Penguin February 12th, 2007
Found this site about a tiny sculptor. Here’s some examples of his work.
Painstakingly fashioned from gold, specs of dust, precious gems, droplets of glue and paint along with numerous other materials including eyelashes and spiders webbing, each artwork is living proof of the power of belief.
Peter Pan
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Girl with Balloon on an Eyelash
Thinker on a Pinhead
Elephant on a Pinhead
Penguin February 12th, 2007
Last Thursday, Ninja and I went out to dinner. This has been a rare opportunity for us because most of our dates have been working dates. The few times we get to eat, it’s usually in a rush because we’re eager to get back to work. So, it was a nice change of pace.
We had just finished a fabulous penne with crab, followed by a wonderful tiramissu at our favourite restaurant. As we were waiting for the check, we were struck by spontaneous inspiration. I gave Ninja my moleskin and she just started sketching.
The whole process was an incredible breath of fresh air. The ideas were organic and crazy.
Often times, when you’re forced to be creative, it’s tedious. Egos clash and opinions stilt the resultant work. What I realized was that because we trusted each other so much, we could instantly see what worked and what wouldn’t work. My drawing skills are sorely lacking, so I trust Ninja to do it. Every once in awhile, I’ll throw in ideas, like, “She should have a mohawk”, “The rock should have a crack in it with a band-aid covering it, like Nelly!”. And so it went.
Sometimes my ideas didn’t work out, but we weren’t hindered by our own egos to want to try and hold on to our failed ideas. Instead, our hearts were in producing what we loved and the decisions, that we were so quick to make, were for the benefit of the work.
Your best work will always be from “producing what you love.”
Related postsPenguin February 12th, 2007
On Friday, Ninja and I went to dinner with the Baeders. We met at their place and talked about missions, life, and food.
During our discussion, an interesting challenge came up and I’d like to pose it to all the designers out there.
The Challenge: Convey the ideas of AIDS/HIV education through the use of only images and symbols. The primary medium is print. Additionally, the images need to be culturally agnostic, as in, people in China should understand it, as well as people in Africa and people in the states.
Spread the word about this challenge. If we get any good ideas, we’ll start approaching organizations and get this out there.
Related postsNinja February 12th, 2007
I’m home sick (fever and other symptoms that I won’t mention) so I thought I’d try uploading some images. Here’s some of the steps that “First Kiss” has taken to get to the final end result. I’ve also included a shot of my ghetto proof (me tiling and taping the pieces together). You can see the areas I’ve marked up w/ Sharpie and then later highlighted them to indicate that I’ve made the changes. And next to it is the proof I got from the friendly folks at Color Logic. Enjoy!
Related postsNinja February 11th, 2007
A huge thanks to everyone for their continued support and patience! When all this stuff starts getting frustrating, you guys keep sending your love!!! We’ve been getting emails and calls from y’all, excitedly asking when the site will be up + when the prints will go on sale. Your enthusiasm is just amazing.
Penguin + I just want to say that we love you back! =)
Related postsPenguin February 9th, 2007
I went climbing last night. Although it has only been a week, it felt like the last time I had climbed was an eternity ago. After about three weeks of this, I can already feel my power sapping. My grip can’t hold as long and my arms get pumped much earlier. So I committed to going to the gym twice a week. Right now, I’m thinking Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it may change to Tuesdays and Saturdays.
I spend my Saturdays and most of my weeknights working on Ninja vs Penguin but there’s something to be said about getting away.
When I’m climbing, with Jimmy or any of my other friends, my mind is clear. I look at the wall with its rainbow of tape and see a problem that can’t be solved by Google, forums, or knowledge bases. Even if someone gives me the “answer”, it doesn’t mean that I’ll be able to “solve” the problem.
I’ve missed the time I spend on the wall and I believe everyone should have something they can do to just get away.
Sure, you may need that time right now to finish something really important, but in the long run, you may just end up burning yourself out and not having enough to finish.
So, take a lesson from the Great One. “And on the seventh day…”.
Related postsPenguin February 8th, 2007
We got the first set of prints today, and they look amazing!
Hopefully, I’ll have this Google Checkout thing hammered out over the weekend. In either case, my account still needs to be verified, so that gives me a little bit of breathing room.
I guess we missed our chance to ship in time for Valentine’s day :/ In any case, the prints are beautiful and we’re starting to hand deliver them to some of our eager friends.
I’ll keep you posted as to when you’ll be able to hold one yourself.
Related postsPenguin February 5th, 2007
So I’ve been working on implementing Google Checkout for our credit card processing. That, and killing bugs has eaten up a lot of my time, so I haven’t gotten around to styling the site yet. If all goes well, I might be able to get things online Monday night. If not, Tuesday. Hopefully, this will be the last delay.
Fingers crossed!
Related postsPenguin February 4th, 2007
As we get closer and closer to launch, I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support our friends have been showing us. A lot of times, people give you encouraging words, but they’re not always genuine or heartfelt.
People always talk about financial support or technical support, but I don’t think we hear enough about moral support. Yes, these other things are important, but at the end of the day, your friends, those people who will stand by you when you fail, are the ones that matter the most.
I’ve extremely thankful for the group that I have. They’ve always stood by me in the tough times along with the the good times. As we begin this journey, I will always recognize the support they have shown us in the pursuit of our interests.
This is for you. All or Nothing.
Related postsNinja February 4th, 2007
The penguin’s birthday is coming up, so I’ve been trying my best to hatch up different ideas. The obvious one was a new All-Clad stainless steel pot set. I needed his help w/ this purchase b/c I had no idea which one he wanted.
As for the next few ideas, I’ve been found out. I was going to get him a full-color book of poetry and prints by William Blake, but stupidly left the browser window open. I thought I had closed it, but it was buried under a bunch of other windows. And of course, the penguin’s keen eyes saw it. Another idea was to get him a Richard Feynman cd. This time, I closed all the windows, but didn’t delete it from my google search bar. Again, the penguin caught me.
I’m such an unstealthy ninja.
Related postsLimited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
