[x] Wear it with Pride

available in black bean sauce (black) or on sweet white rice (white)
black bean sauce // sweet white rice

"Bok Choy Apparel supports the Gay community with its dedicated line of 'Family shirts' in celebration of unique identities and collective strength."

June is national Gay & Lesbian Pride month in the United States and this coming weekend is the Pride Festival in San Francisco. Having done a mini-series of sexual identity designs for Bok Choy Apparel a month ago, I was thrilled to find out BCA selected my shirt as their official 2009 shirt at this year's festivities. (Unfortunately, the lesbian and straight options are not yet available - to make it available, feel free to head over to the apparel page and submit your vote.)

So, if you happen to be gay and would like somethin' to wear with Pride, feel free to click on over to Bok Choy's site and purchase a shirt for yourself to sport proudly; or head on over to the Bok Choy Apparel booth at the Pride Festival in San Francisco's Civic Center plaza this Sunday, June 28th to pick one up in person.

However, if you don't want this particular design, it's all good. I ain't gon' hate. But feel free to head over to the website anyway to see what other designs and themes we have available for voting that appeal to you.

Thanks for all your support, you guys...


==========UPDATE==========

SF's Pride 2009 was pretty fun. It's always an experience to watch the Parade and partake in the festival activities and just be a witness to all the activism and community involvement in addition to all the music, performances, and, well, debauchery. Heh.

I took a group of Shrunkenhead friends to the celebration and we eventually came to the Bok Choy Apparel booth. It was both awesome and surreal to see my design floating about the festival grounds and definitely around the Asian/Pacific Islander alley. :-)

Genius marketing, really...
a t-shirt company... selling t-shirts... by having their t-shirt model... shirtless.

Oh, my...
How, ever, did the logo of the Shrunkenhead make it on to the shirt? :-P
I wonder...

Heehee... a simple shoutout to the Animation/Illustration crew at SJSU. :-)

[x] Wakeup Call

It's been a while since I've been issued a production test, especially one for a fast-paced gaming company, so you can imagine my anxiety and excitement when I received one with less than 24 hour turnaround time.

Suffice it to say it was quite the wakeup call that I need to refresh and definitely refine my speedpainting skills. I found myself spending waaay too much time finessing details that only came out muddy and sloppy when I stepped back from it. I will say this, though... it was fun. I'd almost forgotten the intensity and pressure of quick turn-around times. :-) I both love and hate it.

Ahh, c'est la vie. Definitely need to do some speed painting practice pieces now. Anywhoo.... quick nap... then it's off to be an office rat for the day.



[x] Spartan Film Productions - Superhero Party Clown

I think what also ate up a huge amount of my time was that I scheduled a meeting to go over some possible illustration work for the new student/independent film production at SJSU. In retrospect, had I been more serious about the test, I would have rescheduled the meeting for later in the week after the test was due.

However, I'm still excited about the film project and the work they've asked me to take care of... plus it gives me an opportunity to collaborate with Jake Panian and Nelson Hernandez... two of my peers from the Shrunkenheadman club/cult (heehee) at SJSU whom I admire and respect a great deal. It'll be awesome to work with them and the other artists involved on this film project.

I was told Superhero Party Clown is going to be featured at Cinequest in 2010... Holler.

[x] MechaniKal Koi

An 11x17 illustration sketch I started...
Tryin to think of a style to paint it in... both digitally and traditionally.

[x] BlueTooth Fairy

She's finally done. Moving on to the next project...

[x] Bok Choy Apparel

Bok Choy Apparel

Bok Choy Apparel has been live for about a month and a half now and things are going well. Joey's been made Creative Director and is working closely with all the contributing artists to ramp up the quality of the designs to make them more unique, eye-catching, and overall awesommer.

As it stands now, we're generating a fair amount of traffic but still need more votes to get more of the designs (other than the Flagship logo designs) printed and produced. So, feel free to peek on over and vote on any of the designs that appeal to you.

Half a dozen new designs have been added to the voting pool including a Katipunan Sun design that I did to follow my first Katinpunan Sun. Heh, what an awesome way to commemorate Philippine Independence Day. :-)

To Vote for a Design:
1) click on link: Bok Choy Apparel - Designs
2) click on the design that appeals to you.
3) enter email addy in the space provided.
4) click 'submit'!
5) give yourself a cookie for voting. YEAY!

NOTE: You will NOT be spammed by Bok Choy Apparel in anyway.
Submitting your email will only be used to send you a notification that if/when the design you voted for gets selected for production

P.S. Vote for my designs and be automatically entered to win a date with the model wearing the shirts. :-)

(How's that for marketing tactic!)

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[x] 7 Creative Principles - John Lasseter, PIXAR Studios

In an article in the German news magazine, Sueddeutsche Zeitung (South German Newspaper), Disney/ Pixar's chief creative officer discussed seven creative principles that have helped him realize his visions for his animated movies:

1. Never come up with just one idea.

"Regardless of whether you want to write a book, design a piece of furniture or make an animated movie: At the beginning, don't start with just one idea—it should be three. The reason is simple: If a producer comes to me with a proposal for a new project, then usually he has mulled over this particular idea for a very long time. That limits him. My answer is always, `Come again when you have three ideas, and I don't mean one good and two bad. I want three really good ideas, out of which you cannot decide the best—you must be able to defend all three. Then we'll decide which one you'll realize.'

"Creative people often focus their whole attention on one idea. So, right at the beginning of a project, they unnecessarily limit their options. Every creative person should try that out. You will be surprised how this requirement suddenly forces you to think about things you hadn't even considered before. Through this detachment, you suddenly gain new perspectives. And believe me, there are always three good ideas. At least."

2. Remember the first laugh.

"A big problem in the creative process is related to the enhancement of your ideas. Revising, retouching, refining is very important, but it carries a danger. If you have a story, a joke, a thought, which you write down, it loses its effect over time. It wears itself out. When you hear a joke for the second time you still laugh heartily, on the third or fourth occasion already less so, and when you hear it the 100th time, you hate it. "I say to my writers: `Take notice of the first laugh, write it down if necessary.' At times, this may be bothersome, but it is important. Many times, good things got lost because people could not remember anymore how it felt when they heard the idea for the first time."

3. Quality is a great business plan, period.

"There is a crucial rule: No compromises. No compromises on quality—regardless of production constraints, cost constraints or a deadline. If you get a better idea, and this means that you have to start again from scratch, then that's what you have to do. In any creative industry, quality is the sole business plan that prevails in the long run. Many managers fail to understand that, but the audience understands it. The process is only finished once the creative professional in charge says it's finished. That does not mean that there isn't any pressure—there's pressure all the time anyway—but the individual creator always needs to have the last word."

4. It's all about the team.

"One of the most popular questions is always whether groups are more creative than individuals. My answer: In most cases, it's the team—provided you follow certain rules. As a manager, it is my task to abolish hierarchies. It doesn't matter at all who has the idea; that's a very important rule for us. The group must be honest, direct, and endeavor to sincerely help the creative individual. But in the end, nothing that the group says is binding."

5. Fun invokes creativity, not competition.

"There is this idea that you put two people, who cannot stand each other, into a room, hoping that all this negative energy leads to a creative result. I disagree. Co-operation, confidence and fun—that is the way. Creative people must believe that all others support them in making a great movie. They need to believe that all people involved understand what they are talking about. Creative people are easily bored, moody, a bit difficult to handle. You have to make it fun for them, care for them.

Creative people only produce really good work if you creatively challenge them. They have to like what they're working on. They have to be damn proud of the fact that they're a part of a particular project. That is again the manager's task. Each time, you have to give them creative challenges. That's difficult, but nobody said it was easy to lead creative people."

6. Creative output always reflects the person on top.

"Poor managers harm the creative process. Laughter, being crazy, freaking out and being silly are hard work. A manager who spreads his bad mood and who forbids his employees to have fun impairs their creativity, and thus harms the enterprise. I would fire him. I cannot risk so much money just because a manager indulging in his bad mood harms my business."

7. Surround yourself with creative people you trust.

"Bring only those new members into your creative team whom you consider to be at least as talented as you. If they are also pleasant and good-natured, even better. Most managers don't follow this approach, as they are insecure. Insecurity and creativity do not get along with each otherwell. Most managers surround themselves with yes men, and as a result, audiences get bad movies."

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