Work Eimertoon - February 2019

Initially, I created a fun trucker cartoon to appear in a quarterly magazine, which poked fun at Truck Inspections:

The client didn't really like it. So I took another stab at another article, which had to do with 'Busy Sales Season'. So, I read the article and came up with the following:

The idea came up from a previous cartoon that I created about four years ago. 

God, I miss cartooning. Feels like I'm regressing in my cartoon skils a bit since I'm not sketching as must as I used to. I Need to get back at it!

Work Eimertoon - Small Business

Here's another toon that I just created which will be planted in an online Small Business magazine. Always nice to shake out the spider-webs and actually produce something that's usable for a client.

Eimertoons - Small Business Agent Cartoon

I've been slipping.

In reading. In pushing my creative chops outside of work. In (gulp!) cartooning.

I always said, if I gave up on doodling on sketchbooks and reading comic books then I've completely grown up and transformed into an old man. Never, I say. NEVER!

Which is why it was so nice that a designer approached me last week to create a cartoon for one of our external customer newsletters, which is supposed to accompany a crossword puzzle.

Truth be told, I was a little rusty. And I suck at drawing women. But, it all came back to me. And, the photoshop skills kicked in. Hell, I was even able to incorporate a little vector, fine-line action via Illustrator. This is by no means my best stuff. But it felt nice getting back on the horse again.

I have a poster-sized piece down in my basement that needs some ink applied to it. It's on my to-complete list for 2018. And this little piece just got my creative mojo humming.

Eimertoons - Flo's Fun Land Coloring Book Page

Soooo, since adult coloring books are all the rage, one of our senior art directors had a brilliant idea to create a Progressive-Themed Adult Coloring book to sell to our more than 26,000 employees via our merchandise site.

She reached out to all of the designers (and myself) to create this one-of-a-kind art. Of course, I threw my hat into the ring. I like a good cartooning challenge.

There were only three rules, it had to (1) Be Fun, (2) Be Progressive, and (3) Be Easy To Color.

For a couple weeks, I couldn't think of anything. I was getting depressed. No ideas were seeping into my noggin.

Then, one weekend, I was organizing our basement and came across one of our kid's children's books called Tickets to Ride, An Alphabetic Amusement created by Mark Rogalski.

I started shuffling through the pages and came across the image near the back of the page where the entire park comes together:

Then, I got an idea. I got an awfully creative, fun idea ...

FLO'S FUNLAND!

(click to enlarge, print out and color!)

Flo Ghostbusters Cartoon

In case you live under a rock, the company I work for created a Ghostbusters-themed TV spot.

No, I didn't have anything to do with it. But don't tell my brother, because I tell him I write all the spots. (Sorry bro!)

In any event, I entered a contest at work to create a Ghostbuster's/Progressive mash-up with your favorite cultural ad icon mixed with the Ghostbusters. I had her battling the "competition".

I didn't win. :(

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Eimertoons - Work Stuff

Boss: "Hey Brad, can you draw a can of SPAM, Gene Simmons fan in a casket and a girl riding an ostrich in less than an hour for a pitch on Monday morning?"

Me: "No problem!"

Anatomy of an Eimertoon - Floism

About a year, or so, ago, our Creative Director asked us to put our illustration/design talents to the test and create some sort of illustration highlighting a Floism - a popular saying from a Progressive Flo Ad.

Well, I chose "I'll Get You A Rental Car" from the following Flo Spot titled 'Chick Flick' which pokes a little bit of fun at the famous rain-soaked scene in 'The Notebook' :

I had an idea that Flo was doing this all the time ... just showing up at different catastrophes around the country and getting people rental cars. I just thought about the different types of accidents people would get into - and then added a little diversity and locales.

I did a rough sketch ... mapping out how this poster could possibly flow (no pun intended). Truthfully, this came together pretty easy after I figured out the five other scenes.

After laying this out, I thought it would be a better idea to highlight the other 'accident's' first and then end the illustration with the shot of Flo standing in the rain with the handsome guy (as seen in the spot above).

And Voila! After a couple of rough drafts (which I can't seem to locate now) I came up with this final drawing, which is proudly hanging in our media room at Campus 2 ...

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Eimertoons - Car Insurance Protection

"Hey Brad, can you draw cartoon examples of our car insurance coverages?"

Of course I can!

Eimertoons - Work Caricature(s)

So, I was approached by some team members at work to create a 'logo' so they could attach to their internal podcast. While I'm not 100% comfortable creating caricatures of people, (I like to leave that stuff up to the seasoned professionals at Cedar Point), I took this on as a small challenge. That said, I'm fairly happy with the results.

One thing, as I move into the new millenium, I'm slowly, but surely, dipping my toe into illustrator and the creation of vector graphics. Haven't entirely figured out how to color vector images yet (the tutorials are so confusing and they make it look so damn easy).

But, one thing you'll notice are the fine, smooth bold lines surrounding the toons. It's a step into the future for Eimertoons. Regardless, the clients were happy with the final product, which is the most important thing, eh?

Eimertoons - #DeflateGateWTF?

Sometimes I feel like I'm living the movie Idiocracy.

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Christmas Eimertoons - Merry Flulike Christmas

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Eimertoons - Utilities

Eimer Note: I've had this one in the hopper for quite some time - since maybe early April 2014. But, for whatever reason, I was hesitant on releasing it to the public. Not sure why. In any event, enjoy.

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Eimertoons - Farwerks!

Eimertoons - 4-20 Bunny

Puffing down the bunny trail …

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Eimertoons - CMO

I created this toon of our Chief Marketing Officer for his birthday card.

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Eimertoons - Work For Hire

Below are some toons that I created for a co-worker to celebrate her boyfriend's 40th birthday. This was a fun exercise - plus I also got paid, which is always nice. :)

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Eimertoons - Daylight Savings Time

Eimertoons - We Three Stooges

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Anatomy of an Eimertoon - Jay's Big Bad 70th Birthday

So, a couple of weeks ago, my father-in-law turned 70 years old.

He had a big soiree on a Saturday night. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it because I had the awesome opportunity of going to see Nine Inch Nails in Cleveland at the Wolstein Center on the same, exact night as the party. Hey, tickets were already bought back in June. Friends were already coming in.

There was nothing I could do.

But, there was something I could do to help celebrate his birthday (and not feel guilty for making it to the party). I would draw my father-in-law a cartoon.

My father in law is an organized hoarder, especially in his garage. From tennis balls, hooks and racks to cases of Diet Coke and Lipton Iced Tea, his garage is a veritable Home Depot with tons and tons of unopened packages of cool shit.

So, I had this idea of my father-in-law sitting on a throne in the garage surrounded by his riches 'a la the ending of the first Conan the Barbarian movie.

But, it just didn't feel right...it felt more like Silence of the Lambs, than Conan the Barbarian:

Then, I pictured him as the 'main character' and his 'the things he does around his home' as the secondary/supporting character. Using the Heat Miser as inspiration for his body and face, I drew up a quick sketch to see if it would work:

Then, I went to my trusty light table, sketched it further and added some ink:

Then fine-tuned the line drawing,, added some color and VOILA!...

Happy 70th Birthday Jay!

Eimer Sketchbook - Motorcycle Insurance Brainstorm

The results of a brainstorm for motorcycle insurance today.

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