September 29, 2006
puppy print update
Interesting. The “Puppy” print is now bidding on E-Bay for $56.00.
Wow.
[UPDATE:] There’s another one up now, bidding for $5.99. Whew.
Hugh MacLeod
I'm a cartoonist.
I sell limited-edition prints.
I wrote a book.
I'm CEO of Stormhoek USA, which markets South African wine in the States.
I also draw private commissions.
Prints |
Opening | Current |
|---|---|---|
Bluetrain |
$900 | |
We Need to Talk |
$650 | |
Portfolio #2 |
$300 | |
NY NY |
$275 |
Archive for September, 2006
September 27, 2006
introducing stormhoek siren
[click on image to enlarge]
This is the new Stormhoek Siren package, inspired by the little open-source experiment we conducted last November with gapingvoid readers.
Basically, I asked my readers for feedback on the new package design, and they left their suggestions both in the comment section and the wiki. The result you now see in the photograph.
The photo really doesn’t do it justice. It’s an absolutely stunningly beautiful bottle in real life. Basically, we wanted something that wouldn’t look out of place in a Mies van Der Rohe house, or a copy of Wallpaper magazine.
On the wine side, Graham tells me that the boys in South Africa culled out the best lots of ultra ripe and intensely fruity Sauvignon Blanc and really dense, dark and intense Pinotage. You might recall that the regular Pinotage won the trophy from the London International Wine and Spirits Competiton for being the finest Pinotage produced in South Africa. I am told that the Siren Pinotage is like the regular Stormhoek on steroids. There was a bit of open sourcing done on this as well, which the Stormhoek guys will probably tell you about eventually.
So, we have a $2000 award to give away to some fortunate gapingvoid reader. Though not one single suggestion led us to the answer we were looking for, interfacing with the feedback is what led us to our result.
So who should win the $2000? We thought we’d let you decide. Please go here and check out the comments and the submissions on the wiki. Tell us who you think we should award it to. If nobody’s can come up with an answer, or we fail to come up with some sort of concensus, we’ll give the two grand to charity.
Thanks for making all this a reality, Everybody. Rock on.
anina and me
[Anina and her pal, Fern.]
Last week my favorite tech-obsessed fashion model, Anina, helped me choose a ringtone for my Nokia N70.
[Me swilling the Stormhoek etc etc.]
She even made a video of it. One of the crazy, Stormhoek-swilling evenings where you just had to be there.
Anina’s been blogging some pretty good stuff recently. With London Fashion Week just on, and the Paris and Milan shows coming up, there’s plenty of interesting material for her out there. I’d check out her blog archives from the last 2 – 3 weeks or so…
September 25, 2006
2 more prints on e-bay
Two more gapingvoid prints have made it onto E-Bay. Very cool.
First, another Techcrunch/Stormhoek poster, just like the one that sold on E-Bay the other day for $177.50. This one is currently bidding at $24.
Secondly, one of the Stormhoek “Puppy” prints, currently bidding at $5.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens. The idea of there being a commercial market for my work, even a small one, is not an idea I’m quite used to yet. But yeah, it’s still fairly exciting.
mt. ventoux bloggers’ bike ride for charity
Sigurd and a few pals are doing a charity bike ride this Saturday up the dreaded Mount Ventoux in France. This is the same leg of the Tour de France that riders have been known to literally die attemtpting.
It looks absolutely ghastly.
So far they’ve raised just over $4000– about half their target. If you want to help the cause, please visit their wiki, thanks.
coal mines
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
[Cartoon inspired by the comments in my last post.]
September 24, 2006
meaningful work or death
I work pretty much all the time these days. It’s not uncommon for me to start work at 9am and carry on well past midnight, often for days on end.
I don’t have a problem with it; I like what I do. If there were more hours in a day, I’d use those, too.
For countless generations, this was the norm. You got up and you worked your hindquarters off till it was time for bed. If you were lucky you occasionally managed to get laid, fed, drunk etc in the process. All good.
But then in the last hundred years or so we lost the plot. Suddenly “Leisure” started taking over. Suddenly useless things like lying on a beach, reading trashy novels, watching dumb movies, going shopping, attending art openings, and visiting Disneyland started to become not only common, but an end in itself.
Now taking time of from the daily grind in order to recharge our batteries I don’t have a problem with. Heck, that’s what The Sabbath was invented for [“All a child needs to be happy are two things: a hard wooden chair and a Bible” etc].
Where the problem arises is when this “Leisure Time” starts taking over. Becoming no longer a means [recharging], but an end it itself, what we call a [shudder] “Lifestyle”. When your work stops being your “Real Life”, and “Leisure” starts becoming your real life i.e. When your job just becomes this unpleasant “thing”, something with no other meaningful function other than to finance your new “Real Life” i.e your “Lifestyle”… you know, the expensive part with all the shopping, beaches, cocktail parties, vacuous conversations etc.
Sure, I know this Work/Life schism started a long time ago, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the time clock, Marxist-worker alienation from the means of production etc etc [Some people prefer the term “balance” over “schism”; they are deluded], so it’s very ingrained into our culture.
I renounce it, regardless.
Meaningful Work or Death. Any other form of existence doesn’t interest me. Thanks Be To God.
i feel
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
he needed a plan
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
crap blog 101
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
[Bonus Link: “Beware of Lifestyle Immigrants”.] No sane adult moves to the Bay Area for lifestyle; they move there because they think they can make money. So, while I think it’s nice people like to ski, hike, bike, climb, surf, and golf, I don’t care. I want people who are greedy , competive bastards who would move to Fargo in January to make money, and who don’t know any other way to work than hard. The rest of it is a distraction. [Thanks, Rick.]
pedantic
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
September 23, 2006
cafe de la merde francaise
Apparently Loic Le Meur’s blog traffic has gone crazy since he announced that he voting for Nicolas Sarkozy in the next French presidential elections:
The reason I did that is that Nicolas Sarkozy, currently #2 in Government and future candidate is the only politician in France to my knowledge to say he wants to transform France into a “nation of entrepreneurs” when entrepreneurs are often seen as “enemies of the State” these days, so I can only support him. Of course, many people disagree…
I certainly don’t disagree. If anyone is going to save that lovely but stubborn country from needless oblivion, it’s going to be its entrepreneurs, and not the L’Ecole de La Mort mandarins currently running the place like their own private country club.
Rock on, Loic! Godspeed, Sarkozy! Vivent les entrepreneurs!
rebirth 221
“Rebirth” is a wonderful metaphor, meaning everything from “re-invention” to “regeneration” to “renaissance” to… just about anything.
I find that a large part of the human experience is [a] getting oneself into a rut and then [b] figuring out how to get oneself out of it.
What is true for individuals is also true for large groups of people… businesses, organisiations, nations etc etc. How do we re-invent our modus operandi? Serious question.
I don’t claim to have all the answers, but it’s a subject that interests me professionally more and more.
red black 881
Yes, I’m still in London. In Paris next weekend. Glagow soon after that. Then back to London. Very little Cumbria in the equation for a while.
[Note To Self:] There are two types of neigborhods in London– those for people already settled here, and those for people who have just arrived. I’ve always preferred the latter.
September 22, 2006
even when he gets heard
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
September 21, 2006
case study: english cut
I’m speaking today at the “Social Network Tools & Their Business Application” conference in London. The title of my talk is: “Case Study: Using Blogs to Create a Global Micro-Business”. I’ll be talking about English Cut, and how it transformed Thomas’ tailoring business and educated his customers.
The story of how Thomas, myself and later, New York PR maven Dave Parmet started working together was wonderfully re-told in Naked Conversations:
MacLeod says he “started filling Mahon’s head with Cluetrain and blogging stuff,” and slowly Mahon got interested. “We started thinking that if Mahon could talk about tailoring on a blog about the same way that Seth Godin talks about marketing, then the people who care will see it. Mahon wouldn’t try to sell suits on the blog. Instead, he would show his knowledge and love of the craft. He would explain the labor, and materials involved and why the cost of each suit was justified.” The idea was that the people who cared either about suits or how a master craftsmen creates them would find their way to the site.
My father remarked to me the other day, “I bet you had no idea in the beginning that the blog would work as well as it did, eh?”
True, I had no idea. But looking back, we had a few things going for us.
1. A great product. Thomas is one of the best tailors in the world. His suits REALLY ARE that good. If we were just selling commodified drek, I doubt if anyone would’ve paid much attention.
2. A unique story. When he started, Thomas was the only Savile Row tailor writing a blog, and this gave him a unique voice in the blogosphere. This fuelled the interest. Had masses of tailors already been blogging, it would’ve been much harder for his own unique “idea-virus” to spread. The first-mover advantage rule still applies.
3. Passion & Authority. Thomas has both in spades. That’s what kept people coming back. That’s what built up trust. That’s what turned his readers into customers. Which is why “Share what you love” is the best advice there is.
4. Continuity. He kept at it. He didn’t expect the blog to transform his fortunes overnight. As I’m fond of saying, “Blogs don’t write themselves”. Based on our experience, if you want blogs to transform your business, I’d say give yourself at least a year.
5. Focus. It was always about the suits. It was never about what he had for breakfast, Technorati rank or frothy gossip about other bloggers.
6. Thomas spoke in his own voice. Thomas is a straightforward, affable fellow, and the voice on the blog is the same as the voice you meet in real life. He never tried to misrepresent himself on his blog, nor try to create some over-glamorized image of his profession. He just told it like it is. And people responded well to that. As he once put it, “We’re so lucky we don’t have to create the brand out of thin air. We just tell the truth and the brand builds itself.”
7. Sovereignty. The only people we had to please were the two of us. No bosses or outside investors to keep happy. Bosses and investors like guarantees, but there aren’t any.
8. We were both broke when we started. Had we had masses of money at the beginning, we would have had a lot more options on how to get the word out. In all likelihood, these options would have been a lot more expensive and not nearly as effective. Sometimes lack of capital is a definite advantage.
A blog is a great way to build one’s own personal “global microbrand”. As the Job-For-Life no longer exists, as the value of the social “position” erodes and the value of the “project” takes its place, personal brand development becomes far more important to one’s career. Blogs are a good place to start.
Hey, if a Savile Row tailor can do it, what’s your excuse?
September 20, 2006
remembering happier times
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
September 19, 2006
planet trogg
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
September 18, 2006
blogging consultant
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
work at starbuck’s
Last November, I launched a little open-source experiment, asking gapingvoid readers for their input in coming up with a new label and bottle design for Stormhoek [the old labels just weren’t doing the job].
We also offered a cash prize of $2000 USD for the suggestion that we found most helpful.
The feedback was terrific. About a hundred people submitted their ideas, both in the comment section and on the wiki.
We’re getting ready to go public with the results. Somebody WILL be getting the $2000.
Now, you will have seen the new cartoon labels. Sure, that’s part of the answer, but that’s not the whole answer. What ended up happening with this little experiment went far further than a mere label, but ended up re-inventing the brand from the ground up. It’s been huge.
I guess that’s why I’ve been so quiet about it over the last 10 months. The changes made possible by the open-source intervention took forever to implement.
And speaking of re-inventing: regular gapingvoid readers will know that “re-invention” is a subject very dear to my heart.
I believe the capacity to re-invent one’s life, one’s career, one’s business, one’s industry etc is not just a nice quality to have. I believe it’s an essential survival tool.
Which is why when I launched the open-source experiment, I posed the question, “Why shouldn’t a small wine company see Apple or Google as its competition?”
I think it’s wise to view companies like Apple and Google as your competition, even if you’re not in the same field.
Why does Apple continually do so well? Because every six months they introduce something that makes the world pay attention. Laptops, IPods, it doesn’t matter what it is. They deliver.
They deliver because they understand the concept of re-invention better than most. So by competiting with them, even indirectly, maybe you’ll learn something useful.
NB: That cartoon I did for DDB the other day. That was all about re-invention, as well. Somewhere along the line I figured that if Madison Avenue was to have a future, it would be all about helping their clients re-invent themselves. The actual advertising is just a by-product. Apple, of course, doesn’t need a lot of outside help re-inventing themselves. But a lot of companies do. A huge opportunity for someone.
you haven’t done your marketing
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
head up
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
September 17, 2006
changing the system
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
the future belongs to the geeks
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
face 967
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
September 15, 2006
we western europeans
Frederick Forsyth (London, Daily Express, 11/8):
“It must surely be
true that the level of lies and hypocrisy that a society can tolerate is in direct proportion to the degeneration of that culture.
Personally I am not particularly pro or anti Israel, pro or anti Arab or pro or anti Islam. But I do have a dislike of myth, hypocrisy and lies as opposed to reality, fairness and truth.
Watching the bombing of Lebanon it is impossible not to feel horror and pity for the innocent civilians killed, wounded or rendered homeless. But certain of our politicians, seeking easy populism and the cheapest round of applause in modern history, have called the Israeli response “disproportionate”. Among thee politicos are Jack Straw and that master of EU negotiations William Hague.
That accusation can only mean: “disproportionate to the aggression levelled against them”. Really? Why did the accusers not mention Serbia? What has Serbia got to do with it? Let’s refresh our memories.
stormhoek is hiring
[A new positioning idea I’m playing around with for Stormhoek etc.]
Stormhoek is looking to hire an intern. Here are the criteria. You wouldn’t need to have all of them, but the more, the merrier:
1. London-based.
2. Able to do graphic design.
3. Able to write code.
4. Able to write copy.
5. Web 2.0-savvy.
6. Marketing-savvy.
7. Blog-savvy.
If you’re looking for an interesting foot in the door, please drop me an e-mail with the word “internship” in the subject header. Thanks.
September 14, 2006
people will give us their money
[Inspired by Rick’s recent post.]
Seems the guy at Newscorp is aggrieved that so much of the blogospher’s traffic is coming from MySpace users. Yeah, that’s because some bloggers are actually writing content that MySpace users want to read. Heaven forfend!
Seems to me this all speaks volumes. Seems the guy sees his company’s MySpace users not as people, but as little mini-udders there to be milked. Nice work if yu can get it.
greetings from glasgow airport
I’m writing this from a Starbucks in Glasgow Airport, en route to London. I’ll be down there for the next couple of days.
We’ll shortly be showing the new Stormhoek labels to the retailers. Very exciting. Very nerve-wracking.
Meanwhile, we’re starting to get info back from our US distributors about where Stormhoek is available in America. Here, for instance, is where you can find Stormhoek in New Jersey. Obviously we’ll have to build some sort of “Where to find Stormhoek” widget on the Stormhoek blog eventually. Sooner rather than later etc.
Right now I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed, to say the least. Everything has been heating up for the last couple of months. Suits, wine, film, all getting busier and busier. Add the blog to the equation and that’s four “full-time” gigs. Plus Thingamy and everything else.
In five year’s time I’ll either be rich or dead.
[Note to Self:] Is it just me or would this cartoon possibly make a great wine label?
t-shirt design
I did this t-shirt design for an advertising buddy of mine in Chicago.
Let’s see what happens.
September 11, 2006
the dinosaur cartoon [high-res version]
[This is the high-res version of the dinosaur cartoon, which I originally drew for the new Craven’s website. Just click on the image to enlarge etc.]
movable type 3.3
Dear Anil,
Just a quick note to say, I’ve upgraded my blog software to Movabe Type 3.3, and it works WONDERFULLY. It has pretty much killed off my spam problem with one fell swoop.
The smartest thing is how it deletes all “junk” comments with a single click of a button. What used to be a fifteen-minute daily chore now takes a few seconds.
I heartily recommend an upgrade to 3.3 to any other MT users I know.
Kudos to you guys over at Six Apart,
Best
Hugh
a well-executed blogging campaign is an act of love
[The Cyclaire]
I made a new acquaintance today. I received a phone call from an inventor and entrepreneur named Julian Peck. He’s invented this new kind of bicycle pump, called The Cyclaire. He was referred to me by a friend-of-a-friend.
On the phone we talked about how to do a blogging campaign, in order to spread the word on the pump.
First, I suggested Julian should start his own blog. Why should anyone expect a conversation about their product if they themselves aren’t willing to join in? As I’m fond of saying, the best way to control the conversation is by improving the conversation.
Secondly, I would start reading cycling blogs and start conversations with their creators. Maybe start a marketing campaign by sending favorite bike bloggers free samples of the pump, and see what they have to say. See if this helps spread the virus. This is similar to what we did with Stormhoek, back in the early days.
The important thing to remember here, is to set as few preconditions as possible. If they want to write nice things about it, great. If not, that’s also great. And if they don’t want to write anything at all, that’s fine, too.
The trick to a blogging campaign is, of course, having a good product. A bad product will be eaten alive within hours. A good product will still get the occasional malcontent trying to take a metaphorical baseball bat to it, but if it can survive the onslaught, that can actually work in the campaign’s favor.
A well-executed blog campaign is not rocket science. It is, however, an act of love. That’s what gets in the way for some people. Love is scary stuff.
[Kudos to Euan’s ideas for inspiring the previous paragraph.]
5 years on
New York still remains the greatest city in the world. That must really bug America-haters everywhere.
[Bonus Link:] “9/11: The Birth of The Blog.”
September 10, 2006
gucci handbags
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
print update: $140!!!!
The Stormhoek-Techcrunch lithograph I mentioned yesterday is now bidding at $140.
Holy.
Smoke.
Yikes.
[UPDATE:] Bidding now at $177.50. Yowza.
we’re 34, broke…
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
[Cartoon dedicated to Gearlog.]
glasgow update
It’s been a busy last few days on the Hallam Foe front.
The picture of Jamie Bell was taken this morning on the film set. Jamie is the actor who plays Hallam. He’s best known for the lead in Billy Elliot.
Jamie flew in from America the day before yesterday to do a reshoot. Colin [who took the above photograph] writes about it here and here on the Hallam Foe blog.
Our first task is to shoot some scenes in the treehouse. As we’ve explained in the last few posts these are to enhance a section of the film that could do with a bit more emphasis. The film currently flies along at quite a pace and there is one aspect of it that could do with being brought out a bit, heightened for the audience. You’ll have to try and guess what I’m talking about when you see the movie!
I met Jamie briefly last night at a restaurant with some of the other crew members. Really nice guy. You can tell right away that all that celebrity filmstar crap hasn’t gone to his head. Good news.
I’m finding I have the same attitude about the film business as I have about the wine and suit buinesses i.e. it’s not something I ever planned on being involved with, but now that I am, I find it increasingly interesting in ways I hadn’t expected. Like anything else, the glamorous parts are actually quite dull, and the mundane parts are where the really interesting bits happen.
The one thing I have learned since watching this film project evolve from the very beginning is: Film making is REALLY hard. Seriously. Here are the hard bits:
1. Writing the script.
2. Raising the money.
3. Convincing the right actors to appear in the film.
4. Shooting the film.
5. Editing the film.
6. Finding distrubution.
7. Marketing the film i.e. convincing Middle America or whoever to part with their money, one movie ticket at a time, in sufficient numbers to see an eventual profit.
8. Probably the hardest part of all: Ensuring that none of the above goes over budget.
Trust me, each one of these parts is a bloody nightmare. You think breaking into the film business is difficult? You should try staying in it. Seriously.
This would explain why increasingly I have nothing but admiration for the folks involved with this project. I can think of A LOT of easier ways to make a living.
Right now the main emphasis of the production is geting the final bits of the shoot and the editing “in the can”. And then we proceed to the part I’m more involved with, Part # 7, the marketing, while the main production concurrently moves into postproduction: fixing the sound, visual effects etc.
This phase officially starts for me in London, on Thursday, September 28th. Just over 2 weeks away. That’s now the official date of the UK blogger’s private screening of the film. I had originally wanted it to be on the 14th, but we had to knock it back 2 weeks, for reasons to do with the editing schedule etc.
What I’ve done is I’ve invited a few of my best UK blogging buddies to come see the movie, take them out to dinner afterwards, meet some of the production crew, and hopefully start a conversation. It should be an interesting evening all round. Can one single spark start a wildfire? Of course it can, but that doesn’t mean it will. This is what makes life interesting.
Meanwhile, as this gets more and more busy for me, so does the Stormhoek project. So does English Cut. I’m living the most interesting of lives at the moment, but My Goodness, it’s gotten a bit relentless around here. I can’t decide if it’s just the times we’re living in, or just some form of extreme business modelling on my part. Probably a bit of both.
C’est le guerre.
technorati 100
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
[Link: The Technorati 100.]
September 9, 2006
big painting
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
new lithograph on e-bay
Another Stormhoek-Techcrunch lithograph has made it onto E-Bay. Looks like it’s the same vendor as last time.
It’ll be interesting to see what it sells for this time round etc.
[Update:] Highest bid so far is $72. The final bid on the last one was $122.
[Note To Self:] Should I think more about getting into the art market?
[UPDATE:] Bidding’s gone up to $140.00!!!
September 8, 2006
welcome to the red zone
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
i’m in heaven
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
i no longer have feelings
[Another one of my new Stormhoek wine label designs; a mashup between this cartoon and this one.]
still in glasgow
A busy day at the Hallam Foe office. That’s me at the very back, at the left. That’s Dave MacKenzie at the back, in the center, wearing the beige jacket.
Last night I met friend of a friend, a musician named Alexi Murdoch. Apparently his records are doing quite well in the USA.
We spent some time talking about blogs and stuff. He was really interested in the possibilities. Interesting guy.
I like being in Glasgow, I have to say. It suits me.
mice parade
I’ve just been blown away by a track I listened to on BBC Radio 3’s “Late Junction” show [The song appears about 6 minutes into it].
The track is called “Steady As She Goes”, and it’s on this album, by a band called Mice Parade.
Wow. I am so buying the CD.
[Update:] On the same radio show, I was also blown away by a track on Sufjan Steven’s “Illinois” album, which I’ve never heard before. Mind-blowingly talented, methinks [The song appears about 36 minutes into the show].
If you click on the “Late Junction” link, I believe the radio show will remain online until 10.30pm London time tonight. Worth a listen.
created equal
[Another one of my new Stormhoek wine label designs; a re-working of this older cartoon.]
September 27, 2006
introducing stormhoek siren
[click on image to enlarge]
This is the new Stormhoek Siren package, inspired by the little open-source experiment we conducted last November with gapingvoid readers.
Basically, I asked my readers for feedback on the new package design, and they left their suggestions both in the comment section and the wiki. The result you now see in the photograph.
The photo really doesn’t do it justice. It’s an absolutely stunningly beautiful bottle in real life. Basically, we wanted something that wouldn’t look out of place in a Mies van Der Rohe house, or a copy of Wallpaper magazine.
On the wine side, Graham tells me that the boys in South Africa culled out the best lots of ultra ripe and intensely fruity Sauvignon Blanc and really dense, dark and intense Pinotage. You might recall that the regular Pinotage won the trophy from the London International Wine and Spirits Competiton for being the finest Pinotage produced in South Africa. I am told that the Siren Pinotage is like the regular Stormhoek on steroids. There was a bit of open sourcing done on this as well, which the Stormhoek guys will probably tell you about eventually.
So, we have a $2000 award to give away to some fortunate gapingvoid reader. Though not one single suggestion led us to the answer we were looking for, interfacing with the feedback is what led us to our result.
So who should win the $2000? We thought we’d let you decide. Please go here and check out the comments and the submissions on the wiki. Tell us who you think we should award it to. If nobody’s can come up with an answer, or we fail to come up with some sort of concensus, we’ll give the two grand to charity.
Thanks for making all this a reality, Everybody. Rock on.
anina and me
[Anina and her pal, Fern.]
Last week my favorite tech-obsessed fashion model, Anina, helped me choose a ringtone for my Nokia N70.
[Me swilling the Stormhoek etc etc.]
She even made a video of it. One of the crazy, Stormhoek-swilling evenings where you just had to be there.
Anina’s been blogging some pretty good stuff recently. With London Fashion Week just on, and the Paris and Milan shows coming up, there’s plenty of interesting material for her out there. I’d check out her blog archives from the last 2 – 3 weeks or so…
September 25, 2006
2 more prints on e-bay
Two more gapingvoid prints have made it onto E-Bay. Very cool.
First, another Techcrunch/Stormhoek poster, just like the one that sold on E-Bay the other day for $177.50. This one is currently bidding at $24.
Secondly, one of the Stormhoek “Puppy” prints, currently bidding at $5.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens. The idea of there being a commercial market for my work, even a small one, is not an idea I’m quite used to yet. But yeah, it’s still fairly exciting.
mt. ventoux bloggers’ bike ride for charity
Sigurd and a few pals are doing a charity bike ride this Saturday up the dreaded Mount Ventoux in France. This is the same leg of the Tour de France that riders have been known to literally die attemtpting.
It looks absolutely ghastly.
So far they’ve raised just over $4000– about half their target. If you want to help the cause, please visit their wiki, thanks.
coal mines
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
[Cartoon inspired by the comments in my last post.]
September 24, 2006
meaningful work or death
I work pretty much all the time these days. It’s not uncommon for me to start work at 9am and carry on well past midnight, often for days on end.
I don’t have a problem with it; I like what I do. If there were more hours in a day, I’d use those, too.
For countless generations, this was the norm. You got up and you worked your hindquarters off till it was time for bed. If you were lucky you occasionally managed to get laid, fed, drunk etc in the process. All good.
But then in the last hundred years or so we lost the plot. Suddenly “Leisure” started taking over. Suddenly useless things like lying on a beach, reading trashy novels, watching dumb movies, going shopping, attending art openings, and visiting Disneyland started to become not only common, but an end in itself.
Now taking time of from the daily grind in order to recharge our batteries I don’t have a problem with. Heck, that’s what The Sabbath was invented for [“All a child needs to be happy are two things: a hard wooden chair and a Bible” etc].
Where the problem arises is when this “Leisure Time” starts taking over. Becoming no longer a means [recharging], but an end it itself, what we call a [shudder] “Lifestyle”. When your work stops being your “Real Life”, and “Leisure” starts becoming your real life i.e. When your job just becomes this unpleasant “thing”, something with no other meaningful function other than to finance your new “Real Life” i.e your “Lifestyle”… you know, the expensive part with all the shopping, beaches, cocktail parties, vacuous conversations etc.
Sure, I know this Work/Life schism started a long time ago, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the time clock, Marxist-worker alienation from the means of production etc etc [Some people prefer the term “balance” over “schism”; they are deluded], so it’s very ingrained into our culture.
I renounce it, regardless.
Meaningful Work or Death. Any other form of existence doesn’t interest me. Thanks Be To God.
i feel
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he needed a plan
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crap blog 101
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[Bonus Link: “Beware of Lifestyle Immigrants”.] No sane adult moves to the Bay Area for lifestyle; they move there because they think they can make money. So, while I think it’s nice people like to ski, hike, bike, climb, surf, and golf, I don’t care. I want people who are greedy , competive bastards who would move to Fargo in January to make money, and who don’t know any other way to work than hard. The rest of it is a distraction. [Thanks, Rick.]
pedantic
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September 23, 2006
cafe de la merde francaise
Apparently Loic Le Meur’s blog traffic has gone crazy since he announced that he voting for Nicolas Sarkozy in the next French presidential elections:
The reason I did that is that Nicolas Sarkozy, currently #2 in Government and future candidate is the only politician in France to my knowledge to say he wants to transform France into a “nation of entrepreneurs” when entrepreneurs are often seen as “enemies of the State” these days, so I can only support him. Of course, many people disagree…
I certainly don’t disagree. If anyone is going to save that lovely but stubborn country from needless oblivion, it’s going to be its entrepreneurs, and not the L’Ecole de La Mort mandarins currently running the place like their own private country club.
Rock on, Loic! Godspeed, Sarkozy! Vivent les entrepreneurs!
rebirth 221
“Rebirth” is a wonderful metaphor, meaning everything from “re-invention” to “regeneration” to “renaissance” to… just about anything.
I find that a large part of the human experience is [a] getting oneself into a rut and then [b] figuring out how to get oneself out of it.
What is true for individuals is also true for large groups of people… businesses, organisiations, nations etc etc. How do we re-invent our modus operandi? Serious question.
I don’t claim to have all the answers, but it’s a subject that interests me professionally more and more.
red black 881
Yes, I’m still in London. In Paris next weekend. Glagow soon after that. Then back to London. Very little Cumbria in the equation for a while.
[Note To Self:] There are two types of neigborhods in London– those for people already settled here, and those for people who have just arrived. I’ve always preferred the latter.
September 22, 2006
even when he gets heard
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September 21, 2006
case study: english cut
I’m speaking today at the “Social Network Tools & Their Business Application” conference in London. The title of my talk is: “Case Study: Using Blogs to Create a Global Micro-Business”. I’ll be talking about English Cut, and how it transformed Thomas’ tailoring business and educated his customers.
The story of how Thomas, myself and later, New York PR maven Dave Parmet started working together was wonderfully re-told in Naked Conversations:
MacLeod says he “started filling Mahon’s head with Cluetrain and blogging stuff,” and slowly Mahon got interested. “We started thinking that if Mahon could talk about tailoring on a blog about the same way that Seth Godin talks about marketing, then the people who care will see it. Mahon wouldn’t try to sell suits on the blog. Instead, he would show his knowledge and love of the craft. He would explain the labor, and materials involved and why the cost of each suit was justified.” The idea was that the people who cared either about suits or how a master craftsmen creates them would find their way to the site.
My father remarked to me the other day, “I bet you had no idea in the beginning that the blog would work as well as it did, eh?”
True, I had no idea. But looking back, we had a few things going for us.
1. A great product. Thomas is one of the best tailors in the world. His suits REALLY ARE that good. If we were just selling commodified drek, I doubt if anyone would’ve paid much attention.
2. A unique story. When he started, Thomas was the only Savile Row tailor writing a blog, and this gave him a unique voice in the blogosphere. This fuelled the interest. Had masses of tailors already been blogging, it would’ve been much harder for his own unique “idea-virus” to spread. The first-mover advantage rule still applies.
3. Passion & Authority. Thomas has both in spades. That’s what kept people coming back. That’s what built up trust. That’s what turned his readers into customers. Which is why “Share what you love” is the best advice there is.
4. Continuity. He kept at it. He didn’t expect the blog to transform his fortunes overnight. As I’m fond of saying, “Blogs don’t write themselves”. Based on our experience, if you want blogs to transform your business, I’d say give yourself at least a year.
5. Focus. It was always about the suits. It was never about what he had for breakfast, Technorati rank or frothy gossip about other bloggers.
6. Thomas spoke in his own voice. Thomas is a straightforward, affable fellow, and the voice on the blog is the same as the voice you meet in real life. He never tried to misrepresent himself on his blog, nor try to create some over-glamorized image of his profession. He just told it like it is. And people responded well to that. As he once put it, “We’re so lucky we don’t have to create the brand out of thin air. We just tell the truth and the brand builds itself.”
7. Sovereignty. The only people we had to please were the two of us. No bosses or outside investors to keep happy. Bosses and investors like guarantees, but there aren’t any.
8. We were both broke when we started. Had we had masses of money at the beginning, we would have had a lot more options on how to get the word out. In all likelihood, these options would have been a lot more expensive and not nearly as effective. Sometimes lack of capital is a definite advantage.
A blog is a great way to build one’s own personal “global microbrand”. As the Job-For-Life no longer exists, as the value of the social “position” erodes and the value of the “project” takes its place, personal brand development becomes far more important to one’s career. Blogs are a good place to start.
Hey, if a Savile Row tailor can do it, what’s your excuse?
September 20, 2006
remembering happier times
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September 19, 2006
planet trogg
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September 18, 2006
blogging consultant
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work at starbuck’s
Last November, I launched a little open-source experiment, asking gapingvoid readers for their input in coming up with a new label and bottle design for Stormhoek [the old labels just weren’t doing the job].
We also offered a cash prize of $2000 USD for the suggestion that we found most helpful.
The feedback was terrific. About a hundred people submitted their ideas, both in the comment section and on the wiki.
We’re getting ready to go public with the results. Somebody WILL be getting the $2000.
Now, you will have seen the new cartoon labels. Sure, that’s part of the answer, but that’s not the whole answer. What ended up happening with this little experiment went far further than a mere label, but ended up re-inventing the brand from the ground up. It’s been huge.
I guess that’s why I’ve been so quiet about it over the last 10 months. The changes made possible by the open-source intervention took forever to implement.
And speaking of re-inventing: regular gapingvoid readers will know that “re-invention” is a subject very dear to my heart.
I believe the capacity to re-invent one’s life, one’s career, one’s business, one’s industry etc is not just a nice quality to have. I believe it’s an essential survival tool.
Which is why when I launched the open-source experiment, I posed the question, “Why shouldn’t a small wine company see Apple or Google as its competition?”
I think it’s wise to view companies like Apple and Google as your competition, even if you’re not in the same field.
Why does Apple continually do so well? Because every six months they introduce something that makes the world pay attention. Laptops, IPods, it doesn’t matter what it is. They deliver.
They deliver because they understand the concept of re-invention better than most. So by competiting with them, even indirectly, maybe you’ll learn something useful.
NB: That cartoon I did for DDB the other day. That was all about re-invention, as well. Somewhere along the line I figured that if Madison Avenue was to have a future, it would be all about helping their clients re-invent themselves. The actual advertising is just a by-product. Apple, of course, doesn’t need a lot of outside help re-inventing themselves. But a lot of companies do. A huge opportunity for someone.
you haven’t done your marketing
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head up
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September 17, 2006
changing the system
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
the future belongs to the geeks
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face 967
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September 15, 2006
we western europeans
Frederick Forsyth (London, Daily Express, 11/8):
“It must surely be
true that the level of lies and hypocrisy that a society can tolerate is in direct proportion to the degeneration of that culture.
Personally I am not particularly pro or anti Israel, pro or anti Arab or pro or anti Islam. But I do have a dislike of myth, hypocrisy and lies as opposed to reality, fairness and truth.
Watching the bombing of Lebanon it is impossible not to feel horror and pity for the innocent civilians killed, wounded or rendered homeless. But certain of our politicians, seeking easy populism and the cheapest round of applause in modern history, have called the Israeli response “disproportionate”. Among thee politicos are Jack Straw and that master of EU negotiations William Hague.
That accusation can only mean: “disproportionate to the aggression levelled against them”. Really? Why did the accusers not mention Serbia? What has Serbia got to do with it? Let’s refresh our memories.
stormhoek is hiring
[A new positioning idea I’m playing around with for Stormhoek etc.]
Stormhoek is looking to hire an intern. Here are the criteria. You wouldn’t need to have all of them, but the more, the merrier:
1. London-based.
2. Able to do graphic design.
3. Able to write code.
4. Able to write copy.
5. Web 2.0-savvy.
6. Marketing-savvy.
7. Blog-savvy.
If you’re looking for an interesting foot in the door, please drop me an e-mail with the word “internship” in the subject header. Thanks.
September 14, 2006
people will give us their money
[Inspired by Rick’s recent post.]
Seems the guy at Newscorp is aggrieved that so much of the blogospher’s traffic is coming from MySpace users. Yeah, that’s because some bloggers are actually writing content that MySpace users want to read. Heaven forfend!
Seems to me this all speaks volumes. Seems the guy sees his company’s MySpace users not as people, but as little mini-udders there to be milked. Nice work if yu can get it.
greetings from glasgow airport
I’m writing this from a Starbucks in Glasgow Airport, en route to London. I’ll be down there for the next couple of days.
We’ll shortly be showing the new Stormhoek labels to the retailers. Very exciting. Very nerve-wracking.
Meanwhile, we’re starting to get info back from our US distributors about where Stormhoek is available in America. Here, for instance, is where you can find Stormhoek in New Jersey. Obviously we’ll have to build some sort of “Where to find Stormhoek” widget on the Stormhoek blog eventually. Sooner rather than later etc.
Right now I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed, to say the least. Everything has been heating up for the last couple of months. Suits, wine, film, all getting busier and busier. Add the blog to the equation and that’s four “full-time” gigs. Plus Thingamy and everything else.
In five year’s time I’ll either be rich or dead.
[Note to Self:] Is it just me or would this cartoon possibly make a great wine label?
t-shirt design
I did this t-shirt design for an advertising buddy of mine in Chicago.
Let’s see what happens.
September 11, 2006
the dinosaur cartoon [high-res version]
[This is the high-res version of the dinosaur cartoon, which I originally drew for the new Craven’s website. Just click on the image to enlarge etc.]
movable type 3.3
Dear Anil,
Just a quick note to say, I’ve upgraded my blog software to Movabe Type 3.3, and it works WONDERFULLY. It has pretty much killed off my spam problem with one fell swoop.
The smartest thing is how it deletes all “junk” comments with a single click of a button. What used to be a fifteen-minute daily chore now takes a few seconds.
I heartily recommend an upgrade to 3.3 to any other MT users I know.
Kudos to you guys over at Six Apart,
Best
Hugh
a well-executed blogging campaign is an act of love
[The Cyclaire]
I made a new acquaintance today. I received a phone call from an inventor and entrepreneur named Julian Peck. He’s invented this new kind of bicycle pump, called The Cyclaire. He was referred to me by a friend-of-a-friend.
On the phone we talked about how to do a blogging campaign, in order to spread the word on the pump.
First, I suggested Julian should start his own blog. Why should anyone expect a conversation about their product if they themselves aren’t willing to join in? As I’m fond of saying, the best way to control the conversation is by improving the conversation.
Secondly, I would start reading cycling blogs and start conversations with their creators. Maybe start a marketing campaign by sending favorite bike bloggers free samples of the pump, and see what they have to say. See if this helps spread the virus. This is similar to what we did with Stormhoek, back in the early days.
The important thing to remember here, is to set as few preconditions as possible. If they want to write nice things about it, great. If not, that’s also great. And if they don’t want to write anything at all, that’s fine, too.
The trick to a blogging campaign is, of course, having a good product. A bad product will be eaten alive within hours. A good product will still get the occasional malcontent trying to take a metaphorical baseball bat to it, but if it can survive the onslaught, that can actually work in the campaign’s favor.
A well-executed blog campaign is not rocket science. It is, however, an act of love. That’s what gets in the way for some people. Love is scary stuff.
[Kudos to Euan’s ideas for inspiring the previous paragraph.]
5 years on
New York still remains the greatest city in the world. That must really bug America-haters everywhere.
[Bonus Link:] “9/11: The Birth of The Blog.”
September 10, 2006
gucci handbags
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
print update: $140!!!!
The Stormhoek-Techcrunch lithograph I mentioned yesterday is now bidding at $140.
Holy.
Smoke.
Yikes.
[UPDATE:] Bidding now at $177.50. Yowza.
we’re 34, broke…
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
[Cartoon dedicated to Gearlog.]
glasgow update
It’s been a busy last few days on the Hallam Foe front.
The picture of Jamie Bell was taken this morning on the film set. Jamie is the actor who plays Hallam. He’s best known for the lead in Billy Elliot.
Jamie flew in from America the day before yesterday to do a reshoot. Colin [who took the above photograph] writes about it here and here on the Hallam Foe blog.
Our first task is to shoot some scenes in the treehouse. As we’ve explained in the last few posts these are to enhance a section of the film that could do with a bit more emphasis. The film currently flies along at quite a pace and there is one aspect of it that could do with being brought out a bit, heightened for the audience. You’ll have to try and guess what I’m talking about when you see the movie!
I met Jamie briefly last night at a restaurant with some of the other crew members. Really nice guy. You can tell right away that all that celebrity filmstar crap hasn’t gone to his head. Good news.
I’m finding I have the same attitude about the film business as I have about the wine and suit buinesses i.e. it’s not something I ever planned on being involved with, but now that I am, I find it increasingly interesting in ways I hadn’t expected. Like anything else, the glamorous parts are actually quite dull, and the mundane parts are where the really interesting bits happen.
The one thing I have learned since watching this film project evolve from the very beginning is: Film making is REALLY hard. Seriously. Here are the hard bits:
1. Writing the script.
2. Raising the money.
3. Convincing the right actors to appear in the film.
4. Shooting the film.
5. Editing the film.
6. Finding distrubution.
7. Marketing the film i.e. convincing Middle America or whoever to part with their money, one movie ticket at a time, in sufficient numbers to see an eventual profit.
8. Probably the hardest part of all: Ensuring that none of the above goes over budget.
Trust me, each one of these parts is a bloody nightmare. You think breaking into the film business is difficult? You should try staying in it. Seriously.
This would explain why increasingly I have nothing but admiration for the folks involved with this project. I can think of A LOT of easier ways to make a living.
Right now the main emphasis of the production is geting the final bits of the shoot and the editing “in the can”. And then we proceed to the part I’m more involved with, Part # 7, the marketing, while the main production concurrently moves into postproduction: fixing the sound, visual effects etc.
This phase officially starts for me in London, on Thursday, September 28th. Just over 2 weeks away. That’s now the official date of the UK blogger’s private screening of the film. I had originally wanted it to be on the 14th, but we had to knock it back 2 weeks, for reasons to do with the editing schedule etc.
What I’ve done is I’ve invited a few of my best UK blogging buddies to come see the movie, take them out to dinner afterwards, meet some of the production crew, and hopefully start a conversation. It should be an interesting evening all round. Can one single spark start a wildfire? Of course it can, but that doesn’t mean it will. This is what makes life interesting.
Meanwhile, as this gets more and more busy for me, so does the Stormhoek project. So does English Cut. I’m living the most interesting of lives at the moment, but My Goodness, it’s gotten a bit relentless around here. I can’t decide if it’s just the times we’re living in, or just some form of extreme business modelling on my part. Probably a bit of both.
C’est le guerre.
technorati 100
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
[Link: The Technorati 100.]
September 9, 2006
big painting
[Click on image to enlarge/download/print etc. Licensing terms here etc.]
new lithograph on e-bay
Another Stormhoek-Techcrunch lithograph has made it onto E-Bay. Looks like it’s the same vendor as last time.
It’ll be interesting to see what it sells for this time round etc.
[Update:] Highest bid so far is $72. The final bid on the last one was $122.
[Note To Self:] Should I think more about getting into the art market?
[UPDATE:] Bidding’s gone up to $140.00!!!
September 8, 2006
welcome to the red zone
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i’m in heaven
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i no longer have feelings
[Another one of my new Stormhoek wine label designs; a mashup between this cartoon and this one.]
still in glasgow
A busy day at the Hallam Foe office. That’s me at the very back, at the left. That’s Dave MacKenzie at the back, in the center, wearing the beige jacket.
Last night I met friend of a friend, a musician named Alexi Murdoch. Apparently his records are doing quite well in the USA.
We spent some time talking about blogs and stuff. He was really interested in the possibilities. Interesting guy.
I like being in Glasgow, I have to say. It suits me.
mice parade
I’ve just been blown away by a track I listened to on BBC Radio 3’s “Late Junction” show [The song appears about 6 minutes into it].
The track is called “Steady As She Goes”, and it’s on this album, by a band called Mice Parade.
Wow. I am so buying the CD.
[Update:] On the same radio show, I was also blown away by a track on Sufjan Steven’s “Illinois” album, which I’ve never heard before. Mind-blowingly talented, methinks [The song appears about 36 minutes into the show].
If you click on the “Late Junction” link, I believe the radio show will remain online until 10.30pm London time tonight. Worth a listen.
created equal
[Another one of my new Stormhoek wine label designs; a re-working of this older cartoon.]