Elf Yourself 2008 – Upping the Anty

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

ElfYourself by OfficeMax and JibJab, was all the craze last year.  Everyone was elfing themselves and their family members to celebrate the season. Plus, it is just darn funny!

This year, these guys have gone above and beyond to make the elfing experience even more customizable.  You can now upload up to 5 different photographs, choose from several different dances, including the Charleston, a hoe down experience, and disco.  For you guys out there that just loved the regular old elfyourself dance, that one is available as well.

Not only have these guys pumped up the customizable choices, they are also keeping current in the social media trends.  After your dance has been created, you can also post the dance to a variety of different social media outlets, including Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle, and many many more!

As if just having ElfYourself overtake computers everywhere wasn’t enough of an advertising wonder for OfficeMax, this year they may stand to actually make a profit off of the program.  For a mere $4.99, you can download your dance to keep for posterity.  Who knows – these early ElfYourself videos could be worth some money one day.  Even if not on the collectors market, your friends and co-workers may stand to gain an edge over you when using your video to blackmail you in a few years.

This year you can also buy products with your elf face all over them!

So, give it a try this year – it is even more fun that last year!~

Plus, this year, you have the capabilities of downloading a copy of your dance for $4.99.

The Crosbie

Back in my SCAD days (that’s Savannah College of Art and Design for anyone who is not in the know), Sari Gunderson was in charge of the Working Studio.  Working Studio was this amazing place where anything you could dream of could be brought to life, and Sari was the master of the Art of Silkscreen.  In addition to being extremely charming, completely creative, and a big thinker, Sari helped build Working Class Studio into the production monster it is today.

Now, Sari now works with The Crosbie using her skills to help grow another up and coming store that custom makes their products, taking us back to the days when people actually cared about the products they bought and considered the implications of those decisions.  You won’t find any Chinese sweat shop created products here, folks!  These products are made by true American Artisans!  Oh, and Sari!

Check out some of these awesome products and give their site a look.  Right now, their site isn’t quite complete so be sure to also visit their Etsy Shop or their blog.  Happy Shopping!

Season's Greetings – Cards from the White House

Every year the President and First Lady send out a Christmas card to loads of very important people, friends and family.  I am certain that being chosen as the artist for these cards must be a highlight in an artist’s career.

Season’s Greetings from the White House is an article from the white house which depicts 14 different cards sent from the White House over the past century.  It is a very telling thing indeed to see the choices of the presidents.  These small decisions portray a great deal about the leaders backgrounds and standing.

Fast Idea Generation

As an artist and designer constantly under the gun to come up with new exciting ideas and concepts, some days can really get you down as your creative engine sputters under the pressures.

Ken Hudson has written a book entitled The Idea Accelerator.  Here Thinkinghow.com has reviewed the book and offers a quick video from YouTube that reviews what Speed Thinking is and what it can do for you. Fast Idea Generation – Great Results | thinkinghow.com.

For more videos on how-to use some speedthinking skills including speed brainstorming, see Ken’s website and the 2-minute coach.  If you like what you see, you can take difference courses to help you with your speed thinking skills.

Daily Heller by Steven Heller

If you have never heard of Steven Heller, you may be living under a rock.  Steven Heller has been very influential to the illustration and design industry for many years.  Now Steven Heller has a daily blog through Print Magazine sharing his thoughts and insights on design and illustration current and through the years. I encourage you to check out his daily blog and subscribe to it through your email.  Everyday is a trip with Heller’s Daily Blog.  Check it out for yourself!

Design Gangsta

For those of us that are designers, art directors, and anyone else that knows print, Kyle Webster offers a very humorous promotional piece of which we should all be jealous. This video is a humorous, yet fact filled depiction of who Webster is as an artist. A resume, if you will, of the most imaginative proportions.