December 28, 2009
gapingvoid prints: the new marketing campaign
[Rough banner ad ideas I wrote earlier today etc.]
Things here at gapingvoid Central have been busy. In order to spread the word on our fine art prints, we’re talking to a few people about some possible advertising and affiliate marketing deals.
It’s fairly virgin territory for gapingvoid, certainly, but I’m finding it an interesting experiment so far…
So the first thing on the list was to design some new banner ads. Earlier today I messed around with a few rough ideas, pictured above.
It’s not a bad start. I’ve written a couple of dozen already, and I can see running a lot of them in all sorts of websites out there. I’m so far having a lot of fun writing them, that’s for sure. The headlines above are kinda punchy, in-your-face, quite unlike most fine art advertising you see these days, which IMHO is a good thing. Art marketing is traditionally a pretty staid affair; I’d like to ratchet it up a bit… of course I would!
So naturally I’m thinking, what else could I do to make this more interesting, both for me and the Internet-munching public?
Suddenly I get the idea, hey, wouldn’t it be cool if other folk designed and wrote some of these ads as well? A “gapingvoid-community-open-source” kinda thing. How cool would that be?!!
So I’ll tell you what. Feel free to send in any ideas you may have via my usual email below. You can use words, graphics, whatever suits you. Or if you just have an idea off the top of your head, feel free to leave a comment below.
Don’t feel you have to imitate my format or shtick above– if you have another angle, I’d love to see it. If we end up using any of them, we’ll send you a free gapingvoid “cube grenade” print of your choice and also give you a mention & some linklove on this blog. Just remember they’ll be used in conventional sized banner ad format (at least for now), so please don’t stray to far from that for the time being.
This could be A LOT of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing what y’all will come up with. Thanks! Very cool…
[UPDATE:] The very first idea to be submitted came from Melle in the comments: “gapingvoid– Classier than a velvet Elvis.” HA! Thanks, Melle!
[UPDATE:] Within an hour or two of posting this, about 20 people have mailed in ideas, plus there’s all the comments below. Wow. Thanks, Guys! Now I’ve got to figure out how to sort through it all… Heh.
[About Hugh. Cartoon Archive. “Daily Cartoon” Newsletter.]
"Hugh's Daily Cartoon" Newsletter.
A new cartoon sent out every weekday morning to your inbox [RSS version here.].
A wee chuckle to start your day off right etc.
gapingvoid art — classier than a velvet Elvis.
“Because you still haven’t replaced last year’s calendar”
“When your own mother tells you you’re boring, it’s time for gapingvoid.”
Surrounded by idiots all day? That must suck. Maybe these will help.”
This is kind of fun.
“Surrounded by idiots all day? That must suck.”
Oooh.… I like that. There’s something in that, most def. Thanks, Tyler!
gapingvoid art prints: if Hunter S. Thompson and Scott Adams had a brain baby together.
1. Stay out of the rain– manure stinks when it gets wet.
2. Not to the right, Not to the Left, Dead on the brown spot — Kiss It!
3. Caution — dumbass hillbilly neighbors can read blogs too!!
4. Ever pee on an electric fence — try it sometime — for the thrill of it.
5. 10 million lawyer jokes and they’re still funny as shit.
6. If my exes lived in Texas it would ruin the states good name!
Artists: Waiting for the hand of God?
Not a good plan.
Fancy, irreverent scribbles, treading a fine line between ‘NSFW’ and ‘essential’
“If you’re not totally fucking amazing, don’t bother clicking.”
“You’re not fooling anyone with that post-ironic art, you know”
Kids giving you the shits?
Follow the advice on your pills:
“Keep away from children“
& then check out some gapingvoid art
The dog shit in the backyard is slowly being carried away by flies — if you spend enough time looking at gapingvoid art you won’t have to clean it up …
gapingvoid art: the gift of hallelujah
“Mama said there’d be days like this — gapingvoid makes sure I don’t forget”
“Cube Grenades: Hugh made me do it”
GapingVoid.
The kind of art you deserve to gaze upon when you are shagging in a motel…
Art~make it, buy it, hang it, enjoy it~to help fill the gaping void
GapingVoid.com is like fucking bleach for the soul!
gapingvoid
i want to wear you
put you on
get into you
like a warm sweater
by an open window
in february rain
where icy wind whistles
through naked trees
but you’re all over me
“We used to wish upon a star,
now its probably a damn satelite”
“When live gets comfortable Watch Out”
“I got one nerve left and its stretched to the max– be afraid”
“When God handed out Mouth, some people thought he said Money, and got inline twice.”
The youth of today will be looking after yous someday– scary huh?
How bad do I want a gapvoid print “Pretty Damn Bad”!
“When I imagine Hazel Dooney really old my mind quits working”
Looked up gapingvoid in dictionary and it said
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
See that space above? It’s a gaping void. Fill it with something better.
“gapingvoid prints: For when the world bends you over and f*cks you sideways.”
“gapingvoid art: It’s like sex, only more intense, and more passionate.”
“If I was a person, I’d scream in your face, in an echo of silence. gapingvoid art.”
OMG Turning into a Twitter Whore
Smart Ass One liners are Treasures savor them with wine.
Never wink at a bull, he may get the wrong idea.
“does not have to be this way. But you made the choice”
in reference to Tiger Woods woman he had an affair with
‘oh… didn’t realize you meant “that kinda ugly”
but this obviously has a lot of lateral meanings too… screenwriter friend loved the quote.
Wow. 23 comments already. Intense. Thanks, Guys!
What does an artist have to do to get famous — paint great & die!
Vegas odds on Gapingvoid today 100,000 to 1 ( put in any #‘s you want.
If we could make a wrong right the Indians would own several states!
Pray theres another Ronald Reagan out there somewhere waiting in the wings.
Email me — I want to work for you. One line smart ass remarks is my lifes blood or so I’ve been told by everbody I ever worked with.
Want to be able to send them to you when they pop in my head.
Venn diagram
x-art
y-great art
z-great fucking art
*Z=gapingvoid
or
Let’s get it on…your wall.
–gapingvoid art
or
Cubicle survival 101…gapingvoid prints
My life with his words… gapingvoid art
“I ate the shit but I never died, asshole.”
“Art for those who ate the shit but didn’t die, asshole.” (etc)
“I got lost in the art right before I found myself in the zone.”
“Yeah, I never thought I’d ever buy art, either.”
“Step 1: buy art. Step 2: get girl. In that order.”
Tacky inspirational art prints. Vote No.
Pithy Gaping Void inspiration. Vote Yes.
Cool, but I’ve been trying to buy a print for five days now and I still can’t hand over my money. I know it’s the holidays and all, but I’m working and want to hand over my money, why won’t anyone let me?
Gapingvoid art:
Too pithy for words…
or is it too wordy for pith?
Enslaved by gadgets? Put 1 of these on your wall. Gaze often.
Ignore your screens! Pay attention to your walls!
It’s not that Art is Humor, it’s that my Humor is Art
Art for Geeks
I’ve made all this money in Google stock, now what do I do with it?
Pictures you could draw, but with my sense of humor.
Serious Art that’s Funny and For Sale
Why not add art collector to your resume?
Classy art? I’ve graduated.
I could handle it all, if everything were different.
Gapingvoid Art: Just like pornography, you’ll know it when you see it.
Gapingvoid Art: It gets the creative juices flowing, with a splash of vodka.
Art: it’s in the eye of the beholder. Click here if your vision sucks.
Thanks that was fun!
See it. Say it. Live it. Gapingvoid
I toyed with embrace it, but it was overreaching
Gapingvoid art. Seeing it on the net is like looking at a picture of a steak. Having a real print will satisfy that hunger.
Trying again…
Finally. The social object you can hang on your wall: GapingVoid art.
Want to know if she’s “the one?” Ask her to name her favorite GapingVoid print.
“100% Saccharine-Free Inspiration!”
“Art Without Bullshit”
“Gaping Void Art: You know those motivational posters they put up in the breakroom of that crappy job you never liked? Yeah, these are nothing like those.”
Gapingvoid
“Already missed the starting gun? Time to run your own race.”
“They don’t have to agree with you for you to be free.”
“Listen closely to the inside and you can still hear it.”
“Stop wasting time and do it now.”
Gapingvoid
Seriously, where *exactly* did it go wrong?
A series:
Here it’s just a pretty picture. Once acquired, it becomes art.
Art for sale is not nearly so valuable as art that is owned.
It’s like an animal shelter for ideas. The Gapingvoid Gallery. Adopt your favorite.
It’s not art until somebody loves it.
i like mike’s above the best —
“Step 1: buy art. Step 2: get girl. In that order.”
but for world wide marketing i would change it to:
“Step 1: buy art. Step 2: get lucky. In that order.”
wow — cool process!!
No amount of duct tape can fix a broken heart!
Being mediocre at everything Sucks.
it’s time to stop caring and start living
not as good as sex, but more accessible
{cynical,jaded} vs. wise, eye of the beholder
do not doubt this mantra: question everything
yes, i moved to alpine, tx.
not your average self help
Obviously, the font here sucks for this, but why not a drawing with a single stylized word that explains what you offer?
cARToons
1) Art. It will mess with your head
Inspiration Inside
2) Don’t click here
3) Art that doesn’t suck
4) Nerds Only
5) Geeks Only
6) Your Art Sucks
7) Lonely? Get Art
9) Art Inside [looking like the INTEL logo of course]
gaping art: laxative for the brain
gapingvoid: open mind surgery
gapingvoid: lose your illusion
gapingvoid: art for the disillusioned
gapingvoid: evolution you can see
gaping void — art that smacks you upside the head
Get a cube grenade — blow up the status quo
GapingVoid Art:
Just Buy It!
[IMAGE] of an art gallery wall — lot’s of pictures of classics, Rembrants, Van Gough’s, The Mona Lisa, etc etc, in the middle is a large frame that’s empty except for a large question mark done in Hugh’s type style.
The tag line would read…
“Is there a GapingVoid in your life?”
Job done!
Jon…
Because you can’t lean a guy with no arms and no legs against your wall.
Good art is like a colonic – it makes you uncomfortable at first but as it cuts through all the crap, it leaves you with a smile.
Because everyone needs a good hang.
Eye candy that doesn’t talk back.
gapingvoid prints are like orgasms; you want multiple.
Inspiration be hanged.
Art so social, it will shake your hand.
Cartoons for the connected.
Ignore these prints.
For something to believe in.
Social art for the masses.
It’s what you were thinking!
Art 2.0
Being different is not the problem. Being the same is.
art that makes you really wish there was a red pill.
How about … Stop shrieking reason at me because I’m not going to listen anyway.
Or, Maybe…If you can’t take it, then fuck off.
Goood luck, Hugh!! You have some interesting and brilliant fans. I enjoy reading their comments!!
like motivational posters for the creative mind.
Sorting through the entries: maybe you can have a vote of from your ‘fans’? There’s a couple here in the comments that I would vote for.