posted on July 25th, 2008 in Content, Glennz Tees, Merchandise 

Glennz continues to Evolve

 Evolution
New Zealand T-Shirt Designer Glenn Jones has recently launched a blog.  In a world of copycats, Glenn stands out as a true original.  Seeing his work makes me very happy to NOT be a shirt designer.  Even if Glenn were simply illustrating other people’s ideas, his execution would be far better than almost anyone.  But [...]

posted on July 1st, 2008 in Best Practices, Commerce, News 

Something Completely Different: Eyes on the Price

This is going somewhere, I promise.

(more…)

posted on April 23rd, 2008 in Community, Conventions, Dumbrella, Flash, Homestar Runner, JibJab, Live Action, Machinima, News, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth, Series, Web Comics 

ROFLCon kicks off Tomorrow

The guest list really is a who’s who of Internet fame and/or ignominy. Amplifier’s own Joel Bush will be there to hopefully document the event. We gave him a great video camera so honestly, he’s without excuse!

(more…)

posted on April 3rd, 2008 in Content, Machinima, Merchandise, Monetizing, Rooster Teeth, Series 

Rooster Teeth’s New “Red vs. Blue” Boxed Set

You can say many things about the gang at Rooster Teeth. They own their medium. They’re funny. They’re continuously experimenting with new forms and permutations (Grifball!) And many more.

But they’re also just overkillers in the best way. They invest their DVDs not only with the classic Red vs Blue content, but with so much of the unrelenting absurdity that is their signature. So when they release the DVD BOXED SET of ALL 5 Seasons of RVB on 5 DVDs at $69, you’re already getting an enormous value. (The DVDs individually retail for $20) And each of those DVDs were packed with all the outtakes, missing scenes, bonus foo and so on.

But with this new boxed set they’ve now created 2 MORE hours of behind the scenes material, “making of” documentaries and all sorts of other stuff. So six DVDs for seventy bucks, it’s like $50 off. Plus you get the awesome black/blue and red all over double-box to carry them in.

We hope to have a more extensive writeup soon.  (we still have to watch through all this stuff!)

posted on March 13th, 2008 in Best Practices, Content, Glennz Tees, Merch 

A T-Shirt Rock Star declares his Undependence

Arguably one of the most influential working t-shirt designers today, Glenn Jones, has launched his own t-shirt company, Glennz Tees. If you’ve spent much time in the t-shirt world, you already know his work. He’s won more Threadless contests than anyone. He combines a richly-colored, insanely detailed illustrative style with a laugh-out loud funny visual gag.

(more…)

posted on January 26th, 2008 in Best Practices, Commerce, Merchandise, Monetizing, Podcast, Tiki Bar TV 

Tiki Bar TV introduces ‘The Drinkbot Decanter’

Previously in Undependent…

• We profiled Tiki Bar TV’s Lala Pinup Calendar and praised it for:
  • Its direct function as a wall calendar
  • Its value as a shibboleth for Tiki Bar TV fans…
  • Its deepening of the Tiki Bar TV brand thanks in part to its perfectly executed Vargas-style retro aesthetic

So now we’re introducing to Undependent readers Tiki Bar TV’s new “Drinkbot Decanter.”

Again, Tiki Bar has produced a genuinely original product here. Like the Lala Calendar and the Charooba Mug before it, Drinkbot Decanter scores a direct hit for true fans. But we at Undependent, presuming as we do to be experts, also have to praise Tiki Bar TV particularly their manufacturer Tiki Farm for a tiny detail which serves as the crowning achievement of this product. As this will factor into future merchandise profiles, we’ll call it the “You’ve Got to be Kidding Me” factor.

Drinkbot Decanter’s capstone is the tiny, detailed lampshade included with the order. If you haven’t done so already, watch the classic Drinkbot episode for this perfect bit of prop comedy. Being confident comedians, they don’t stop everything to ensure viewers see the lampshade on Drinkbot’s head. It’s just another example of theinspired lunacy that is the signature of Tiki Bar TV.

So, if you were making an expensive, completely custom mug, would you go to the trouble and add more cost to it for this small joke? Of course you wouldn’t. That’s why we’re not writing about you, we’re writing about someone who really gets how tangible the little intangibles ARE. Cheers and mahalo to Tiki Bar and Tiki Farm for really going the extra mile for a joke.

Now that you think about it, you agree, right? Buy a Drinkbot Decanter to say so!

posted on January 13th, 2008 in Content, Information Design, Music 

The World’s First Album Cover – Alex Steinweiss’ Greatest Hit

While there is no shortage of interest in the album cover medium, there’s no obvious web page out dedicated to the world’s first record cover. I’m apparently I’m not the only one looking for it (See: “Anyone have a scan?“) I’ve seen scattered images from articles about Steinweiss but I’ve not found anything resembling a Shrine.

(more…)

posted on January 11th, 2008 in News 

Undependent™ v.1.0 – See How they Run.

Meet the new Undependent.com. Underneath the hood, it’s still Wordpress, but in the world of new blogs (as in life) we all know it’s really what’s outside that truly counts. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Nicolò Volpato and GNV Partners for their great work.

We chose the minimalist color scheme to emphasize that it’s not about us.

(more…)

posted on January 5th, 2008 in Angry Alien, Flash 

Angry Alien announces 30-Second Bunnies Theatre for 2008

If you haven’t visited Angry Alien, know that upon visiting, you’re likely to send it to dozens of others. It’s just one of those things. It’s a Flash-based series of parodies of popular and classic films enacted by cartoon bunnies in 30 seconds. Jennifer Shiman, the creative force behind 30 Second Bunnies theater, has announced some of her forthcoming titles. (Goodfellas!)

Angry Alien Productions: 30-Second Bunnies Theatre and other cartoons.
Happy New Year, Everyone! The new 2008 Bunny Titles are in!
For 2008, we present thus far:

Goodfellas
Jurassic Park
Sixteen Candles
SuperBad
GrindHouse
30 Days of Night

Meanwhile, the bunnies are finishing Pirates of the Bunibbean 3, which will premiere on the Starz online player.

Also, we missed this interview with Jennifer and Texas Public Radio the first time around.  Get up in this.

posted on December 30th, 2007 in News 

Interview with the PBF’s Nicholas Gurewitch

Perry Bible Fellowship is easily one of the best comics around. It’s so rare to find such a truly original and consistently funny strip with such a unique and complex illustrative technique. In fact, Nicholas Gurewitch has crafted a series of completely different styles and he’s only 25. (“Keats, big poet Keats, was DEAD by twenty four!*“) So he’s going to be around a longgggggg time. He’ll probably have an empire on the order of The Far Side in 10 years so long as he can resist the temptation to do bad and dilutive licensing deals*.

NICHOLAS GUREWITCH ON THE PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP – NEWSARAMA

The Perry Bible Fellowship, named for a random church in Perry, Maine, has very little to do with the Bible. In fact, laughing at the strip’s outrageous dark comedy might make you worry that you’re going to Hell.

The brainchild of 25-year-old Nicholas Gurewitch, the comic has become a runaway hit since he began it in college in 2001. It’s grown to appear in more than 20 newspapers, Maxim magazine and of course on its own web site. Now, it’s poised to conquer the publishing world with The Trial of Colonel Sweeto, a hardcover collection from Dark Horse Comics. Already a bestseller, it’s the perfect introduction to Gurewitch’s world of doughy humans, sarcastic aliens, and really, really horrible things happening. We chatted with Gurewitch about his strip’s success, his inspirations, and just how he creates his horrifying hilarious strip.