Knock Knock's Blog, page 12

Meet Ty Foster!

Introducing Ty Foster, the mastermind behind LICK—Knock Knock’s first-ever photography book! His silly yet charming portrait series lets you relish at the sight of dogs caught mid-lick. Ty’s inspiration behind LICK came to him when his dog Tech was at his studio during a client’s photo shoot. To distract Tech, Ty took a big glob of peanut butter and put it on his pup’s mouth and started shooting away. “The pictures were hilarious. That’s when I knew I had to take more photos of other dogs licking,” he said.

A dog impersonating WWE wrestler Zack Ryder’s “Broski.” From Ty’s portrait series, “WWE Unleashed.”

Ty hails from Connecticut and started his career as an insurance underwriter, but quickly realized photography was his true passion. He soon set his lens on animals. During his days as a photo editor for WWE, he created the concept for the WWE Unleashed project, featuring a variety of dogs dressed in wrestling gear to embody the superstars and their personalities.

Foster is now an internationally recognized animal photographer whose portrait series, both LICK and Timeout, went viral. From dogs, cows, snakes, and spiders, he’s photographed a good chunk of the animal kingdom. His latest project had him working with Alpacas on a farm, zooming his lens in on the niche industry of Alpaca breeding.

We had the chance to pick his brain on everything “Ty” (including his love for breakfast!) in our Q&A below!

This picture was taken from his trip to an Alpaca farm for his current project about the niche industry of Alpaca breeding.

1. How did you get into photography? I really began to take an interest in photography when I was studying abroad in London. It was the first time I actually took the time to research and invest in a camera. The entire time I was over there I brought that camera everywhere I went. It wasn’t until a few years later, when I had graduated from college and was working in an industry that I disliked very much, that I quit and pursued this wild idea of becoming a photographer.

2. Where do you typically find creative inspiration for your projects? And do you have any advice for aspiring photographers? Most of the ideas I’ve had for my projects just come from observing daily life. Most of us have been “kissed” by a dog and most of us who have owned pets have had them in the cone of shame. It’s nice taking ordinary occurrences and really focusing on them and polishing them up. As for other sources of inspiration, lately I’ve been really digging the work of Zaria Forman, Aaron Draplin, and Juan Carlos Paz.

3. Who are photographers you look up to and admire? Geesh, this a tough one. I’d say the top three are (in no particular order) Sterling Lorence, Andy Anderson and Nick Brandt.

4. What’s the most exotic animal you’ve taken photos of? Nothing too crazy, probably the chinchilla. It’s currently listed as a critically endangered species. The population has decreased by 90 percent in the last 15 years.

The chinchilla is just one of the many animals Ty has photographed.

5. What are your hobbies outside of photography? Anything outside, really—backpacking, hiking, and skiing. I like staying busy. Is that a hobby?

6. You get to travel throughout the world for your profession. Where are some of your favorite places that you’ve traveled to? I haven’t really traveled anywhere crazy yet for a job, Most of my work has been domestic. However, I’d love to do a project on New Zealand sheep herding. From what I’ve read, seeing a working dog in action is like having 5 additional men on hand.

7. If you were to get a second dog, what kind of dog would it be and why? That’s a good question. I have no idea. Definitely a rescue, but as for a breed, I guess I don’t have any requirements. As for the “why,” rescues just have such a great temperament. I am not saying dogs from breeders don’t, but a rescue seems to have this sense of perspective and appreciation for what their life is compared to what it was.

8. How did you come up with the concept of your Timeout series? I was randomly sent a text message from my Dad and it was a picture of their two dogs sitting in the house with the “cone of shame” on. That’s all it took!

One of Ty’s more recent photo series is “Timeout,” a collection of dogs wearing the “cone of shame.”

9. What Knock Knock product (other than LICK) is your favorite and why? Easy. Calm the F*ck Down. Simplicity at its best!

10. If you could cook a meal for any 3 fictional or real people, who would it be and what would you cook for him or her? Yvon Chouinard, Hunter S. Thompson, and Salvador Dali. I’d cook them breakfast. Honestly, who doesn’t like breakfast?

11. What are 5 things on your bucket list right now?

Visit the Galapagos Islands
Build my own house
Shoot a story for National Geographic
Volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Africa
Eat breakfast for every meal for an entire week

For more info on Ty Foster and his projects, check out his website or “Follow” him on Twitter and Instagram. You can also catch his work featured in ABC, BuzzFeed, DesignTAXI, PetaPixel, My Modern Met, Resource Magazine, Dog Milk, and Bark Post.

Win a Copy of “Calm the F*ck Down” + $50 Worth of Father’s Day Prizes!

Father’s Day is coming up this weekend (Sunday, June 21!), so we’re giving away a special prize pack in honor of one of Knock Knock’s favorite dads, David Vienna, author of Calm the F*ck Down: The Only Parenting Technique You’ll Ever Need and The Daddy Complex. His book (alongside other items listed below) is a great gift for new and expecting dads all year long. His wise and funny parenting advice reminds you that (almost) nothing is worth freaking out about.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a Dad to enter this giveaway. You don’t even have to share your winnings with Dad (but that would be nice).

In our Calm the F*ck Down Father’s Day Giveaway, we’re giving away:

Calm the F*ck Down: The Only Parenting Technique You’ll Ever Need by David Vienna
What I Love about Dad fill-in-the-blank journal
Dear Dad Mug
Tomorrow is Another Day Pad
It’s Gonna Be Okay Inner-Truth Journal
Vouchers for Dad

How to enter: Use the Rafflecopter form below to complete your entry. See below for all entry methods, including sharing your “CTFD” parenting moment in a blog comment. We’ll contact winners by email. The giveaway closes Sunday, June 21 at 11:59 p.m. Read official rules here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Another way to celebrate Father’s Day: share David’s “Discussing News with My Kids” vids with your Dad for a great laugh.

Don’t forget to sign up for our  newsletter  and check our  Facebook ,  Twitter ,  Pinterest , and  Instagram  pages to see what we’ve got going on.

Win a Signed Copy of “LICK” by Ty Foster!

What’s sweet, slobbery, and silly all over? Our newest title LICK by internationally renowned animal photographer Ty Foster! LICK is a collection of irresistible photos capturing all sorts of dogs caught in mid-lick—91 pups to be exact! Plus, it’s Knock Knock’s first-ever photography book. LICK is a gem for anyone who’s ever loved a dog—or just been licked by one.

See a sneak peek of the book below and scroll down to enter our giveaway to win a signed copy!

The LICK Book Giveaway

How to enter: Use the Rafflecopter form below to complete your entry. See below for all entry methods. We’ll contact winners by email. The giveaway closes Monday, June 15 at 11:59 p.m. Read official rules here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Don’t forget to sign up for our  newsletter  and check our  Facebook ,  Twitter ,  Pinterest , and  Instagram  pages to see what we’ve got going on in 2015.

Baltimore: Take a Study Break with Uber and Knock Knock Today!

Get your nose out of your notes and take a break already! We’ve joined Uber Baltimore to bring on-demand Study Break care packages—including Knock Knock notepads—to select Marylander university students. The best part? It’s FREE!

How to get your Uber Study Break care package:

1. Open your Uber app on campus at the following universities: John Hopkins University, Towson University, Morgan State University, Goucher College, and the University of Baltimore.

2. Request STUDY between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 13.

3. An Uber brand ambassador will arrive at your location to deliver your Study Break care package.

Check out Uber Baltimore’s blog for all the details. And good luck on your exams!

Don’t forget to sign up for our  newsletter  and check our  Facebook ,  Twitter ,  Pinterest , and  Instagram  pages to see what we’ve got going on in 2015.

New Percolator Limited-Edition Totebags!

Get carried away with our new Percolator limited-edition tote bags! These three new tote bags hold everything from overdue library books to organic microgreens.

Let your alter ego take the rap with the Evil Twin Tote (pictured above), express your empathy with the Do You Ever Feel Tote, or let everyone know the most important person in the room is you with the Me, Me, Me Tote.

Whether you’re taking a trip to the beach or the store, (or planning world-domination), these limited-edition totes will carry all your needs. Available exclusively online and absolutely nowhere else, we’re totes excited for you to get your hands on these! Check them out and grab your own (or all three!) here. And don’t forget to take advantage of our spring special: free domestic shipping on orders $35 and up!

With our Percolator program, we’re feverishly creating unique, limited-edition products for those who love Knock Knock.

Don’t forget to sign up for our  newsletter  and check our  Facebook ,  Twitter ,  Pinterest , and  Instagram  pages to see what we’ve got going on in 2015.

Jen Bilik at TYPO San Francisco, April 30

Our head honcho and founder, Jen Bilik, will be speaking at TYPO San Francisco’s two-day international design conference April 30-May 1, 2015 at the Yerba Buena Center of the Arts.

Come to TYPO SF and see our head honcho, Jen!

The conference’s theme is “Find Your Focus,” exploring the constant shifts and choices within the design world and how to approach them. “Does a designer choose to learn web, print, mobile or be a jack-of-all-trades? Does a graphic designer take on type design? Should a visual artist delve into UX? Do type foundries dedicate more attention to webfonts?,” the TYPO site writes. Joining Jen is more than 20 speakers and creative minds from around the globe.

Jen will be opening the conference at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 30 on the TYPO SF main stage in the YBCA Theater.

Jen’s talk centers on how to balance “the surprise” with “the familiar” throughout the creative process. We can also disclose that it’s very witty and equally informative and is packed into an impressive PowerPoint presentation. Read Jen’s TYPO Focus Forum interview to learn more about her creative interests and professional focus habits.

Professionals and design students can get tickets and register here. Use Knock Knock’s special discount code for our friends and followers and get 15% off registration. Code: KnockKnock15 at checkout.

Don’t forget to sign up for our  newsletter  and check our  Facebook ,  Twitter ,  Pinterest , and  Instagram  pages to see what we’ve got going on in 2015.

12 Selfies That Are #WorkinIt

So many selfies, so little time.

A big thank-you to everyone who entered our #WorkinIt Selfies Giveaway. (Find out who won here).

There were a handful of awesome #WorkInIt selfies that were shared that we think will brighten up your work week:

1. Erica M. (and Christopher Walken!) seen above, @tiny__baker

2. Brooke R., @brookerandell

The “on-hold” selfie.

3. Jennifer H., @faerydustdesigns

Accurate work selfie.

4.  Luciana M., @malkomes1

Professional snapped selfie.

5. Michelle R., @michelleandbrookeshop

Coffee selfie.

6. Kathy L., @kathylavanier

Teenie-tiny selfie.

7. Meredith J., @meredith_sweeps

Straight-on smiling selfie.

8. Ingrid S., @mylostpanda

What’s-happening-at-this-workplace selfie.

9. Andreia D., @toytography

Live long and prosperous selfie.

10. Alex C., @alextcopeland

Purple Domo selfie.

11. Debi G., @debisgold

A true work selfie.

12. Angi L., @ajlaurice

Happy to be #WorkinIt selfie.

Want to enter more Knock Knock giveaways? Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter, blog, and “Follow” us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Who Won our #WorkinIt Selfies Giveaway?

Congratulations to our #WorkinIt Selfies Giveaway winner, Michelle K.!

She won her own Selfies Photo Album and $100 to spend at Knock Knock!

The winner of our #WorkinIt Selfie Giveaway, Michelle!

Want to enter more Knock Knock giveaways? Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter, blog, and “Follow” us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

What to Pack Pad in PopSugar Must Have March Box!

Peel off your winter layers and bask in Spring picks from PopSugar! PopSugar’s Must Have March Box has great items for your Springbreak travel checklist, including our What to Pack Pad (hand-drawn by London artist Bjoern Altmann). This pad is specially designed so you don’t forget your vacay essentials. What PopSugar had to say:

Never forget to bring anything again! Knock Knock’s hand-drawn What to Pack pad makes packing fun and easy. With 60 tear sheets, there’s plenty to use for your springtime adventures and beyond.

We’ve stumbled on a few subscription blogs who reviewed the box, including My Subscription Addiction. Here’s what she had to say about the What to Pack Pad:

Traveling was a theme for this box, and this What to Pack pad is a cute reminder tool. I wish I traveled enough to use all 60 sheets anytime soon, but as someone who always manages to forget something (like a phone charger), this will come in handy.

Get your own What to Pack Pad here. And missed out on this Must Have Box? Head over to PopSugar and get the next one!

Don’t forget to sign up for our  newsletter  and check our  Facebook ,  Twitter ,  Pinterest , and  Instagram  pages to see what we’ve got going on in 2015.

Meet Damon Styer and Aaron Cruse of New Bohemia Signs!

The New Bohemia Signs team has been hand-gilding, lettering, painting, and designing business signs, windows, menus, a-frames, and anything and everything that strikes their fancy since 1992—making them the longest established sign shop in San Francisco. We were so excited to join forces with New Bohemia’s Damon Styer and Aaron Cruse on our new Alter Ego Pads (inspired by traditional gilt lettering once found on the doors of private eyes, professors, and lawyers).

Damon, who has been hand-lettering professionally for 16 years (and personally for over 30 years!), started an apprenticeship at New Bohemia in June of 1999. He bought the business six months later and has been there ever since. His colleague Aaron joined the sign shop in 2007 and has been hand-lettering professionally for 15 years.

Meet Damon Styer, owner and hand-letterer at New Bohemia Signs.

An exciting and upcoming project for the team has them heading to Guerneville, CA this April to paint and gild wall murals and signs made by designer Jessica Hische on an old bank that’s being turned into an ice cream parlor and art gallery. Much like all of their work, we look forward to seeing it.

1. How did you get your start in hand-lettering and hand-painting signs? Any advice you’d give to aspiring typographers, illustrators, and designers out there?

Damon: I took a course in calligraphy when I was twelve. I remember, as a kid at church, often doodling the shadows (or, as I later learned to call them, “reveals”) off to one side of invisible letters, and it felt like I was teaching myself some sort of code. I didn’t start painting letters until I started as an apprentice at New Bohemia. I’m not especially full of advice . . . I guess I just fall back on the old adage, “Always aspire to greater speed.” I dunno if it’s true across the board, but letters very often look better painted faster.

Aaron: I have always been drawn to letters and language. When I began to study design, I preferred the lettering in old-style guides, type catalogs and Letraset books, and used those as a basis to manipulate or draw my own letters. At the time, everything was going digital, and my school was getting rid of boxes and boxes of those things. Nobody else wanted them, and using computer software at the time was tiresome—so I did a lot of things by hand. It was definitely more fun than waiting for a progress bar. It evolved from there to customizing and drawing with technical pens, and eventually to a sort of hybridized hand-drawn and digital process.

Meet Aaron Cruse of New Bohemia Signs.

When I started as an apprentice at New Bohemia, it was pretty much the first time I’d used a brush for lettering and I’d never really painted anything other than the walls of my apartment.

2. What’s your favorite typeface (either created by you or by someone else)?

Damon: Hasn’t occurred to me to pick a favorite . . . I guess I’m partial to my own casual lettering, since it gets done quickest, and I’ve never been especially enamored of precision. Lately, I find myself pulled in a couple of directions for design solutions: either mid-20th-century “googie” style (kidney-bean backsplashes, sparkly dingbats, and Romper Room/Sock Hop letters), or late-19th-century “gaslight” style (a hodge-podge of ornate and gothic letter styles laid out on overlapping arced or zagging planes over framed pattern-covered backgrounds).

Aaron: It really depends on what I’m working on and researching at the moment. Right now I’m interested in the work of Dard Hunter, and Elbert Hubbard’s Roycroft Press—American Arts and Crafts anarchists! It’s hard to say that the lettering they produced is my favorite exactly, but it has my attention right now.

A hand-painted sign by New Bohemia for The Stinking Rose.

A hand-painted sign by New Bohemia for Idle Hand Tattoo Studio.

3. Favorite hobbies outside of designing and sign painting?

Damon: Web surfing? Reading, camping, biking, kayaking . . . kazoo . . . coffee roasting . . .

Aaron: I study Mandarin when I have enough patience. I also enjoy camping and hiking, hot springs, biking, and digging for old vinyl with interesting covers or music or both. In the past I maintained a black and white darkroom.

The Dirty Mind Alter Ego Pad, one of four new pads that reveal who’s really talking.

4. Which is your favorite Alter Ego Pad “personality” and why?

Damon: Dirty Mind. It was the first [created], and on its way through the production process, held on to more of the wonk and fluke of hand-drawing than the rest did.

Aaron: “From The Dirty Mind of . . . “—because it’s dirty!

5. This is a two-parter! 1. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve painted on? And 2. If you could paint a sign on anything—where would you paint and what would it say and/or look like?

Damon: Drawing a blank on both of these. What’s Aaron saying? Oh, yeah: the Rickshaw Obscura—that was a pretty unique gig! As for number 2, man, I wish I were more ambitious about sign painting. Yeah, maybe if the question were of putting a sign on something . . . I’m not so sure my ultimate dreams of signage realization are specifically paint-related. I guess I’m thinking of someone like Jenny Holzer, who isn’t really glued to any particular medium to pass along her messages.

New Bohemia also does architectural gilding, like this!

And I s’pose, since most of whatever ideas for “sign art” cross my mind, I tend toward some form of aphorism. I want their manifestation to somehow either comment on itself, and/or to help the words further along in their own quest for relevance. Like, why is it painted? Would it make better sense in bronze, or in lights? Or maybe, yes, of course it’s painted, because paint is how signs are done in this place; like, say, on the side of a hut on some monastery grounds in Bhutan, I might feel proud of having painted some sort of useful koan, perhaps, “What is the sound of one hand washing the other before returning to work?” Do you guess they paint signs in Bhutan? Anyway, I s’pose painting a restroom sign, even in Bhutan, doesn’t hold all that much allure for me . . . But I’d be happy to do it, especially if it extended my stay in Bhutan!

Aaron: Not sure how “weird” it is, but painting the camera obscura bicycle was fun! I’d say skywriting is the ultimate typographic expression.

6. What are 3 things on your bucket list right now?

Damon: Jeez . . . I dunno. Lotsa travel. Antarctica, Mongolia, Namibia. I guess that’s three. No, wait—that’s just one: visit these deserts. Let’s throw the Sahara and the Atacama in there, too. Then, number two is . . . visit these islands: Seychelles, Galapagos, and Cuba, not necessarily in that order. Then, ooh—number three, off the top of my head, megacities: Rio, Cairo, Mumbai . . . Oh, can’t forget Tokyo . . . Shanghai, Jakarta. Yeah, I guess my bucket list begins and ends with sorting out life such that I can just constantly be traveling.

Aaron: A solar-powered graphic arts studio? Travel to Istanbul by train? Learn Cantonese? I don’t know, every day the bucket expands and contracts relative to what is going on in my life.

A hand-painted sign by New Bohemia.

A New Bohemia design on a car.

7. If you could cook a meal for any fictional or real person, who would it be and what would you cook for him or her?

Damon: Where are you getting these questions from?!? Is this one you pose to every creative partner? Guess I have to look at earlier entries in your blog here . . . Ergh, I have no faith that I’m going to come up with anything either as funny or poignant as whatever’s come before, and then, whatever crap I come up with, this questionnaire is sure to somehow, magically, perpetually, dreadfully, be the number one result of Googling me.

New Bohemia’s work on glass.

I asked a painter here how she’d answer, and she said, “It would have to be some sort of large ornate insect,” and although it turns out she was talking about what she would cook, I thought she meant that’s who she’d eat with. So, I’m going with that: Gregor Samsa. Now, granted, he seems to prefer to nosh on rotting food scraps and I’m sure I could probably gladly clean some things out from deep in the refrigerator. Nonetheless, I also think that he might enjoy something with truffles and/or Parmesan, since those flavors have a bit of the whiff of garbage to them! So, I’d prepare my renowned recipe for wild mushroom risotto, which I’ve cooked for people across the globe, and which adapts well to all manner of ingredient adjustments. At least then I’d have something delightful for myself and my wife, and whoever else is coming over to meet Gregor. And if he wants to eat trash instead, he’s welcome. But what would we talk about? I guess it’d be a fun challenge working out how to communicate! Something to mitigate the anomie for a bit, anyway.

Aaron: I’m really more of a graphic artist than a cook. How about an ice(cream)-nine dessert social with Kurt Vonnegut?

For more info on New Bohemia Signs, check out their website, and “Follow” them on Facebook, Twitter at @nbsigns, and Instagram at @nbsigns.

All photos courtesy of New Bohemia Signs.