• Locals Only: ShootPaul.com - Performance Artists/Professional Pain Receivers

    October 19th, 2011 / Comments (3)

    Sit back and check out our interview with the twin masochists of paintball pain, Houvenagel & Paul of ShootPaul.com.


    What was your inspiration for the project?
    Houvenagle: Personally I’ve been inspired by the dot com entrepreneur Josh Harris and advancing the inevitable. If you haven’t seen the documentary We Live in Public, watch it… just pay no mind to the whole leaving the country thing.

    Paul: That reminds me of a time when I had mentioned that if things go bad, I’d just go live in Ukraine for a while. Houvenagle was visibly shaken by the idea, I think I even saw a tear. I suppose a partner with a plan out isn’t ideal. But to answer your question with a question, how could I pass up being shot paintballs over the internet?

    Who designed the site?
    Houvenagle: That would be one of my contributions to the site. I make the pictures, Paul makes them work… Paul and his splendid army of Ukrainians, Sergey Golyck (Mr. Serg) and Turds Programmer A. Artemov. We wanted to create a primarily monochromatic environment to house our full color, live streaming video.

    What stopped the original launch in 2009?
    Paul: The original plan had a single major flaw, me living in the room 24 hours a day. I made it three weeks being shot at day and night. The last day, three shots hit the back of my ear in under a second. I blurted out some words I would never say in front of my mother, threw a trash can across the room and immediately drove to my favorite pub for its finest glass of Scotch (Stagger Inn).

    Is it true you built the shooting robot? Tell us more about that.
    Houvenagle: I watched, or I was painting something on the wall while he MacGyver’d things up in the House.

    Paul: I DID! THAT WAS ME! The robot is actually a really simple concept. It’s just a pan/tilt with two servos for up and down and a third to pull the trigger. The servos respond to commands from the control computer via Python. Mr. Serg took care of all the programming nonsense.

    How badly do the affects of your new day job interfere with your daily life?
    Houvenagle: People’s first reaction to the site, well second after shoot him in the nuts, is one of pity. Well, let me tell you this… pity no one, the House is oddly fun and we enjoy every minute of it. Other than sleep deprivation and a few bruises on the ol’ forehead, there’s nothing a long sleeve shirt can’t take care of. More coffee please.

    Paul: Aside from looking like a hickey addict, not too bad. It has certainly taken a toll on the amount of personal time I have available though. I get an immense amount of joy from strangers that recognize me and say something like, ‘My boss yelled at me so I logged on and shot you in the throat. I had a wonderful day after that.’

    Besides friends, family and St. Louisans, are you attracting shooters from elsewhere?
    Houvenagle: The Internet is full of wonderful patrons. We’ve found new friends on each coast, throughout the Midwest, Germany, Australia, UK, Costa Rica, Iceland… you name it and most likely we’ve been shot by a citizen from there. Some kind fella by the handle EarHole even sent us some homemade jerky… mmm Internet food. Seems as though we’ve developed a core cult following of strangers and new faces sprinkle in each day. Most of our friends and family have stopped shooting us by now… turns out they might actually like us.

    Paul: What? My friends and family still shoot me... This question prompted me to take a look into our analytics. Shots have been fired in love by residents of 100 countries... as remote as Senegal. Even Iran has gotten in on the action. I’m proud to call St. Louis home and I love representing a side of the city a lot of people might not know exist.

    What’s the most painful shot you’ve taken so far?
    Houvenagle: Though constant shots to the back of the hands can become extremely painful one on top of the other, for me the most painful would have to be 4 consecutive shots to my Adam’s Apple within a second or two.

    Paul: Pretty much any one of them has a chance to make me RAGE. The RAGE as it’s come to be known on the site is a favorite with users. Basically, if I get it in the side of the head enough times, or similar, the trash can is going to get it. Even more skilled users can elicit a RAGEQUIT. This is when I get really hurt from multiple well placed shots and end up in an impromptu chair chucking contest. I storm out of the room shouting expletives only to return five minutes later for more.

    How long will it take until you can take no more?
    Houvenagle: Fun is never ending… at least I hope so.

    Paul: I’ve already purchased my tickets to Ukraine.

    Any exciting new features coming our way?
    Paul: I have plans for what has come to be known as the God Gun. Imagine a bird’s eye view of the entire warehouse. Users would look down through a robotic gun that’s fixed to a track on the ceiling. The gun would encompasses the entire room and move freely in a arc. The ultimate in human hunting...
     
    Houvenagle: What he said.

    When you’re not being shot at, what are doing with your life?
    Houvenagle: I enjoy my time away from the site riding bicycles, designing and eating frozen pizza. Yep, that’s pretty much my life wrapped into once sentence… well, maybe add watching documentaries to the list.

    Paul: Ugh, the weird ‘talk about yourself’ part. I enjoy sneaking off for ethnic food with my lady friend, beers with Houvenagle and friends, and hipster dance parties. My Great Dane, Lloyd, also brings an immense amount of humor into my life.

     
    What does your girlfriend and/or mother think of all this?
    Houvenagle: I’ve yet to find a girlfriend willing to put up with my shit. My mother on the other hand, loves to monitor the chat. Fortunately she has an iPad (which still doesn’t support flash streaming), so she can’t truly see what the Internet mongers are doing to her beloved son. Look for the username Mommy to pop up in the Live Chat… that’s the real momma Houvenagle, talk to her, she’s nice.

    Paul: I have a girlfriend! Ms. Wright, as she’s known on the site, is very supportive. She keeps me well fed and my bruises nursed. I’m not sure my own mother has been on the site yet. She’s an adventurous one. Recently she booked a trip to Egypt during their uprising. The United States would not let her go.
     
    What do you hope  be like this time next year, or how long will this endeavor last?
    Houvenagle: Well it won’t happen in a year’s time, but I’ve personally got plans for an abandoned super market… That reminds me, hey Paul, we need to buy a super market.

    Paul: Personally, I don’t have a grand plan for ShootPaul.com. Since the site is for ‘fun purposes only’ we don’t have much of a profit motive. If Houvenagle wants a super market, then we’ll have to get one for him. I am committed to this website for an entire year. After that I suspect I’ll seriously be evaluating my life’s choices. Currently we’ve had 100,000 shots fired and we’re looking forward to our millionth.

     
    Are you hiring?
    Houvenagle: Master of Minions, Paul is always on the lookout for his next minion.

    Paul: We are finishing up the paperwork on our first minion. He has a lot of character and I think people are really going to like him.

    You had an additional statement for us?
    Paul: Thank you for the interview. Jake likes butts. And we’ll see you around the site.

    Photography by Brian Cummings
    Videos by Brian Cummings & Tangent Mind

  • You and Your Meaningless Career in Advertising

    September 21st, 2011 / Comments (2)

    If you ask a random sample of advertising people what would make their lives more fulfilling, a good chunk of them will say the following: “I wish I had a more meaningful outlet for applying my creativity.” It’s a predictable answer, but a telling one, and an even more predictable side effect of a career devoted to consumerism.

    But despite ad folk’s general commiseration over the shortage of meaning in our day to day lives, only a handful of us are actively devoting a portion of our creative guts to the general betterment of mankind. Lately I’ve been wondering about this, because with so much apparent interest in making the world a better place, the number of people really doing it doesn’t seem to add up. What’s holding us back?

    It’s not a lack of problems, that’s for sure. No one spending 80 percent of their day on a computer can hide from the subpar-ness of some choices we made in the last 100 years, and fresh side effects of these decisions surface daily. But as our definition of ‘social bad’ continues to broaden, it’s curious to note that the definition of ‘social good’ is stubbornly refusing to keep up, with its everyday interpretation more or less hitting a hard wall at helping malnourished kiddos in remote Kenya find water, food or medicine.

    There’s a weird battle that pops up when attempting to modernize this definition, one that‘s potentially at the root of why so many of us swiftly abandon our inclination to get involved. It’s a competition of causes; a man made measure of what, exactly, counts as making a difference. I’m not sure what the point of the debate is, but I'm convinced that its core holds nothing better than a crappy sense of self-righteousness, born from finding the most CNN-ready crime against humanity and claiming that problem as your own. No more hunger by by 2020? Sure, that counts. Rounding up all your credit card purchases to give to charity? Eh, that’s not social good. That’s white guilt.

    Besides the obvious silliness of turning the social good space into yet another ego battle, the bummer is that this “problem elitism” is polarizing enough to turn 'normal' people off from getting involved. Not to mention the real bummer, which translates to a major loss in the amount of good stuff getting done, period. After all, if there’s a barrier to entry for saving the world, how can we possibly maximize the earth-redeeming potential for all skill sets, including (and perhaps especially) creative ones?

    I’m sure there’s more reasons why ad people are only wading in the world of meaningful things. But in effort to debunk at least one of those reasons, I've gotta clear the air about this one in particular: Social good is not a world owned by saints and martyrs, nor is it defined by the scale of the problem you’re hoping to solve. Social good is everybody's, and it happens each time we do something a little better, a little greener, and a little more considerately than the people before us.

    It has to be. Because the truth is, we’re long past the point where problems are confined to third world countries. Most of our most pressing, more localized issues aren’t things that can be solved by a team of lawyers specializing in social justice, they’re just things our forefathers did wrong the first time. It’s almost fair to call them White People Problems, because we’re certainly responsible for their existence.

    So what is fair cause for white guilt? Definitely not a hesitancy to relocate to Africa. But if you’re staying mum while your print production team repeatedly selects toxic processes and materials over greener ones, well, maybe you should speak up. If your client’s seeking new packaging but you’re not strongly recommending biodegradable options, maybe you should start researching those alternatives. If something of local significance has been bringing up some questions for you, maybe you should write an open letter, blow it up, and wheat paste it on your garage door. If you're not doing those things and you're whining about your meaningless existence in advertising, well, maybe you should shut the fuck up.

    Yes we’re running out of water. Yes we’re running out of clean air. But you know what else a lot of people suspect we’re running out of? Creativity. And that’s exactly what we need to rethink what’s broken. So get off your butt. Drop the guilt, grab a White Person Problem and start using a fraction of what you’ve got - anything you’ve got - to make it go away. That’s all it takes. And if the 'social good' people give you hell for helping from the comfort of your air conditioned office - just tell them it's social good enough. And maybe ask what the hell they're doing back in the US. Slackers.

    Carmel Hagen is a communication and experience designer at COMMON, a creative community for rapidly prototyping social change.

  • Locals Only: Peat Wollaeger - Stencil Graffiti Artist

    September 15th, 2011 / Comments (8)

    And now for the second in our series of "Locals Only" spotlighting local stencil artist Peat Wollaeger. You're going to be familiar with Peat's work if you've ever traveled south of 44 or drank Mountain Dew in the past five years. Enjoy.

    Who are you?
    Peat Wollaeger, Stencil Graffiti Artist

    What is your creative discipline?
    EYE'm not quite sure...maybe it's my fam, and the powers above....eye jus do what feels right and trust my SOUL to create what moves me.

    What town are you from?
    Grew up in Webster Groves but left when Eye was 17 - went to New York, then out to the country, and then for Chicago for some years.

    What brought you to STL?
    Was about to head to SF but my Gal and I found out we're Preggers with our first son....always wanting to raise my kid in a house, we moved to the Lou and bought an amazing house on the Southside that never in my dreams could I have been able to afforded if I lived in Chicago or the bay.

    In what part of St. Louis do you create?
    Everywhere...but mostly on Cherokee St.

    What do you do? Describe your creative process and the product that results from it.
    I'm an artist who does a mix of stencil art, street art, murals, videos and also print/web design. For the stencils, I create multiple layers of stencils, and spray them with various colors of spray paint I love the stencil medium. It take a lot of preparation, and usually I will spend from 40 - 80 hours designing and cutting a stencil before it even reaches the canvas or wall on the street. But once the stencil is cut and ready it is easy for me to knock out a very detailed image in a very short period. I get hired a lot to paint live because I can rip out the piece, and when I pull the final layer, the crowd goes wild.

    Describe your workspace/studio; the environment you create in.
    My studio on Cherokee was once an old Sewing room for Woolworth's and for some time it was the old green room for the legendary Casa Loma Ballroom. The front area is more of gallery/viewing area for my collectors to view my art, it also has stylish furniture and a couple pinball machines. In the back I have storage and have also built a spray booth, that helps keep the fumes ventilated and prevents overspray from getting on my work.

    Where did you learn your craft?
    Around 2002 when I left the Agency art game in Chicago to pursue my own art of my own, I created this illustration of my son that I wanted to transfer to glass. I looked into silkscreening it, but the process did not lend it self to do a one-off, plus the access to the equipment was limited. About this time I saw the work of then the fairly unknown artist named Banksy, who was using stencils to reproduce his work. But his stencil work was mostly one color, digging a bit deeper I saw the work of Logan Hicks (workhorse) who was doing amazing multilayer stencils that almost looked liked photographs. So, from that point forward I was addicted, but there was no "textbook" for learning stenciling, so I had to take what I learned from the print world. I would draw each layer separately in illustrator/Photoshop, add in registration marks, print them out, glue them down to thick cardstock or oilboard and them cut them out. Once all the layers were cut then I would spray the first layer, and tape down an area for the registration, and then line up the next layer to the previous registration and continue until the final image was created. The final results were very gratifying!


    Who is your greatest personal inspiration?
    God and my family are def my biggest inspiration in life. On the Artist level it would be Keith Haring (haring.com) he was the first guy I saw putting up art beyond just a tag on the street. He would created this chalk drawings of engaging people popoing out of the black advertising panels in the subways of New York. And to this day his bright colors that he used can be seen in my work.

    Who do you admire in your field?
    Banksy (banksy.co.uk) has def put stencil art on the global map. When people ask me what I do, I ask them if they have seen the work of Banksy, and 9 times out of 10, they say yes. I then say, well it is kinda like that.

    Anyone else in STL that you think is doing great work in your field?
    The STL is going through an Art renaissance, when I first moved, St. Louis maybe had one or two art shows a month. But now it seems like there six to ten shows a weekend. Seems to be so many artists huSTLing here and doing great things. Some of my favs are Phil Jarvis, Daniel Gaeng, C'babi Bayoc, Dave Langley, Gaucha Berlin, Peter Pranschke, Alicia LaChacne, Chris Sabatino, 18AC, Amy VanDonsel, Ryan Frank, and my wife Kris!


    What do you consider your greatest achievement or success to date?
    That is a hard one to pinpoint. I guess commercially, I was invited by Mountain Dew to create a LImited Edition Bottle which they distributed over a million bottles nationwide.

    What is the best thing about your creative endeavor?
    Well as of December 2010, I am a full-time artist...so eye get to do what I want to do!

    The toughest?
    Well as of December 2010, I am a full-time artist...so it is either Feast of Famine!

    What are your top 3 STL spots?
    The 2 mile long Paint Louis Graffiti Flood Wall (the worlds largest just south of the St. Louis Arch), The City Museum (nothing else like it in the world), and the third is a tie, the Gateway Arch or Cherokee Street.

    Of all the places you could be creating, why STL? Why/how is STL a great place to create?
    St. Louis is such a raw and gritty city with some amazing architecture and culture. One of the best things is the affordable housing and studio spaces. When out-of-towners visit my studio or house (which i own) they are amazed by the size and accommodation, similar spots in NY or SF would cost thousands per month and would be out of reach for most artists. Since we live world of the interwebs, you do not need to live in the NY for your work to be seen by the major galleries, all you need is a good site and marketing of your online presence. And if I have a show out of town, the STL is pretty much 2-3 hour at most flight to any major city in the US. We are also a short drive to Chicago, KC, Nashville, Memphis, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Detroit.

    Do you have a philosophy and/or words you try to live by?
    The Eye is the Window to your stenSOUL!

    Where can we find you?
    Website: http://stensoul.com/
    Stencil Videos: http://vimeo.com/peat/videos
    Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/stensoul
    Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/#113868125184069869732/posts
    Facebook Fan: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Peat-Wollaeger-stenSOULcom/157354443109
    Instagram: http://inkstagram.com/#/users/230137/photos

    Studio Photographs by Jerren McKenny

  • Flash Camp is More Relevant Than Ever

    August 26th, 2011 / Comments (5)

    It's time to have an honest discussion about Flash.

    Technologically speaking, the agency business is hitting something between a crossroads and a speed-bump. Clients and customers want agencies to deliver engaging, novel, functional and interesting experiences. Historically many have turned to Flash to bring a special experience that was not possible in the browser. However, lately Flash has been given a beat-down, largely due to the runaway success of the iPad, and to an extent, to the rise of HTML5, jQuery and modern browser capabilities. It seems that some places are trying to get away from Flash as quickly as possible.

    However, there are some things to consider before pronouncing Flash dead to your agency. HTML5 is not a direct, exact replacement for Flash. HTML5 design tools suck. IE6 is still around. People can easily steal your HTML5 code. Some companies have invested heaps of time and money into Flash applications, games, and the like, and are not walking away anytime soon. Adobe also made sizable inroads into the Enterprise prior to the iPad, making Flash a Platform, not just a skip-intro.

    Another issue for many designers and developers is, now what? Maybe you were a rockstar in Flash, continually surpassing people's expectations. Do you just give that up because your content doesn't run on the tablet of a well known fruit company? What about all those skills you learned, building and designing things that would makes your brain..just...hurt to try to think about re-doing them in HTML5? Or do I have to get close to the metal learning OpenGL or node.js?

    Is that even necessary? Well maybe. Eventually, who knows. Flash still does allow you to create some incredible experiences. There's over a million of us out there asking these questions. The only certainty in technology is that it changes, so you might not want to get too comfortable with any single technology, language, platform, or toolset. Even Bob in accounting is still feeling the effects of Excel 2010. Flash isn't the only software that I use to build stuff, and like the stock market, it's good to diversify and always be learning.

    Bottom line, there is still a lot of opportunity with Flash. While the cool kids are enjoying all the new HTML5 headaches, you can quietly go on making a handsome stack of cash in Flash, Flex and AS3. Demand for good Flash folks continues to outweigh supply.

    Adobe has not been sitting still, either. It's been fascinating over the past couple of years to see how aggressively Adobe has innovated with Flash, and has since turned it into new opportunities for the creative set. The tools to make Flash have no equal. When I set out to learn ActionScript 3, I never had an inkling that I'd be able to use it to build desktop and mobile apps; but that is in fact what can be done. It's even possible to use a core set of code to build apps for Android, iOS and Blackberry Tablets (talk about a dead man walking). Given that the mobile world is Katrina turbulent, it's kinda nice to consider developing apps for more than a single platform. Where previously you might have needed to build an e-commerce platform to sell usage of Flash games on the web, now you can publish your games to multiple app stores. These folks have turned anti-iPad browsing lemons, into iPad loving app lemonade.

    The Flash community is also incredible. Lots of amazingly talented folks, who think in bizarre trigonometry-meets-art kinds of ways, solving cool creative problems. You can't find this kind of left-right brain talent in many places. We have 12 speakers this year, representing some of the best and brightest in the local and national scene. And the Flash community doesn't live in a silo. Most of the Flash folks I know are doing lots of other fancy things, and they will be very well prepared if HTML5 ends up as the sole future of front-end development. That's one reason why we have two sessions talking about HTML5, including a session from an Adobe evangelist, Paul Trani.

    Maybe you want to turn your Flash skills from good-to-great. Maybe you want to learn about developing for mobile from the guy who built the example code for Adobe, or learn how to design for mobile from the R&D department of Sprint. Maybe you want to see a good worthy comparison between Flash and HTML5 or see what Adobe is planning to bring as the next generation of front-end tools for it. Maybe you want to see where UX fits into the picture. Or maybe you want to get a chance to talk with other designers and developers as you continually adapt for the Next Big Thing. There are lots of reasons, but many of them point to a great time spent on the 9th at Flash Camp. I hope to continue the discussion with you there.

    JP Revel
    @jprevel
    Web, Flex, iOS developer, and Flash Camp organizer

    http://www.flashcampstlouis.com

  • Locals Only: Tuan Lee - Advertising/Editorial Photographer

    August 19th, 2011 / Comments (5)

    The St. Louis Egotist is proud to present our first in an ongoing series of in-depth artist profiles entitled "Locals Only"; a spotlight on the truly accomplished creative minds from St. Louis. We're proud to present one of our favorite local photographers, Tuan Lee.

    Who are you?
    Tuan Lee, Advertising/Editorial photographer.


    What is your creative discipline?
    My focus is on people and how it relates to popular culture; fashion, beauty, sports, and music.

    What town are you from?
    Made in Saigon. When I was little my mom and I emigrated to the US as refugees. We ending up settling in St. Louis.

    What brought you to STL?
    Forces beyond my control, I was only three.

    In what part of St. Louis do you create?
    Downtown, 18th and Olive.

    What do you do? Describe your creative process and the product that results from it.
    I'm a photographer. And one who performs best in a collaborative setting. From time to time, I'll produce and shoot something myself, but for the most part I really enjoy engineering a shoot with a group of people. Generally speaking, once I receive the approved creative, I'll set the lighting myself and work out the "look" with the AD. From there, I'll start working with the production team, and if needed, begin a strategy with the re-toucher. Throughout, I like to keep the channels open and active to encourage creative flexibility for any "aha" ideas. By the end, hopefully we've made images that are commercially meaningful to the client and images that we want in our portfolio.




    Describe your workspace/studio; the environment you create in.
    I share a 3000 sq. ft studio with 20 ft. ceilings in a building from 1906. It's mostly raw, except for the office area. Basically, it feels like an old, giant garage. I really love it and I hope to hang onto it for as long as I can.

    Where did you learn your craft?
    Self-taught, but with invaluable direction and field experience from my mentor, Michael Eastman. During my time with him, Michael was shooting for some really great boutique agencies like CORE, and with big guys like Arnold for Jack Daniels and I got to experience how those projects came together and meet the minds who conceived them. At the same time, he was continuing to drive his main interest, his fine art, to where it is now; international exhibitions/collections, publishing, and a partnership with a highly regarded NY dealer. I can't even begin to describe how much I learned being involved with those projects. I'll always feel incredibly lucky and indebted.


    Who is your greatest personal inspiration?
    Without a doubt, my mother. She went through hell getting the both of us over here.

    Who do you admire in your field?
    Hedi Slimane. Not only talented in fashion design, but equally as gifted, if not more so, as a photographer. Paolo Roversi, his images are just simply beautiful. Yu Tsai, really stunning work. I could go on and on...

    Anyone else in STL that you think is doing great work in your field?
    Jay Baker, he can shoot product and people equally as well. Demond Meek, great portrait work. Brian Cummings, he's got a great tattoo series. The Halski's are making great work too, I just saw some recent work they shot for Yurbuds, it looks great. And I've always enjoyed Carmen Troesser's food photography.

    What do you consider your greatest achievement or success to date?
    I hope its still ahead of me.

    What is the best thing about your creative endeavor?
    Being able to get new and different projects to tackle.

    The toughest?
    Same as it ever was. Negotiating budgets and managing expectations.




    What are your top 3 STL influences, inspirations or spots?
    The people, especially the all the creative people in the city who are extremely talented and committed to enriching the city aesthetically and culturally. I was also inspired by the old taverns in St. Louis. For example, I still remember being so amazed at the interior in Sandrina's when I first stepped foot in there years ago. It had this beautiful silver wallpaper with a forest motif, swag-style tulip chandeliers, and a fantastic jukebox. I had to come back and photograph it for a shoot idea it inspired. St. Louis has loads of these type of places. Also, walking Tower Grove park in October. There's nothing like clearing your head or nurturing ideas surrounded by beautiful colors, chilly air, and autumn light.

    Of all the places you could be creating, why STL? Why/how is STL a great place to create?
    Well, I'm not here full time, but each time I come back, I'm always reminded of why I stayed for so long. Affordability and talent pool. The cost of operating and living in St. Louis was low enough that it allowed me to solely focus on being a photographer, I was able to have an overhead that I could manage and keep things growing. And the talent in St. Louis that I collaborated with allowed me shoot all kinds of portfolio, commercial, and editorial work. Between the two, it created the portfolio I have today. Over the years, I've met many photographers who were derailed or delayed by trying to launch or operate in cities like New York or San Francisco. So, in many ways, thanks to St. Louis, I continue to live and support myself as a photographer.

    Anything else you'd like to add?
    Well, I'm lucky to have worked with the same team of people for the past several years, not only on commercial shoots but also on countless studio test shoots and I'd like to thank them. Brandie Marsden has been my Hair/Make-Up stylist since the beginning. Her work is fantastic. In fact she was one of the top 10 hair finalists in North America in an international hair competition. Jill Manhoff, wardrobe stylist, has also been working with me since the early days. She works long hours with a great attitude and always comes up with unique finds. Meg Hensley handles most of my re-touching now, she makes me look a whole lot better. Kate Hayes also did a lot of re-touching for me before she went off and started her own career as a photographer. And recently, I started working with a new, talented make-up artist, Kat Hinkle. Wonderful attitude and driven. Thank you all and look forward to more projects together.

    Do you have a philosophy and/or words you try to live by?
    "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise." - Dr. Scholl

    Where can we find you?
    http://www.tuanlee.com

    Tuan specifically requested the Art Director credits to be added to his feature. This speaks for itself.

    Editorial
    Danny Amendola Cover
    Art Director - David Hsia

    Men Of Style Feature
    Art Director - David Hsia

    Commercial
    Missouri Speedskating Association (MOSA)
    Art Director - Stephanie Grateke

    Scholarshop
    Art Director - Tia Liston/Ad Savants

    Greedy Genius
    Art Director - David Hsia

  • First Year Gut-Check: How Are We Doing?

    August 8th, 2011 / Comments (24)

    So this week, roughly, is the one year anniversary of the Egotist 2.0. If you don't recall, we took control of the site after the initial founders moved on to greener pastures. We thought it might be a good time to reflect on the last 365 days and see what we can improve upon going forward. We have our wish list, but what's yours? We want to know.

    What do you like about the site? What do you hate about it? Do we post too much? Not enough? How's the breakdown of national vs local content? Are the editorials interesting? Do you like the writing style? What else do you want to see? Ideas? Thoughts? Feedback? We want it all.

    And since we're opening up to you, it's time for some quid pro quo. Here's what we think about you:

    • We really wish you commented just a bit more. We see great comments when you ReTweet our stuff. Why won't you put those comments here and get a conversation or debate started?

    • We love seeing your work in the portfolio section. Damn we're all a talented bunch, aren't we? Keep posting new work in your profile, because trust us - we see the Google Analytics. People are watching.

    • Don't be afraid to keep sending in your work. We were a little worried what would happen when people sent us work to post that we thought was crap. Luckily, that happens so infrequently that it's not even a concern. What you send is great. And you send a lot. Keep it up.

    • We'd love it if you'd help us spread the word. Running this site anonymously has its disadvantages. It makes it hard to really get the word out - so we're hoping you'll help us. Tell your friends. ReTweet our links. Post us on Facebook. Tell your PR people about us. Tell HR about us. Because the more people we get here, the more conversation, content and work we'll be able to post, which benefits everyone.

    • Don't cut us any slack. All of us at the St. Louis Egotist do this in addition to our regular jobs. But we don't treat it like a side project and we hope you don't think of it that way. If you see something that needs calling out - call us out. If you see something you love - tell us. We're all about the feedback.

    Finally, a huge thanks for supporting us over our first 12 months. We obviously wouldn't be where we are without you. Here's to another 12. And another 12 after than and...

    Sincerely,
    The St. Louis Egotist

  • Dear Graphic and Web Designers, Please Understand that There Are Greater Opportunities Available to You

    July 18th, 2011 / Comments (0)

    You have an inherent need to solve problems, visually and conceptually. There is enormous value in this, but you may be misplacing your talents.

    The internet, at this time in history, is the greatest client assignment of all time. The Western world is porting itself over to the web in mind and deed and is looking to make itself comfortable and productive. It’s every person in the world, connected to every other person in the world, and no one fully understands how to make best use of this new reality because no one has seen anything like it before. The internet wants to hire you to build stuff for it because its trying to figure out what it can do. It’s offering you a blank check and asking you to come up with something fascinating and useful that it can embrace en masse, to the benefit of everyone.

    Your press checks are bullshit
    Your personal logo is bullshit
    Your employer is bullshit
    Your studio is bullshit

    The market is handing you steak and you’re choosing the gristle. The market is handing you gold bullion and you’re taking the nickel.

    As a designer, you enjoy building things for other people’s use. Your value is determined by the degree to which you can empathize with groups of people around a given topic. Historically, this relationship has required a large(r) company to act as mediator for the emotional mass-transaction. Companies provide you with an audience inasmuch as they have customers, and that’s enough for you because you just want to design stuff that solves stuff.

    The internet kills all middlemen.

    You now have direct access to the raw vein of popular attention. The pixels you’re pushing have a higher exchange rate than you’re giving yourself credit for*. No hounding client payroll, no selling other people’s stuff, no building other people’s wealth, no nephew’s cousins stepping in with the authority to change everything you’ve been working on.

    If You Build It, They Will Come and Try It; and if you are keen enough to identify the opportunities that are being laid out before you by technology, then there is challenge and fulfillment and success to be had.

    I run Svpply.com. I am its Designer. I used to design logos and now I design for the internet. Svpply is building a service which will redefine major components of the retail industry. Our team is figuring out how to do this together because no one has ever done anything like it before. No class of people has ever been offered an opportunity like the one you and I are being offered right now.

    If this kind of opportunity sounds even slightly interesting to you, then you should join a startup. You don’t have to know more than that. The jobs are all out there waiting for you. They’re secure and fun and they pay competitively. If the thought of building something amazing for lots of people is interesting to you, You Should Join a Startup**.

    You can find jobs at startups here, here, here and here. You should also just start sending your work to startups that you like. All of them are hiring or thinking about hiring.

    If you have questions about this, feel free to hit me up. Additionally, I know someone specifically looking to fund good designers with good ideas, so let me know if you’d like an introduction.

    - - -

    *The ability to design effectively for so many people at the stroke of a key is a skill and talent which will have its own title and pay grade. There are only going to be more and more small companies launching for the web. Many of them will need consultation on how to create and communicate with massive audiences and communities. As a designer this is all in your domain.

    **I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t start your own company. I just think that for a lot of designers, from what I’ve seen, this is jumping the gun. Unless you have a friend who is an engineer, it is going to be difficult for you to find someone of quality to build something for you, the professional landscape for those people is just too competitive right now for much of that. But I guarantee you’ll develop relationships with engineers if you go work at a startup, and from working relationships good conversations brew and companies are born.

    - - -

    This piece is cross-posted from Ben Pieratt's blog.

  • The Official "Make Pecha Kucha Night Awesome" How-To

    July 13th, 2011 / Comments (2)

    We're just starting to plan for the next PK Night (Sept 8th at Mad Art), and are working on getting 10-11 diverse speakers. We want more people to submit, more people from the creative community, more storytelling about projects, inspirations, etc.

    Here's some ways we think that Pecha Kucha can benefit the presenters & attendees for all future events...

    --

    Share your story or idea in 20 slides, for 6 minutes and 40 seconds!

    What are you passionate about, and why?
    What have you worked on, or been involved with recently, that would make a great story?
    What are you working on now that you think more people need to hear about?
    What big idea do you have to make our city a better place?

    Pecha Kucha Night St. Louis is looking for presenters for upcoming PK Nights. More specifically, we're looking for more presenters from all over the local creative industry (architects, writers, graphic designers, interactive programers, industrial designers, photographers, etc.) to share ideas that can be told in 20 slides, at 20 seconds each.

    How to submit your idea:

    Submit a short description of your idea. We're looking for a short 2-3 sentence paragraph that covers the basic idea of your presentation. Think “behind the scenes” –what do you reveal in your presentation that is uniquely yours, the road only you have traveled? Describe how you will tell your story.

    Tell us what your story will look like. Crucial to each presentation are the 20 slides associated with the story Describe briefly what types of images you would be included, keep it graphic/image heavy (less bullet points!).

    Submit your idea at the form located at the bottom of the page at: http://pkstl.com

    What not to do:

    Do not think of your presentation as simply a promotion of your organization or portfolio. If you've started a new business or organization you want people to hear about, think about your presentation as a personal story, tell us why you started it or why you are so passionate about it. If you want to show your work, tell a story about a specific project that made or is making an impact, or turn your presentation into an interesting story specifically catered to the PK format.

    A few good examples of:

    Showing a portfolio of work:

    Storytelling and photography:

    A local narrative:

    Poetry in PK format:

    View many more great PKSTL presentations at: http://www.youtube.com/pkstlouis
    View great presentations from around the world at: http://www.pecha-kucha.org/presentations/

    How presentations are picked:

    All submissions to the site get pushed out to the organizers who do their best to capture a very diverse group for each PK Night. We try to evaluate all presentations as a whole, and how everything fits together. If you're not notified that you'll be presenting at the next event, keep in mind that we hang on to all submissions and refer to them when putting together the next lineup.

    The PK organizers are all volunteers who work in many industries across the city. PKSTL makes no money at events and has no sponsorship of any events. We are extremely thankful to our generous hosts who have donated their spaces through the past year!

    Submissions for for the next PK Night on September 8th must be submitted on the website (form at the bottom of http://pkstl.com) by August 8th, 2011.

  • If You Work in Advertising, But All You Make is ‘Advertising’, You’re Doing it Wrong.

    June 27th, 2011 / Comments (3)

    The ad industry is quickly evolving into a new industry. It will be one that won’t offer only the limited menu of services that’s attributed to it today. I’m not sure if this new industry should even be called advertising anymore, as the term itself can be an albatross to innovation. But whatever the name is, it’ll be even more exciting and productive than in its current incarnation.

    When the 4th Amendment Wear brand was invented, I didn’t realize at the time that it would teach me such an important lesson about where we’re headed. It helped me crystallize my thoughts on how our industry needs to fundamentally shift the way it operates in order for it to survive. Originally, it was created as a political art statement to challenge what many saw as an invasion of US citizen’s constitutionally-protected rights to privacy. Then, working together with art director and designer Matt Ryan, we developed products that launched a brand within weeks, reaching millions of people and quickly selling thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. Recently, it was honored with a Tomorrow Award, as well as ADC Global’s Inaugural Designism award.

    As CEO of my own strategic brand consultancy, Timmovations, I know first-hand just how laborious the process of developing a brand can be. But the new media landscape requires that we become capable of doing so quickly, if we expect to be able to meet time-sensitive opportunities.

    It’s one thing to create an ad. It’s a whole other beast to invent new technology, create products using that technology, tap into social media, and orchestrate a marketing campaign to reach millions. Then, to sell tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, in a less than a month, with a small initial investment, with a small team of just two people to make everything happen – opens your eyes to what’s wrong with the current setup at many agencies. Because the big lesson of 4th Amendment Wear wasn’t how to launch a clothing brand. It was how it can inspire our industry to reshape its own internal organizations to react to events just as fast and be just as nimble.

    ‘Advertising’ has become pigeonholed. Even among those of us working in advertising, what we do is often defined by 30-second TV spots and double-page spreads with some sort of digital thingamajig thrown in for good measure. But anything we’re already making is then automatically ‘traditional.’ So creating ideas that live beyond those traditional routes is quickly becoming a mandatory skill that we all need to develop. Fast. ‘Fast’ is the future of how this industry needs to work.

    The typical ad agency/client relationship model is an antique. We need to reinvent it.

    While much of 4th Amendment Wear’s success can be attributed to the brand being in the right place at the right time, the truth is, all brands need to be. It also shows how we, the creative talent, can evolve – from making the ads that sell the products, to making the products that become the ads. So, I hope it inspires more creatives (and agencies) to take advantage of the quickly democratizing production systems around us and the unprecedented access to media channels.

    You don’t always need millions of dollars worth of production and media spend for a brand’s message to spread. While I’m not discounting the importance of strategic branding, which I am very familiar with, it’s the system of executing the campaigns that communicates those messages that needs to be rebuilt from the ground-up.

    Today, all you need are great ideas. Yes, it’s a cliche. But can you think of a time when it’s ever been more true? The future belongs to those with the best ideas. Not to the agencies, not to the media platforms or technologies, nor (which is the most popular saying now) even to the audience. Because those with the best ideas will always out-think and outmaneuver them.

    That’s what we do. It’s just our business.

    If a brand spends an enormous budget on campaigns that seem to fade into the background, I’d suggest giving it to more nimble teams and adaptable agencies. With the right system in place, for the cost of one ‘globally integrated, high-production value, slightly-positive-focus group-approved’ campaign, those teams will create ten times the number of quality initiatives for your brand that could possibly light and catch fire. Then, go ahead and raise your budget back up, and you’ll make even more. That’s how you can destroy competition that still works within an antique model.

    If you take your brand to one of the world’s best agencies, think about what you’d rather have them create…

    • One, carefully-honed, thoroughly-researched piece of wallpaper, approved by every layer of your organization, over the course of a year, that the world then may or may not ignore?

    • Or ten ‘at-bats’ that start little fires that can be closely monitored and fanned into flames? The world might ignore one or two, but you still have a tenfold chance they’ll actually pay attention to what you want to say. To me, it’s pretty clear.

    There’s value, efficiency – and an entire future – in being nimble.

    With access to technology, you can now leverage nimble talent against massive organizations in a way challenger brands never could. A great idea could earn its own media. And great ideas that do exactly that should be what you’re paying for.

    Don’t outspend – out-think. The only way you’ll do that is by allowing the talent in your agencies to respond much quicker than they are able to, or allowed to, right now. Those agencies also need to learn how to be nimble by creating and perfecting the systems that allow their clients to react as fast. Because in today’s media, responding to a socially relevant conversation 2-4 weeks after the fact is almost always too late. Sometimes, a day is just too late.

    If you’re a client briefing your agency on a campaign a year (or, typically, years) in advance, you’re just working in another world. How many opportunities to react to the social conversation will happen in that one year? Your brand is missing chances of free, earned media. And your competition can change drastically in that year. The entire landscape can change in a month. The category could be challenged by the end of the week.

    Remember the RAZR phone?

    If not, look it up on your smart-phone’s web browser and you’ll understand what I mean.

    A lot of what was taught in MBA programs ten years ago is being untaught by disruptive outsiders today. In the current system of typical agency/client development and approval processes, agencies and clients will most likely miss out on more and more opportunities to respond quickly and to profit. And that’s some of us, will have our own eyes open – watching when to strategically embed our own client’s brands – or even our own brands – into the conversations that your system has made you miss.

    As a client or agency, you need to realize the resources that you have at hand, right now, and make the process more efficient. Advertising isn’t dying. As the business evolves, the talent will simply evolve with it. Your brand can either leverage those talents, or you can wait until production becomes so democratized and so easily accessed, that they go on to create their own challenger brands that may, one day, take yours down.

    Of course, that’s not necessarily what we do right now.

    But soon enough, it may just be our business.

    Tim Geoghegan is a freelance Creative Director and strategic brand consultant with over 10 years of integrated global experience. Previously, he was Associate Creative Director at CP+B in Boulder and Creative Director of the ZAG brand IP-invention subsidiary at BBH, NY. You can follow him on twitter at @timogeo or contact him at timmovations@gmail.com. This piece is cross-posted from Tim Geoghegan's blog.

  • So You Want to Work in an Ad Agency?

    June 9th, 2011 / Comments (2)

    Originally written for the Denver Egotist

    I sometimes get notes and phone calls from random college students and recently graduated job seekers that heard from someone that I work at an agency they admire. I was on a roll and just wrote this latest kid a novella, since I can't sleep tonight anyway. Thought it might make for a blog post if you're having trouble sleeping too.

    WARNING: If this doesn't make you go to sleep then you may need to go into advertising.

    On 06/01/11 3:31 PM, XXXXX XXXXXX wrote:
    --------------------
    Eric,

    Thank you for getting back to me so soon. A lot of my questions revolve around two main points. I am new to the whole idea of working at an agency. Until recently it hadn't even hit me as an option. But now that I have been more involved in my advertising and design classes I realized that is where my strengths lie. So I guess my main questions for you are what are the different opportunities/positions available at an agency, and what can I do to prepare for an internship at an agency?

    I would also love to hear your story and experience. Xxxx Xxxxxxx told a bit of your background with working for Volkswagen, but it would be great to know more. I'd also love to hear from you what agency life is like. Pros? Cons? Favorite aspects? I am just an ad agency sponge that wants to soak it all in.

    Thanks so much for taking your time to help me out with this. I appreciate it.
    --------------------

    MY REPLY, POOR KID:

    Oh dear. So much to learn. It's good you want to learn. But you'll have to become your own student and not rely just on school and formal programs. Be a geek if you enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it, what do you enjoy? Do that. Here's a giant checklist to start so you're never bored.

    1. Subscribe to the daily AdAge and AdWeek Emails. Read the articles. Other options are BrandWeek, and a quick updating, kinda gossipy ad trade blog agencyspy.com. Be in the know. Know way more about agencies all over the country (and world) than your young gun peers. If you are the most ad industry savvy of your peers at BYU-I, that doesn't mean much, but it's where you should be anyway. It's a good start.

    2. Pick up books by ad veterans, like Paul Arden (i.e. "Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite," and "It's Not how Good you Are, It's How Good You Want To Be." They are super cheap and worth owning and reading about once a year.) Watch movies like "Art & Copy." Read books about culture that interest you. Know what's going on, even if you don't have time to know everything deeply, just know it's there.

    3. Get digital. Follow websites like thefwa.com, be a geek on gizmodo.com and understand what flash is, HTML 5 is, different types of web banners, email marketing, CRM schemes, social media trends of the hour, social media marketing campaigns of the hour. How does an agency go about building an entire website to serve a client's goals? Why do the sites do what they do and how do people end up there? Where do they go from there? What's a KPI when it comes to online marketing? This will evolve about as quickly as you learn it, so it's a fun hobby to stay on top of.

    4. Become a fan and student of advertising that's not advertising at all. Powerful messaging comes from a powerful product truth. How can the company bring that product truth to life in the consumer's life in a way that changes culture, not just takes advantage of current, already existing trends?

    5. Get an internship at a big agency for the exposure. Doesn't have to be giant with offices all over the country/world, but should have national accounts and do really smart, strategic, creative work. If you start there (EVEN FOR FREE), you'll have many more options in your future. You can always settle down for a boring job that isn't as chaotic and demanding later. But you may not always be able to jump into the creative bandwagon. Be willing to move and live in Miami, Minneapolis, LA, NYC, Portland, San Francisco, Austin, Boulder, Richmond and other cities I'm surely leaving out. If you're hesitant to drop your life in one location and go for the gold at a crazy low paying job at a worldly agency in a place you've never been, then you'll be limited to what your options are in the future. If you're flexible and adventurous in college and the first 5-8 years after (and work like a mad man and never stop learning), it'll open up more doors and put you near the top of recruiters lists later. Be willing to work your butt off - nights, weekends, be the guy that will go pick up food at midnight and build binders or proofread copy when what you'd rather be doing is hanging out with your family and friends. It'll get better, promise. Kinda.

    6. Be humble and smart. Although you may be intimidated by all the progressive hipsters that seem to fit in so well in this industry, you can be yourself. Be natural and real. But make sure that "yourself" is super smart and nice to have around. Of course, if you're a creative urban type, that's an advantage and will help you fit in on top of your smart humility. But first and foremost surround yourself with people smarter than you and soak in everything you can.

    7. The resume and interviews: What makes you stand out? (Not just 'what makes you qualified,' although that's obviously important.) Find it early and make it something worth having, hiring and paying for. Make sure it's clear on your resume and the cliche' stuff isn't getting in the way of seeing why you would be the kind of person that a CEO would want representing him and his company / agency. If you think that person wears pleats and looks like he just got his hair cut with the #3 clippers on the sides and back, then you may be right. But you're probably not interviewing at my agency.

    (Exhale)

    Good thing I'm a bit of a loner insomniac this week, working out of town. I'm pretty sure I just wrote the skeleton of a presentation I could give at the next BYU-I Communications Day. Know who puts the guest speakers together? Ha.

    As far what job you want in the agency, that's something only you'll know. If you don't know what departments are in a typical larger agency and how they tick and roll along, learn that. Here's a really basic agency structure 1.0 resources i just found with one Google search:
    http://drypen.in/advertising/agency-structure-of-advertising-agency.html

    Scour agency websites about the jobs they have open to see what on earth they are even called at various agencies. i.e. Some places call Account Management "Content Management." Account Planners (or just "planners") can be "Cognitive Anthropologists." Not kidding. But most agencies share the same or similar names for positions.

    AGENCY JOBS:

    Planners find the cultural and business insights that shape a creative brief and the strategy we sell to clients and build work from. In a good agency, they are the unsung heroes of the best work.

    Creatives take that strategy and come up with how to apply it to the media. They are copywriters and art directors, creative directors. There are also studio workers and designers, creative technologists and other specialties, but mostly writers and artists that are supremely creative and hard working.

    Traffic Managers (or Project Managers) help guide creative and account Managers toward a deadline. They keep all projects on track, organized and on schedule internally.

    Account Management (or Account Services or Content Management) are the liaison between the clients and the agency. They are the central hub of organized, client friendly ad experts that work with every department inside the agency as well as vendors and partners outside the agency, not to mention clients, of course, to guide a campaign or project from before its inception (when the client comes to the agency with a task, i.e. a new product launch, or rebranding) all the way through the brief and concepting and back and forth with clients, and media planning and into production to create the TV or Radio or print or OOH (out-of-home) or online work or all of the above, to the details of pushing that work out into the world through whatever means or partner companies you work with to get it into the real (or digital) world, to the post-launch analytics and post-mordems and continual beta tweaking and optimizing (for digital work, it's rarely "finished," even after launch)....then it all starts over and projects overlap so you're always juggling and managing something. This is what I do. Account people need to be experts of their clients' industry within weeks, whether that's cars or phones or pizzas or credit cards or online services, and they need to be friends and champions of everyone within the agency as well. A good account person remembers that he works for his agency, not his client. That is sometimes easy to forget.

    Production: producers are the cool cats that actually create the TV spot or digital marvel the creatives thought up but have no idea how to actually create. They have the resources and knowledge to guide the approved ideas into actual work that consumers end up seeing and interacting with. There are broadcast producers, interactive producers, print producers, etc. Each is pretty specialized.

    There are more, i.e. media planners, media buyers, business affairs, art buyers, analytics, interaction designers, and all the overhead positions that keep the employees paychecks coming and building functioning, of course. At least in a big agency. The smaller the agency, the more that stuff may be done by anyone from the owner to the "new kid."
    --------------------

    That's all I've got in my system tonight. I'd recomend you get out there and get inside some agencies so you can see what they look like on the inside. Talk to more people and see if I'm just full or crap, so you can get a wider perspective.

    But above all, do #5 above. The rest will come naturally if you're actually excited and interested in it.

    Best,
    eric

    This piece is cross-posted from Eric Forsyth's blog.

Rocket Fuel