Richard A Goldberg

RRRIDIPP RRRIDIP

2008-05-23T16:32:21+00:00

SURTEX and LICENSING 08

2008-05-09T12:30:42+00:00

This year I will be exhibiting in two trade shows. Both shows are in New York and are only three weeks apart. Fortunately I only need to design one booth for both shows as both supply the same display system. At the Licensing O8 show I will be a near neighbor of Studio Espinosa! Hopefully the traffic goes by my booth first ;-)

The past year has seen steady growth of my licensing business. After six years of doing SURTEX, I am getting greater industry recognition and most important, a solid track record of strong sales to the general buying public (yes, they really love me!). The momentum is building. In addition to obtaining new customers, I have decided to work with an excellent agent/product developer, Dan Cowherd. Dan brings many years experience in developing and managing the creative and business end of licensing. He will be an invaluable partner in furthering my licensing career.

March in/March reject

2008-02-29T17:23:36+00:00

FM told me that a similar idea was being worked on. Oh well, I march on. The drawing was created a couple of months ago but is still if not more relevant with the continued slide of the dollar. Baaa.

RAGanimation

2008-02-11T19:22:43+00:00

I am collaborating with a group of talented artists to produce animation for commissioned work in the advertising, publishing, manufacturing, and educational industries. Under the moniker of RAGanimation, we offer full service animation with original writing, design, music, and sound capabilities. It is a fun thing to be involved in. The problem solving process is similar to illustration starting with sketches, refining through comments and critiques and continuing through tweaking the final product.

The storyboards here are from our first promotion. Our first concept stuck with us: Animation Magic. It was then a matter of back and forth “How’s this?” until we all agreed on a specific story. At that time, my writer Robin Brecker finalized the script. I drew the characters and settings directly in FLASH. The characters are designed to make the animation motions as easy as possible (per strict instructions of my animator Alex Budofsky!). Stephen Coates develops the music soundtrack with the script and it is then handed off to the animator. Jason Votner finishes off with sound effects. Our geographical spread is from London to Seattle. God bless the web for effective collaborating!

RAGanimation Promo Finally Finished!

Our Brother Writers

2007-11-19T14:02:00+00:00

Harlan Ellison says a lot in this video that we can relate to.

New Yorkerless

2007-10-24T18:29:57+00:00

The streak continues.

Teach Your Children Well

2007-09-12T18:44:54+00:00

I went to the opening of Ken Burns’ World War Two documentary called “The War” the other night in Waterbury Connecticut. My father and uncle are in some episodes and we got to see a preview of the fourteen hour series. Burns stated that there were two compelling reasons to get the documentary finished. One was the fact that one thousand WW2 veterans are dying everyday. Their stories are our national histories and heritage. The other reason was a statistic that frightened Burns. A sizable percentage of graduating high school seniors think that the US was allied with Germany to fight against the Russians. The teaching of history is being trashed at the risk of unimaginable consequences. Talk to your Fathers and Grandfathers. Ask them about their experiences. Get their stories so that their knowledge can live on. And teach your children well.

My uncle Raymond Leopold is in about four of the episodes. At 92 he did not forget one thing he experienced those many years ago. Unfortunately he died just last month but thank God Burn’s recorded his incredibly interesting and valuable story for history and for the rest of us.

Client Collaboration

2007-08-27T13:01:37+00:00

Mary Beth Cadwell from Strorage Magazine is a new client for me. She sent me her layout in a PDF and I found this very useful for developing sketches relating to the article. In addition to the text, I had a graphic environment in mind that contributed to the ultimate solution for the illustration.

Silk Screened Greeting Cards

2007-08-23T14:14:14+00:00

Two recent greeting cards for Great Arrow Greeting Cards. The design challenge is to limit the color to five, flat silk screened colors. The actual cards are a pleasure to look at as the colors have a richness that offset printing can't get close to. Also, the cards have wonderful 'print shop' smell that I think I am getting addicted to.
Click here to view all of my cards with GA,

Breaking in a New Look

2007-06-06T14:14:45+00:00

I received my first assignment from Governing Magazine through the Illoz website. The assignment dealt with judicial restraints in the sub-prime mortgage business. Concurrently, I was playing around with a new drawing approach in my sketchbook. After I got approval for the idea, I completed two finals and left it up to the AD to choose

Which one would you choose?

Sketchbook Drawing

2007-05-07T12:59:32+00:00

I doodled this sketch while on the phone the other day. I drew it with my favorite everyday pen, a Pilot G-2 (05 point). The ergonomics and rolling ball of this pen are excellent. The ink is jet black. I thought I would try a color or two in photoshop and here you have it.

A Communication Drawing

2007-05-04T15:23:54+00:00

Communication concepts are a common subject in our illustration profession. The trick is to try to discover yet another way to design a visual solution that is unique, or at least unique enough to call it one's own.

SURTEX 07

2007-05-01T14:29:48+00:00

SURTEX is a great way to do business. The art of doing business at this trade show is interesting on many levels. The intensity of the show is invigorating for artists who are used to spending long solitary days, doing their marketing by remote. One can feel the kinetic energy of commerce in the aisles. Preparing for the show has its own intensity (and a little stress to get you motivated!). The booth is a 10x10x8 blank white space to be designed and filled with your work. The intensity continues on set up day where the trick is to design your booth for ease of assembly and to get out of the Javits Center so you can enjoy a NY day and night before the show. The show itself is three days of feedback about your work: the art buying attendees are not going to stop and chat at your booth if they do not see something that interests them, and conversely if they do stop, they are qualified leads; the comments I get are invaluable and help me to learn how I can create better images and better images that sell; and there are the other artists in the show who are a great bunch of folks and after five years in the show, I have developed many new friendships.

This year I am recycling two of the three walls from last year. The new panel this year is my ‘holiday wall’ which based on comments from last year, most needed to be redesigned. The other panels will have many new images pasted right over the old drawings.

No UFOs, night sky, or alcohol. Just Spring.

2007-04-12T13:46:21+00:00

Spring in the northeast is barely making a comeback. The few crocuses that popped their heads up are getting really pissed off. Speaking of crocuses, they inspired this sketchbook drawing.

Alternative Minimum Tax

2007-03-14T13:32:06+00:00

A Wall Street Journal article about the AMT and how it sneaks up on 'Tax Free' investments.

Nuisance Alarms

2007-03-12T21:25:52+00:00

An AD I work for asked me if I could come up with a drawing for an extra spread he had. I asked if he had a layout yet and he said he would design around my sketch. I thought this would be a good opportunity to design the drawing and the spread together and throw in a headline to unify the whole thing. I did the layout in InDesign which wraps type very nicely and pleasantly surprised my client when I showed him my layout. He threw in an extra few hundred clams for my effort. It was fun.

Making Sales (mis)Management Fun

2007-03-05T14:06:58+00:00

One of our jobs as illustrators is to keep everyday concepts fresh and interesting. Nowhere is this skill needed more than in business publications. How many ways can you conceptualize and draw Profit and Loss; Buy Low Sell High; Financial Goals? Fortunately for us, infinitely many.
This drawing is for 'The Hazards of Sales Mismanagement' for Profit Magazine.

Google Gig

2007-03-01T15:37:43+00:00

One of the joys of this business is the variety and range of gigs that come to you out of nowhere. The other month I get a call from a guy in Chicago who said he googled ‘illustrator’ and my name came up (no thanks to my web placement efforts). He owned a trucking company and told me an idea he had while driving to work. He wanted a logo to show a truck smashing through walls, demonstrating speed of delivery to his customers. My first reaction was to be leery of a cold contact who may no nothing of illustration or how we work. However, he sounded cool over the phone and gave me a web address to check out his company. I come to find out he is also a professional sports photographer and this relieved me since I felt he knew something about our business. I told him my price and a request for 50% at the end of the sketch phase which he readily agreed to and I was off to the sketch house. He chose one which I refined and I received my check in two days (love this guy!). I refined the refined sketch into the final, delivered it via the illoz ‘workspace’, and have a piece that is not my usual fare but had a great experience producing. I love this business.

Coming Events

2007-02-08T14:50:59+00:00

Hey, Valentine's Day is coming. Hey, Spring training is coming...

New Yorker or Bust

2007-02-01T13:44:20+00:00

Why do I continue to bang my head against this goal of getting on the cover of the New Yorker? Let me see: 1. It a GOAL. I can't quit. I can't say to myself that I don't have a chance. Failure to me is not an option. I believe you can always improve and if not work harder, work smarter. 2. Its one of the few places where you can say the EXPOSURE counts for something. How many of us were lured into a job baited by the �its great exposure� line? My usual response is, �I can pull my pants down for all the exposure I want.�. Except for the New Yorker. 3. It would make my mom very happy. Dad too.

...and illoz for all.

2007-01-03T12:48:49+00:00

Merry Chanukah

2006-12-15T16:14:25+00:00

Mixed religion households present a unique challange for greeting cards at this time of year.

Peace Visualization

2006-12-12T16:43:33+00:00

One of the most important finds in Boston is a parking space. I picture in my mind's eye an empty space before I make a trip. I don't remember when I started this silly little gesture but I do know that I almost always find a spot where and when I need one. I always like to impress my freinds with this wierd ability. I once found a space in front of the old Boston Garden ten minutes before game time! I now have my wife doing it and one busy friday night in congested Harvard Square, we came upon TWO spaces, right next to each other. Well annyway, Hal Mayforth was with me one day and we were going into Harvard Square. I told him exactly where we were going to park and sure enough, there it was. He turned to me and said, "You should visualize world peace!" Which I do everytime I look for a parking space.

Old Drawing Still Relevant

2006-12-08T00:47:15+00:00

A drawing I did in the eighties observing contrasting types of shopping and shoppers. The concept still makes sense unfortunately.

Holiday Card Time

2006-11-30T12:40:04+00:00

The 2007 Holiday season is upon us. Time to search for new images to replace old cliches. Rather challenging and fun. This image is last years holiday greeting from my wife and me. Of course, any and all messages of peace, love, etc. will be commercially exploited by the mad marketers at 100% rag.

The Scream

2006-11-20T16:25:49+00:00

Photoshop makes complicated compositions a walk in the pixel park. I only hope Adobe stops 'improving' and upgrading it to ruination.

Halloween Bowl

2006-11-13T23:27:23+00:00

I work with a great guy who is a ceramic manufacturer in the tabletop market. It is cool to get feedback from his customers who are major retailers. Through this feedback I get solid intel that helps me to develop new work. Once the retailers buy something, the next hurdle is the buying public. This halloween bowl just sold to Marmaxx, who own Marshalls and TJ Maxx stores.

Fall Migration

2006-11-08T17:20:49+00:00

How birds migrate is still a mystery. Do they navigate thousands of miles by orienting themselves by the sun and stars? Do they detect and follow the longitudinal lines of earth's magnetic fields? Or do they google Mapquest?

Did someone mention kitties?

2006-11-01T18:28:09+00:00

Thanksgiving at the New Yorker...

2006-11-01T12:08:10+00:00

...won't include this one!

Or this.

Halloween Clean-up

2006-10-31T12:39:39+00:00

This Halloween will soon be gone With blood and guts across the lawn. Its time to grab the poisoned darts And rake up all the body parts. Then to shovel dark gloomy pits And throw in all the monster bits. Scrape and clean gooey stuff that clings And bag them with the ugly things. And now to rest and take a snooze To await the horrors of tomorrow�s news.

Witchy Woman

2006-10-30T12:33:45+00:00

Its black and orange time!

Season of the Witch

2006-10-26T17:30:13+00:00

Instant Spell, for today's busy Soccer Witch. Don't have time to shop for a newt"s eye? Are your spiders from Mars hibernating? Monsters on vacation? Instant Spell is the solution for you! One flick of the wrist and your worst nightmares become someone elses! Operators are standing by.

Monkey Love

2006-10-20T16:26:42+00:00

I haven't seen a monkey around here in a while, so here you go. I heard from one of my Greeting Card companies that this monkey is swinging off the shelf. Monkeys rule!

More Smoke Alarms

2006-10-18T19:28:41+00:00

Another image for one of my favorite ADs, David Yount, NFPA

Dead Pink Fink

2006-10-09T14:10:35+00:00

Smoking kills, kids. Just say no to smoking dead pink rats.

Cowabonga

2006-10-06T19:49:24+00:00

Somebody said drawing cows is hard. Drawing cows is not hard; getting on the cover of the New Yorker is hard.

The Other Fall New Yorker Reject

2006-10-05T14:17:06+00:00

The New Yorker Autumn Rejects

2006-10-04T15:25:54+00:00

Honestly, I am going to take a break from submitting to Francoise; right after I submit an idea that I know she will accept! Then I am going to stop. Maybe. Bob, what did you eat for breakfast today?

New Yorker Rejects Pluto

2006-09-20T16:05:57+00:00

In honor of the astronomers who rejected Pluto as a planet, Francoise rejected my image as a cover.

Even More Halloween Rejects

2006-09-18T21:28:12+00:00

Drawger is going New Yorker crazy. This one is hot off the reject press.

Good Art Director and Client Story

2006-09-18T13:00:51+00:00

A job I just completed is an excellent example of what well managed collaboration can produce. The ultimate client is Out of the Classroom (OOTC), a company that creates programs to deal with alcohol related problems for colleges and universities. The designer who got me involved is a principal at Essinger Sullivan. At the start of this project, the illustrator, the designer, and the marketing director from OOTC got together face to face and discussed the goals of the project and the technical requirements. At the end of that brainstorming session, we had a solid direction (from initial sketches by me) that everybody bought into. The end result was a campaign that succeeded on multiple levels and is producing solid results. For me it is a big win for illustration once again demonstrating its flexibility and strength in portraying compelling ideas and messages.

Interesting New Yorker Story

2006-09-15T16:22:05+00:00

I got this link through Drawn. John Mavroudis' NYker Cover story. http://www.zenpop.com/

Profit Magazine Spot

2006-09-12T13:40:32+00:00

A Glimmer of Hope

2006-09-11T16:34:46+00:00

Happy Birthday Dad

2006-08-29T14:28:07+00:00

On July 25, 2004 my father celebrated his 85th and Time commissioned me to draw this cover. Unfortunately, the cover was never run because Dick Cheney shot his own foot while giving a speech at the Oil for Peace celebration in Houston. Instead, Time ran a Tim Obrien illustration of Cheney�s Penny Loafers with a bullet hole through the �penny slot� (which Obrien cleverly replaced with a peace sign). I am happy to say that Dad has just celebrated his 87th. He rejected my New Yorker Cover parody. Sheesh.

Latest NFPA Spot

2006-08-24T14:31:25+00:00

Article about proper placement of smoke detectors in college dormatories.

Dirty Joke Nudity

2006-08-16T13:36:12+00:00

In response to Leo's battle to show more skin, I thought I would post a drawing I did for a Dirty Joke book. When I started this project, I feared that I would be censored but was pleased to find that I was allowed to show whatever the text dictated. Thanks Heather at Peter Pauper!

On the Subject Of: Should I?

2006-08-04T11:15:55+00:00

With Bob's and Edel's recent posts about self-editing one's work, I remembered wondering the same thing about a promo piece that I did as a contribution to an artists' group I am a member of, "BIG" (Boston Illustration Group). My piece is BIG Science and I showed the four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. Was it too much for ADs? I guess, as it did not bring in any work but I am glad I did it. I had fun.

Another Dirty Joke Book Drawing

2006-08-03T14:26:33+00:00

Peter Pauper Press will soon publish " The Dirty Joke Book".

National Fire Prevention Association

2006-07-13T12:45:55+00:00

David Yount is the woderful AD at this mag (NFPA Journal) and the challenge on each assignment is to take technical fire prevention subject matter into the realm of an interesting image. This image was for pleacement of smoke detectors.

Independence Day Rejection

2006-07-07T12:10:55+00:00

Conquering Cliches

2006-06-22T19:01:02+00:00

When I got this assignmen, the AD told me the editors wanted the ol' big fish eating little fish idea. I told him no problem, I liket to turn the cliches into something new. I liked the results.

Latest New Yorker Rejection

2006-06-19T12:42:16+00:00

I have been listening to your comments here on Drawger and incorporated them into a redo of a cover rejection posted last week (Last Falls Cover Reject). I liked the result but Francoise continued her perfect streak: Fracoise 32 RAG 0. If I don't score soon, Coach is going to be pissed.

Last Fall's Cover Reject

2006-06-15T14:44:25+00:00

Autumn and baseball are significant calendar items so I thought I would merge the two.

Rejection, Rejection, where art thou Rejection?

2006-06-08T12:53:05+00:00

Last Year's Thanksgiving New Yorker reject.

2006-06-02T13:02:21+00:00

Just to show me that the New Yorker does not discriminate, they rejected this idea too.

FLASH! Another New Yorker Reject

2006-05-31T14:34:31+00:00

Thinking ahead to the fall, I thought of this. I thought, "Surely Francois will think this is perfect." I think not.

SURTEX Results

2006-05-29T16:03:00+00:00

Seven years ago I began researching the licensing industry. I visited SURTEX and the Licensing Show, took a couple of �how to� seminars, and talked to veterans in the industry. The one constant I heard over and over was that one needed to put in five years into SURTEX (and/or the Licensing Show) to establish oneself as a licensing player. I was told to expect only one or two new customers per show for the first four years and that the fifth year should be a breakthrough year. This was my fifth show and I am happy to report that these predictions are exactly right. I got a tremendous response to my work this year and the quality of the new leads are an order of magnitude better than ever before. My five year goal was to create really cool and interesting work for a market that bought mostly soft, fuzzy and traditional art. I needed to demonstrate that art that is both decorative and witty can work. This year�s successful response from the industry was the culmination of everything that I have learned and created in the past five years: I learned how to produce a better booth design; I learned the licensing industry�s visual language. The buyers at the show saw instantly how my work could relate to their products; and I worked my ass off to produce the best work I was capable of. The variety of industries that expressed a strong interest to begin licensing programs impressed me. Primarily, I attracted ceramic (table-top), clothing, and stationery companies whose customers are high end retailers who want cool stuff for their customers. There were interesting responses from educational and fund raising companies as well. Not all of these contacts will turn into direct work. But the response alone demonstrated to me that I am now a starter in the Majors. I have a lot of hard work ahead of me following up on contacts, establishing new relationships, and collaborating with exciting new customers to produce my best work. And finally, it is the buying public who will ultimately determine my success; do they really love me?

Surprise! More New Yorker Rejects

2006-05-14T23:22:52+00:00

This past winter I had an idea that I just knew Francoise would love. Not.

Last Year's Valentine's Day New Yorker Reject

2006-05-12T17:07:53+00:00

SURTEX booth final design

2006-05-09T18:56:21+00:00

Drawgers: I am looking for someone in the NY region to help me on Sunday the 21st to assist me in the booth. It will be from 9 to 6 and I always find it cool to meet both the attendees and the other booth people. The inimitable Hal Mayforth will be my able assistant on Monday and Tuesday.

Back to the drawing board

2006-05-04T13:56:17+00:00

Spring

2006-04-24T18:39:31+00:00

Last week the weather was so fine, I could not stay inside (having no deadlines i.e. work) also helped get me out. I have been meaning to dig a new garden bed in the front yard for a long time. It is under a large city Norway maple; an invasive shade tree with very intense shallow root systems. Therefor my new bed will be a shade bed of various forms of Hosta, Holly and Mountain Laurel.

I will follow-up as I finish this project.

Another Face

2006-04-24T12:40:13+00:00

Run! The aliens are eating our keys!

Mother's Day Idea

2006-04-21T14:54:19+00:00

I am determined to crack the "New Yorker Cover Code". I may have to drug Barry Blitt and keep him captive in my basement until he reveals the secrets or until he cleans the fucking mess down there. But I digress...

Which Image for a Promotional Postcard?

2006-04-11T17:31:51+00:00

Which image is better for a postcard promotion to art directors in the editorial, advertising, and publishing markets?

Faces Facing Us

2006-03-30T12:16:47+00:00

I love finding the hidden faces and personalities in everyday objects.

right wall design

2006-03-17T00:50:10+00:00

The third part of the puzzle is finished.

SURTEX back wall design

2006-03-15T14:06:22+00:00

In designing my trade show booth I have three main design criteria: 1. To showcase portfolio 2. To be easy to install and remove 3. To attract eyeballs in a very busy competitive environment

Latest Rejected Spring Cover Idea

2006-03-09T21:40:44+00:00

One of these days I am going to sketch an idea that Francoise Mouly likes. At least she crosses out the typeset reject note and hand writes a kind rejection.

Trade Show

2006-03-09T13:40:53+00:00

For the past four years I have bought a booth at SURTEX, a trade show that is concurrent with the stationery show in NY in May. One of the great challenges in the show is to come up with a killer booth design. My booth is a three walled 10 x10 space with 8 foot walls. This year, I am paneling each wall with two 4 X 8 and one 2 x 8 printed panels. I am posting a couple of preliminary panel designs and will be adding the new designs as I am working on them. These initial designs set the tone for the rest of the booth.