I haven't talked about The Blue Monster for a while.

The Blue Monster, as you will remember, is a cartoon-based "Social Object" that me and my Microsoft buddy, Steve Clayton, unleashed on the good but unsuspecting folk at Microsoft. For those unfamiliar with it, you can find the backstory here on Google.

One of the reasons I haven't talked about it much lately, is simply because there is no longer the need. To paraphrase Steve, "It's already out there, it's already working its magic. It has a life of its own and it no longer needs us."

Exactly. And as my friend, Tara Hunt so rightly pointed out, to push it too hard, especially with Microsoft management giving it a big thumbs-up, would somehow defeat the purpose. If overused, "Subversion as a marketing tool" can be counterproductive, especially if it comes from above.

In 2007, the conversation was all about "THE" Blue Monster. But in 2008, a new conversation seems to be emerging: "A" Blue Monster.

Let me explain:

I've been talking to some companies recently, talking about doing some new business with them. Without any doubt, the question I get asked the most is, "Can you make a Blue Monster for us?"

Obviously, when they're talking about "A" Blue Monster, they're not talking about a wee blue cartoon character with pointy horns, that hails from Redmond, Washington.

What they're talking about, of course, is a "Social Object", not necessarily a cartoon, designed to create what I loosely describe as "Marketing Disruption".

It's not unlike when you're talking about Seth Godin. When you say, "THE" Purple Cow, you're talking about his wonderful and seminal marketing book from a few years ago. But when you talk about "A" Purple Cow, you're just talking a about a product, any product, which from a marketing standpoint has been designed so well, it does not need any traditional marketing per se. It's so "remarkable" for what it is, people can't help but talk about it. And so the word spreads, almost by magic. Seth actually gives a really good example of exactly that here.

So what's the difference between a Purple Cow and a Blue Monster? Well, we could split hairs on that one forever, but for me, the main difference is Purple Cows have their "remarkability" baked into the product. Blue Monsters are more about the "Social", the interesting bit is the interactions that happen AROUND the product. That's what gave our little wine company the edge when marketing Stormhoek. The VAST majority of our conversation was not about the wine in the bottle. The conversation WAS ALL ABOUT the people drinking it. As we were fond of saying, "Wine is the ultimate social object. It's only interesting AFTER the cork is pulled."

So in conclusion, yes, something has recently evolved in my thinking. Though my relationship with Microsoft remains as strong as ever, "Blue Monster" now means something far bigger to me than just cartoons, gapingvoid, Microsoft, Redmond etc. The Blue Monster is all about the Social Object.

I have often said, I believe Social Objects are the future of marketing.

Let me modify that slightly: I believe the Blue Monster is the future of marketing.

[UPDATE:] Steve Clayton sent me the following message on Twitter:

I replied back:

[Afterthought:] Understanding the Blue Monster means understanding the need to be "bigger than yourself". Exactly.

[Close-up shot.]

Yesterday I wrote, "When I do large pieces, I rarely do the long, 18-hour obsessive stints that so many artists are known for. I prefer to whittle away at it in brief spurts over time- a little bit there, a little bit there, that kind of thing."

Hmmm... That does not explain the 8-10 hours I put into the drawing yesterday. What the hell, I guess I was on a roll.

In the last decade or so, I always had a job to hold down, or a business to run. I always had a thousand different things to do BESIDES making drawings. My drawing time was always "stolen" from the other stuff going on.

But now here in uber-laid-back West Texas, suddenly I have more time on my hands.

Or so it felt, yesterday.

Yesterday (Day 2) I hardly touched the drawing. I was busy doing other things.

Today I fooled around with it for a couple of hours in the morning. Quite pleased with the results, so far.

When I do large pieces, I rarely do the long, 18-hour obsessive stints that so many artists are known for. I prefer to whittle away at it in brief spurts over time- a little bit there, a little bit there, that kind of thing.

I'm guessing "Fred 42" will be done by month's end, if all goes well. Rock on.

[Close-up: Click on image to enlarge etc.]

Today, once I had finished with work for the day, I decided to start on a a new drawing. 18 x 24 inches. Pencil and pen & ink on paper. Working Title: "Fred 42" [I'll explain the title at a later date].

So far I'm having a blast. We'll see where this all takes me. I have no idea how long it'll take me to complete, but I'll let you know when it happens. Rock on.

[UPDATE: You can see photos from the event here.]

[More photos here.]

[Click on images to enlarge etc.]

Last week I was in Austin. One of the reasons I was there was to help design some slides for Ian Murdock's keynote, "Innovate. Collaborate. Integrate", which he gave today.

Above are the slides. They start off as a giant, black, haystack-shaped software monolith, then evolved outwards into "Open Source", and finally, to the Sun logo. The sixth cartoon is just a humorous drawing projected behind the other panel members who were sharing the stage with Ian.

I'm told the screen was fifty feet wide, so I'm guesing they would've looked rather spiffy. These were all drawn in pencil on 3.5-inch card [Business-card size, obviously]. The actual drawings didn't take that long to execute; though getting them to work cohesively and conceptually took a long time, a lot of collaboration was involved.

It was a cool gig; I hope to do more like it. Thanks to the very groovy Sarah Dornsife for making it happen. Rock on.

[Another one from the notebook. 5x7 inches approx.]

[Close-up view]

"Moleskine 42". A wee sketch I did over the weekend in my Moleskine notebook. Approx 5x7 inches.

One of the things I like about Twitter is that it allows you to have instant feedback from lots of people while you're thinking out-loud.

Case in point: If you have been following my Twitter feed recently you'll have noticed me bandying this idea around, about doing large pieces. Namely, large, abstract paintings on canvas.

Basically, the idea is to create six-by-six foot canvas, covered with a field of my obsessive "squiggly" style. The image above, which I made digitally on a Tablet PC, should give you a pretty good idea what I mean.

So far the feedback has been tremendous. I've got dozens of comments, both public and private. Thanks for that.

I think being out here in Alpine, Texas, covered under a blanket of desert air and "Big Sky" brought about a wee change in me, at least in what I find interesting artistically. The "cartoons on the back of business cards" format came about in New York City, when living conditions, shall we say, were far more intense, crowded and cramped. Not to mention, I was ten years younger. Things change.

Acquiring blank business cards and a few pens is a LOT simpler and easier than making big paintings. With the latter, suddenly you have to start thinking about renting studio space and buying materials, which are not cheap. Then you have to find a buyer for the pieces, to offset the cost of making them. Then you have you have to figure out how to ship them to their new owners without them getting damaged. Plus a myriad of other pain-in-the-ass factors to consider.

Whatever. It's all exciting stuff. I'm looking forward to finding studio space in the very near future. Though to be honest, I have no intention of ever becoming a permanent, full-time artist. Too much else going on. Too much else out there worth getting interested in. I like to juggle things around. Keeps things new and interesting. We shall see what happens.