WWW.THOMASPHANTOM.COM: January 2008

BIZZZZZZY

Busy and sleepy. Two things you should never feel at the same time. I get my fair shares of BIZZZZZZY. But as long as work gets done and work looks good then everything is A-OK in my book. I'm trying to cut back on energy drinks and sleepless nights... if only there were more hours in a day... but I guess it all comes down to time management. Anyways, in a nutshell, its madness right now.

HIN work is starting to pick up. We have our season opener in San Mateo in less than 7 weeks. The snowball is slowly getting bigger and there will be lots of head turning and mouse clicking going on. I'm not overwhelmed or anything... more like ready to take on the challenges ahead.

Cleaning my desktop = challenge. STRESS written all over it!

Where would any new icons go?

We'll be wrapping up our 08 phoot shoot today with the last group of models. I'll try and take more exciting pictures :)

Finished the Tikko x Boogiezone campaign tonight and the designs will be off to print in a few hours. They will be ready for VIBE XIII this Sunday. One postcard size promo flyer and a business card size promo for Tikko's website. Here is a peek at bits and pieces of the designs...

Cropping action... recognize anybody?

Time to get in my four hours... if I'm lucky.

MISSING JUNIOR

If you have any information, please contact my cousin Keith at the above number.

MONDAZE

TGIF

Fridays are the best. Dave got a package today but he is on vacation in Hawaii so Kate made him a mailbox.

Locked door? NP!

We all went out to D&B's for lunch to celebrate Jan Patrick Fortich's birthday (on Thursday). Happy Belated Yan!

Birthday boy

NIH: Backseat photography

Yan, Hongdizz, Peeweezio

One of the best foods... Philly Cheese Steak!

Beerfest

Remember that Tom Hanks movie "BIG"?

Later on that night, I had the pleasure of having dinner/movie with the lady in Tustin. Not sure where JT Schmidt's originated from but we have two locations up here... Orange and Tustin. Its a brewery restaurant like BJ's and Yardhouse. More on the Yardhouse tip though with its dim lighting.

Dynamite Shrimp/Calamari appetizer (Must try.. its DY-NO-MITE!)

Chicken Parmesan, Halibut Fish and Chips, bread, and what's left of our appetizer

So before we were served our main dishes, they brought out a plate of bread which included two olive bagel looking things and the best part... I call it Cheez-It bread... a must try.

After dinner we hit up AMC for... CLOVERFIELD!

With all the hype, interest and curiosity this movie has built up since their trailer debuted before Transformers... I had to see it. Their clever viral marketing campaign was refreshing to see and I'm sure has raised millions of eyebrows. So did this monster movie live up to its hype? I believe it did. The way it was set up... the movie being a "recovered tape"... they can get away with not explaining a lot of things. There was no backstory, no real character development, monster origins... just what was "in the moment" and you felt like you where there with them. I left the movie with more questions than answers which I believe is a plus for the movie (possible sequels?). You become entangled in this mystery before and even after watching it... and I think we've only been given a small piece of Cloverfield... its just the beginning.

Smart marketing = cha ching line

TIKKO TIME

Met up with Louis (Tikko Studios) to gather some info for a design I will be creating for an upcoming promotion he is doing with Boogiezone. The hustle at its best. Louis has been taking pictures for several years now and has helped build the Tikko name and client list. Tikko can be seen covering events such as hip-hop dance competitions (VIBE this Sunday), weddings, UCI functions, photo shoots, and more. All their work can be seen on their website www.tikkostudios.com.

Sketchy

GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS

Office antics courtesy of Thanh (HIN/5D/VIETNAM)!

Vietnam ALL THE TIME...

We visited the HIN photo shoot again, during lunch of course, to check out some of the foodage... models. Work is tough!

DTM Nate (HIN/5D)... dope white A3 if you didn't know

E.Chu (5D), Indo (HIN, 21XL) and Nate

Pastrami sandwiches and fries from The Hat! We are happy...

Jan RockItDanger (HIN/21XL) and Nate (camera friendly)

We didn't want to interrupt the session so we stood back and watched from afar. Models don't intimidate us.

Part 2 of the model shoot is on Wednesday I believe (what's for lunch?). Got a chance to see some photos during the shoot and it looks great... our 08 model content should be fun to work with. Big up to Mike and Kate for holding it down for HIN Creative Department!

CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP

Lots of busyness going on! Will come back with a huge update soon. I'm falling behind TK (Wildboyz/Victory) with blog updates :D

P.S. Apple killed it yesterday.

P.P.S. Chargers fever!

CARS ARE THE STARS

We started our 08 photo shoots for HIN and this time around we are doing it RIGHT! Thanh and Nate really chose some dope rides. Scroll down below for a sneak peak at some of the cars that will making their way onto our marketing material for the upcoming season.

We got a call from our photo shoot insider that Wing Stop would be catered for lunch so we cruised on by to make sure all the cars got to the shoot safely.

Peeweezio (HIN Sales) holding up our Wing Stop mission and Jan (HIN Promotions)

Hong (HIN Programmer/Babe Blvd) agreed to take us in this Babe Mobile

The guys: Mild (Wing Stop), Hot (Wing Stop) and BBQ (Wingstop)

Ever wonder how photo shoot cars are moved?

Mike (HIN Creative/3rd Person Media) working his photoshop magic onsite

Chillin: Dave (HIN Marketing/21XL), Kate (HIN Creative), Hong Hefner and 350z guy

Parking Lot Pimpin: S2K and GOLF

Crazy Yellow Si... paint changes color in sun

Mike capturing some footage for HINcity.com

Prepping for the shoot

Whoever did this to our fridge better clean it up... its been a week

A PREMIUM PEAK

Still up and running since the last time I posted and still going strong with no signs of Red Bull crashing (not yet at least)! I swear I'm a night owl... must be real bad for me since I'm screwing with my sleep cycles and what not but what can I say... life of a designer is tough! During this whole time, I managed to whip up a draft of the Premium flyer, make lunch for the rest of the week, and do laundry... pretty productive even though at odd ass hours of the day. What a way to start off the week.

Anyways, here is what I came up with for Premium (75% done)...

Gotta get ready for work! Must... stay... awake...

NO PHOTOS

Seems like my blogging partner in crime, my iPhone, isn't cooperating anymore when it comes to taking pictures. Snapped pictures don't show up in the Camera Roll. This is already an existing problem with many other iPhone users so I am not alone. Need to fix this pronto because text-only blogs aren't as fun to read!

CHARGED UP!

(Photo courtesy of Chargers.com)

Chargers advance in the playoffs after beating the Titans today. I was glad their game tightened up in the second half after a scoreless SD first half. I was honestly afraid that they had lost their rhythm from the past 6 games and had gone back to their old ways (frustrating play calling, losing close games, giving the game away in the second half). The last time the Chargers won a playoff game was back in 1994. Even though their gameplay isn't as solid as I want it to be, I believe they have a good chance to take it all the way. Indy then Jags (only because I want the Pats to lose!). The fans and team deserve this after so many failed attempts in the past... its definitely a good feeling.

(Photo courtesy of nbc.com)

Pretty disappointed with the new American Gladiators that debuted tonight. Too cheesy and I think its a downgrade from the old show. The gladiators/names aren't as cool, too much talking, same interviews over and over (host questions/contestant answers). I think the biggest disappointment would be the challenges. Same old challenges, boring, not enough action. They could have done a lot better considering its been so long since the OG AG aired. I'll still watch it though... for the mXc factor if anything.

Currently Red Bulling it (I am all out of Rockstars) for the long night ahead of me. I have a pretty big project to finish up for 21XL. Met with Indo on Thursday and discussed some ideas. They wanted a redesign for their Friday weekly club "Premium" at Day After in Hollywood. Hopefully it will be something new and different.

CASE OF THE WEDNESDAYS

Slowly getting back on track from vacation/holiday mode. 2008 is here and its time to get down to business!

Jack in the Crack lunch with ROCKITDANGER and HIN posse fellas crew. BB representin.

Where all the HIN graphic design magic happens...

Pixels to Paper... one of the spreads for last year

After work I ran a few errands and then it was off to 25 Crestline to meet up with some partners to discuss business plans for 2008. We all felt that things just needed to happen and given our current situations... the timing couldn't have been better.

Louis (Tikko) throwing out ideas

Joanna (LF) gettin in the mix

Gotta have the busy coffee table shot... sponsored by Vitamin Water

Khai (The King) with some points

Stay tuned.

FIRST FIRST OF THA MONTH

Rang in 08 at "Surface" at the Vibiana in LA last night. Sorry no pictures on me BUT you can find some official event pictures here.

Late night munchies... heard this place hasn't been empty for more than 30 minutes. First meal of 2008.