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The legend of Llamosus

For those that claim llamas aren’t majestic, clearly have never met Llamosus, King of the Llamas. When he isn’t seen posing atop sunny hillsides and scenic overlooks, Llamosus can be found freeing animals trapped in petting zoos and spitting all on those within a fourteen foot radius who spread injustice within the animal kingdom.

In a world run by mega-corporations, we cannot police ourselves. We need the watchful eye of God-like llama. Someone who without fear, can turn wrong into right, night into day and bring hope to those who have none.

So the next time you’re taking a stroll though a steep canyon or standing beneath a picturesque waterfall, don’t be surprised if you see a mighty llama gazing down upon you. And if you look real close, you just might see that hoofed hero is none other than… Llamosus.

“White Oven on White” No.1 – Polaroid

Real Polaroids can never be replaced by some .99¢ iPhone app. But the way things are moving lately, it’s really quite a shame when you think about it. There’s a certain joy you get hearing an old Polaroid camera come alive with that buzzing sound as it spits out your newly exposed picture. No app can capture that. Also, now that 600 film is hard to come by, every picture you take is special. One of a kind. Real. Nobody out there is stockpiling, then rationing how many pictures they take on their iPhone. And sure being able to shoot without care is nice for somethings, but it definitely cheapens the experience.

Perhaps the saddest part in all this is that Polaroid themselves is part of the problem. They’re a company that for decades has made their own product obsolete, just to force people to buy a new camera that uses different film because they think they’ll make more money. Unfortunately, their constant short-term thinking will probably be the thing that finally kills them one day.

CS5 Wallpapers

Look no further, it's just what you probably maybe ordered, here are some Adobe CS5 wallpapers built in everyone’s favorite size of 1440×900 pixels. If it’s not your favorite size, too damn bad. Make your own.

The nice thing about these wallpapers, should you choose to slack off at work, is they act as an extra line of defense. Or if you are working hard, moving pixels around by the truck-load and happen to go to your desktop, the sight of seeing another Photoshop screen can cause your rods and cones to explode. Both are pretty cool. Enjoy.

A-Team Anniversary!

Three years ago to the day, the creative partnership between myself and Mr. Andre Vriesman began. And three years later, the A-Team, as we’ve been dubbed, is still going strong.

Advertising is a strange business for a lot of reasons, but the one that is among my favorite is that you work with a partner. In my case, being that I’m an art director, I work with a copywriter. But the thing that makes me lucky is that I also get to work with one of my best friends in the world. Everyday. And because of that, I feel mighty fortunate.

Anytime we go into battle, I know Andre has got my back. And visa-versa. I know if I throw some dumb idea out there, he’ll make it better. And if I can’t even muster some dumb idea, he’ll at least have something up his sleeve. That’s the way it is and that’s the way it should be.

So thank you to Andre for being a great writing partner over the past three years and thank you to all the partners I’ve had over my advertising career. I wouldn’t be who I am without you.

Toast T-Shirts

A few years ago, a friend was telling me how foods like carrots and potatoes to can be carved out to make stamps for printing on clothes and stuff. And because of their density and other delicious vegetable qualities, they work surprisingly well. Then somewhere from this conversation, the idea come up to try the same thing but with bread. Which for printings sake, does not have the same qualities as carrots or potatoes. But we tried it anyway and I’m glad we did.

Since then, I’ve made quite a few shirts and ruined a lot of possible sandwiches. Plus, since no two pieces of bread are exactly the same, each shirt is slightly different than the next. Perhaps one day bread will overtake snowflakes as the symbol for being unique.

If you’d like to make one for yourself, here’s what you’ll need:

01. A shirt
02. A loaf of bread (find a loaf with a nice iconic bread shape. You’d be surprised at how much bread isn’t baked this way)
03. Fabric paint
04. Paint brush
05. A human torso

Asleep at the Wheel

Moments after this photo was taken, this happened.

He will be missed. The good news is the car accident actually knocked some of the dirt off his windshield, so if he happened to open his eyes there’s a chance he possibly could have seen the road.

Spring is in the Air

There should be a caption contest for this shot. I keep thinking about being a fly on the wall to a fly or something, but I’m not sure that even makes sense. Either way, hopefully they used protection because the last thing the world needs is more house flies.

Hidden Treasure

During a visit to S.C.R.A.P. this weekend, I became the lucky discoverer of some 2006 test prints made by the talented Mr. Dan Stiles out of Portland, OR. If you’re not familiar with Dan’s work, he makes some of the most strikingly beautiful poster art you can find out there for bands such as The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Wilco (the list goes on and on), plus brands like Nike and promotional work Bumbershoot.

Because of this, I was pretty pleased to stumble upon this glorious bounty. So was the drab office wall they now call home. And by the looks of them, coupled with the fact that S.C.R.A.P. is run on peoples donations of art supplies, I have to believe they were donated by none other than Mr. Dan Stiles himself. So thank you, Mr. Dan Stiles.

Here you can even see the different screens they were made from during the test prints in the second image.

Update: A few weeks after posting this, GrainEdit posted a great interview with Mr. Dan Stiles that you may want to check out as well.

Needle Felting the Manly Way

As a man who’s comfortable with his manliness, I decided to make some girly felt earrings for the ladies in my life. Which if you think about it, is pretty manly.

If you’re not familiar with needle felting, it’s actually a cool process involving wool and sharp objects. Basically, you take a wad of loose felt wool fibers and poke the hell out of them with a needle that has backwards barbs on it. This packs everything together as the barbs grab and pull the fibers into place, making whatever shapes you want. The process goes something like this: HERE.

Now to be quite honest, making little felt balls like this is actually quite rudimentary and the first thing one makes when learning needle felting. But I don’t care. They were still pretty fun to make and a good thing to cut my teeth on. The same goes for bending the wire to actually turn them into things to hang from your ears.

2010 Seattle ADDY Awards

Last week the Seattle ADDY Awards were held and Andre and I did pretty dang well. Together we took home 11 awards, 2 gold and 9 silver, and our old digs (TM Seattle) took home 16 total. All in all, it was a pretty good show and we had a nice haul. And honestly, I don’t think we had anticipated on doing quite as well as we did, but heck, we’ll take it.

A big thanks to all the others to played a pivotal role in the agency to make all the work actually take shape and become that much better; Forrest Healy, Zach Hitner, Susana Cascais, Megan Sczesny, Leslie Hardy, Curtis Jackson and Sharron Higbee. Not to mention the great clients at Group Health and Redhook Ale. Same goes for the Seattle Ad Club for putting on a fantastic event.

If you weren’t able to make it to the awards night, do the next best thing and take a stroll through the Flickr set.

First Roll on the Holga
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Back in September I was lucky enough to receive a medium format Holga for my birthday. Now after a few months of toying around, I finally finished shooting a roll and got it developed. It was fun shooting with such a simple camera (and not just through a lame point-n-shoot) and it got me back into using film. You might as well make the most out of your trip to get it developed, right?

The real story here should be about how difficult it is to get film developed these days. In only a few short years of digital photography taking over, photofinishers have taken quite the hit. Many places have gone out of business and have also resorted to sending film out to a central processing center in a far away land. Thinking about it just makes me sad.

Luckily, there are a few good places left. I ended up taking mine to Moon Photo Lab in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood. The owner Bob Mullins, even stayed 15 minuted after they closed just so I could pick up my order after I got off work. He’s a hell of a guy and he’ll definitely get more of my business in the future.

Guaranteed Today, Tomorrow, Forever.

Back in February 2004, you’d find me roaming the halls of Brainco: The Minneapolis School of Advertising & Design. It was a great place to be and one of the funnest periods in my life. During this time is when I started working on this campaign for Craftsman Tools and honing my skills as an ad person.  I say “ad person” because at the time, we weren’t working with partners yet and I took a lot of pride in doing the writing, along with the art direction and photography. I even created the font, which was something new for me. So since this campaign was a pretty important stepping stone for me, I wanted to share them and give them a little more light.

On a side note, I really like the new Craftsman tagline, “Trust. In Your Hands.” In a world where people can’t work on their own cars and buy near-disposable Ikea furniture, it’s a sentiment that really carries some weight. Coming from a household where my dad’s first instinct was to build it yourself before you even think about pulling out your wallet, it makes me a little sad to think that working with your hands is a lost art. Luckily, Craftsman is the perfect brand to get people back in their garage and it makes me happy to see they realize this.

CLIENT: Craftsman Tools
AD/CW/PHOTO: Andy Westbrock
INSTRUCTORS: Erik Kvålseth & Grant Bernstein
SCHOOL: Brainco

Westlake Center Takeover

Perhaps you already noticed (most likely not), but my writing partner, Andre Vriesman and I, finally gathered up the best of the 750 photos we took of the GroupHealth domination we did this summer at the Westlake Center in downtown Seattle and added it to the ol’portfolio. It’s always tough trying to tell the story of such a big ordeal in the most simple way possible. I think it came together pretty well.

This was the third year we got the opportunity to use this alt-media canvas and, in my mind, it’s the best one yet. The idea was to turn the giant mass of granite bricks that is the courtyard of the Westlake Center into a leafy oasis where people could escape their urban surroundings. From this, the GroupHealth Park was born. We also added a 14 x 12 foot wilderness maze that encourages would be hikers to get out and be healthy and a 16 foot long tire hop to train on. Not to mention all the table top art and banners we made too. One of which is a huge topo map of Mt. Rainier National Park. My eyes could pore over that for hours on end. Take a look for yourself.

The greatest thing about doing this kind of advertising has got to be how people react to it. It’s one of the few instances I’ve had in my career where I’ve gotten to witness firsthand, people interacting with your work, smiling, taking pictures of each other and genuinely enjoying something you helped create. It’s a great feeling.

The Gut of Mt. Hood

Back in February I got the opportunity to spend a weekend down in Government Camp, OR with my good friend, Mr. Lucas P. Will. Now his middle name isn’t actually anything that starts with the letter “P”, but that’s beside the point. The point is Mr. Lucas P. Will basically lives right in the gut of Mt. Hood and is next door neighbors with both Timberline Lodge and Mt. Hood Meadows. Needless to say, it’s a good spot to find yourself.

Riding down Vista Ridge at Mt. Hood Meadows, Oregon - 2/6/09 Camera: Andy Westbrock Skier: Lucas Will

It being February and all meant we had to ski/snowboard and ski/snowboard we did. I on a snowboard, Lucas on skis. I even tried my hand at riding with a camera to document the experience on the way down.

Lucas has since moved on from his cabin on the mountain, but hopefully we’ll get to do more riding together this coming season. Keep and eye out for that Lucas though. He and Greg Petry plan to circumnavigate Lake Superior so chances are you’ll see him in a kayak.

Leaving A Legacy

There comes a time in life when you’re old and gray, and your legacy is all you have left. Death is coming fast and all you can think is, “how will I be remembered?” Well, luckily for you there’s a great new site that could help with that very problem, without forcing you to have children. It’s called FontStruct and it allows anyone to build their own working typeface, through the magic of the internet.

All you have to do is make an awesome typeface, name it after yourself, then watch as future generations of designers talk about how you’re a genius. It worked for Frederic W. Goudy, Claude Garamond, Harry “Helvetica” Helverson and it can work for you. So please, do your future-self a favor and check it out.

Zombie Standoff

Written by: Andre Vriesman & Andy Westbrock

A few months back my writing partner, Andre Vriesman and I had the pleasure of working on some radio spots for our client Redhook Ale. This is always welcomed with open arms since they usually let us do some pretty cool and fun stuff. Seriously, how many times do you get to work in zombies and “sawed of shotguns” into a script? Then just recently, I turned it into a simple little animated video so the digital world could enjoy it a little easier. So if you haven’t already, give “Zombie Standoff” a listen.