Everything Toys

Please don’t laugh, this was Tero’s idea of a joke.

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:18:10 -0400

Please don’t laugh, this was Tero’s idea of a joke.

Did you know there’s an app about me? and it’s...

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:10:25 -0400

Did you know there’s an app about me? and it’s climbing the charts today.

My favorite part of breakfast: toy

Sat, 11 May 2013 09:52:17 -0400

My favorite part of breakfast: toy

It’s so hot here today, so we decided to take a...

Fri, 10 May 2013 06:40:33 -0400

It’s so hot here today, so we decided to take a swim…

Here’s my friend Pekka, right after he stole my last piece...

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:40:17 -0400

Here’s my friend Pekka, right after he stole my last piece of toffee, caught in the act.

I’ve been really good, I’ll only have one cookie...

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:42:43 -0400

I’ve been really good, I’ll only have one cookie during snack time.

They’re everywhere, searching for someone or something.

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:31:50 -0400

They’re everywhere, searching for someone or something.

TIkka 1, the ship. The Jörgits

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:52:51 -0400

TIkka 1, the ship. The Jörgits

The Smorgs are coming!

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:29:28 -0400

The Smorgs are coming!

MIO

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 12:50:53 -0400

Mikko’s Log, entry 123bc-tr21:

We leave planet Milo’s orbit, and continue our journey towards Earth a little bit disappointed. According to our guide book, Milo was supposed to be filled with marvelous seas, but they were all BENEATH the frozen surface of the planet. How where we supposed to know that? On the bright side of things we were extremly successful at our attempts of removing Pekka’s tongue from a mighty glacier. May the Elders protect our journey.

Leaving Planet Jörg

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 06:50:38 -0400

A ship set out that morning from planet Jörg, before the pale light of their star could rise on the horizon. It was the first clear morning in a long time. The blizzards had stopped for the time being and the icy expanses of the Northern Plains glittered from the reflections of the millions of stars setting in early morning light.
The ship known as the Tikka 1, was manned by a crew of seven Jörgs, each selected for their particular skill: Ilkka the crew’s captain, Timpa their Pilot, Jens the fearless explorer, Pekka their culinary specialist, Mikko the reknowned scientist and expert on Terra Forming, Urho a seasoned warrior, and Tero a skilled “negotiator”. They were on a mission of outmost importance, one that would determine the fate of all Jörgkind. Their destination was a nearby galaxy known to it’s inhabitants as the Milky Way.

Aboard the ship everyone was sleeping now. Tikka had reached her cruising speed of 7.7 times the speed of light (which is a number too fast to really imagine) and the crew had entered the long hybernation needed to undertake a journey of such great length. They had left a number of lights on around the ship. There was nothing worse than waking up in the middle of hypersleep, having to stumble around in the dark, bumping up against other sleeping pods, looking for a way to the kitchen.* There was no remedy for having to walk on the cold floor though.
Before going to sleep Mikko had programmed the ship to wake him up when they would reach an area of Space that was of particular scientific interest to him. Unfortunately he was a rather deep sleeper and slept through the first one, the water world of Mio and the lumninous spinning disk of Galaxy i3865t**
Tikka did not bother herself too much about it. Mikko would scream and holler when he’d wake up, but it wasn’t her fault after all that the little scientist had resisted all her attempts to wake him. She prepared herself instead for the long journey ahead. They had a number of long months ahead of them still before they would reach their destination, a curious blue dot (known to our dear readers as Planet Earth). There were all manners of dangers ahead in the unchartered regions of deep space, Caldurian pirates, hidden asteroid belts, and a rogue black hole or two.

To be continued…

* Even though the sleeping pods provided Jörgits with the food needed during hypersleep, Jörgits like to snack frequently and will often wake up during hypersleep to fill up on something more solid than the milkshake of nutrient juice they receive from the sleeping pod.

** Galaxy i3865t creates a wonderful play of light when it interacts with the atmosphere of Mio. This has made Mio a favorite among intergalactic ravers who hold decade long dance parties underneath its icy seas. Sidsy, the famous intergalactic artist is known to drawn much of his inspiration for his famous work, Refraction Series 3, from i3865t’s light phenomenon.

If you’re not sure what a galaxy is you can read about them here.

Where is planet Jörg?

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:42:00 -0400

We have a lot to report from Team Jörgits. Work is progressing on many fronts. But before I get into that, I would like to ask the Astronomers in my backer community for some help. Can anyone propose a plausible home planet for Planet Jörg?

It should have many of Earth’s qualities with the difference that it’s next to a star that is dying. It can be significantly bigger than earth is. It could be quite far away, the Jörgits are in possession of some pretty kickass warp drive technology after all. Please post your suggestions on the Jörgits Facebook page. The best suggestion will get a unique illustration from Team Jörgits.

Now for the progress report.

Script
Though we’ve been pretty quiet since the Kickstarter ended, I’ve been busy rewriting parts of the novel. Most of the work has gone into the last two chapters of the book, which have been the most difficult to get right. I have probably rewritten the ending five times by now. This is where it helps to have really sharp editor onboard who keeps encouraging me and picks out the diamonds in the rough.

Development
We began working with INKONIQ already prior to our Kickstarter. We already have the framework coded. This includes how to navigate from page to page, how to enter into an illustrations, and our global navigation system. Last week we began working on one of the most challenging but exciting parts of the app: the underwater soundscape. It’s going to be fantastic. Here’s a screenshot from our design spec.

Music
We began working with ISRO in early June on the music for the underwater soundscape. It’s been challenging getting the tone right. We’re looking for the right mixture of a little scary but with sense of awe and beaty. That’s how the underwater world feels after all, scary but awe inspiring. We almost have a first draft out the underwater soundtrack ready. I would love to share it with you, but I have keep reminding myself that I should leave some surprises for when we launch the app.

Illustration & Concept Design
The fun part of having to rewrite parts of the story is that it usually results in new drawings. I’ve been hard at work drawing, drawing, drawing the last two weeks. I’ve been joined by Team Octopus in this endeavor, they were my secret weapon during the Kickstarter campaign. We’re coming up with some pretty neat stuff like designs for the SMORGS (Kauhanen’s artificial hunter-killers), and a (fictional) Chilean astronomer who’ll be appearing on the Jörgits Facebook page during our prelaunch campaign.

Last Night of the Campaign

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:04:29 -0400

We’re drawing up a storm, stay up with us and watch us go the distance. Here are some of the drawings we’ve come up with just today alone.

Helsinki

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 10:26:19 -0400

One of the main inspirations for the Jörgits, is the city of Helsinki. It’s just beautiful. Over a period of four years I’ve been traveling back here to write and gather material for the book. Each time, I spend hours just walking through the city taking pictures of my favorite buildings and landscapes. I use them as reference imagery when I’m drawing but also to get in the right frame of mind as I’m writing. You also seen them show up in my Facebook posts.

I find myself in Helsinki for the final days of the campaign. It’s wonderful to be back where it all began. I took a walk this morning to get away from all the emails and Facebook posts to return to what this campaign is really about: making art. Here are some pictures that I took during my walk, one day soon they’ll show up as illustrations in the app that we’re all working towards.

Just 41 hours to go, then it’s all over, and the world begins a new. The End of Winter draws near…

The Stencils are here!

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:52:00 -0400

We finally got some samples of the stencils and they are awesome! More are on the way, this is not the complete set. Get yours today!

New Kickstarter Rewards!

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:11:15 -0400

Toy Design Workshop

Things are heating up! We added two new rewards categories today. The first is the Toy Design Workshop. I’ve been running the Toylab for the past three years now at the Srishti School of Art and Design in Bangalore. We make some pretty cool stuff. If you have a design firm or an interested group of friends this might be the reward for you. For two days I will teach 10 adults a workshop on toy design. I can tailor make the workshop either towards toys or children’s media. The workshop is will be available in the following cities: San Francisco, New York, Helsinki, Bangalore, and beautiful Pittsburgh. If you live in another city and really want to do this, message me and we can try to arrange it. You would have to provide for my transportation and lodging.

You bring the skills and provide the venue, I teach the process. This is how I run my lab in Bangalore and we have some really nice results.

Children’s App Consultation

We’ve also added the Children’s App Consultation to our rewards Category. Spend 45 minutes with me and I’ll review your concept, help fix your story, and brainstorm cool some interactions for your App. Over Skype or in person (if you find yourself in Bangalore).

Have a look at the some of the work below from my Toy Lab to see what you could be making!

TOYS

Nalisha Chouraria – Little Land

Alannah D’souza – Grub

Natchiappan Ramanthan - Rolling with Mirrors

Anne-Louise Hansen & Nikita Jain - Play Plants

Hydro Hummers - Saurabh Levin

Bogreees - Navackotti

Munch a Tale - Neha Berry

Ishita Dharap - Parasite Puppets

ME - Super Mango 5

MEDIA

Nandini Chandravarkar - Amma will you play with me

Ragini Ramanthan - Escape from Toy Land

Constanza Mahaluf - Camisola

Rudransh Mattur, Ankkit Modi - Projection Mapping

Abrar Burk - The Last of Us

Shilo Suleman - Khoya

New Kickstarter Rewards!

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:10:25 -0400

Toy Design Workshop

You bring the skills and provide the venue, I teach the process. This is how I run my lab in Bangalore and we have some really nice results.

Children’s App Consultation

Have a look at the some of the work below from my Toy Lab to see what you could be making!

TOYS

Nalisha Chouraria – Little Land

Alannah D’souza – Grub

Natchiappan Ramanthan - Rolling with Mirrors

Anne-Louise Hansen & Nikita Jain - Play Plants

Hydro Hummers - Saurabh Levin

Bogreees - Navackotti

Munch a Tale - Neha Berry

Ishita Dharap - Parasite Puppets

ME - Super Mango 5

MEDIA

Nandini Chandravarkar - Amma will you play with me

Ragini Ramanthan - Escape from Toy Land

Constanza Mahaluf - Camisola

Rudransh Mattur, Ankkit Modi - Projection Mapping

Abrar Burk - The Last of Us

Shilo Suleman - Khoya

Girl Power!

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:07:36 -0400

During the summer my family usually spent our vacation in the middle of Finland where my parents where from. My sisters and I didn’t have many friends there, so the three of us spent a lot of time together. Our play tended to focus on storytelling and imaginative play.

My older sister, Joanna would sometimes tell stories that she illustrated on the fly. She expertly wove her stories from a mix of stuff that we had seen on TV with stories of her own making, it was quite amazing. We could spend hours together this way. I still remember some of the stories today.

After we moved to Hawaii, my sister Eliza and I spent even more time together. We couldn’t speak English and trouble making new friends at first. As we played together our toys had coexist in the same universe as well; G.I.JOES and My Little Ponies suddenly joined forces and fought side by side, Princess Leia hung out with Barbie. It was widely imaginative and a lot of fun. I credit my sisters in part for turning me into a story teller (my parents get the rest of the credit), which brings me to today’s topic, girl power.

There’s been many studies around the world that show that the fastest way to make the world a better place is to empower women. This is because women tend to want to better the lives of their children first rather than spend their time on frivolous things such as warfare or gambling, go figure! Jokes aside, I truly believe in this and I want do my share in making this happen. It’s no accident then that one of the central characters in the Jörgits is Jenny, a spunky, young Finnish girl.

As a character Jenny’s a combination of my two sisters, my wife Michelle and the countless other strong women I’ve come across. Jenny is what we tradionally called a tomboy: she learns martial arts with Urho the mysterious warrior and plots pranks with Tero, the Kaamos Jörg. But she can also be feminine and soft like when she is chatting about fashion with Timpa or taking care of little Jens. In fact several of my characters have a sensitive side to celebrate we are all complex and nuanced.

In addition to talking about where Jenny’s character, I also wanted share with you some of the art that our campaign has been creating while we’ve been in France. It celebrates the age old human need to dress up and feel beautiful – fashion, but it also takes into account Jenny’s adventurous personality. The poses were drawn by my sister Eliza, the fashions come from my wonderful students in the Toylab. Enjoy!

An old fashioned adventure with a twist: Global Warming

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:46:50 -0400

Growing up I was voracious reader of adventure novels and comics; 20,000 Leagues Underneath the Sea, Lord of the Rings, The Count of Monte Cristo, the Three Musketeers, Tintin, Asterix, Blueberry, you name it I read it. My own novel, Jörgits and the End of Winter bares a strong resemblance to the classic adventure novel; it’s about exploring the unknown, uncovering hidden plots, fighting prehistoric monsters, and enduring friendships tested by conflicts larger than ourselves.

In the Jörgits that conflict is global warming. There’s an evil villain too, Augustus Kauhanen the III, but he’s not the cause of the main conflict, he’s just an actor in it. Kauhanen represents the darker side of human nature, our relentless appetite for technological progress and perfection. With global warming the real villains is actually hard to pinpoint. Who can we blame? Is it a cabal of rich industrialists(Kauhanen and his Searchers), or our own desire for the newest iPhone?

Through the Jörgits I aim to introduce children to the complexity of the global warming. We start in Finland, my home country, in the middle of winter, when the temperatures are -20 and day light last but a few hours. Though Finns may hate winter at times, they also love it for all the things it affords us: hot coco, sledding, cross country skiing, and hours time spent together in warm conversations in front of a fire. What happens if we take away the snow that brings light but keep the time shrouded in darkness constant?

To keep the story from being didactic, the global warming often recedes into the background, like Eye of Sauron, and instead we focus upon the Jörgits and how they perceive our strange world. Through their eyes we discovers how beautiful and mysterious it really is. My starting point in writing the Jörgits was the following, if our children don’t value nature, will they really see a need to save it?

In this first, novel much of the adventure takes place underwater. Is there a realm on Earth that still holds more mysteries than the deep blue? Surely not. With the Jörgits, I have spent a lot of loving care on the underwater illustrations and the strange things we encounter there: kelp forests, crabs, giant rock formations, luminescent jellyfish + a giant Squid named Alfons. What more could you ask for?

Summers with the Jellyfish

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:43:39 -0400

Today we’re proud to share with you another track from Jörgits and the End of Winter. This track was especially designed for the underwater soundscape that is featured in the video. You can download it here!

Get ready for a fun week of updates, the Jörgits are traveling to France! Get fashion tips from Jenny and Timpa! and learn to cook with Pekka! If you aren’t yet following their adventures on Facebook, what are you waiting for? Join the conversation today.