Archive for the ‘#rackspace’ Category
June 13, 2011
2 Comments
Here are some pictures Rob La Gesse sent me- people at Rackspace who downloaded my cartoons off the web, printed them out and hung them on their walls.
“Crap jobs are created by other people, dream jobs you make yourself” and “Life is short, Make it amazing”.
No “Reason Why” to buy the Rackspace product. No top-down mission statement.
Nope. Instead I tried to talk about stuff that ACTUALLY MATTER to people inside and outside the company.
Like I said in my last post, ALIGNMENT is where the action is.
“A brand’s first job is to be interesting”. Aligned brands are far more interesting than brands that just want somebody else’s money.
Just because you work for a big company doesn’t mean you don’t have to think about REAL human values. In fact, it’s more important than ever.
Think about it.
[More Rackspace cartoons here.] [More corporate cartoon commissions here.]
May 19, 2011
16 Comments
[One of my favorite recent “Social Objects”: a cartoon I did for Rackspace.]
The Social Object, in a nutshell, is the reason two people are talking to each other, as opposed to talking to somebody else. Human beings are social animals. We like to socialize. But if think about it, there needs to be a reason for it to happen in the first place. That reason, that “node” in the social network, is what we call the Social Object.
For as long as I’ve been involved with the Internet, I’ve seen the SAME OLD DISCONNECT appear again and again AND AGAIN i.e. the disconnect between how the Internet ACTUALLY works and how the social media marketing dorks like to PRETEND how it works.
Case in point: From Steve Jones’ blog:
Today I received an e-mail that said “Like us on Facebook and win”. Later in the day I walked into a store and on the door was a sign that said “Like us on Facebook”.
That’s like Billy Joel asking me to buy his album. It is like walking into a party and having someone say “Be my friend and I’ll buy you a drink”. In a word, it is pathetic.
Damn right it’s pathetic.
Note to Social Media Marketing Dorks: The hard currency of the Internet is not Facebook “Likes” or Twitter “Retweets”, as flavor-of-the-month as they might be. By themselves, they’re worthless.
The hard currency of the Internet is “Social Objects”.
i.e. Social Objects for people to SHARE MEANINGFULLY with other people.
You’re either creating them or you’re not. And if you’re not, you will fail, end of story.
[Continue Reading…]
May 3, 2011
4 Comments
April 21, 2011
11 Comments
Rob Taylor over at Rackspace sent me the picture above.
His nine-year old son wearing that Rackspace t-shirt I did for SXSW 2011.
“Life is short. Make it amazing”.
The kid just liked it, Rackspace or no Rackspace.
“I want life to be amazing,” he told his father.
Yes, even nine-year-old kids want their life to be amazing. Of course they do. Why wouldn’t they?
This is much bigger than Rackspace. This is much bigger than the Internet or web hosting or cloud computing or whatever it is that Rackspace does.
And it’s ESPECIALLY much bigger than gapingvoid or cartooning.
I may not be the most talented or famous or disruptive artist since Picasso. That’s fine; you’re not either.
But I’ve always believed, even before I started doing my work seriously, that art– that cartooning– can change lives for the better. Either individually or at a corporate level. Right here. Right now.
And you don’t have to be as big as Peanuts or The Simpsons or Dilbert in order to do so. Especially now that we have the Internet.
And what’s true for cartoonists is also true for your job.
You don’t have to be a rock star or a billionaire. We can all change the world, one small meaningful intervention at time.
Which is what the t-shirt was. A small meaningful intervention. No more, no less.
The power is within us. Now all we have to do is teach ourselves how to believe it.
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 4, 2011
2 Comments
[One of my more successful “Social Objects” of late: The SXSW t-shirt I did for my client, Rackspace. We printed 3,200 of them, and they all went REALLY quickly. The just FLEW off the table. It was stunning to watch…]
I’ve been talking about Social Objects for a while now. And using cartoons to create social objects i.e. “Cube Grenades” is the main way I make a living.
Whatever your social media strategy is, it needs the object. It needs that thing that people socialize around.
Because people socialize around objects– a product, an idea, a movement, a person– people don’t socialize in a vacuum.
Creating cartoons is my way of creating social objects, but of course, there are other ways.
gapingvoid is basically a little Social Object factory.…
March 27, 2011
2 Comments
PS Check out the little [“Love heart + Heart”] symbol on the bottom right. It’s there for a reason. #WinkWink
March 21, 2011
No Comments
My second cartoon for a Rackspace customer is for Posterous, the photo-sharing, proto-blogging site.
Basically, Posterous is a site that makes it easy to upload and share photos. It’s simple and straightforward. It doesn’t need a lot of explaining, really.
And nor should it have to. Talking to their CEO, Sachin Agarwal on the phone the other week, it’s apparent they want their service to have mainstream, mom n’ pop usage, not just something for the geeks…
As for the cartoon, well, I was determined NOT to draw yet another one of my cute-sy “monstercritter” cartoons [I was already doing a lot of them for Rackspace already], but in spite of my best intentions, this Posterous one just stuck, somehow… the humanity of it.
We know the point of photos is to document the seen world, capture memories and all that. But a big a part of that is the social and emotional– the creation of what I call “Sharing Devices”- social objects that allow us to share ourselves with others.
i.e. Posterous’ value comes not from the actual photos per se, but from a very human need that was around long before photography (or cave painting, for that matter) was even invented.
[Check out my other Rackspace cartoons 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.]
March 2, 2011
2 Comments
[My latest cartoon. Download the printable version here etc.]
Dear Rackspace,
You being my client and all, I thought now would be a good time to let you know my current thinking:
You love startups. You live and breathe making them happy. You live and breathe trying to be helpful to them. You live and breathe “Fanatical”.
Sure, other companies offer the same kind of hosting that you do– Amazon being the best known example.
But it’s your particular brand of “Fanatical” that permeates your culture… THAT is what makes you unique; THAT is what your competitors DON’T have; THAT is your secret weapon.
And the minute you lose that, of course, is the minute you start to die.
Not everybody reading this is going to believe what I’ve just said. Some will remain skeptical, both inside and outside your company. Frankly, I don’t care. I’ve been working with y’all long enough to know that I’m speaking the truth.
“We Love Startups.” That is your mantra. That is your line in the sand.
And now you’re going to have to live it. Now that the line has been drawn, I’m never going to allow you to take those words back. Nor will anyone else. Ever. Nor should you.
“We Love Startups.” That is what the startup community must know about Rackspace. They must know it AND believe it. All of them. That is the mission.
Alea iacta est.
[PS: Note to Rackers: If your boss will let you, feel free to use the cartoon in your email signature. Spread the love etc.]
[See more Rackspace cartoons here.]
February 28, 2011
1 Comment
[Download the printable version here etc.]
For the past couple of months, I’ve been trying to capture the Rackspace essence in a single, 550-pixel-wide cartoon.
So what is THE ONE THING they need to let the world know? Above all else?
My opinion? That they love startups.
Hence the cartoon above.
Bada. Bing.
February 1, 2011
5 Comments
So I drew this cartoon earlier today for Rackspace.
An idea for a greeting card. An “Apology” card. For when Rackspace screws up [ALL companies screw up occasionally].
Just a way of saying sorry. Of staying human.
It could be printed on to a card and put in an envelope. Or it could just be a digital image you put in an email or on a website.
That kind of thing…
[You can see the other cartoons I’ve done for Rackspace here.]
2 Comments
[Download the printable version here etc.]
To mark the launch of my upcoming book, EVIL PLANS on February 17th, I thought I’d do a special cartoon for my biggest client, Rackspace.
The first line in the book is “Everybody needs an Evil Plan”. This sentiment would apply to both big companies like Rackspace and, or course, the people who work for them.
So there was a natural fit. Plus I dig the red…
Hmmm… Thinking of making this one a print.
[You can pre-order the book here.]
[You can see the other cartoons I’ve done for Rackspace here.]
January 25, 2011
9 Comments
There seems to be a conversation happening internally at my client, Rackspace. Spearheaded by people like Robert Scoble and the guy who hired him (and who also hired me), Rob La Gesse.
“Don’t be normal”.
Who wants a “normal” job, anyway?
Who wants a “normal” employer, anyway?
Who wants a “normal” life, anyway?
Exactly.
So why not say it, loud and proud?
So I drew some cartoons on the subject.
I’m thinking they’d make great recruiting posters…
[P.S. At the time of posting this, Rob hasn’t seen these cartoons yet. He lets me post my ideas “live”, without having to go through him first. THAT IS WHY I’m psyched to be working with Rob and Rackspace. Just so you know.]
January 24, 2011
6 Comments
[Download the printable version here etc.]
““South-By” is almost upon us, and so here I am thinking up new SXSW Interactive ideas for my client, Rackspace, who will have a presence there.
We have a basic idea what we’ll be doing– I know Scoble is involved– but that’s all still under wraps.
Nonetheless, I drew the cartoon above.
As with my usual approach, the message is less about, “This is what we do and this is how much it costs”, and more about, “We hold these truths to be self-evident”.
Think about it: Rackspace is a fast-growing company. It needs to hire really good people. Lots of them.
And to do that, it has to convince a lot these really good people to relocate to their main campus in San Antonio, Texas.
Have you ever been to San Antonio? Exactly.
Now, don’t get me wrong, San Antonio is a perfectly lovely Texas town, hugely underrated compared to say, Austin, 80 miles to the North.
But still, it isn’t one of those towns where “Everybody” goes to, like New York, Chicago, Austin or San Francisco. It’s not a capital.
So in order to get some of the best brains in the country to move there, you have to offer them something else. Affordable housing, good schools, high quality of life, high standard of living etc. etc.
But you also have to offer them, as Rackspace Chairman, Graham Weston said in 2010, the chance to be on “on a winning team, on an inspiring mission.”
People don’t go to South-By in order to buy stuff, to buy Rackspace hosting. They go there to see their friends, to commune with their tribe, and yes, to look for opportunities that allow them to play on the aforementioned winning team.
THAT is how Rackspace needs to talk to people at South-By.
Doing something that matters. On a winning team. That’s why I wrote the cartoon the way I did.
Life is short. Make it amazing.
And so there y’are…
January 20, 2011
1 Comment
So this is my “Evil Plan” that I’m currently trying to sell inside Rackspace…
Besides their new cartoon I posted yesterday, they really haven’t seen it yet.
For whatever reason, they prefer being “surprised” by stuff posted live on the web, rather than seeing it first through the usual backchannels.
Seeing how the idea works live on the web informs their initial impression etc.
1. We have the Rackspace cloud [Image 1.]. A nice, fluffy cartoon Rackspace cloud. Red, black and white– their corporate colors. Iconic. Easily recognizable at fifty yards etc etc.
2. Inside the cloud we insert the headline [Image 2.]. “Create The Future You Want To Believe In” [Image 3.] was the headline I wrote, but that doesn’t have to be the only headline.
3. In fact, it doesn’t have to be me who writes the headline, either. Feasibly you could even set up a website where people could create their own headlines. Or something.
4. The headline would express whatever strong beliefs about “The Cloud” are needed to be expressed, inside the Rackspace cartoon cloud device.
5. So Rackspace isn’t just saying, “Here’s why you should buy from us”. Rackspace is saying, “Here’s what actually frickin’ matters”, whatever that might be.
6. Putting one’s balls on the line always resonates far more than ticking off the “Reasons to buy” laundry list.
7. And now they have a fun, wee device that allows Rackspace to do just that.
And that’s the idea. Hope you like. Hope they like, too. Watch this space…
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 27, 2010
3 Comments
[Download printable version here etc.]
This is my latest cartoon from the series I’m doing for Rackspace.
One thing that Rackspace is very proud of is their customer base. Both in terms of quality and quantity. Not only do they have some really wicked customers, they have lots of them.
And no, I’m not just being nice because they’re my client. Some of them ARE awesome. A lot of amazing companies that you’ve heard of and admire.
So… what’s wrong with wanting more where that came from?
What is wrong with wanting THE BEST customer base in the world, and adjusting your business plan accordingly?
And what is wrong with declaring that to the frickin’ world?
To be honest, I don’t just see this cartoon as an internal motivational poster whatsit. I also see it as a full blown advertisement– one that could easily go into magazines like Wired or Inc.
What’s wrong with declaring to the world, “Here’s what we’re going after with a vengeance”, rather than the usual “Here’s why should buy our wonderful product” drivel?
And the cartoon character: why not make him stressed out and antsy– like real entrepreneurs are– rather than the usual happy-happy-joy-joy that most advertisements run with?
Why not talk to people about the ACTUAL world we live in, rather than the irritating fantasy world that Madison Ave created?
Why the hell not?
We’re all going to be dead in 100 years. In the meantime, why not try to rip the face off the dragon?
Exactly.
December 19, 2010
5 Comments
[“Hugged”, which went out earlier this year in the newsletter. You can buy the print here etc.]
I love the backstory to the “Hug” cartoon above:
My mother, in her day, was a very successful education software consultant. “Have you hugged your client today?” was her line, not mine.
She always had about 6 – 10 Blue Chip clients on board at one time. Companies like Shell, Exxon, Coco-Cola etc.
And no matter what kind of day she was having, EVERY DAY she would make some kind of effort to demonstrate to each and every client that… she cared, that this stuff mattered, that she was willing to go the extra mile.
And it worked. It certainly paid for me and my sister’s education.
“Hugging clients” is really a no-brainer.
Unless you don’t really like your clients. Unless you’re just in it it for the money.
Then it just feels sleazy and wrong.
There’s nothing wrong with insisting on good chemistry, before you commit fully to working with someone.
Sure, we all need money. But I think we need chemistry more.
[P.S. Speaking of chemistry, I’m really grokking the work I’m doing with Rackspace at the moment. Thank CHRIST for people like Rob La Gesse 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 7, 2010
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.]
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 18, 2010
3 Comments
[Download the printable version here.]
A couple of days ago my buddy, Robert Scoble (himself a Rackspace employee) twittered the question, “How do do you amplify a start-up culture inside a big company?”
A damn good question, Robert. I thought it would make a good piece of art, hence the cartoon above. More specifically, I thought it would make a good image to go on the back of a Rackspace business card.
Rackspace is a big company (3,000 employees), but not big enough where they can no longer remember when they were a small company. So maybe it’s better to start a conversation (which is what handing out a business card does, ideally) with a pertinent question, rather than the usual “Here’s why you should buy our stuff” shpeel…
October 14, 2010
7 Comments
[“Adventure”. Buy the print here etc.]
Are you a beacon?
A beacon is a navigation signal that tells you where you are when you’re lost at sea.
We spend a lot of our careers being lost at sea.… paddling away, not quite sure where we are, hoping to God that a big wave won’t come along and swamp our little boat.
And we look for beacons to guide us, to give us hope, to tell us where we are, to show us where the standard is, to show us the way forward. Beacons can be people, products, businesses or even ideas.
“Life might suck right now, but one day I’ll land a kick-ass job as Creative Director for Crispin Porter!”
“Life might suck right now, but one day I’ll write as good a novel as Jonathan Franzen!”
“Life might suck right now, but one day our product will be better than SAP or Oracle!”
These are beacons…
Obviously, if you or your product is a beacon to other people in your own industry, you have a considerable advantage going for you. Not to mention, a really good reason to get up in the morning.
So in my typical way, I’ll ask you, are you beacon? If not, don’t you think you should be?
To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about you when I sat down to write this, sorry. I was actually thinking about my client, Rackspace. Are they a beacon? I know they’re certainly capable of it.
I’m just thinking outloud, here…
October 6, 2010
1 Comment
[Download the printable version here etc.]
Rackspace likes to describe their customer support as “Fanatical” [It’s right there on their homepage. Go see.].
Which got me thinking, what does being “fanatical” actually mean? What are its real-world implications?
So I drew a cartoon with my take on it…
[#SmarterConversations]
October 5, 2010
6 Comments
[Download the printable version here.]
I find something rather amusing about the idea of people at Rackspace printing out this cube grenade, and hanging it up everywhere in their San Antonio office. It would sure send a message to the newbies…
HR may not be able to say things like this, but hell, I’m a cartoonist…
[#SmarterConversations]
September 29, 2010
1 Comment
A cube grenade I drew for Rob La Gesse, Scoble’s boss over at Rackspace. [UPDATE: Rob blogs about it here as well.]
[Feel free to download the high-res version here.]
Disclosure: I’m currently doing a wee bit of consulting work for Rackspace. This cartoon was inspired after talking to La Gesse the other day. He tells me that with all their assets– and with over 3,000 employees, they have many– their culture is the thing that they’re collectively most proud of. Rock on.
[#SmarterConversations]
Here are some pictures Rob La Gesse sent me- people at Rackspace who downloaded my cartoons off the web, printed them out and hung them on their walls.
![[Download the printable version here…]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/slavebot-1104-1600.gif){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here…]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/37signals-1104-1600.gif){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here etc.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/theory-1104-5501.gif){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here etc.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/rackspace-wls-001j2.jpg){kind=link}
![[download the printable version here etc.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/rackspace-1011-03-2k2.jpg){kind=link}
![[download the printable version here etc.]]( http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/rackspace-1011-02-2000j.jpg){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/rackspace-1010-07j.jpg){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/rackspace-1010-02j1.jpg){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here etc.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/rackspace-1010-05j1.jpg){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here etc.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/rackspace-1010-04p.jpg){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here etc.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/rackspace-1010-03p.jpg){kind=link}
![[Download the printable version here.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/rackspace-1010-01j.jpg){kind=link}
![[Feel free to download the high-res version here.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/rackspace-1009-2000pix.jpg){kind=link}