Everything Toys @tankandbear - Tumblr Blog

Please don't laugh, this was Tero's idea of a joke.

Did you know there's an app about me? and it's climbing the charts today.

My favorite part of breakfast: toy

It's so hot here today, so we decided to take a swim...

Here's my friend Pekka, right after he stole my last piece of toffee, caught in the act.

I've been really good, I'll only have one cookie during snack time.

They're everywhere, searching for someone or something.

TIkka 1, the ship. The Jörgits

The Smorgs are coming!

MIO

Mikko's Log, entry 123bc-tr21:

We leave planet Milo's orbit, and continue our journey towards Earth a little bit disappointed. According to our guide book, Milo was supposed to be filled with marvelous seas, but they were all BENEATH the frozen surface of the planet. How where we supposed to know that? On the bright side of things we were extremly successful at our attempts of removing Pekka's tongue from a mighty glacier. May the Elders protect our journey.

#Jorgits #Jörgits

Leaving Planet Jörg

A ship set out that morning from planet Jörg, before the pale light of their star could rise on the horizon. It was the first clear morning in a long time. The blizzards had stopped for the time being and the icy expanses of the Northern Plains glittered from the reflections of the millions of stars setting in early morning light. The ship known as the Tikka 1, was manned by a crew of seven Jörgs, each selected for their particular skill: Ilkka the crew's captain, Timpa their Pilot, Jens the fearless explorer, Pekka their culinary specialist, Mikko the reknowned scientist and expert on Terra Forming, Urho a seasoned warrior, and Tero a skilled "negotiator". They were on a mission of outmost importance, one that would determine the fate of all Jörgkind. Their destination was a nearby galaxy known to it's inhabitants as the Milky Way.

Aboard the ship everyone was sleeping now. Tikka had reached her cruising speed of 7.7 times the speed of light (which is a number too fast to really imagine) and the crew had entered the long hybernation needed to undertake a journey of such great length. They had left a number of lights on around the ship. There was nothing worse than waking up in the middle of hypersleep, having to stumble around in the dark, bumping up against other sleeping pods, looking for a way to the kitchen.* There was no remedy for having to walk on the cold floor though. Before going to sleep Mikko had programmed the ship to wake him up when they would reach an area of Space that was of particular scientific interest to him. Unfortunately he was a rather deep sleeper and slept through the first one, the water world of Mio and the lumninous spinning disk of Galaxy i3865t** Tikka did not bother herself too much about it. Mikko would scream and holler when he'd wake up, but it wasn't her fault after all that the little scientist had resisted all her attempts to wake him. She prepared herself instead for the long journey ahead. They had a number of long months ahead of them still before they would reach their destination, a curious blue dot (known to our dear readers as Planet Earth). There were all manners of dangers ahead in the unchartered regions of deep space, Caldurian pirates, hidden asteroid belts, and a rogue black hole or two.

To be continued…

* Even though the sleeping pods provided Jörgits with the food needed during hypersleep, Jörgits like to snack frequently and will often wake up during hypersleep to fill up on something more solid than the milkshake of nutrient juice they receive from the sleeping pod.

** Galaxy i3865t creates a wonderful play of light when it interacts with the atmosphere of Mio. This has made Mio a favorite among intergalactic ravers who hold decade long dance parties underneath its icy seas. Sidsy, the famous intergalactic artist is known to drawn much of his inspiration for his famous work, Refraction Series 3, from i3865t's light phenomenon.

If you're not sure what a galaxy is you can read about them here.

#Jorgits #Jörgits #TankandBear

Where is planet Jörg?

We have a lot to report from Team Jörgits. Work is progressing on many fronts. But before I get into that, I would like to ask the Astronomers in my backer community for some help. Can anyone propose a plausible home planet for Planet Jörg?

It should have many of Earth's qualities with the difference that it's next to a star that is dying. It can be significantly bigger than earth is. It could be quite far away, the Jörgits are in possession of some pretty kickass warp drive technology after all. Please post your suggestions on the Jörgits Facebook page. The best suggestion will get a unique illustration from Team Jörgits.

Now for the progress report.

Script Though we've been pretty quiet since the Kickstarter ended, I've been busy rewriting parts of the novel. Most of the work has gone into the last two chapters of the book, which have been the most difficult to get right. I have probably rewritten the ending five times by now. This is where it helps to have really sharp editor onboard who keeps encouraging me and picks out the diamonds in the rough.

Development We began working with INKONIQ already prior to our Kickstarter. We already have the framework coded. This includes how to navigate from page to page, how to enter into an illustrations, and our global navigation system. Last week we began working on one of the most challenging but exciting parts of the app: the underwater soundscape. It's going to be fantastic. Here's a screenshot from our design spec.

Music We began working with ISRO in early June on the music for the underwater soundscape. It's been challenging getting the tone right. We're looking for the right mixture of a little scary but with sense of awe and beaty. That's how the underwater world feels after all, scary but awe inspiring. We almost have a first draft out the underwater soundtrack ready. I would love to share it with you, but I have keep reminding myself that I should leave some surprises for when we launch the app.

Illustration & Concept Design The fun part of having to rewrite parts of the story is that it usually results in new drawings. I've been hard at work drawing, drawing, drawing the last two weeks. I've been joined by Team Octopus in this endeavor, they were my secret weapon during the Kickstarter campaign. We're coming up with some pretty neat stuff like designs for the SMORGS (Kauhanen's artificial hunter-killers), and a (fictional) Chilean astronomer who'll be appearing on the Jörgits Facebook page during our prelaunch campaign.

Last Night of the Campaign

We're drawing up a storm, stay up with us and watch us go the distance. Here are some of the drawings we've come up with just today alone.

Helsinki

One of the main inspirations for the Jörgits, is the city of Helsinki. It's just beautiful. Over a period of four years I've been traveling back here to write and gather material for the book. Each time, I spend hours just walking through the city taking pictures of my favorite buildings and landscapes. I use them as reference imagery when I'm drawing but also to get in the right frame of mind as I'm writing. You also seen them show up in my Facebook posts.

I find myself in Helsinki for the final days of the campaign. It's wonderful to be back where it all began. I took a walk this morning to get away from all the emails and Facebook posts to return to what this campaign is really about: making art. Here are some pictures that I took during my walk, one day soon they'll show up as illustrations in the app that we're all working towards.

Just 41 hours to go, then it's all over, and the world begins a new. The End of Winter draws near...

The Stencils are here!

We finally got some samples of the stencils and they are awesome! More are on the way, this is not the complete set. Get yours today!

New Kickstarter Rewards!

Toy Design Workshop

Things are heating up! We added two new rewards categories today. The first is the Toy Design Workshop. I've been running the Toylab for the past three years now at the Srishti School of Art and Design in Bangalore. We make some pretty cool stuff. If you have a design firm or an interested group of friends this might be the reward for you. For two days I will teach 10 adults a workshop on toy design. I can tailor make the workshop either towards toys or children's media. The workshop is will be available in the following cities: San Francisco, New York, Helsinki, Bangalore, and beautiful Pittsburgh. If you live in another city and really want to do this, message me and we can try to arrange it. You would have to provide for my transportation and lodging.

You bring the skills and provide the venue, I teach the process. This is how I run my lab in Bangalore and we have some really nice results.

Children's App Consultation

We've also added the Children's App Consultation to our rewards Category. Spend 45 minutes with me and I'll review your concept, help fix your story, and brainstorm cool some interactions for your App. Over Skype or in person (if you find yourself in Bangalore).

Have a look at the some of the work below from my Toy Lab to see what you could be making!

TOYS

Nalisha Chouraria – Little Land

Alannah D'souza – Grub

Natchiappan Ramanthan - Rolling with Mirrors

Anne-Louise Hansen & Nikita Jain - Play Plants

Hydro Hummers - Saurabh Levin

Bogreees - Navackotti

Munch a Tale - Neha Berry

Ishita Dharap - Parasite Puppets

ME - Super Mango 5

MEDIA

Nandini Chandravarkar - Amma will you play with me

Ragini Ramanthan - Escape from Toy Land

Constanza Mahaluf - Camisola

Rudransh Mattur, Ankkit Modi - Projection Mapping

Abrar Burk - The Last of Us

Shilo Suleman - Khoya

#Kickstarter #iPad Apps #Toy Design #Jörgits #TankandBear

New Kickstarter Rewards!

Toy Design Workshop

Things are heating up! We added two new rewards categories today. The first is the Toy Design Workshop. I've been running the Toylab for the past three years now at the Srishti School of Art and Design in Bangalore. We make some pretty cool stuff. If you have a design firm or an interested group of friends this might be the reward for you. For two days I will teach 10 adults a workshop on toy design. I can tailor make the workshop either towards toys or children's media. The workshop is will be available in the following cities: San Francisco, New York, Helsinki, Bangalore, and beautiful Pittsburgh. If you live in another city and really want to do this, message me and we can try to arrange it. You would have to provide for my transportation and lodging.

You bring the skills and provide the venue, I teach the process. This is how I run my lab in Bangalore and we have some really nice results.

Children's App Consultation

We've also added the Children's App Consultation to our rewards Category. Spend 45 minutes with me and I'll review your concept, help fix your story, and brainstorm cool some interactions for your App. Over Skype or in person (if you find yourself in Bangalore).

Have a look at the some of the work below from my Toy Lab to see what you could be making!

TOYS