I'm having a geek moment. My T-shirt just arrived from TeeFury.



TeeFury is a site where artists can submit a T-shirt design to be sold for $10. It has a great call-to-action – the shirt design is only on sale for one day only. "Tee today, gone tomorrow," as the site says. So if you love it, you've got to buy it now. Being a Doctor Who fan, I jumped on this "Merry Melodies" interpretation of the three doctors by artist Zerobriant.

If you're looking for a creative outlet, some exposure, and a chance to earn a few bucks, why not submit something to TeeFury? They pay $1 per shirt sold and the artist retains full rights to their design.

In fact, here's a list of their top earning artists:

Ian Leino $31,879 USD

Zerobriant $29,007 USD

WinterArtwork $28,973 USD

Captain RibMan $24,295 USD

RudyRed $23,757 USD

Not bad for a series of one-day sales. And by the way, I was happily surprised by the high quality of the shirt for the $10 price tag.

When you're 15 years old, your future is wide open. Chicago resident Herbert Pulger, a freshman at Lawrence Hall Youth Services, may see his future in art. He could have a career as an art director, illustrator, animator etc. It looked like he was off to a promising start when he recently won the city vehicle sticker design contest.
Then it was taken from him.

According to Chicago Sun-Times reports, Pulger was stripped of his win by Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza because the extending hands in his design "could be 'misconstrued' as including gang signs."

Pulger denies any affiliation. Regardless, his art teacher provided hand images from a flyer Pulger apparently used as inspiration for his entry as seen in this Sun-Times photo with Pulger's mother Jessica Loor holding up the comparisons.
So if the committee had issues with Pulger's work, why couldn't they be addressed before humiliating the kid? Why not give him a chance to make adjustments to his entry?

Doing work you're proud of, only to have it go away or altered for reasons beyond your control is, as we all know, part of the business.

Our business.

Adult business.

This is a kid.

He has plenty of time to deal with realities later.

You're invited to McDonald's Flavor Battle, a nationwide DJ competition I worked on.

Hosted by Doug E. Fresh, the finale will air live online 9pm ET on flavorbattle.com. If you live in the Miami area, go to the site now to RSVP and check out the event at CAMEO.

Did any of you pick up a mobile phone during game time? I don't mean to call or text trash talk to your friends during the Super Bowl. All eyes were on the commercials of course, but I looked forward to what many brands planned for smartphones  – or the second screen.

Best Buy, Chevy, Toyota, Pepsi, Go Daddy and Subway made the digital jump and had people spending time with their brands beyond any :60 spot.

The most engaging for me was Chevy's Game Time, an app that was pushed days before the game. It was basically an interactive quiz for a chance to win cars and prizes.
Toyota Camry also hosted a mobile contest that encouraged people to write their own Toyota stories.

I can't let Black History Month go by without acknowledging some major players in advertising who have inspired me directly and indirectly.

Vincent Cullers

A former art director with EBONY Magazine, Vincent Cullers was founder of the nation's first Black-owned, full-service advertising agency, Vince Cullers Advertising Inc. in Chicago, a business he started with his wife, Marian in 1956. His company created some of ... << MORE >>

Sadly, the first day of Black History Month is marked by a loss of one of our biggest icons.

According to the press, Don Cornelius, creator of  “Soul Train,” was found shot dead in his Los Angeles home on Wednesday morning. Authorities are investigating to determine if his death was a suicide.

Much Love.
Rest in Peace.
God bless your Soul.

A friend recently landed an ad job in Philly. It started with a tweet from someone in HR. You see, my friend started following various HR personnel from different agencies for about a year. As most of you know, your Twitter timeline doesn't include every tweet from everyone you follow. Sometimes you have to make the effort to check up on those on your list.

And that's what my friend did. By checking a few names on his "Following" list, he caught a job posting that eventually became his.

So remember why you're following someone on Twitter – it's because you like what they have to tweet. So if you haven't heard a peep from them, then it's time to check in or risk missing something important.

And for those who are new to my story, that's similar to how I ended up relocating to Chicago.

In my case, someone who followed me tweeted me about my current position.


Image courtesy of Stock.xchng.

Speaking of contests (see my last post)...

YouTube is putting on one of the more interesting filmmaker contests I've seen in a while – Your Film Festival. I say that because it's such a natural progression for them. So before you upload your next cat dancing video, check this out.:

15 minutes to tell a story. Millions of people to watch it. $500,000 to make a new one for the world to see.

This is Your Film Festival. You have until March 31st to submit a short, story-driven video. There's no entry fee. It can be any format - short film, web-series episode, TV pilot - and any genre.

We are in the business to tell stories in the shortest amount of time. So make a name for yourself and show 'em how it's done.

Filmmaker Zack Borst recently won the Chevrole Route66 competition and this spot will air during Super Bowl XLVI.


I'm all for talented people finding their big break through crowdsourcing contests. In fact, I was involved in Super Bowl ad contests way back when I was writing for Chevy. My only issue with make-a-commercial contests is that, although some spots have been entertaining, none have been super Super Bowl commercials. I like the premise of this spot, but the casting is off for me. For a high school grad, the lead actor looks almost as old as his parents. Plus, his excitement level was too over the top.

Super Bowl time is probably one of the more crazy and cutthroat times at an agency. I've pitched many spots, but I've never been produced. Once I swallowed the bitter pill of making it to a final presentation, only to have another ad get chosen. Often, it's not about just having the best idea. A lot of elements beyond your control come into play for that coveted spot.

Some creatives won't even pitch ideas, because they feel they don't stand a chance. If you can be swayed that easily, this isn't the business for you. Each year I was asked to participate I gave it my all. But it's just like entering a contest – the odds are against you. So if you manage to get produced, enjoy your moment in the spotlight while it lasts.

Still I say congrats to Zack Borst. But know in an agency world, getting any TV spot produced is tough enough. And a Super Bowl spot is never as simple as entering a contest.

By the way, this is the commercial that beat me - and for good reason. It's one of my favorite Chevy spots by some of my former co-workers.