Meet my font.

For a long time, The Huz has been trying to convince me to make a font. I just never had time. I still don't have time.

But I'm building the Kindle version of PickleWeasel Picture Riddles (book 1) and I want it to have popups - super fun, right? But the popups are text based. So it became an unavoidable necessity.

How to make a font? It was a bit of a hack getting this font made; the look of my line comes from a certain blobbiness in Flash. I've tried to reproduce it in other apps and programs and it's never quite right.

But to get from Flash to the FontLab meant jumping through several hoops including backwards saving from Flash CS5 to CS4 to CS3, going from W7 to MAC to XP on different machines. Then output to Illustrator and finally to Eps, which could be imported into FontLab.

And speaking of time, this font is going to save me tons. Thanks to The Huz!

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Visual Storytelling - 6 reasons why stories with pictures are awesome.

I spoke in a panel at BlogHer14, called "Developing Your Visual Voice". My segment was about eighteen minutes pulled from my workshop on Visual Storytelling. The response was positive enough to follow up with a more in-depth "how to" series here on my blog. I am nice.

Let's get started.

Why should we tell stories with pictures?

1. Welp. The world is full of noise.

If you're doing business, if you're an educator, or an independent artist, writer or blogger; if you're content marketing in any way, images will help you stick out of the pile.

There's a lot of bloggers out there - not a lot of them draw. And NO ONE draws like you (whether you think you can draw or not).

2. Stories will pictures have sticky-power. People have short attention spans - they often skim rather than read.

I'll bet you're reading this.

So putting your message into pictures is a perfect way to be instantly seen...

...and remembered. And shared.

Hurrah for sticky-power!

3. Be instantly recognizable. Use certain colours and styles consistently to establish your visual voice. Remember that visuals add your personal touch to any kind of media. Some folks call this 'branding', but it really means you being 'you'. Know who you are.

Your "look" should be visible on all your social media platforms, your audio-visuals, PowerPoint presentations and your print media.

4. Pictures are empathy triggers. They grab people and make them feel something. The more personal your drawing is the better, i.e. if you draw it yourself, then you're using your own authentic visual voice.

And if you can engage on an emotional level, it becomes a two way conversation.

You talk to them and they talk back - people like to be heard, it makes them feel good. We all want to feel that we are a part of the story.

You can capture the hearts and minds of your audience with visual storytelling.

But that's not all. These four points contribute to one great result:

5. Drawing is good for your brain. Whether you draw it yourself or hire someone else to draw it for you, being able to think and express yourself visually will make you a better communicator and a better storyteller.

6. Duh. Stories with pictures are fun. You can put things in drawings that enhance a story and add layers of meaning. Visual storytelling is value-added.

I mean, which book would you go for?

Next up in this series: simple digital tools. 

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Self-publishing a picture book is really fun!

Well that was a gigantic lie.

I've been busy. Making a book. To self-publish. In other words, I am in HELL.

I thought I'd start making some of my stories into books. I've got some BIG BOOKS planned baby! But instead of starting with one of the biggies, I thought maybe I'd better test the waters with a story that's already proved its mettle, so to speak, on my blog. I selected a story, a well loved family story, with a universal theme - the junction between childhood and adolescence - The LAST Snowman.

This story is fully baked. Should work fine as a book, right?

Wrong.

Oh so wrong.

I have never been so wrong...(unless you count that time with that guy).

I noticed things in the drawings that bothered me and I had to finesse them. The pacing suddenly didn't work when I imagined another parent reading the story to their child. Establishing context became more important to build the tension. More drawings were needed.

And the text - where did all these repeated words come from?

What did I mean when I wrote this?

Do I really need to write that something happens in the story if I
show it happening in the illustration?

I reached out to those with more knowledge than I, and received valuable editing suggestions and advice. I honed, crafted, massaged, second-guessed and streamlined the story, and tried to stay true to the feel of the original blog post. I don't know if I've succeeded. A blog post is one thing; a book is another.

And then came formatting the bugger. With digital publishing, there's different types of files that you can make for a book. Oh wait....you're making a picture book? And it's landscape...as in "horizontal"? Sorry, but NONE of the eBook sellers out there (Amazon Kindle, iBook, Nook, Google Play) seem to be there yet. Here's the skinny (as far as I grasp it, which is not nearly as far as I like to throw this book):

You're supposed to start with InDesign and bring your pretty pictures in there. I hate InDesign with the burning intensity of a thousand suns. Then you export them to the different file formats: PDF, ePUB and MOBI. You really have to install plugins and screw around with the settings. My goal was to achieve a "two-page spread" - that is, one image spread over two pages, in the horizontal aspect of the device.

The PDF looked beautiful in iBooks on my iPad.

iKnowright?

But it failed at displaying
horizontally in the Kindle app on my friend Stephie's Android tablet. The bottom was cut off.

Stephie screencapped this for me while she was in a bubble bath; that was nice of her don't you think?

The ePUB file supposedly works well for text heavy books with a vertical (portrait) aspect ratio. Horizontal picture books? Not so much. Also, the colours were a bit washed out.

Some kinda weird artifact glommed onto this page and it won't shake loose.

MOBI (for Kindle or a device that has a Kindle app on it) - same dealio.

Two different sized frames on the vertical. WHY???

Remember, I'm looking for something that delivers a single image on each page change. I want to control all the things!

And then...I discovered the Kindle Comic Creator. KC2 is made by Amazon just for creating comics and picture books for Kindle, it's easy to use and it's free. I downloaded that baby, and threw my images into it hoping for the elusive two-page spread. Ten minutes later I had this:

Success!

Ideal preview results on all the Kindle Fires. No messing around with InDesign and all those crazy export settings.

Just for fun, here's the Kindle Paperwhite:

Woof.

But I still had to check out how it would appear in the Kindle apps on actual tablets. The Android passed with flying colours.

My friend Brandie screencapped this on her new Samsung tablet. 

And then I tested the KC2 MOBI (KF8) file on my iPad. It was a fail.

I blame Steve Jobs.

The KC2 Guide says it will work on the iPad Kindle app, but from what I can see, it did not deliver my "two-page spread".

AND THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A TEST BOOK.

I hear you laughing.

For all you Apple-cores, I'll be checking out the iBooks Author at some point. Or I'll just go with Blurb. We'll see.

Now the next big question is, "should I hire a publicist?" 

The LAST Snowman will launch during the first week of December 2013, Kindle version on Amazon. Holy crap, that's next week.

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PickleWeasel PROMO!

So they say that if you're releasing an app, you should really do a teaser promo to show it off and get some buzz going a couple weeks prior to the release. Lucky for me, I'm an animator!

Here's the PickleWeasel promo. It's kind of a boy meets girl story. With a PickleWeasel in it.
 

I'm surrounded by fabulous voice and musical talent. Props go to my 15 year old daughter and her friend Nat voicing this "boy meets girl" story. And The HUZ with his unforgettable tunifications. *applause*

Fun-Fact: The Guess-Games in the app were drawn in DrawSomething. I put PickleWeasel in all my drawsomes; 500 drawings later...you get the picture.

We're planning on launching the iPad version on January 21st from the App Store, and iPhone/Android will follow in the spring. Lots of fun stuff to come including a launch party, the chance to be drawn into the upcoming PickleWeasel music video, and an iPad Mini giveaway. I'll keep you posted here but you can always find out more about the app at PickleWeasel.com.

Don't be stingy with the sharing now. Go forth and make buzz.

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Limitations = FREEDOM. #MadeWithPaper drawing app review.

You may have noticed a slightly different style appearing in some of my drawings here since I got the iPad 3. I bought several drawing apps – they’re luxuriously cheap and some have nearly all the bells and whistles of Photoshop or Illustrator.

But my special favorite is a very simple app called Paper by 53. You can’t zoom in it… …there are no layers …you can't change the brush size...and the colours are limited. So why do I love it so?

Just download the free app and take a look at the books.

Choose one and open it up. It feels nice.

The ink drivers flow beautifully, and the limitations actually force a creative thought process.

I find I don't want to be bogged down by too many choices.

I can tear away from the temptation of time-consuming perfection and detail.

Working within restrictions can somehow set you free.

I guess drawing in Paper is a lot like drawing on paper, but with a really great eraser!

Here’s a quickie guide:

• The tool tray slides up and down. 
• The quill is speed sensitive – the faster you draw, the thicker the line. 
• The water colour brush will deepen the longer you linger. 
• All colours are transparent, except black and white.  
• A circular motion with two fingers on the screen counter-clockwise will undo. 
• The page is not white, so white ink shows nicely. 

Everyone who draws with Paper can't help smiling.

I would change two things though – first, I’d offer more colour palettes. Not unlimited colours, but more trays of set colours. The current colours are starting to bore me; it’s hard to differentiate one artist from another cuz we're all using the same colours. Prolly good for the initial branding of a drawing app but it's getting old. And  secondly, since I’m a cartoonist it would be useful to make copies of drawings; that way I could work on a succession of drawings, with subtle changes between them.

The basic version of this app is free but if you want all the brushes they cost about $2 each. A whole $8. Also... Paper just won an Apple Design Award yesterday - Congrats!

I drew my three children on my iPad, using Paper and a Wacom Bamboo stylus.

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KLOUT 101 - How to be truly influential.

Yes. YOU are one of the most influential people in social media and can start a trend with a single tweet. Wow, you actually have more KLOUT than Justin Bieber!

But guess what? With awesome power comes huge responsibility. Now that you have this amazeballs Klout score of 101, what are you going to do with it?

Duh. Get the t-shirt, put it on* and then go out into the real world and smile. That is how you will influence real people.

And hug them. Your life will be better.

*T-shirt isn't actually necessary. But it is fun and cool in a geeky kind of way.

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9 Ways To Say NO.

Are you tired of being asked expected to work for free? Here are nine ways to say NO.

1. The Demure Negatory. If you throw in a little something shiny, they won't even know what hit them.

2. Shock and Disbelief. Trust me, you won't even need to fake it.

3. Rage. No one will mistake this for a "yes".

4. The Element of Surprise. Catch them off guard with a Cirque move!

5. Run Away Screaming. I tried this last week and it works amazingly well.

6. Over My Dead Body. This one's a little old school, but it's perfect for repeat offenders. Plus you can always throw in the threat of haunting to spice things up.

7. The Jedi Wave. Some folks simply don't get that they should pay for commercial services; they really feel entitled to free drawings and stuff, no matter how you explain it. And they even get kinda mad when you just say no. It's far better to hypnotize them. Help me Obi-Wan Kenobe, you're my only hope.

8. Mirth. Burst out laughing. Especially effective if someone offers to pay you with tweets.

9. If all else fails, Spell It Out. If you view these two drawings in the Lightbox skin, you can animate them and say the word "no" at the same time. TRY IT - just click on the drawing.

I may publish a collection of some of the more absurd emails asking me for free drawings. I'll even pay myself to illustrate it - oh, the irony!

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GANGSTA 101.

Welcome to today's episode of ...

Please welcome my special guest Interviewee, grade 8 school teacher and self proclaimed Smartness...JW Moxie!

JC: JW, hey welcome to the show! Let's start with a skill testing Gangsta question: Do you think that "evolution" should be taught in schools?

JW: I mean, like, yeah. It should totally be like, a subject because Adam and Eve and then dinosaurs - HELLO, DARWIN. Personally I believe that evolution and creationism are both like, important theories and stuff. Like math. I believe that math should be taught in schools, too. Wait - what was the question?

JC: And that answer is correct! One of the things I like about your writing is the Gangsta timing. Timing is a big deal for animators. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?

JW: Timing? It's always a good time to be a Gangsta. Unless by "timing," you mean the ability to deliver a punchline or theme statement at the appropriate point of narration to achieve the desired emotional effect.

JC: Uh. You had me at "good time".

JW: I win!

JC: Okay Missus Smartnessypants, keep your panties on. Your fave Gangsta word seems to be "Word". Since you're so knowledged in English, what are your all time favourite made up words?

JW: Good question. wreckadent (n): a wreck that's worse than your standard accident; f*cknuttery (n): something so effed up that it's nutty; ballsome (adj.): having the balls to be awesome;. "That joker cut me off in traffic and almost caused a wreckadent. It was pure f*cknuttery, but because I'm ballsome, I let him off with a stern look instead of flipping him the bird." WORD.

JC: So you're an English teacher as well as a Gangsta, right? Which Great Names from literature (not including The Bloggess) do you think are Gangsta material and why?

JW: Dean Koontz (Just kidding). Gloria Naylor - I love how she subtly weaves her books together with whispered allusions (i.e. The Women of Brewster Place and Bailey's Cafe). Another favorite is Theodore Geisel aka Dr. Seuss.

JC: Dr. Seuss? I've heard of Dr. Seuss!!

JW: Contrary to popular belief he is the OG of rap, not Grandmaster Flash.

JC: Let's pretend you're a Gangsta for reals: you're walking down the street being badass, and when you get to the corner a Buddhist nun stops you and asks you to hold the end of a piece of string for a minute. The nun takes the other end of the string and disappears around the corner with it. You wait. A really. Long. Time. And then finally you decide to cautiously peer around the corner. There, holding the other end of the string and peering back at you is Donald Trump! What do you say to him?

JW: "Trump. Dude, really? Are your hands so busy counting greenbacks that you couldn't hold the string? Playing "pull my finger" wasn't sophomoric enough for you? You're fired. And please, for the love of all that is Gangsta, do something about that combover."

Word.

The "YO! YO" drawing was part of an awesome Christmas mug-swap for the Aiming Low writers. Yes, she's drinking out of it right now, go see.

UPDATE: My mug from JW arrived this afternoon! It is The Ballsome. Are we in sync or whut?

Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.

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