OPEN SOURCE MONSTERS 01

Good morning. How are you! Did you miss me? It feels strange not to post a new monster every night, stranger still not to read your new comments every day. But I was so happy about all the great stories and lovely messages you put up in response to Monster 100. Some of you made me laugh, some of you actually got me a little bit misty! Thank you very, very much! You are a brilliant group of people.

Of course, just because I didn’t film new monsters, doesn’t mean I’ve been idle. For one thing, I’m talking to a new publisher about putting out the 100 DAILY MONSTERS book. So far it’s looking good. I’ve known the editor there for a few years and she’s a good egg. Keep your fingers crossed. Of course, if that doesn’t work out, I’m still set to print the thing myself. I got a great contact in Kentucky that can produce the book beautifully in China. Either way, I’m chomping at the bit to show you the cover I’ve designed.

Oh…

Nuts!

Why wait…

Check it out!

Dmbookcover_1

This is what the book will look like if I produce it myself. (The format is 9″x7″, by the way.) If I go with a publisher that puts it into bookstores, we can’t have the paper band, because they tear too easily on the shelves and get returned as damaged. So in that case I’ll have to think up something else. But I thought I’d let you have a look at this design anyway. It’s going to be a book by you and about you. It’ll be your book. So I hope you like it!

In the meantime, I’m also getting my e-commerce on. Thanks to my great and brilliant friends at FWIS, I’m very, very close to launching the 344 Monster Store. All that’s missing now is my permit from the State Board of Equalization. Give it another two weeks or so and I’ll have posters, prints and all kinds of little goodies for you! This is going to mark a new phase in the 344 Invasion! It’ll be an experiment to see if I can actually make a living producing cool stuff for you without going through a client. I think it’s possible and I’m excited to see if it’s true!

You haven’t been idle, either! A bunch of you sent great monsters in response to the 1st Open Source Monster Blot Challenge! Please check out the gallery! If you think that’s inspiring, also check out Steve G’s movie response. It’s very cool, if also a little bit disturbing. :^) After that, why not download Open Source Blot 02? I can’t wait to see what you do with it!

Lastly, I’m off to the East Coast to judge the BoNE Show for AIGA Boston this week. They asked me to donate one of the monsters for their Meet The Judges fundraiser.
I decided to give them a new one:

Boneshowmonster030307

BoNE Show! Get it? (Listen… I’m not above the occasional pun—especially for a good cause.) My understanding is that they’ll raffle off the drawing at the event, so if you’re in the Boston area, please come by and say Hello. Maybe you’ll get to take home an original monster at the end of the night!

For now, I hope that you’ll have a great weekend and a brilliant week ahead! I hope to return from my travels with lots of new ideas and some fun images for you! Please stay safe and have fun with the monsters, old and new! Even from the road, you can bet your bottom dollar that 344 LOVES YOU

14 Comments

  • ching
    3 March 2007 7:00 am

    I love the cover monster. He looks like a refugee from Easter Island. Miss you and the monsters.

  • Inanna
    3 March 2007 8:12 am

    The long week’s wait for the Gallery was worth it…*S*

  • cheers
    3 March 2007 8:34 am

    hi do u mind if i ask the contact that print book beautifully in china?
    thanks!

  • 3 March 2007 1:49 pm

    My China contact in Kentucky is Holli Grant
    hollig@johnsongroup.com
    Please tell her I said Hello!

  • 3 March 2007 9:07 pm

    oh thank GOD! I was starting to feel a bit bereft and…odd. Thought maybe just maybe you’d posted some new goodness and you did! hooray! The book looks fantabulous – the inkblog fanart is AWESOME! – and Steven G’s movie has some real G-Force!
    sweeeet can’t wait to go online shopping at the monster store too
    I don’t really wish I lived on the East Coast but I do wish that BoNE was on the West Coast…er wait, then it would be BoWC and that wouldn’t be so phonetically phun or pun-friendly.
    long live the monsters!

  • 3 March 2007 9:09 pm

    inkblog? what?
    blot blot blotto

  • 3 March 2007 11:37 pm

    Love the book cover! Its so Chip Kidd, only better. Have a ball at the BoNE.

  • Danielle
    4 March 2007 11:00 am

    I’ve felt like a part of my schedule has been taken from me without the monsters. As if I no longer brush my hair everyday, because the brush only shows up every so often. As long as the brush shows up…
    I’m really excited for the Monster Book and all the other sorts of snazzy items. I hope everything goes well. I think the paper strip is lovely, it’d be a shame if it can’t be printed.
    Have fun at BoNE!

  • Alfred J Bildungsroman
    5 March 2007 9:31 am

    Great cover. Beware self-publication, which very often leads to 5,000 copies in your basement, instead of in stores. Have you tried selling it to a publisher first?

  • 5 March 2007 2:11 pm

    That book cover is very nice. I actually dig the bands, but I totally agree with the problem they present. Yes… when I see a book with one, I won’t buy it unless the band is unblemished.
    /shame
    Anyway – I absolutely can not wait for this book to be on shelves. I know I won’t be able to buy just one.
    Elsewhere: The inkblot gallery is smokin’ and Steve G’s movie is hawt! Long live the monsters!!!

  • 7 March 2007 12:40 pm

    What a great looking book! I can’t wait to get one.

  • Amy
    8 March 2007 12:43 pm

    pretty cool news! love the cover… thanks for the sneak peak. i think it would also be cool to have the title handwritten, like you do in the beginning of the videos with marker… that might add a nice touch – just a thought 🙂
    Also looking forward to the online store… considering i’m an ecommerce web designer by profession 🙂

  • 28 March 2007 2:44 pm

    beautiful

  • 28 March 2007 10:48 pm

    Iam here in first time but your works is very interesting. Look as very especialy with two or thee colors. Great job. Thanx for sharing

Leave A Comment