Can you spot the Scranton/Wilks-Barre RailRiders’, Triple-A for the Yankees, foam conductor hat(based on the porcupine conductor logo that we designed in this Colbert Report “Better Know a District”? (Yeah, yeah, it’s super, tiny, blurry and obscured. But it’s the Colbert Report!

See more of these historic behind-the-scenes photos HERE. Here is a photo from the book “Windows on Nature”. One of my favorite pages features these moose locked in battle. So powerful and muscular.

We just added three new styles to the Clink store. The Lakeland Flying Tigers managers Official On-Field, A custom colorway of the new Eugene Emeralds mascot swinging a tree just like the Swinging Friar, and a classic Threshers’ colorway that the team made when we first unveiled the Threshers’ brand over 10 years ago. Head over to the Clink store to check it out.

The Lexington Legends are tracking the Countrywide domination of their mustache hat design that we designed for them. Here is their map tracking their Risk-like conquest. That mustache has legs!

You can get them from the Legend’s online store. Or you can head over to Hat Club and pick it up. Between those 2 sources we’ve got your size needs covered!

Hey Clinkers! Head on over and check out these sweetum hatums that we designed in collaboration with United Pixel Workers. We love what the fellas over at United Pixel Workers are doing and we were exctied when they approached us to collaborate with them. The 2 offerings include one style showcasing their “U” logo designed by the badass Draplin and the “Pixelsmith” designed by us, Brandiose. They’re on pre-order now with a special offer if you order both styles. Go to UnitedPixelWorkers.com to checkum outum.

Kick this weekend’s ass Clinkers!

That’s when the name changed! Rock ‘N’ Rollers out, Zing ‘Ems in. This is so common in the work we do. The design is done, everyone is excited, then 2 steps backward. This even happens when designing logos for baseball teams. I’ll bet if you tried really hard you could find team identities whose name was changed mid-process but everyone liked the logos we had been working on. I think it makes the project more interesting. Below you can see our first attempt at the Zing ‘Ems, this time referencing a different composition from a different Rock ‘N’ Rollers Round 1 concept sketch. Again, as much variation as we could while keeping the guts of the design the same.

Here’s a look at variations of the text on it’s own. I’m not 100% sure but I think Mattel wanted the Zing ‘Ems brand to not be Toy Story specific. Watch out for those Monster University Zing ‘Ems!

The last part of the project was to create a rendering of Buzz to be used as a graphic for the packaging. Here is the sketch we used as a jumping off point and a screenshot of how we built the character in Illustrator.

Here are a few different outline color options for the Buzz character rendering.

And here’s the final packaging. Unfortunately, our Buzz didn’t make the cut. But you know what? That’s just the way it works. Our job is fun and fulfilling, and it’s not that way because of the final product or result. It’s fun and fulfilling because the process is fun and fulfilling. Drawing is fun, working with all the awesomely creative people at Mattel is fun. Looking back at the work you’ve done, whether is printed on the final package or not, and being proud of what you’ve made. That’s fulfilling.