posted: May 4, 2009

Gotta call from CBS THe Early Show last week as ankle-deep important news spread that "Octomom" was trademarking her new name (and fame) in pursuit of a reality show and or baby clothes product line.

Naturally, I imagined all the fun that went into creating those adorable Wal Mart Shoppers.

The joy of life. 8 Times. And in an hour and half no less (the producer called at 5 and needed it inked ASAP for the next morning, dinner was at 6:30, no way I'm late for that) Wife taped it to DVR and I watched it the next the next afternoon... lo an behold it never ran. No needle to cry, Mom— CBS agreed to pay the kill fee.

posted: February 4, 2009

Today Fuchs and I relaunched gop100.com after a 4 year hiatus. 

Sometimes its hard to look at this thing. A labor of love, created 2 months before the Republican Convention in NYC, we self-published a 108 page book, letterpressed posters and screened 500 Tees and hauled it all around on a $3,000 rickshaw. And for whatever reason, the thing caught fire on boing boing, buzzfeed, creative review, and Andrew Sullivan's blog last week. And now, the cover of TNR (AD: Christine Car).
Pls RIP, GOP100.... Long live GOP100.
 

 Here are a few favorite images of mine. This one was teh only one not created by either Fuchs or myself. Can you guess who? Heres a hint: he lives in Berlin and can't shut up about how great NY is. He's big but may have a small trunk.

For some reason naughty parts are funny. I can't remember who did this one. 

 one of Fuchs's sob stories.

If this one didn't make you smile... you might just be a rocket scientist.
OK, thats it for memory lane. If you really want one of these books we only have a few thousand left. 
dig around on thomasfuchs.com or felixsockwell.com if you want one. Cheers, F

posted: October 9, 2008

 A few weeks ago I got an e mail from someone in LA asking for art, stickers, posters and wwhatever else I could donate for an Obama fundraiser. A few minutes ago I recieved a belated thank you and a link to some interesting pictures I thought to share. The first is of Barry Blitts NYer cover. Hilarious.

 They should have cut arm holes though.

 This I thought was an interesting use of Shepherd Fairey's widely praised Obama drawing in ink party-tattoo form. Looks pretty good. People love wearing and getting directly involved with our work. We don't always see that side of it but....
 

 At least I know what they thought of my "Obeyma" stickers. A Shep Fairey send up/ put down, I thought this was a funny idea. It still is. But I'm done with it.
People are shitting all over it. Literally.
Looking forward to seeing some more Obama party pics. If you like to see more these see links below:

Hi Felix,

 

First of all, I apologize for the lateness of this message. 

 

I am writing to finally thank you for the Obeyma stickers and posters that you sent to me for our gObama fundraiser. You artwork is amazing - everyone was dying to get their hands on a sticker, and the posters went quickly as well. We had an incredible night - raising over $3,300 for the campaign and inspiring a few others to throw fundraisers of their own. 

The party was written up in a local political blog, and photographed by the We Are the Ones Project. You will see party goers wearing your stickers in some of their photos.

It was more of a success that we could have imagined, and you helped to make it so. The creative energy and support that was given from people like you made it a special night. Many called it magical - new connections were made and old were rediscovered.

I pasted below links to the blog article, some photos, and the We Are the Ones site. Enjoy.

And thank you so much for your kindness and generosity.

Best always, 

Lindsey Walker

http://californiafaultline.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/sarah-palin-crashes-obama-fundraiser/

http://flickr.com/photos/markland/sets/72157607157119743/

 

http://wearetheonesproject.com/

and

http://robgullixson.com/photocart/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=1074

posted: October 6, 2008

 been on this Giant Obama (no more Obeyma!) for some time now... and about to print up some large 18X24 posters to send out to various swing states as well as clients and friends (you want one?).
This b/w (version A) side has "The American Promise" with a likeness of our next president (God willing, wink).

 this is the another side (call it B) that I need your help with. Y'see, I still use (love?) CS1 and we now live in a CS4 world. Let me explain...

 THis is the official Obama logo, created by Sender, LLC and mo/de out of Chicago. 
(they did a hell of a job if they're listening btw)
notice the subtle gradient blends. I usually hate blends but it works here for some reason.

 Now heres where I need you. When I combine the two files it won't cooperate. You know how it is. Nothing reads.
Its totally fucked up.
So, are you a wizard at CS3 or even 4? Anyone? Can you help me out before the election is over?
I'll add your name to the credits and send you some printed copies... e mail me directly if you want: felix@felixsockwell dot com.
 

------UPDATE 10-08-08-------
 I'm amazed and super thankful a real pro like Daniel Pelavin took the time and effort to redraw this thing the right way for me. This is exactly what I was hoping for. It goes to press today and will be shipped to PA and OH and, of course, to you if you really want one. 

 I gotta give props to DP. and may as well to the logo designers. Doing some research, I was surprised to hear the design firm owner here: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=23974 say that Mr. Sender was unsure if the logo would remain intact if Mr. Obama won the Democratic nomination.

“I’m sure if he gets the nomination new things will be done,” Mr. Sender said.

I guess he got right before he guessed it wrong. Still, they deserve props. I think its a work of real merit (if not genius).

posted: July 11, 2008

Today the iPhone/ nytimes app releases. I've drawn GUI before but this one was special. For my news of choice and another chance to work with renowned web wizard Khoi Vinh and designer Caryn Tutino.

Here is the secondary, ancillary pitstop where you configure out what you want most.

They had to work in old Grey Lady grey scale as well as black and white in 29X29 pixels. Once approved, the png art was integrated into the app (which is free btw).

GUI is an ugly process, but an interesting one. Pixel reduction is a nice diversion from drawing my linear crap. I mean "art". here is a peek inside some of the process, which was considerably smooth.

there were some interesting things (concessions?) that happened along the way. Most notably, and my favorite was the icon for Heller's favorite gig, that of the Obituary section. I went straight to the grave initially. "Too morbid" they said. Then we landed on a single flower in front of the gravestone. Done. But wait. A week later the editors came back; "still too morbid". So we went with a single flower. I am still curious if a flower denotes death. I guess we'll wait to see if anyone finds offense.

and here are the final "ready for prime time players". It was weird seeing them for the first time live on my iPhone. Would love to hear what you think of this often ignored form of information illustration.