Throw Me A Bone

Name
Doc Martin

Location
Laguna Beach, CA (yes, that same place where those bratty gumsnappers from the MTV show hail from).

Business Name
"Throw Me A Bone" - A Pixel Pet Design Studio

Describe what you sell.
Well, Throw Me A Bone is a weeee little Pixel Pet Design Studio with BIG IDEAS. It is where you will find a husband and wife team creating digital works of art with a unique flair of "Man's Best Friend". We produce modern, original, digital pet portraits, boutique style pet apparel, note cards, and people apparel.

What is your real life like?
Obsessed!....or maybe Possessed!...or maybe just passionate? My wife is always reminding me to "prioritize my obsessions" because there seems to be no limit to the things I want to accomplish on a daily basis. I have been quite fortunate really that I am able to "be creative" for a living. In my day job, I am the art director and all around "Jack of All" for an automotive design firm. I have been with this company for 10 years now and on any given day you will find me doing design for automotive after market accessories like custom wheels, auto gauges, and even watches. In addition I also design mens and womens apparel, hot rod and car culture collectables, auto graphics and custom paint schemes. I am also the companies photographer, web designer, and graphic artist!(whew....I am tired just thinking about all of that.) So needless to say, there is quite a bit of creative energy expended during the day.
So, my obsessions tend to drift away from the technical side of things when I am away from the office. My wife keeps me really grounded and she has been a huge part of my exploring other avenues for my creativity. She is the main inspiration for all of our pet accessories and has been a the driving force for opening up this whole world to me. Because being an artist is such a solitary occupation much of the time, we created "Throw Me A Bone" as a way for my wife and I to combine our talents and work together. It has been fun and we are both pretty happy with where it has taken us so far and the response we have been getting is really positive!

What is your process?
Because there are soooooo many breeds to choose from, the inspiration is never ending. But once I decide on the next breed, I do spend quite a bit of time trying to find just the right image of that particular breed to capture the one characteristic that makes them unique! Once that is accomplished, its pretty much a flurry of activity on the old mac until its complete. My tools of choice are my Canon Rebel camera, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop on my mac.

Business Goals and Vision...
Because there are soooooo many breeds to choose from, the inspiration is never ending. But once I decide on the next breed, I do spend quite a bit of time trying to find just the right image of that particular breed to capture the one characteristic that makes them unique! Once that is accomplished, its pretty much a flurry of activity on the old mac until its complete. My tools of choice are my Canon Rebel camera, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop on my mac.

What are your goals and vision for your business- short and long term:
Our short term goal would be to finish rounding out our product line with a full selection of pet portraits, note cards, ACEO's, pet apparel, and finally people apparel. Once that is firmly established, we would like to expand our brick and mortar presence to at least 100 stores in the next 36 months.

How and where do you market your business- We currently have been mostly focused on getting everything up and going online. We have our own website that we market our pet apparel through and we have been really pleased with our recent expansion to etsy. But on the whole, I would have to say this is the one area we really look to improve on in the next year. Our word of mouth advertising has been working well during our startup phase the last few months, but we would really like to have a larger presence next year at pet expos, more brick and mortar stores, and create a cohesive ad campaign.

How do you market your business?
We currently have been mostly focused on getting everything up and going online. We have our own website that we market our pet apparel through and we have been really pleased with our recent expansion to etsy. But on the whole, I would have to say this is the one area we really look to improve on in the next year. Our word of mouth advertising has been working well during our startup phase the last few months, but we would really like to have a larger presence next year at pet expos, more brick and mortar stores, and create a cohesive ad campaign.

What inspires you?
First and foremost - great artists inspire me and my work. Obviously a pets character will always kind of give me a direction to go in. Their personality helps me set the mood of the piece with my colors and style. But I gotta say, right now, more then anything I am truly inspired by so many of the new breed of graphic, lowbrow, and urban/street artists. The bombastic color schemes that they use have inspired most of my dog prints. I thought it would be fun to offer a new kind of "pet portrait" that is inspired by so much of this graffiti style artwork.



Am a fan of these places...
www.obeygiant.com
www.gigposters.com
flickr
google

Find seller at...
www.throwmeabonestore.com
www.throwmeabone.etsy.com
www.saintsandsinners.etsy.com
www.barneysbarkery.com