Yaay! Common Craft Stickers

Thanks to John, Maureen and the folks at Sticker Giant for their help with these little guys. We're planning to carry them with us at conferences, etc. If you see us at SXSW or anywhere else, ask for one!

Would you like a sticker?  Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

Common Craft

P.O. Box 18322

Seattle, WA 98118-0322

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Russian "Gmail Art" Video - Life Sized Paperworks

From the description on the video page, this is:

A video that Saatchi Moscow created and produced for Google to attract more Russian people on GMail. 

Visually, it's a bit like our videos, but in a giant format.  Instead of pieces of paper, they are using giant pieces of pre-printed fabric.  The video is quite artful and well done. Isn't it funny too, that it's by Saatchi and Saatchi instead of Lee and Sachi?  

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Sooo Typical

Sachi came into the room where I draw and saw this piece of paper and nearly died from laughter.  It's true - I'm sorry to say, I had a problem coloring a checkered flag.  Such things are all too common in my world.

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Photo Products to Watch in 2008

2008 is shaping up to be a interesting year to try out new things when it comes to digital photos. From photo transfer technology, to wall hanging, to photo sharing services, here are a few things I'll be using in 2008.

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The Tools of Our Trade (analog version)

Like our videos, the tools we use to make them are quite simple.  Below is a quick tour of some of the non-electronic elements of our productions...

The photo below represents a near-complete selection of the tools we use almost everyday to create illustrations and videos.  You can view the photo below with "notes" on Flickr.com.

Because neither of us brought video production/scripting/storyboarding experience to the table, we've tinkered our way through and created a couple of resources that help.  One is our thumbnail storyboards. Once a script is written, the first draft of visuals are done on small squares.  This one is from Blogs in Plain English.

Of course, we couldn't do what we do without paper.  We go through more of it that I would have ever imagined. It's nothing fancy - just HP inkjet paper.  And yes, we recycle the waste.

OK, this is a electronic, but still fits. We couldn't be as productive without coffee and have fallen in love with our Keurig coffee maker.  It makes a consistent cup of great coffee or tea anytime. 

I see this as one of the iconic tools we use - a traditional paper cutter.  Sachi is better than me with the scissors, but neither of us can cut a straight line.  This does it right.

I spent too long with my art supplies spread all over the house.  Finally I invested in a toolbox.  Now it's like my own portable bag of tricks.

You might have noticed more color in the videos.  We invested in some Tombo watercolor brush pens that I love to use.  We have a set of color pens and a set in shades of gray. Inspiration from Nancy Margulies.

This looks kind of gross, but it's putty and we use it in almost every shot to stick paper to the white board.

Of course, Amos is a part of everything we do (see photo above). One hair at a time, he appears in every video.

We're very big believers that we don't need big investments in production to make our videos. We'd rather invest our time in developing what matters most - the script. 

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One Sharpie, One Wall - A Music Video

Nancy White pointed us to this awesome video.  From what I gather, it's a music video for the band Field Music.  Impressive. Maybe one day I'll have such mad skillz with the sharpie.

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