Chip O'Toole | Blog

Megaman Shoots a Lacrosse Ball

2009-06-05T15:08:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I've been a little obsessed with 8-bit graphics lately (nintendo look'n stuff), and in particular, Megaman. I just think he's cool, whatever.

Anyway, I play lacrosse here in NE, and there's a team that we play against called the Megamen. They use megaman on their helmets and shorts and stuff. So I thought I'd be funny to have him playing lacrosse against a couple of his enemies in the game.

This is also just opening a big can of worms for me too, cuz I can just see myself getting addicted to these animated 8-bit gifs. Hmm, what can I do next with megaman?

My Abacus Computer

2009-05-07T16:17:00.004-04:00

This is how fast my computer at work feels sometimes. Multiple times a day, I sit there for minutes on end waiting and waiting for things to process. Sometimes I just get up and go get coffee or go to the bathroom to pass the time. Sometimes it's not done when I get back! So sick of this. It's been almost 6 months, the time has come.

It's a Mac G5 tower, and you would THINK, that would be enough, but no, it's not. A few years ago, yes, but today with the Adobe products I use for work and websites that use flash 9 and 10, this just doesn't cut it. We can still repurpose it for account managers though - they just use office and the intertubes 98% of the time.

UPDATE: I recently got the nod to spec out a brand new iMac here at work. I'm looking at the 24" 2.93GHz. I have the same one at home and it flies. I've worked from home a couple times and it's night and day, the speed difference. Can't wait.

2009 Boston Marathon

2009-04-24T14:39:00.005-04:00

Welp, its over, finally. This year, I finished the 113th running of the Boston Marathon in 3:29:31. Not the 3:10 I was going for, but I've got plenty of excuses for that, see the quick list below. But, it was for a great cause, I raised over $3000 for people with liver disease and I completed a marathon, not bad in anybody's book I say. Can't wait to get back to seeing people though, jeez.

Excuse List:
1 - I was injured during training with shin splints and some tendonitis in my feet (which originated from me ramping up my training too fast in December - mistake 1)

2 - The injuries forced me to do 75% of my training on the elliptical machine and 25% on the roads. The elliptical can not prepare you enough to qualify. And I didn't have access to water jogging. Basically, I wasn't in shape to run a 3:10, period, but I lied to myself and told myself I could do it. High hopes.

3 - The crowd was too thick to get out of. This year, the field was it's largest since the 100th running of Boston which in turn made it very difficult to break free of 6 or 7 thousand slow charity runners across just two lanes of road. It was a constant fight, lots of stop and starts, sidewalk/front yard running to finally get to a comfortable pace without other runners cutting you off. This killed my time.

4 - There was a 10mph headwind that just pushed you back, just enough to feel it and pick away at your spirit.

5 - I had the sophmore blues a little bit. There is just something completely amazing and heart bursting about running your first marathon, especially Boston, and especially in the sun with hundreds of thousands of people screaming your name. I just didn't have the fire in my belly like last year.

Whaaaaa, cry baby, right? RIGHT. I'm actually pretty pumped I ran another Boston, and hope to maybe qualify in the future. I wanted to thank all my super generous friends and family who donated to make this goal possible, you guys rock, thank you so much.

3:10:00 Boston Marathon Goal

2009-04-15T14:03:00.002-04:00

Ok, I'm do'n this. Gonna start slow, keep a solid pace, end strong and run a solid 3:10. Not gonna think too much about it, even though I already have, and try to remind myself that running 26.2 is NOT A BIG DEAL, so relax. *Chest pound with fist*

Twitting Again

2009-04-03T16:13:00.003-04:00

Ugh, so I'm back in the twittersphere even though I hate it now, I do think it could evolve into something useful like how news feeds work right now. I have to say it IS a fast and easy way to receive up-to-date in the moment news.

For example; a University closes down for a snow emergency, they send out the tweet to everyone listening, it updates people on their mobile devices on their nightstands and they can go back to sleep. That I like. "I'm doing the dishes, ugh", I hate.

UPDATE: When iPhone software update 3.0 comes out late June, Twitter, Facebook, AIM, and other similar apps will be able to have Push notifications so you won't have to launch the app to find out you have new updates.

This will significantly change the notification experience. It may also drive you crazy if you're hearing sounds for every phone call, voice message, text message, email, facebook notification, tweet, IM, and more. *Bling, ding, bunk, tweet, bring, bonk, zoop, burp*

My blog is not quite dead yet

2009-01-26T11:13:00.005-05:00

Although I still believe blogs are dead and that no one cares about personal blogs anymore, I have realized something about social networking lately and in particular, Facebook. Plus, I've seen some responses to the dimensions I provided for a polaroid picture and felt like I could keep posting some useful design information to help people.

Ok, Facebook is lame-o! It's a complete exercise in narcissism and self absorption. Andy Warhol said that "In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes". Pretty damn close Andy, but instead of 15 minutes, it's more like 5 seconds everyday. You scroll down on facebook and read someone's status or your read someone's tweet, and for about 5 seconds, every person you know is famous.

Just as people don't really care about a personal blog (like this one), they don't REALLY care about your myspace page or facebook wall. They really just want to post about themselves and have other people see it. Many use it to draw attention from others about their own problems. Posting things like "John is depressed right now", begging for others to respond and offer help or support. Hey John, no one cares that you're depressed, and no one wants to help ok? Call your mom or get a girlfriend.

Ok, so this is all very obvious, I know. So what are we supposed to do? Quit facebook because it's totally egotistical? Yeah, maybe. I believe that social networking is actually the direct opposite of what it claims to be. I think "being connected" actually DISconnects us from a true-er real-er reality.

When was the last time you had a phone conversation with someone? (I'm speaking to the "screen people" here). We've resorted to basing all of our communication to a non-verbal, non-confrontational, facade of blather. Guess what a synonym for blather is? Twitter! It's all pointless drivel. Don't even get me started on Twitter either. I'll save that for the next post.

Emails, texts, posts, pokes, tweets, the list goes on. But maybe it's not all that bad right? Well, I guess not if you don't mind being bombarded more and more by advertising and having more and more personal information available to the public and government agencies.

Sounds like conspiracy theory crap right? Well, just try to put a list together of every website that has your information saved on it. See what number you get, cut it in half, then double it. Haha, jk, but seriously, that list could be pretty long and scary. I know it is for me. I start to realize how easy it would be for a low level hacker to steal my identity and royally mess up my finances and life.

Right now, I'm on Facebook for work purposes really. I'm a designer and need to follow trends to know what's contemporary. A little hypocritical, but know your enemy. All I'm saying is, be careful online, be aware of the ever evolving internet, don't become dependent on that light box in front of you, read a book, get outside, call someone, talk, and get together.

Blogs are dead

2008-11-14T13:03:00.003-05:00

Blogs are dead. Not the good ones (professional ones), just the personal ones. Nobody cares anymore, and rss feeds are a pain to check. I know this isn't cutting edge news or anything, I'm just taking the time to write my last blog entry and to pay homage to my own rss page.

We know the usual suspects too, the infamous social networking sites; Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, the list goes on. For this case of blogging homicide, the guilty party is Facebook. I joined a few weeks ago, I have the iPhone app for it, and I must say, it's 10 times better and more interactive than writing a lowly blog entry that no one will read (except for you Jamie). There is just no comparison.

Personal blogs are dead, low traffic corporate blogs are dead, and professional blogs are the new magazine. Print's death will be a slow and painful one, a lot like a bullet shot to the belly - umph . . . But a digital hero will emerge victorious, in the form of mobile applications, e-paper, or some futuristic contact lens display, littered with ads and spam, blinking in your face, first thing in the morning, and for the rest of your life. Enjoy!

The Future is Now!

2008-11-03T13:59:00.001-05:00

Erica's style has always been ahead of the curve, innovative, on the
cutting edge. This is just one of the many examples of proof that you
can STILL be a trendsetter.

My new job at Forge!

2008-11-03T13:43:00.001-05:00

Good news, my unemployment stint only lasted a few weeks, and I'm happy to say that I'm the newest addition to the creative team here at Forge. I'll be doing some design and art direction here, and after my first week, starting last monday, I'm very excited for the caliber of work we do, our client list, and most of all, the great people here. More to come . . .

WWF Ad

2008-09-29T22:09:00.004-04:00

No, not for the old wrestling show, but for the World Wildlife Fund. Found this on the "I believe in advertising" blog here by agency Lowe GGK out of Warsaw, Poland.

The ad obviously speaks for itself, I just thought it was a great way to communicate how such a simple idea of buying a souvenir in a foreign country could be at the cost of killing an innocent animal. I know this struck a cord with me even though I've never thought about buying an ivory sculpture, or some kind of bone necklace, or monkey hand, or something crazy like that.

I'm not necessarily a fan of the style of photography or the excessive photoshopping done. I feel it could have been a bit more "raw" if they laid off the airbrush a bit, but that's not the point. It grabs your attention with the blood, and hits home with succinct copywriting.

Well done.

Metallica Rebranding

2008-09-17T10:47:00.005-04:00

Here's another great nugget from our friends at Under Consideration and one I should have caught. With the release of their new album, Death Magnetic (which rocks!), Metallica went through a rebranding effort with agency Turner Duckworth whose work has included such clients as Amazon, Palm, Dolby, and Coke. Here's a quote from the band:

"This time, we wanted to work with professionals who understand iconography," said James Hetfield, Metallica's lead singer. Lars Ulrich, drummer, said, "We wanted somebody who commanded respect in branding but were not jaded by the music business. Someone who would bring fresh ideas. Enter Turner Duckworth, Enter happy days."

Along with the packaging, TD altered the original logo designed by Metallica's front man, James Hetfield, by widening the mark, bringing the x-height down, centering the 'A', and redrawing the 'C' for a more balanced, clean, aggressive look.

I've also posted their past logos, first used from 1995-2003, second from 2003-2008, both of which strayed from their original successful design, much like their music did during those periods. This rebrand not only brings back the glory of their first logo, but mirrors what the band achieved in their latest release of Death Magnetic but going back to what they know best, thrash metal: galloping power chords, double bass, face melting solos, and whaling vocals. Rock on!

Check out the packaging effort by TD in the full post at Brand New by clicking here.

SNL - Jar Glove

2008-09-15T14:54:00.002-04:00

I had to post this one, when I saw it. "The studying and appealing!" Hahaha, love it. SNL has been pretty good for the past few years, you have to admit

Stop & Shop Logo Redesign

2008-09-04T13:43:00.002-04:00

Since I'm only at Stop & Shop 3 TIMES A WEEK!, I felt I should comment on there latest rebranding effort (couple weeks late, I know).

So they went from the highly recognizable red and green traffic light which dates back to the early 1960's to a unrecognizable assortment of slices of fruit? bowls? fruit on top of a TBS logo? Whatever it is, it represents Stop & Shop's direction towards providing healthier, fresher, more nutritious food to it's customers.

They opted out of the heavy capped typeface to a sentence cased new san serif font with an annoyingly chopped terminal on the 't', and a dangerously close ampersand that screams "Here is your visual tension of the day!" They kept their two complimentary colors, red and green, and added two more, yellow and purple, which actually provides for a fun, energetic, bold color palette.

Honestly, when I first saw it, I thought, wow, what a fresh new look. Then I got pissed that they ditched the traffic light completely instead of just modernizing what they've had for so long. But then after walking into my local Stop & Shop here in Brookline, Mass (which is notorious for dirty isles, even dirtier employees, and even rats), I started to feel different about it. They cleaned up the store in general, added their new signage and packaging to everything, and gave the employees new yellow and purple uniforms. It works very nicely all together.

So I started to think, why the hell not? You're a creative agency, you could just refresh the traffic light, call it a day, and have a successful rebrand, OR you could say f-it, and just scrap the whole thing, and do something completely new and fun.

I like it, it takes some balls to erase a logo that's been around for so long, that so many people have come to recognize and love. I just hope it works out for them. Not that people have a choice in the matter most of the time. Usually grocery stores (not in the city) are miles and miles away from each other, and which ever one is closest to you, you end up going to.

We'll see if this one sticks around for next 50 years or so. Something tells me it won't though.

Reverse Graffiti

2008-08-22T13:28:00.002-04:00

Here is another cool guerilla marketing/message post on Environmental Graffiti, that my brother Patrick found of this guy Alexandre Orion (cool last name) who "painted" skulls on the inside of a tunnel in Sao Paolo, Brazil by wiping away dirt caused by car emissions to create the art.

The point was to get people to think about the impact they have on the environment. Brazilian authorities didn't charge him with anything, but washed that side of the tunnel. Then Orion did another mural on the other side, they washed that too, then they ended up washing all the tunnels in the city.

Although it may not have had a huge impact on reducing green house gasses, at least it got people to notice and made the authorities clean all the tunnels (with tax payer dollars I would assume). Not bad for just one guy, a towel, and water (and a gas mask).

Image Metrics: Emily

2008-08-20T13:28:00.002-04:00

Ok, I just had to post this one. Yes another one you've seen on Giz, just thought I'd also share with the rest of you. This is an example of some CGI that interprets video into animation using a proprietary software that I'm sure is way less complex than, hmm, let's say Microsoft Word? Ha, I'm sorry I just love bashing Word whenever I have a chance.

Anyway, it's a look into the future of animated films and of course the gaming world. And then you can see how maybe the two could somehow integrate into an interactive movie experience. Watch the movie and play it too!

The Archive

2008-08-19T14:07:00.002-04:00

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

This was an interesting post I saw on giz about this guy, Paul Mawhinney, and his massive collection of over 3 million vinyl records which he is trying to sell due to his age and failing health.

Paul's collection estimated worth is around $50 mil and he's asking 3 because as he puts it, "No one gives a damn". It's a heartbreaking short film about a man who's realizing his life's work may be worth nothing. I hope for his sake, this recent exposure will spawn a few serious offers. Good luck to you Paul.

3rd Place in Gizmodo Photoshop Contest

2008-08-08T10:43:00.006-04:00

This month's photoshop contest on Gizmodo is to take your favorite gadget and put it in a video game. Here is the link to the post:

Gizmodo

So here is my submission. It's Woz (Steve Wozniak) on his segway when he had his infamous segway polo match that got so much coverage on Giz because it's just ridiculously hilarious. And so I placed him in one of my favorite video games, Mike Tyson's Punchout, and in one of my favorite scenes where Mac is training after his minor circuit title bout win against Piston Honda and before his first major circuit fight, running behind his trainer who is on a bike, and in this case, Woz on a segway.

I've also posted here the original shot of Woz that I based my artwork on and the original Punchout screenshot. Hahaha, too much fun, I hope I get top 10.

UPDATE: I received third place in the contest and a lot of the bloggers thought I should have gotten first, oh well, I was happy with taking home the bronze.

Arnold Schwartzenegger in Coolidge Corner

2008-08-07T10:15:00.003-04:00

Here's a banksy-esque graffiti stencil my brother Patrick pointed out to me by the corner of Harvard and Stearns near Coolidge Corner, just a block away from me. I loved it, not only because I'm a huge Arnold fan, but also because it's been there for a while and it hasn't been painted over or sandblasted yet.

And it questions whether the authorities haven't noticed it and so it hasn't been removed or if people notice it, but don't mention to have it removed because they don't mind it or even like it as an unexpected little nugget of street art.

It's nice to know Arny (it's what Maria and I call him sometimes) is watching over us way over here on the east coast as well.

Smart People and Dumb People

2008-08-06T13:38:00.003-04:00

Here is a great quote from George Lois about collaboration that Paula Scher had featured in her book, Make It Bigger. It's funny how you end up running into situations either at work or some wine tasting party or something where people start falling into these categories.

"There are smart people and dumb people. There are people who have energy and people who are lazy. They exist in combinations. If you work with a smart person with energy, that's your best collaborator. If you work with a smart person that's lazy, well, that's a bit of a waste, but it does no harm. If you work with a dumb person who's lazy, that's sad but not problematic, because they will simply be ineffectual. But if you work with a dumb person with energy, therein lies the seed of disaster."

Clever Oreo Ad

2008-07-22T11:43:00.004-04:00

I love creative outdoor advertising that takes advantage of the existing environment, here is one of many from www.ibelieveinadv.com - great site. I love how one of the guys actually rubs his belly. Somebody wants a cookie! Now there's effective advertising.

Exoskeleton Walker

2008-07-22T09:22:00.002-04:00

Here is a clip from our friends at Gizmodo c/o Medgadget of a man who has been confined to a wheelchair for the past 20 years now using this exoskeleton to walk around, sit, go up and down stairs, pretty amazing. And Giz points out that this will be going into trials here in the US soon and if this is available now, could you imagine how it'll be in 10 years?

Black Sabbath Typeface

2008-07-17T12:34:00.005-04:00

I thought this was a cool, funky typeface to use in an ad or an invite to party or something. I'm thinking about buying it from You Work For Them for $40, not bad.

Here is the link: Black Sabbath

Saco River Birthday Trip

2008-07-17T12:23:00.003-04:00

So Erica and my two brothers Lawrence and Patrick took me up to the Saco River in North Conway, NH for a lazy river tube ride thing and then camping. It was awesome - plus our campsite was double booked so we ended up getting a private beach site where, as you can see, Lawrence and Patrick took full advantage of the cool river and the hot rays.

"Daddy, why are those boys sitting in the water like that?"

Thanks again guys, it was great. (Wish you were there Chew, again)

10 Color Heidelberg Press

2008-07-01T16:05:00.006-04:00

Here is a shot of the massive 10 color Heidelberg press brand new at DS Graphics in Lowell. We are some of the first ones to use it - and for my latest job, an internal communications magazine, News & Views (see next post for cover).

The cool thing about it, is that for a normal 4 color or 5 color job, you don't have to do a work-and-turn. You can print a 5 color sheet and then it can flip it "in-press", midway through, and then print the other 5 color side! The guy standing in blue in the middle of it, is where that happens. It's got glass you stand on right there so you can see it happen, pretty cool. And all the other technology and installation and perfection that goes into it, is just mind boggling, not to mention the multi-million dollar price tag.

You could also do some ridiculous 8 color job with 2 varnishes or something if you wanted to. Or maybe a hexichrome, plus PMS's, plus varnishes, ah, the possibilities. Anyway, my job came out great, a few changes by my boss, Paul and I (he's on the left there), and it should be bound and done by Thursday, just in time to put on the fridge for July 4th weekend. And for my brother Patrick's 24th birthday. Happy Birthday big guy!

I'm done!

2008-06-27T09:40:00.004-04:00

I finally finished my latest project, News & Views, an internal magazine for TAC. It took me a couple of months to design it, and now that it's done I feel kinda empty inside, like what the hell do I do now?! Where's the proof damnit?! When do I go on press?

Here is a shot of the cover which took a good 8 hours for the illustration with the custom street lined typography (there's a lot more detail than you can see on screen btw). I'll put the rest of it up on my website when I get it back from press (DS) on Thursday. I want people to see it first in their hands than in a PDF or on the web – it just doesn't do it justice, ya know?