Dean Terry via Compfight cc

We are feeling great about our panel submissions for this year’s SXSW Eco conference. It’s happening this October in Austin. Help us share our take on Sustainable Content Strategy and Changing the World by voting for our proposed sessions!

Hurry…voting ends May 24th.

Step 1: Register and Vote Here! (it’s quick and painless, we promise)

Step 2: Search for “Ocupop” and give our sessions a thumbs up! Detailed proposals and direct links are listed below to make voting even easier.

Step 3: That’s it. Yes, that’s it!

Want to change the world? Wait a couple months.

When you are looking to change the world, the last thing you feel like you should do is wait. It goes against every fiber of your being – every day new ideas, new connections, new problems drive you into action and propel you to shout your message as loudly as you can.

Though this compulsion to broadcast your cause (or product) is obviously vital to success, too often organizations jump the gun with their launch. Non-profits, startups, consultancies, and individuals all continually push their message long before they have taken the time to fully evolve their brand and establish the assets key to fostering success. Countless ‘launch’ campaigns waste thousands of dollars and months of valuable time by focusing on ‘making a splash’ instead staying focused on making a lasting impact.

In this talk, Michael Nieling, Creative Director of Ocupop, will describe how restraint and a dose of careful planning can help position your launch to not only raise eyebrows but to actually change the world.

A Sustainable Content Strategy

Your organization needs to be talking about what you’re doing, staying in the global and national conversation of current issues, and engaging your audience on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. That means engaging on Twitter, Facebook, on your blog, and beyond. How do you make that work? The key is to make sure your organization has a dedicated content strategy—writers, reviewers, researchers, and leadership with clearly defined roles and schedules for making sure your message goes out on time, on-message, and on top of the viral media pile. We’ll share our success story with a nationally recognized sustainability organization, Sustainable America, and share with you the tool set and protocols we use to make it happen.

Thank you for voting!!

For the 13th year in a row we have broken the promise we make to you and to ourselves to keep our portfolio current (and to keep our dropbox organized and to not eat candy for meals). So, to make up for our laggardly attitude about showing off our work, here is a bite-sized portion of some of our logo work from the last 12 months.

This past summer, I was given an illustration project for our client Fluxx. Fluxx is a collaborative work platform that connects organizations to their data. The software helps both the organization and its employees become more efficient and organized. I was asked to take this complex, highly-evolved concept and explain its features and benefits with a series of illustrations.

The process started with a very literal route, trying to mimic the already existing website design. Though the illustrations were accurate and simple, they were also boring and flat.

So, with a little art direction push, we found a new route working on a few hand drawn options evolved from more representational concepts.

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I started playing with color and soon enough opportunities for illustrations popped up for different sections of the site. The more illustration sets we created, the more color we were able to bring into the other pages. In the end we were even able to work in hand-drawn portraits for the teams bios.

What started out as a plan to create 9 illustrations ended up being a core component of the brand and to date we’ve created dozens of different illustrations for Fluxx (lucky me!).

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Valentine’s Day is all about sharing the love, which is exactly what the Staten Island Yankees did through Facebook and Twitter during their “You ‘Moo-ve’ Me” sweepstakes earlier in February. Entry was simple. On Facebook, participants were asked to share the SIY status update and post a photo with their Valentine to the page. The rules were similar on Twitter, re-tweet the SIY post and share a photo of you and your Valentine. Participants had a chance to win 4 tickets to a game this season, pre-game picture with a player, and a Godiva chocolate heart. Not bad for only having to click a few buttons!

A slight departure from the usual SIY aesthetic, the lettering we worked on for the sweepstakes was an enjoyable change of pace. What says “love” more than some sexy-looking script? Here’s a peek into the process behind the the letters.

Out of a few pages covered in these two words, here are the chosen ones, drawn with a Tombow brush pen.

Once the best were chosen, they were outlined on a sheet of tracing paper.

The outlined images were used as guides to create vector-based letterforms in Illustrator. And there you have it, analog to digital in 3 simple steps. Almost as easy as the sweepstakes entry itself!

Last March, I had the opportunity to attend a serigraphy workshop hosted by David Dodde of House Industries. The quality of work that David and House produce is remarkable and inspiring, to say the least. The following night Rich Roat of House spoke at an event hosted by AIGA Wisconsin & Discovery World, adding more insight into House Industries. The MKE Type exhibit was, without a doubt, largely influenced by the House philosophy.

Prior to the start of production on the MKE Type exhibit, a friend mentioned that another friend and fellow MIAD student, Miguel Ramirez, was helping her by making a shelf for her exhibit. Immediately, I sent him a text to find out if he was available to meet and discuss my ideas. When we sat down to talk at the sawdust covered table in the 3D Lab, I was only concerned about how the logo could translate to a stand-alone sign, but by the end of our conversation we were planning a trip to Home Depot to get the necessary materials for the entire wall (sheets of MDF & plywood, 2x4s, screws, etc.).

A big thanks to Michael & Sara for letting me fill their attic with toxic paint fumes!

Not 2 days after the first trip to Home Depot, before I even had a chance to pick up primer and paint, Miguel had all the pieces of MDF cut down and waiting for me at my desk. The following day, I made a trip to the local Sherwin-Williams and ordered A LOT of paint. Painting began in a gallery at the school (pictured above, lower-left image), but I quickly realized that the fumes from the oil-based primer, lack of ventilation, and abundance of students did not mix. Lucky for me, Michael and Sara were generous enough to offer their attic space so I could continue the process. Once all of the pieces at MIAD were dry, I packed them up to transport across town to the Nieling residence.

Once the boards were primed I was able to apply the low-tack vinyl stencils, which I purchased from nearby National Sign & Design. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that low-tack vinyl and oil based primer don’t mix very well. This resulted in another trip back to National Sign and consequently, a fender-bender…which is a whole other story in itself.

Cutting things with lasers is fun!

Another of the many learning experiences I had throughout this process, came about while using the laser cutter at Discovery World. As it turned out, the masonite I had originally purchased to use for the sign was too hard, even for the laser’s high intensity. The top portion of the image above shows the laser cutter in action, trying its best to cut through the masonite. Ultimately, I ended up making yet another trip back to Home Depot in search of a softer wood that would be easier for the laser to cut through. The following day I returned to Discovery World and the new sheets of wood worked out much better, as you can see in the lower-left portion of the picture above.

A glimpse of the custom jig and full-bleed screen printing

During the serigraphy workshop (mentioned in the beginning of the post), David Dodde discussed his technique for full-bleed printing. For those of you who are unfamiliar with bleeds, it is a term used to describe the extension of an image past the edge of the object the image is being printed on. Since the MDF was a half inch thick, the screen had to be raised off the table the same amount, allowing the ink to be evenly distributed across the flat surface of the panel. In order to do this, I drew up plans for a rudimentary jig and Miguel brought it to life. I have a background in screen printing, but had no access to any of the necessary equipment. So, my friend (and Abby’s boyfriend!) Lucas Ruminski was kind enough to set up the screens and pull some prints for me. Thanks to Lucas they turned out great!

Miguel Ramirez is a powerhouse!

Pictured above is Miguel, busting his ass to help me finish in time…or something like that. It wasn’t installed quite by the deadline, but after weeks of chaos and sleep-deprivation it was finally complete. If not for Miguel and his selfless determination (not to mention everyone else who lent a hand at the very last minute), the exhibit wouldn’t have had nearly as much impact. Throughout the whole process I felt very fortunate to work with such a great group of people, and in the end they are the ones who made the MKE Type exhibit a reality.

Lifestyle is important to Ocupop, and as a company full of dog-lovers our canine friends are an important part of our daily lives and routines. Whether we work from home or go to the office, our dogs tend to be with us and we think that makes for better work, happier people and happier dogs. Some research has shown that when dogs were present in a group, employees are more likely to trust each other and collaborate more effectively in the office. After all, if dogs in the workplace are good enough for The Daily Show, Ben & Jerry’s and Google, then they’re good enough for us!

All of our furry work companions have a very special dog named Mookie to thank for their place at our desks. Michael’s dog Mookie was his best friend and constant travel, surf, snow, and work companion for 13 years. He was Ocupop’s first office dog and the inspiration for Ocupop’s dog-friendly work atmosphere.

Mookie

Read how our dogs help us work better and live better:

“I love that my dog keeps my day on schedule without a lot of clock watching. Gehry lets me know when it is time to get up to head downstairs to start my day, when the mailman or UPS is about to arrive, when it is time to eat some lunch, when it is time for an afternoon stretch of the legs and when it is time to turn off the computer at night. He is my favorite micromanager.” –Jeff

Gehry

“My dog Mariah is really good at continually reminding me that I need to get away from my computer to go outside and play. Its easy to get caught up in work, but really important for our health to take lots of breaks and get exercise. She also gets really hungry around 5pm when its time for food, which is always a good indicator that I should stop working for a while.” –Cory

Mariah

“Brooklyn being around while I’m working helps me keep a positive morale and let’s me work more without worrying about leaving him alone.” –Erik

Brooklyn

Merv is a little clown. He makes me laugh all the time, and having him by my side as I work helps me to be more positive and productive. As long as Merv is in his bed by my feet there is no hurry to leave my desk at the end of the day. He has a very accurate internal clock though, and makes sure I take a break everyday at exactly 5:30 to feed and walk him. –Nicole

Merv

Cash is full of energy, so It’s great to be able to bring him to work with me where he can be around people all day. Otherwise, he’d be cooped up in a small apartment and I would come home to a maniac who wants to run around for hours. It’s a win-win. When we get home he’s tuckered out, and I’m not stressed about leaving him at home for hours on end. –Chris

Cash

With three little rascals at my feet, it’s hard to take life too seriously. They get me up at the crack of dawn so I have no need for an alarm! And they’re always quick to remind me that it must be 2 o’clock nap time somewhere… –Aubrey

Lady

Bruce

Raggy

Grace slipped her family dog Dude’s photo in here as well!

Dude

And one Ocucat…

Although Yoda is not a dog, he still made the list! With size, personality and a lovable little face he has no problem hanging out with me on the days I work at home (by sitting on or next to my computer). –Abby

Yoda

Everyone at the Ocupop studio in Milwaukee has been very excited for the holiday season. A couple of weeks ago, we picked up a beautiful eight foot evergreen, which Abby and I decorated with Ocupop branded ornaments.

We were pleasantly surprised by what a few handmade ornaments, twinkle lights and paper snowflakes could do to brighten up the office. If only we could keep it up all year round!

From all of us at Ocupop, best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year! We’ll see you in 2013!

This past year, Ocupop had the opportunity to work on Mozilla’s Popcorn Maker 1.0, an online video editor and re-mixer that harnesses the power of HTML5. According to Wired’s Webmonkey Blog, “Popcorn Maker makes it easy to pull just about any content on the web into a video container you can then publish back to the web… HTML5 makes video into just another HTML element — editable, hackable, remixable.”

Ocupop worked with the Mozilla team to help prototype some early-stage wireframes for the Popcorn Maker user interface.

Early Wireframe

Evolved Wireframe

Additionally, Ocupop contributed to the design and development of the embed widget

Early Wireframe of the Embed Widget

Live Demo Of the Popcorn Maker Widget:

To see some examples of projects made with Popcorn Maker and learn more about using the video editor, check out Popcorn Maker projects on Webmaker.org.

Fast Company’s design blog, Co.Design, interviewed Ocupop founder Michael Nieling recently about our work with Disconnect and Mozilla to create a series of icons designed to inform users about what websites are doing with their personal data.

We are honored to be a part of this exciting and important project, and we hope you will read the Co.Design piece to learn more about the process and the thought behind the icon design. Michael is quoted often in the piece!

About a month ago, Ocupop was asked by Burton Snowboards to create an in-house poster involving forty different ski resorts. We created these forty fabulous postcards to depict the resorts. The project got all of us excited about the nostalgia of postcards, so when the idea to make an Ocupop greeting card arose, I jumped at the opportunity to design and produce some throwback postcards.

My method of choice: linoleum block printing, also known as a linocut. As one of the oldest methods of reproducing artwork, and arguably an originator of modern graphic arts, I thought a linocut would be an appropriate technique for a piece that celebrates vintage communication.

Because of the finality of carving into rubbery linoleum, careful planning is essential. The first step of linoleum block printing is designing the piece (which I developed from some rough sketches and a computer mock-up). Next, the mirror-image of the design is transferred onto the block. I decided that the postcard would be three colors, which meant carving three separate blocks.

The first impressions made into the block are precise, thin carvings, which outline the design. By increasing the width of the carving tool, and working out from the initial carvings, larger areas of linoleum are removed until all that is left are the intact areas that will be printed.

The blocks are inked with a roller (or brayer) to get even coverage of ink and then pressed into the paper, which can either be done by hand or with a rotary press. Since I wanted to print many postcards, with relatively consistent results, I decided to use a rotary press.

Inked blocks ready to go through the printing press

I chose an untreated chipboard to print the postcards on, in order to maintain consistency with some other Ocupop materials, but I decided to go all out with the ink selection: stark white, royal purple and shiny silver!

There were some unexpected results in my prints, such as the strokes that are not quite cut out during the carving process, also known as chatter, which reveal the method behind printing the postcards. While the prints have plenty of imperfections, the final piece is unique and personal, which is precisely what I wanted for Ocupop’s special way of saying ‘hello’.