As you can tell by the dates on my last post...I forget that I even have this blog! Rather than make some lame promise to do better, I'll just point you at some sites I do regualarly update with Rotofugi Information:
our main site
rotofugi discussion forums
project blog for Ninjatown Micro Plush by Shawnimals
project blog for Tear Drips by Travis Lampe
project blog for Marshall by 64 Colors
project blog for The Lake Monsters
project blog for Roto-a-Matic
store updates Twitter
my personal Twitter
store / personal Flickr
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, July 7, 2008
Danger! Danger!
Sorry, I couldn't resist the silly headline. Our next show at Rotofugi Gallery is by the immensely talented Daniel Danger...new paintings and prints!
Opening Reception
Thursday, July 17, 2008 -- 6-9PM
Snacks, sodas and Daniel will be there.
Exhibit continues through August 2
Monday, June 30, 2008
Finally!
Well, I've proven once again that I'm a terrible blogger. Terrible. But, at least this post I've got good news: we finally launched our new and improved website!
The development for the site took forever because 1) I'm stubborn and wanted to do it myself and 2) we've been pretty busy. Between running the online store and the retail location, curating our gallery, working on new toy releases (hopefully more news on that coming in the not too distant future) and the occasional beer I pretty much ran out of time to work on the new site until earlier this month.
So far it's been great having the new site done. We've had a couple bugs pop up (probably due to my laughingly crude alterations to the ASP code) but all-in-all it's been great. We moved to a dedicated server (at hostmysite.com, highly recommended) from our previous shared account and the speed difference is amazing!
Thanks to everyone who has given feedback along the way....especially Whitney (of course), Bart, James and Aaron.
I'm going to attempt, yet again, to post more frequently but no promises!
Up next for us? Daniel Danger opening on July 17 then we've got a booth at San Diego Comic Con at the end of July. Hope to see some of you there!
The development for the site took forever because 1) I'm stubborn and wanted to do it myself and 2) we've been pretty busy. Between running the online store and the retail location, curating our gallery, working on new toy releases (hopefully more news on that coming in the not too distant future) and the occasional beer I pretty much ran out of time to work on the new site until earlier this month.
So far it's been great having the new site done. We've had a couple bugs pop up (probably due to my laughingly crude alterations to the ASP code) but all-in-all it's been great. We moved to a dedicated server (at hostmysite.com, highly recommended) from our previous shared account and the speed difference is amazing!
Thanks to everyone who has given feedback along the way....especially Whitney (of course), Bart, James and Aaron.
I'm going to attempt, yet again, to post more frequently but no promises!
Up next for us? Daniel Danger opening on July 17 then we've got a booth at San Diego Comic Con at the end of July. Hope to see some of you there!
Friday, September 14, 2007
It's Been a Busy....Three Months?!
I guess I need to confess at not being a very good blogger. That would be a start. It's been nearly three months since I last posted an update.
The new online store still isn't finished. I've been butting heads with tech support at the software vendor about some little, but very crucial stuff. Then I finally got around to checking the new site with Windows IE7, and damn...looked like crap! So, much head-butting and head-scratching and the new site still isn't ready. I'm getting close to scrapping the whole thing and starting over again with different software, but I'm not sure yet.
Other than that, we've been busy with gallery shows...this last weekend was the opening for Toy Karma. Mark Nagata curated a kick ass show for us. Really kick ass. Also, major thanks go out to Steve Forde of Go Hero for helping a ton with the setup as well as Bob Conge of Plaseebo Custom for pitching in. Matt, Jason and Sarah also for hanging out and, for the most part, really staying out of the way (which was what I needed)! :p As a result of this show (well, maybe not as a result, but it definitely has something to do with it) we're going to be making a concerted effort to carry more kaiju/JP vinyl at Rotofugi. We're not giving up on western vinyl, just expanding our horizons. Look for more RxH, Dream Rockets, Rumble Monsters, Cronic and the like in the future of the Roto!
Since I last posted we've also announced two projects that we're manufacturing in conjunction with Squibbles Ink: Shawnimal's Ninjatown blind box mini-plush and little vinyl busts called "The Family" by Chicago bad ass Brian Morris. Both projects are rolling along, more or less smoothly, but deadlines are looming and I don't know exactly when we'll release stuff. Let's just say that we want things to be pretty darned good and we're not quite there yet. But we'll get there.
Finally, I've got some other stuff brewing on the side burner that I really, really want to announce...but it's just not yet time yet...so I guess you'll have to wait a few (okay, maybe six) months to find out what I'm hinting at. Let's just say it's gonna be awesome and it's gonna be a lot of work, but in the end it will hopefully result in some very, very cool artsy toys.
So, to recap...I suck at blogging, Toy Karma and kaiju rule (show runs all month), Rotofugi is making toys with our good friends and we've got even more big news coming down the line but it's not time yet. Next gallery opening is October 5, "Practice Make Perfect ... and Other Lies" ... solo show by Brian Morris!
The new online store still isn't finished. I've been butting heads with tech support at the software vendor about some little, but very crucial stuff. Then I finally got around to checking the new site with Windows IE7, and damn...looked like crap! So, much head-butting and head-scratching and the new site still isn't ready. I'm getting close to scrapping the whole thing and starting over again with different software, but I'm not sure yet.
Other than that, we've been busy with gallery shows...this last weekend was the opening for Toy Karma. Mark Nagata curated a kick ass show for us. Really kick ass. Also, major thanks go out to Steve Forde of Go Hero for helping a ton with the setup as well as Bob Conge of Plaseebo Custom for pitching in. Matt, Jason and Sarah also for hanging out and, for the most part, really staying out of the way (which was what I needed)! :p As a result of this show (well, maybe not as a result, but it definitely has something to do with it) we're going to be making a concerted effort to carry more kaiju/JP vinyl at Rotofugi. We're not giving up on western vinyl, just expanding our horizons. Look for more RxH, Dream Rockets, Rumble Monsters, Cronic and the like in the future of the Roto!
Since I last posted we've also announced two projects that we're manufacturing in conjunction with Squibbles Ink: Shawnimal's Ninjatown blind box mini-plush and little vinyl busts called "The Family" by Chicago bad ass Brian Morris. Both projects are rolling along, more or less smoothly, but deadlines are looming and I don't know exactly when we'll release stuff. Let's just say that we want things to be pretty darned good and we're not quite there yet. But we'll get there.
Finally, I've got some other stuff brewing on the side burner that I really, really want to announce...but it's just not yet time yet...so I guess you'll have to wait a few (okay, maybe six) months to find out what I'm hinting at. Let's just say it's gonna be awesome and it's gonna be a lot of work, but in the end it will hopefully result in some very, very cool artsy toys.
So, to recap...I suck at blogging, Toy Karma and kaiju rule (show runs all month), Rotofugi is making toys with our good friends and we've got even more big news coming down the line but it's not time yet. Next gallery opening is October 5, "Practice Make Perfect ... and Other Lies" ... solo show by Brian Morris!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
New Online Store Update
We're still hard at work developing our new and improved online store. I'm proud to say it's coming along really nicely...I'd say we're maybe 90% of the way there on the "look and feel" and 80% of the way there on functionality. I've found a few minor annoyances with the store software we'll be using and am busy developing work-arounds. Once I'm happy with it then I have to begin the arduos task of importing, testing and tweaking all of our current products. That should be fun.
In the end, I think our customers are really going to like the improvements and the overall polish is a lot higher than our current setup. I've intentionally gone for a layout that is reminiscent, albeit much improved, of our current online store so in a lot of ways the new setup will still feel familiar...just better!
I don't have a definite timeline for the switchover, but if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on "sometime in July."
In the end, I think our customers are really going to like the improvements and the overall polish is a lot higher than our current setup. I've intentionally gone for a layout that is reminiscent, albeit much improved, of our current online store so in a lot of ways the new setup will still feel familiar...just better!
I don't have a definite timeline for the switchover, but if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on "sometime in July."
Friday, May 18, 2007
Mmmmm....Cheese
Took a bit of an early night tonight and went down to Cleo's for a snack. If you're ever in our neighborhood I can't recommend a better place to spend an evening with friends. Good food, cold beer, a great outdoor area and friendly staff are among their better selling points but the best thing of all is the deep fried Cheddar Cheese Cubes....not on the menu, so consider this an insider tip!
Something in the Works
We've got something in the works...well, actually, a lot of things. But one main thing has me geeked out right now: I'm headlong into developing a new, improved online store for Rotofugi. I'm learning and cutting and pasting a lot of CSS and ASP right now and kinda loving it.
The new version should have lots of fancy new features like wish lists (save items for later), gift registries, product ranking/comments, sorting by lots of different criteria and more. But at the same time I'm also trying to keep the design simple and straight-forward. It's a challenge, but one that I'm enjoying.
So...if anyone out there has any great CSS or ASP resources that will blow my mind please forward them along. I'm definitely no programmer, but if I can cut it and paste it and somehow wrap my head around it I can make stuff work usually.
The new version should have lots of fancy new features like wish lists (save items for later), gift registries, product ranking/comments, sorting by lots of different criteria and more. But at the same time I'm also trying to keep the design simple and straight-forward. It's a challenge, but one that I'm enjoying.
So...if anyone out there has any great CSS or ASP resources that will blow my mind please forward them along. I'm definitely no programmer, but if I can cut it and paste it and somehow wrap my head around it I can make stuff work usually.
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