Archive for the ‘Cube Grenades’ Category
May 6, 2012
10 Comments
Over the weekend, gapingvoid.com turned eleven years old.
I won’t dwell on it too much, other than to say,
1. Yes, it has been an amazing trip,
2. Thank you very much for all the love over the years and,
3. Looking back, I consider “Personal Faves” (2001) to be the best thing on it that I ever wrote. Written as I was setting the blog up, it set the tone for what came after– “How To Creative”, “The Hughtrain”, “Evil Plans”, “Freedom Is Blogging”, then the actual gapingvoid business itself, the “cube grenades” and the great team of people I work with etc– it all came from that. And I honestly, honestly doubt that I would had come this far without it:
When I first lived in Manhattan in December, 1997 I got into the habit of doodling on the back of business cards, just to give me something to do while sitting at the bar. The format stuck.
All I had when I first got to Manhattan were 2 suitcases, a couple of cardboard boxes full of stuff, a reservation at the YMCA, and a 10-day freelance copywriting gig at a Midtown advertising agency.
My life for the next couple of weeks was going to work, walking around the city, and staggering back to the YMCA once the bars closed. Lots of alcohol and coffee shops. Lot of weird people. Being hit five times a day by this strange desire to laugh, sing and cry simultaneously. At times like these, there’s a lot to be said for an art form that fits easily inside your coat pocket.
[…]
An artist is quite a f*****-up thing to be, and to be honest I’m not sure if I would recommend it to anybody. Still, in my collection there are a couple of examples that, in some sick and twisted way, make the whole thing seem worthwhile. For the first five minutes, at least…
Anyway, for those who hadn’t seen it before, I thought it was worth sharing [Here’s the link again]. Again, thanks for all the love, and Godbless. Now I have some more cartoons to draw. Rock on.
November 16, 2011
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[The latest Cube Grenade we did for The Financer, the London-based blog and social club. Backstory here…]
September 21, 2011
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This was fun: Last week we all attended TEDx Miami. It was held at the shiny new Frank Ghery designed, New World Symphony building, just behind Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. The TED folks were kind enough to invite us along to display the Dewar’s drawings I did at TED Global in Edinburgh, back in July. These were original drawings that I did in marker. The images were presented in clean white frames to fit the venue.
I was a little anxious going into the event because I couldn’t be certain whether what resonated with a largely non-American crowd in Edinburgh, would also work in Miami. Miami is, well, at totally different place. The good news is that the work was well received, and our sponsors, Dewars, were happy. We are told that the work is now going to be installed in the new Bacardi HQ in Coral Gables.
After the talks, people were offered cocktails made of Dewars, Grey Goose or wine. As I looked around, I was surprised to see how many women were drinking scotch. That, and a conversation with our friend, Maria at the event reminded me of her comments when we posted about the scotch market a few weeks back. The surprising news from that post and subsequent exchange was that chicks love scotch. Note to Dewars: Instead of trying to get the guys to switch from another brand, it might be easier to grow your market by appealing to women. Just a thought. Rock on!
May 18, 2011
2 Comments
[I added the following to the “About” page. Thought it would be useful to clarify what it is exactly gapingvoid does for a living. Hope it helps etc.]
“Social Media happens around Social Objects, not the other way around.”
At the core of any social media campaign, there are Social Objects.
Social Objects are the Alpha and Omega of Social Media. Without the former, THERE IS NO LATTER, end of story.
So that’s what gapingvoid does. We make Social Objects; that’s what the cartoons are, that’s what “Cube Grenades” are.
We make social objects, big and small. For businesses, brands and individuals.
Check out the Cube Grenade page. We’ve made social objects for large companies like Microsoft, Rackspace and Purina; we’ve made them for small startups and individuals.
I went on record years ago, saying, “Social Objects are the future of marketing.” With the Internet, time has proved me right.
My business partner, Jason Korman and I are experts at this stuff. Feel free to email us anytime at gapingvoid@gmail.com, Thanks.
May 3, 2011
4 Comments
April 5, 2011
1 Comment
[Download the printable version here etc.]
Another Rackspace-sponsored cartoon…
I like this cartoon. It’s something that Scoble would would say.
Scoble works for Rackspace, too. Do the math.
[Commission your own cartoon here…]
1 Comment
[Download the printable version here…]
Hola. Yes, another Rackspace-sponsored cartoon…
Like I said on Twitter earlier today, yes, you can work for a large company and not be a #slavebot. But you have to decide, before somebody decides for you.
Rackspace doesn’t want #slavebots working for them. Hell, Rackspace doesn’t even want #slavebots working for their customers, ideally.
#Slavebots are bad. Don’t be one. Best avoid them like the plague, both at work and at play. Exactly.
[Commission your own cartoon here…]
2 Comments
[Download the printable version here…]
Another Rackspace-sponsored cartoon, this time for 37signals, the amazing software company.
The idea comes from a core value taken right off the latter’s homepage. They use a lot of blue and green in their graphic design, so I went with something blue-greeny.
The little “Love from Rackspace” symbol is right there in the bottom left-hand corner. A little secret hallmark, as it were…
Love it. Rock on.
[Commission your own cartoon etc…]
3 Comments
[Download the printable version here etc.]
There ya go. On behalf of my client, Rackspace, a free “Cube Grenade” for y’all to download and print out and hang on your wall etc.
A Social Object. Exactly.
It’s not rocket science. It’s common sense. Less theory, more action. Less talk, more doing. That’s what it means to have a startup. Part of the Rackspace “We Love Startups” riff. Exactly.
[More Rackspace cartoons here…]
April 3, 2011
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Jeff Sandquist, Robert Scoble’s old boss at Microsoft’s Channel Nine, commissioned me to design this business card for him.
He wanted a design that worked for both techies and non-techies alike. Something that made him appear both good at his job, but still a human being etc.
Fun! Thanks, Jeff!
[Commission your own Cube Grenade here…]
March 7, 2011
2 Comments
I just drew this wee cartoon for one of my favorite brands, Laughing Squid.
Laughing Squid aka my good friend, Scott Beale, GETS it. Really, really gets it. Very few brands seem to be able to truly understand both the Art and the Internet so well. The only other guys I know who come close are Boing Boing.
I think it’s so cool that when Scott talks to people at parties, he’ll often talk to somebody who LOVES Laughing Squid, KNOWS Laughing Squid well, but still has no idea that web hosting is what Laughing Squid actually does for a living.
To be so great, you don’t evern need to tell people about it in order for it to work.
That is rare. That is a gift. That is THE gift. To be able to do that. That is what inspired the cartoon. Yes, exactly.
But that’s not the only reason I’m writing this. Full Disclosure: My client, Rackspace, recently commissioned me to draw a “Cube Grenade” cartoon for one of their favorite customers. A “social gesture” from them to say thanks, as it were. They gave me a shortlist, Scott’s name was on top. I was delighted to find him there.
Secondly, Laughing Squid is also one of Rackspace’s oldest customers. We’re talking REALLY early days. That isn’t common knowledge, I only just found out. But I was delighted to learn that; I really was.
So thanks to Scott, Laughing Squid, Rackspace and everybody else who “gets it”, who truly knows and truly feels the love.
Yes, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Godbless.
[Check out the other Rackspace cartoons here etc. Check out the Cube Grenade homepage here etc etc.]
February 9, 2011
12 Comments
[The Cube Grenade I did for Shit Creek Consulting etc.]
Traditional advertising doesn’t work very well.
Sure, it tries, and tries hard, but most of the time, it fails.
It fails far worse now than it ever did during the golden era of TV or print. Those days are gone. We live in The Internet Era now.
Old, traditional advertising was all about creating messages for the media, not about creating social objects for the people using the media.
“Social Objects” is what makes the Internet work, what makes the Internet possible.
Without the social objects, there would simply be no World Wide Web.
Social objects are part of the Web’s very DNA.
In The Internet Era, an ad that isn’t first and foremost a social object, is useless waste of money. Even if we’re not talking about the Internet, per se.
Which is why I invented Cube Grenades: social objects in cartoon form, designed to star real conversations between people.
To me, Cube Grenades aren’t just about cartoons. Cube Grenades are about something far more important- they’re about doing something that creates real change between people, that creates something that actually matters to people.
Social Objects: I use cartoons. What do you use? Serious question.
December 28, 2010
6 Comments
Another new cartoon for the Rackspace series.…
Basically, I took the old “George” idea and re-jigged it, adding the trademark Rackspace red & black.
And hey, it worked.
I see this cartoon going in the slide deck of Rackspace’s recruiters.
We’re not a ‘normal’ company etc. It’s OK not to be ‘normal’ etc. ‘Normal’ is boring etc.
It’s easy for a small company to have a distinct personality. Much harder when the company has grown a lot, like Rackspace has done in the last few years.
Much harder to NOT be normal…
[Commission your own cartoon from gapingvoid etc.]
December 1, 2010
3 Comments
A “cube grenade” commission I just completed for Thoughtworks, the global IT consulting company.
Thoughtworks has this term, “Watermelon”, to describe a project that goes terribly wrong, that looks all well and good on the outside (green), but as the project comes to an end, turns out to be a huge ol’ expensive mess on the inside (red). I just took the idea and ran with it.
We’re going to turn this design into a 100 large framed prints, as Christmas presents for their clients. A fun little “conversation starter” to hang on their walls… which of course, is what the the whole cube grenade idea is all about. “Art With Purpose” etc.
Fun!
[Commission your own cube grenade here etc.]
November 25, 2010
7 Comments
[One of the cube grenades I did for Rackspace etc.]
Here’s something to think about this Thanksgiving:
A year and a half ago I coined the term, “Cube Grenade”, and since then, we’ve tried to build a business around it.
Art that you hang in your cubicle, in order to affect change, in order to start a conversation. Art that you “toss” into the work/corporate environment, that hopefully causes a small “explosion”. Hence the term, Cube Grenade.
“Art with purpose. Work with purpose”.
Exactly.
Thanks to the Internet, the nature of work is changing in so many amazing ways, and we’re all so damn lucky to be caught right in the middle of it.
As a cartoonist, my work is totally inspired and informed by this– this is exactly why the work took the direction it did.
And your work, whatever it may be, should also be affected in the same way. I can’t think of a better time to be alive; I really can’t.
So besides friends and family, what better reason is there to celebrate Thanksgiving? Seriously…
November 18, 2010
5 Comments
[download the printable version here etc.]
This is the latest cube grenade I just did for Rackspace.
It’s one of my favorites I’ve done so far. [More Rackspace work is here.]
I hope you like it, but it’s OK if you don’t. Here’s why I’m partial:
- I like the elegance of the drawing.
- I like the way it’s talking about something specific to the business (i.e. the cloud), not just some vague, “Go Team!” cultural platitude.
- I like the direct honesty of it. “We live or die by the cloud” etc. is basically the God’s honest truth; it doesn’t matter if one agrees with it or not. That IS Rackspace’s business strategy, in black and white.
- It just works. Straight and to the point. It does everything a good cartoon ought to do.
I am enjoying my gig with Rackspace. Even if it’s still early days, they’re letting me play around with a new, HUGE idea. Yes, I am stoked.
November 10, 2010
10 Comments
So this is my latest #EvilPlan for my client, HNI Insurance.
I drew the cartoon above.
What I’m going to do is recommend to the CEO, Mike Natalizio to get it made up into a stack of signed, limited edition prints. Say, 30 or 50 of them.
Then get them framed.
Then send them off as gifts to the the 30 or 50 most influential people in the trucking business. As a conversation starter.
“Let’s talk about the issues, People.”
The trucking business is full of messy issues [e.g. people dying in road accidents every day, which HNI is in the front line of], so why not address them more openly, more forthrightly?
Like it says in “Tribes”, by Seth Godin, the way to succeed is to be a leader.
HNI hired gapingvoid because they wanted to be more successful.
And I’m saying right back, OK, if you want to be more successful, you have to take a leadership position on something that matters.
Which means having a “smarter conversation”.
And these prints would be their opening salvo.
None of this is rocket science, all that’s required is that a decision be made.
A decision to be a leader. A decision to have a smarter conversation.
Not rocket science.
Easy.
[PS: We’ll see what Mike says. At time of posting this, Mike hasn’t seen the cartoon yet. I’m surprising him! Heh.]
[The Smarter Conversation archive is here.]
November 7, 2010
3 Comments
I just did this cube grenade for Fizz, the well-known Word-Of-Mouth marketing agency [They did all that ground-breaking stuff for Pabst Blue Ribbon etc.].
This idea is so simple… do I really have to explain it? Exactly.
[Commission your own cube grenade here etc.]
1 Comment
[download the printable version here etc.]
Another cube grenade I just did for my client, Rackspace.
They were a small company not that long ago. They no longer are. Figure it out.
[Rackspace cartoon archive.]
November 5, 2010
1 Comment
The latest cartoon. The latest campaign from gapingvoid.
hackthephonecompany.com
AT&T’s monopoly was broken apart in 1984, when the company was split into seven parts.
But for iPhone users, AT&T is pretty much a monopoly again, with their exclusive deal with Apple.
AT&T, Verizon, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodaphone, it really doesn’t matter. They’re generally expensive, they’re restrictive, often the service sucks, so you’re always trying to bypass what they have on offer– trying to hack your way around it.
Line2 with their VoIP service, is trying to do the same.
We all are.
Click on the link (or click here) and see what we’ve done. There’s just a fun cartoon right now–
It’s a start. We’re hoping to make this the start of something bigger. Much bigger. We want to “hack” the phone company. So do you. So does everybody else.
[PS: Here’s a link to what NYT Tech writer, David Pogue, has to say about Line2.]
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A cube grenade I just did for our ciient, HNI Insurance.
A lot of HNI’s trucking clients operate with profit margins of around 2%. Ouch.
I like the cartoon just because it’s brutally in-your-face and to the point. No messing around.
Of course, the easiest way for their clients to increase their margin, is to lower their risk. Which is where HNI comes in. Ker-chiing.
[More HNI cartoons here etc.]
October 27, 2010
1 Comment
[Download the printable version here.]
I did this print a few months back– I thought the sentiment would also make a good cube grenade for our client, Rackspace. Et Voila…
[Bonus link] From Euan Semple, 2006:
Maybe love does have a place in business after all. Maybe more and more of us will start to have the courage to begin to talk about what really matters to us about work and our relationships with each other and to push back the sterile language of business that we have been trained to accept. Maybe we will realise that accepting love into the workplace reminds us of the original purpose of work – not to maximise shareholder value but to come together to do good things, to help each other and hopefully to make the world a better place.
Maybe …. Oh and by the way if the above is too new age and namby pamby for you I reckon social computing is capable of talking 25% out of the running costs of most businesses – so there!
[@euan]
October 3, 2010
12 Comments
[Last Friday I was signing prints– 175 of these puppies. SAP, the large, German enterprise tech company put in a very large order, to give out to certain key people within the organization. Trying to have a Smarter Conversation. Exactly.]
“Don’t be the best in the world at what you do; be the only one in the world who does what you do.”
That quote is me paraphrasing Jerry Garcia, lead guitar of The Grateful Dead. The thought always resonated with me.
If people like what you’re doing, and you’re the only one who’s doing it, you win.
Which is why I like doing Cube Grenades. Compared to what most people are selling out there, they’re fairly unique.
It’s also what makes blogs so powerful a marketing device. People can just see your own unique shtick evolving right there on the page, over time. They’ll either get it eventually or they won’t. No sales pitch needed. No need to compare yourself to somebody else. No need to fit into some pre-existing model, if you don’t want to.
It has never been a better time to be unlike anyone else. I hope you’re already taking full advantage…
[UPDATE:] Oops! Andy in the comments corrected me: “The paraphrased quote needs to be correctly attributed. Rock promoter Bill Graham said of the Grateful Dead said of the Grateful Dead, “They’re not the best at what they do, they’re the only ones that do what they do.” So there ya go. Peace Out.
September 28, 2010
5 Comments
[NB: This post was written by my business partner, Jason Korman. Expect to hear more of him round here in future etc. –Hugh]
Back in the Spring, we were approached by Troy Janisch, Digital Marketing Manager at American Family Insurance about creating a Cube Grenade that encouraged their 8,000+ employees to participate in their social media program.
Troy said that they wanted their 3,800+ agents to build stronger ties with their communities and also engage other employees who the company want to have a voice and share in the new vision for the business.
AmFam has a very particular market: Local communities in eighteen states in the West and Midwest, selling home and life policies to middle income families. For their local insurance agents, community is everything and the stronger their ties, the better their business– it’s that simple.
With this in mind, the goal was to have 50% of all agents online, using at least Facebook, but hopefully some other tools by year’s end.
If you think about it, its hard to imagine a more elegant use of tools like Facebook for building business.
On our side, Hugh’s goal was to create a ‘conversation starter’ – something that would, on the face of it, explain to the digitally uninitiated (a) why they should make developing online connections, a top priority, and b) remind the reps what building THEIR business is really all about. The solution ultimately was two drawings: “Business is Connectivity” above, and “We’re not in the insurance business, We’re in the Connection Business”, below.
A few weeks ago, I checked back in with Troy to see how things were going. For Troy, he wanted to nudge along a Smarter Conversation on a number of fronts and had a plan that not only called for the organic spread of the Cube Grenades through the business, but also, one that was an overt, front and center challenge to the culture of the business. As Troy said, his goal was to ‘Nudge the culture Forward’ i.e. “To Change the culture from Sales Orientation to one of Customer Orientation,”
After commissioning the Cube Grenade, AmFam, put up an exhibit of about a dozen of Hugh’s more inspiring works. They included: Intoxicated, X,Y,Z and the clean version of “Quality”. The exhibition was put up in a “bold location” in their headquarters in Madison, where it would be seen by all the employees over the period it was up.
While the spread of the Cube Grenades is happening. People are printing them out, and putting them on their email signatures, the art exhibition really got people’s attention, and not in the way that was originally planned.
A lot of attention was focused on the “Quality” image, one of Hugh’s most popular cartoons, and one that was redrawn in a Safe for Work mode for software giant, SAP, earlier this year. It seems that in Madison, Wisconsin, “Fricking”, is not yet quite Safe for Work, so it provoked a lot of ‘discussion’ about the appropriateness of the piece. However, this was the opening that Troy wanted. He turned the conversation into what the idea of “Frickin’ Amazing” means to a company like American Family, and ultimately, he had is objective in the crosshairs: “Customer Service”.
As Troy says “ Nobody starts the day thinking that they will give bad customer service, but it’s the culture that makes the difference as to whether it gets delivered,” he continued, “Everyone says that they have Customer Service, and many do, but Customer Service is not simply top down, it is how everyone actually acts, as opposed to aspires to act.”
And therein lied the rub, and the notion of having a “Smarter Conversation” internally about Customer Service, what’s wrong with it, and how to make it “Totally Frickin’ Amaxing”, and more importantly, how do you create a culture that supports people taking the risks necessary to deliver ‘Totally Fricking Amazing Service”. Creating that internal dialogue is not something that happens by itself, but if the goal is to nudge along the culture of an 8,000 person business, disruption is the order of the day.
We’ll be checking back in with Troy to see how things are progressing. But as Troy says, “The Connectivity Cube Grenade is about reminding people at HQ that the business is out in small communities, which is the heart of their business’ and whether the folks are on the front line, or in the call center in Madison, every voice is part of the brand, and everyone makes a difference.”
September 17, 2010
3 Comments
Late last year, Mike Natalizio, President & CEO of HNI (a medium sized insurance brokerage out of the Midwest) commissioned me to draw some “Cube Grenade” cartoons for the company.
It was a nice wee cartoon project; it went well.
We kept on talking, after that… we’ve been helping them with what a Smarter Conversation might mean for their business.
HNI’s corporate tagline is “Change The Game”.
The insurance business is generally known as a fairly staid affair– it’s relatively conservative game– no surprises there.
“Change The Game”. I like the premise, it gets me thinking:
- What part of the game does it want to change?
- What can it actually change?
- What needs to be changed, anyway?
And at what cost, personal or otherwise?
What needs to happen?
Let’s find out…
2 Comments
Ross over at Zerocelsius Wealth Studio commissioned this one from me.
Ross’ goal with all his clients is to get them to that point where “They just know”.
Where they’re at. Where they need to be. Where they have to go first in order to get there.
And when they finally reach that point mentally, they tend to experience a feeling of what I call “Calm Catharsis”. I wanted to capture that in the drawing; I think I succeeded.
Thanks, Ross, for the great gig. It was a fun!
[Commission your own Cube Grenade.]
[The Cube Grenade archive is here.]
August 5, 2010
4 Comments
[Originally posted Sept., 2004]
There are a lot of great marketing books and blogs out there. That being said, I still think the best marketing stories come from personal, first-hand experience.
Here’s a favorite one of mine:
Back when I lived in New York there was this fabulous, crazy-ass juice bar on West Houston called Lucky’s Juice Joint. I think it’s no longer there. I hear it’s moved.
It was the most out-of-place business south of 14th Street. Hard to descibe, except as a “hardcore hippie haven”. Just had this weird, crazy, psychedelic-rainforest vibe. But damn, it had the best juice in town. It was amazing stuff. Tasted like the fruits and vegetables were picked that morning. Fresher than anything else I found in New York. And yes, I had searched high and low for even better alternatives, but never found one. In New York, this was really it.
The boss was this crazy looking tie-dye wearing guy who looked and talked like he had done too many drugs back in the ’sixties. A big ol’ middle aged, acid-head teddy bear. One day we struck up a brief conversation. I complimented the hell out of his product. “Wow,” I quietly gushed, “Your stuff is the best. It really is…”
“Sure it is,” said the guy. “That’s because we make it with reverence.”
You don’t have to get a job with a famous company or hot-shot industry in order to have a spectacular career. You just have to do what you do with reverence.
August 3, 2010
3 Comments
[Recently I completed one of my most ambitious pieces in a while– a private commission from Tara, for her boyfriend, Remi’s birthday. Go here to check out all the photos and the complete backstory.]
Though I haven’t talked about it too much on the blog, yes, I do private commissions. Feel free to contact me at gapingvoid@gmail.com if you want to discuss further, Thanks.
August 2, 2010
7 Comments
[“Die Trying”, which I sent out in the newsletter recently etc.]
Blessed is She who gets to say, “I’m going to make this damn thing work, or die trying”.
And ACTUALLY means it.
I get that feeling from a lot of the Cube Grenade competition people. Feels good to know that I’m not alone, that I’m not the only crazy person out there.
P.S. Today was MEANT to be the final day to submit an idea, but I’m extending it for another week, till next Monday, 9th August. The reason being that I’ve been traveling so much the last couple of weeks, I’ve not had time to tend to it properly. So I’m giving myself some slack.
Re. Recent submissions. Here are a couple that made me smile. Hard.
1. Noah Fleming and his wife are expecting. So instead of wanting a Cube Grenade for his business or whatever, he wants one for all the unborn children of the world. Wow. Hard to argue with that sentiment.
2. Somebody nominated his wife, unfazed by the possibility that this might be against the rules [it’s not, as it happens]. “She’s now working hard to blaze her own path with an artisan pecan candy she calls Blazin Brittle, a spicey brittle she thinks perfect for the Texas tongue.” Folksy traditional Texas treats are very dear to my heart [Beef jerky, Anyone?],so that resonated with me. Of course it did.
3. Race Face gets the the Upscale Bicycle Geekery Award. Hurrah!
So what do these three ideas [and the others] all have in common?
That’s right. They all have a VERY strong “Purpose-Idea”. To quote Mark Earls for the second time today:
Put really simply, the Purpose-Idea is the “What For?” of a business, or any kind of community. What exists to change (or protect) in the world, why employees get out of bed in the morning, what difference the business seeks to make on behalf of customers and employees and everyone else? BTW this is not “mission, vision, values” territory – it’s about real drives, passions and beliefs. The stuff that men in suits tend to get embarrassed about because it’s personal. But it’s the stuff that makes the difference between success and failure, because this kind of stuff brings folk together in all aspects of human life.
WHY we do something is ALWAYS a more interesting question than WHAT we do.
i.e. “Meaning Scales”. That’s what Cube Grenades is all about. And I intend to get that point across to the world, even if it kills me.
I can think of worse ways to “Die Trying”. You?
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[“Wings”, which I sent out in the newsletter recently etc.]
It was when I first stumbled up Mark Earls’ “Purpose-Idea” back in 2004 that I realized, that after more than decade in the business, I REALLY didn’t want to be in advertising anymore.
Besides the usual reasons– yes, it REALLY IS that stressed out, neurotic and empty– I thought there must be some way I could create more value for clients, more quickly, cheaply and hassle-free.
So after a few years of looking around, I created the Cube Grenade concept. “Art as Social Object as Purpose-Idea” etc.
I liked the idea because it was cheap, easy and disruptive. As opposed to expensive, complicated and calcifying [which is what most advertising is].
No Comments
It’s been over six years since I first stumbled upon Mark Earls’ “Purpose-Idea”:
Put really simply, the Purpose-Idea is the “What For?” of a business, or any kind of community. What exists to change (or protect) in the world, why employees get out of bed in the morning, what difference the business seeks to make on behalf of customers and employees and everyone else? BTW this is not “mission, vision, values” territory – it’s about real drives, passions and beliefs. The stuff that men in suits tend to get embarrassed about because it’s personal. But it’s the stuff that makes the difference between success and failure, because this kind of stuff brings folk together in all aspects of human life.
Like the print says, “Love is all we have. Or ever wanted.” To separate that from your work [“It’s just a paycheck” etc.] is more than a shame, it’s almost criminal.
The Purpose-Idea is more than just a clever branding exercise. It’s a useful metal device where, if you can get it right, Love and Work can be unified, either on an individual or collective level.
And why not try to unify them? Life is short.
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Last week I was in Silicon Valley for the annual Techcrunch Party. As usual (this is my fifth year in a row doing it) I designed the commemorative poster for them, which I hand-signed at the event. I thought my “delusional” motif would be perfect for it.
I also attended the CrunchUp conference earlier that day. You can go read all about both events on Techcrunch here.
Congrats and Thanks to Mike, Heather and the whole Techcrunch team for putting on a great show!
[P.S. I’ve already added this design to the Cube Grenade main page…]
July 22, 2010
2 Comments
A wee “cube grenade” commission I recently did for crashcourse.ca, an education resource. Yes, I wrote the headline. Go see.
[Commission your own Cube Grenade drawing.]
July 15, 2010
3 Comments
[A little Blue Monster “cube grenade” I designed for my old buddy over at Microsoft, Steve Clayton.]
As I’ve said many times before, the best thing about being a blogger is the people you get to meet.
Case in Point: White Box Edibles nominated themselves for the Cube Grenade competition I’ve currently got going on.
“A medical marijuana edibles company in sunny Boulder, Colorado”?
Whatever your views on marijuana (I’ve always been fairly indifferent to it), I kinda dig the sheer chutzpah of the enterprise, don’t you?
Or this one:
Little shop of happiness
This could make a movie.
Hungary, 2006. A retired teacher of French and Italian (Diane Keaton) and a retired ear-nose-and-throat specialist (Meryl Streep) open a pastry shop. They can’t afford the rent anywhere in the city, so they open it in a small town (Solymár), beside the highway.
It’s not your typical pastry shop, however…
People quit their jobs to start like crazy-ass businesses like these every day. Why? Sure, they want the independence and the feeling of control over their own destinies and all that, but…
I believe one of the biggest drives is:
They want to be able to tell a good story.
We all want to hear a good story about the world, that we can buy into. And we also want to create equally good stories of our own to tell. This capacity to create, absorb and share metaphors is what separates us from all the other animals.
And if we can’t do that; if we don’t have these stories that we can believe in [our own AND other people’s] something inside us starts feeling like it’s dying…
And dying, as you know, is no way to live.
[Submit your own cube grenade story here etc.]
July 2, 2010
6 Comments
This is one of two prints I designed for Andy Sernovitz’s Supergenius conference in New York, July 20th, 2010. I’ll be speaking there, along with a lot of other authors.
The headline is one of Andy’s two most famous Word-Of-Mouth mantras. As he says,
Advertising is the cost of being boring.
If people won’t talk about you for free, you have to pay them to do it.
There is a direct relationship between being buzzworthy — earning word of mouth — and how much you’ll have to pay to promote yourself through paid marketing.
Give people a reason to talk about you for free, or you’ll have to buy advertising to get the message out.
It’s easier, more fun, more rewarding, and more profitable to focus on being remarkable and earning the type of fans and followers who will promote you, for free, forever.
These big ideas should be taped to your computer monitor, stuck in your wallet, and hung in your conference room.
Thanks to Andy for a great commission– looking forward to being in New York again!
[Hugh’s Commission page is here.]
June 10, 2010
17 Comments
[The Cube Grenade for Shit Creek Consulting ]
[UPDATE: We’ve changed the rules. You have to nominate a friend– you can’t nominate yourself. Details here.]
gapingvoid is giving away a free commissioned Cube Grenade to the business or organization with the most interesting idea.
I draw Cube Grenades for a living.
They’re quite expensive. Several thousand dollars a pop, sometimes ten grand or more.
Not everybody can afford one. Cash is tight. That being said, every month I get dozens of requests from start-ups, small businesses, and non-profits for commissions, asking for free or nearly free work.
Occasionally I’ll do a pro-bono one for the right cause, or a good friend, or because I just love what a business is doing, but 99% of the time, I just have to say no.
The truth is, there are a huge number of really cool start ups, small businesses and charities doing worthwhile work and fabulous people whose cause could be transformed by a CG, but just don’t have the cash it costs to have one.
What’s so special about these Cube Grenades?
Sure, they’re great social objects, but they have another purpose: They’re amazingly powerful tools for a company trying to engage in what many call “Cultural Transformation”.
[The one that started it all: “The Blue Monster”. Backstory here etc.]
You change markets in your favor by changing the culture– either your own company culture, or the culture of the industry you’re in. In my world, that’s where the REAL opportunity lies.
That’s the change I want to help affect. That’s where I think my cartoons can be the most useful and valuable.
So I decided, what the hell, I’ll do one for free for somebody, a small business, a worthy cause. Spread the love etc.
Who for?
I haven’t decided yet.
Tell you what. If you want me to draw a cube grenade for your business, write a blog post about it, leave a link to it below in the comments, and/or submit it to Tumblr at the same time. Then let us put your idea up on the Tumblr page we created specifically for this [Please keep it under 500 words, Thanks].
I’ll draw a free cube grenade for the person who has the most compelling cause.
I don’t care, it can be for your kid’s 6th grade class, your business or charity. Just as long as the idea is interesting,
This offer will expire Auguest 1st, and I’ll be talking about some of cooler posts here and/or our Tumblr page, so please get cracking.
This should be fun!
Thanks.
[UPDATE: We’ve changed the rules. You have to nominate a friend– you can’t nominate yourself. Details here.]
June 1, 2010
2 Comments
[This is a “Cube Grenade” I designed for myself earlier today, as a little thought experiment etc.]
My friend, Robert Scoble wrote an interesting blog post recently, about why he was working for Rackspace, the big San Antonio web hosting service.
“To Help Entrepreneurs”. Apparently Rackspace allows him a lot of leeway to do just that,
And I also remember Michael Arrington saying something similar on The Gillmor Gang about his business. Helping the entrepreneurial community is a big driving force behind Techcrunch.
Then I was thinking to myself, “To Help Entrepreneurs” is ALSO a big part why I like designing Cube Grenades, why the idea can function as a proper business.
How? Because they work as “Entrepreneurial Agitprop” (That’s a phrase I just coined earlier today).
“To Help Entrepreneurs”. “Entrepreneurial Agitprop” . Both those ideas are resonating with me right now. Expect to see more from me on them both in the near future. Thanks.
The Cube Grenade archive is here.]
[Commission your own Cube Grenade.]
1 Comment
Tim Porthouse over at Zealeap.com commissioned this ‘Cube Grenade’ for his company. The copy at the bottom reads:
“when a business stops creating, it dies. when a business stops creating culture, it dies.
business cultures are not created, they are re-created. business cultures are not created, they are co-created. without collaboration, there is no creation.
a business that does not understand its own culture. does not understand its own business.
culture matters. the world has gotten too interesting and too competitive to think otherwise.
reality is scary. reality is wonderful.”
Cultural Transformation, Baby. That’s where it’s at these days. Exactly.
The Cube Grenade archive is here.]
[Commission your own Cube Grenade.]
4 Comments
My old advertising buddy, Vinny Warren, commissioned me to draw him a ‘Cube Grenade’ for his Chicago-based ad agency, The Escape Pod.
“We are not in the advertising business, we are in the decommodification business” is a line of mine that Vinny has been borrowing for a while now. So it seemed appropriate to design something around that.
[The Cube Grenade archive is here.]
[Commission your own Cube Grenade.]
May 20, 2010
8 Comments
Advertising hacks losing their jobs is a subject very dear to my heart (I was one of them, more than once). Advertising hacks re-inventing their crash-and-burn careers and turning it into something more interesting, is also a subject dear to my heart (I’ve done that, too).
Which is why my latest “Cube Grenade” goes to Eric Proulx, founder of Please Feed The Animals, the blog and support group for out-of-work Adland. He’s also the grand ninja brainmeister behind the documentary about out-of work advertising executives re-inventing their post-advertising lives, “Lemonade”.
Besides that, I was also in the mood to draw something big, bright and yellow, so it all came together nicely.
[Commission Your Own Cube Grenade.]
[The Cube Grenade Archive is here.]
May 13, 2010
2 Comments
Russ Thornton commissioned me to do a Cube Grenade for his company, Thornton Wealth Management.
The brief started off with a line of Russ’, “You Only Have One Life – My Sole Focus Is To Help You Make The Most Of It.” And so I ran with that.
The red & black square on the left represents “Life”, as it were. A big blob of fleeting moments, that somehow manages to coalesce together.
Simple and impactful– I think it works well. Thanks to Russ for the great commission, I had a lot of fun with it.
[The Cube Grenade archive is here.]
[Commission your own Cube Grenade]
May 6, 2010
1 Comment
One of my favorite Cube Grenade clients, Mike Walsh, just wrote a nice blog post about how he uses his– including business cards and putting it on the front of a Flip camera. Thanks, Mike!
With fierce competition for attention these days, it’s really important to differentiate. Fortunately, It’s pretty easy to do something unique when you can leverage the work of great artists, great technologies and great services (Flip uses Cafe Press to print screen the image). As far as return on investment – that’s easy. Hugh’s art has paid for itself in tangible and intangible ways. It has gained me a new client (which is significant because I am limiting my client work to 6 clients this year), word of mouth and great conversations.
I knew the Cube Grenade idea would work from Day One. I also knew it would take me quite a while for the idea to gain traction. So that left nothing to do but keep my head down and work my butt off.
Same as any entrepreneur with a new idea…
[The Cube Grenade archive is here.]
April 25, 2010
1 Comment
For World Malaria Day (i.e. today), my PR buddy, Brian Solis asked me to design something for a blog post he was writing. Voila.
He also asked me to link to this Facebook page and to include the Twitter #EndMalaria hashtag in the design. No worries.
[Commission Hugh]
April 7, 2010
3 Comments
[The “Cube Grenade” I did for Shit Creek Consulting etc.]
So long after you leave college, you keep asking yourself the question, “What do I want to do when I grow up?”
And to help you answer the question, you try out a whole string of different things. Working in an office. Working outdoors. Going to law school. Starting your own coffee shop. Freelance. Consulting. Writing books…
And hopefully, after a few years (or decades) of trial and error, hopefully you end up with your answer.
I think I’m finally ready to answer my own question, “What do I want to do when I grow up?”
The answer is, of course, creating “Cube Grenades”.
Sure, they’re great social objects, but to me they have another purpose: They’re good tools for a company trying to engage in what’s called “Cultural Transformation”.
[The one that started it all: “The Blue Monster”. Backstory here etc.]
You change markets in your favor by changing the culture– either you own or the culture of the industry you’re in. In my world, that’s where the REAL opportunity lies.
That’s the change I want to help affect. That’s where I think my cartoons can be the most useful and valuable.
Always happy to talk further about it with people maybe wanting to do business. Feel free to ping me whenever. Thanks…
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