded when I threw my fear away
It’s not a thing you can imagine

You either lose your fear
Or spend your life with one foot in the grave
Is God the last romantic?

I can’t get that question out of my head.

The song connects the shunning of self-preservation with romance. It’s safer to feel nothing than to risk the chance of being hurt by someone we love, but in essence, feeling nothing is living with one foot in the grave.

Contrast that with the way God loves. He woos us, and courts us and draws us to himself, knowing full well we’re going to shun him, reject him and deny him.

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Congressman Lee Terry has his second ad up on the air. See it here: Terry has stepped out and defined his Democrat opponent, Tom White, on the main issue of the day: Two trillion dollars in spending. Tom White has said he would have supported the Obama/Pelosi plan for spending your cash. Terry lets you know that. The Terry camp notes that, The federal government announced Friday that the

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In the second part of our series on building a scalable, enterprise-class data warehouse for SQL Server, expressor 's ( blog | @expressor ) Mike Ruland ( @mruland ) and I present the importance of good metadata management tomorrow at 12:00 PM EDT. Metadata is important and hard to manage. Mike and I define metadata and talk about the many places metadata is used in data warehousing. Sound interesting? Register here . Hope to see you there! :{> Andy...(read more)
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A new poll by Rassmussen shows Gvoernor Dave Heineman still blowing out Democrat Mike Meister: Heineman: 61% Meister: 28% Other: 3% Undecided: 8% 500 likely voters. Margin of error +/-4.5% *** Rasmussen, who conducted the poll on September 2nd, notes that, At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total

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I’m traveling to the United Kingdom (York, England, to be specific) in September, joining Brent Ozar, Brad McGehee, Kevin Kline, Simon Sabin – and a host of other top-notch speakers. They will be covering deep technical topics ranging from server health checks to SANs and Virtualization. So what will I be talking about? SQL Server 101.

 

Every time I attend a conference like this, I’m amazed at the depth of technical information you can learn about. And for those of us who make a living at SQL Server, they are a great bargain – you get a “knowledge accelerator” that helps you do your job.

 

But there’s a segment of folks that don’t always get served at these events. There are lots of technical professionals that work as system administrators, developers, or all-around technical professionals that have been asked to manage a SQL Server system. And there’s also a segment of technical folks that want to learn to be a data professional, but don’t know exactly where to start.

 

I’m giving a one-day session on Thursday, September 30th at SQL Bits called “SQL Server for the Technical Professional”. It’s an intense, one-day immersion into the world of SQL Server, and will give you a hands-on, lab-style class that takes a technical professional from zero to sixty (kilometers per hour) on SQL Server. You’ll take this concrete information with you:

• SQL Server Architecture

• Server and Database Components

• Tools and utilities for working with SQL Server

• Designing a simple database project

• The Basics of Transact-SQL

• A security primer

• Maintenance and Monitoring basics

 

During the session, you’ll create a full database project that encompasses all of these concepts.

 

I’m sure that the folks that read this blog already have a lot of this information – but you probably know a technical professional who has to manage a SQL Server, or who wants to become a  data professional. If they know what a Windows Service is, then they’re ready to come. Just have them bring a laptop and tell them to be ready to learn:

 

I’m also speaking to the SQL Server professionals as well – on Friday the 1^st of September I’ll show you how to create a Business Continuity Plan, and on Saturday we’re planning on a panel discussion on the DBA career – something you don’t want to miss! It’s cheaper than the college course I teach, and for many other conferences and training events. For £450, you get this pre-conference session on Thursday plus full days of training on Friday and Saturday.

 

Sign up here: http://sqlbits.com/information/Event7/SQL_Server_for_the_Non_DBA/TrainingDetails.aspx

Full conference agenda is here: http://sqlbits.com/information/Agenda.aspx

 

I hope to see you there!

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I am honored to present at SQL Saturday #46 in Raleigh 18 Sep 2010! I get to deliver two talks: Building Your First SSIS Package (Beginner) Database Design for Developers (Intermediate) If you read this blog and will be attending SQL Saturday #46 , introduce yourself! :{> Andy...(read more)
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The current FORTUNE Magazine has an article about the “Kahn Academy”, which is, basically, this guy named Kahn who makes educational videos on a variety of topics. I finally checked the site out and find it quite worthwhile. Here’s a sample video on what all of those unemployment statistics mean: *** Bill Gates loves him [...]
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Boise State's victory over Virginia Tech tonight could be one of those things that completely blows up the BCS as we know it. Blame sportswriters who demanded that strength of schedule be removed from the formula after Florida State and Nebraska earned BCS title shots ten years ago based on strength of schedule.  That has led to teams scheduling down as wins became the only thing that matters.

And now, Boise State may now have the easiest route to the national championship game, thanks to the sportswriters who complained ten years ago.  I myself am voting Boise #2 for now, and could easily make a case for them being #1 because they truly have the most impressive win of the season. On my blogpoll ballot, that may not hold as the season progresses. Somebody else will probably have a more impressive victory at some point, but for now, Boise has earned it.
Oregon moves up not so much on the basis of blowing out New Mexico, but rather the general suckage of other teams in the top ten. As score after score went by, you had to stop and say "overrated" over and over...and the problem is, you can't drop somebody without moving somebody else up.  Hello Oregon!

I personally think Iowa might be too high at #12 at this point, but again, I wasn't sure who else to move above them. It's early, so that's where they end up. Oklahoma State gets a mention for an impressive victory over Washington State.  Missouri loses their spot after Pinkeling things away in the first half against Ron Zook. If this was a straight power poll (which I'd like it to be), Oklahoma would be nowhere on the list, but I'll leave them at the bottom of the top ten for now.

As always, your feedback is welcome.  I'm not sure I like how things go after about #15.  North Carolina might be penalized too much for losing with so many suspensions, but they might end up being ineligible in the end. Wisconsin might also be penalized too much for their play on the road...
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  The schedule for SQL Saturday #48 is now up at http://www.sqlsaturday.com/schedule.aspx?eventid=85 .  There will be a bunch of good speakers and sessions in Columbia, SC. on October 2nd 2010 so check it out....(read more)
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Saxton Moore is an award winning animation director, and children's book illustrator. He has worked in the fields of design, animation, and illustration for clients such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Penguin Publishing, Hasbro Toys, PBS Kids as well as American Greetings. Saxton has recently formed Pixel Pirate Studio to focus creating entertainment, publishing and fun merchandise for children of all ages.

http://pixelpiratestudio.blogspot.com
http://sacks10.blogspot.com



When did you first decide to become a graphic designer/ illustrator? Was there a pivotal moment?

I've always loved to draw since I was a kid. The Muppets actually did it for me at a younger age. I won a Muppet coloring contest in a local newspaper and they showed it in the paper (in my eyes, that made me famous). I knew I wanted to draw from then on out. I lived in front of the TV as a kid watching cartoons like a fanatic. This inspired me to draw as well. I never focused on anything other than drawing. Before I knew it, I was graduating from High school and had to figure out what I was going to do with my life (reality kicked in). Drawing was all I knew I was good at, so I had no choice but to do it for a living.






Who or what inspires you?

My kids, childrens books, Some anime (not the main stream stuff), music, fine art, tattoo art, Gordon Parks, Basquiat, Walt Disney, M. Sasek, Charley Harper, Saul Bass, Mike Giant (Rebel8), Ralph Bakshi, Tim Biskup, Simone Legno, Dawud Anyabwile, Lesean Thomas and the list goes on. I encounter new inspiration daily.






Where does your training come from? Self-taught? College/Art School?

I pretty much taught myself how to draw. But I really started adapting the ability to draw many styles from working on commercial bumpers for Cartoon Network. I did a ton of those spots with different show styles. Anything from Scooby Doo to Johnny Quest, Power Puff Girls, Ed Edd and Eddy, Johnny Bravo, Tiny Toons, Porky Pig. You name it, I've animated it (as far as that network goes). We animated things traditionally back then. It was like illustration boot camp for me.





How do you keep "fresh" within your industry?

I dunno. I try to do my own thing. I love looking at the work of others, but I try to make my stuff look different. I have many styles that I explore from time to time. Loose and wavy, blocky and abstract. I love to experiment.






What are some of your current projects?

I'm currently self publishing a series of kids books. I'm using Kickstarter.com to raise money for the printing costs of my 1st book "Yin the Master of Yo". It's about a kid who loves yo-yo's that goes out of his way to get peoples attention. I've also started my own company this year (Pixel Pirate Studio) to house all of my concepts and projects. Kids books being the 1st thing out of the gate. I still do freelance animation and illustration gigs through there as well. I recently finished animating 17 History and Heritage segments for Nick Jr and Nickelodeon, which will air all year around. These segments celebrated inventors, explorers and black history. I even did one on President Barack Obama.






Which of your projects are you the most proud of? And why?

At this time, I'm proudest of my 1st self published kids book. It's taken several years to do the illustrations between jobs, now it's finally done. I think it's the first of my own concepts to ever reach completion. I love animation and all the work I've done in the past, but nothing beats holding a body of work in your hands. If you're interested in getting your hands on an advanced copy, go here... http://kck.st/b61cmV






Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

I've really been interested in tattoo art lately. I want to learn how to draw on people's skin. I also want to design more toys.






Any advice to the novice designer/ illustrator?

Be persistent, Inquisitive and stay focused. Also, surround yourself with other artists that are as good as or better than you. They will help keep you driven.






What makes a designed piece or illustration successful?

That's the million dollar question. If you ever figure it out, let me know.






What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

I'm burned out now! Haha. I try to go to art museums. Venturing out alone helps too.





Finish this sentence. "If I weren't a designer/illustrator I would have been a..."

Chef or a Musician.




And finally, what is the best thing on prime-time TV right now?

True Blood ROCKS!!!!
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