It Was The Chad

(of course it was)

  • Home
  • Projects
  • Blog
  • Contact

The Last Banana

August 24, 2015 by The Chad

last-banana-header

The (First World) Problem

We’ve all been there. Two bananas left on the banana hanger. You pick them up, rip off one for consumption, and then try to return the last one to the hanger. Except no banana hanger in the world can hang a single banana. You try to wedge it into the hook. You try to balance it on the top. No luck. Eventually, you give up and toss the banana on the counter.

Boom. Bruised banana. Thus is the fate of the last banana.

The (Revolutionary) Solution

The Last Banana
This is the problem I attempted to solve as I stepped into the role of product developer. I came up with an elegantly simple solution — my design includes a notch into which a single banana stem can be easily wedged.

Though this whole idea started out as a joke (see my infomercial screenplay below), I actually put serious thought and effort into the designs and then registered for a provisional patent. I then put up a sell-sheet in the form of a website (linked below) which I could use to shop the idea around to various kitchen product manufacturers. I shopped it around, though no one was ultimately interested in licensing the idea. As usual, I’m so far ahead of my time that others cannot see my genius. ;)

Despite the idea not selling, it was a fun and educational experience.

Website Sell-Sheet

Link: The Last Banana

I put together a single-page site to show off the idea to kitchen product companies.

last-banana-screen-1
last-banana-screen-2

last-banana-screen-3

The Infomercial

This whole thing started as a joke. I even wrote a screenplay for a comical infomercial. After writing it, I thought that, though goofy, this could legitimately catch on and sell some product. I never did get around to actually producing the video, though, so let me know if you’re interested in working on this together. :)

Note: The screenplay was written back when the banana hanger was intended as an adapter rather than a stand-along solution. My, how far we’ve come since then! ;)

Virt World Story Site

August 17, 2015 by The Chad

Virt World

Site-Icons
Polygon-style graphics created for the story site

Not for the first time, I got it in my head that I would write a novel. Not only that, but I would take it a step further and share story details and journal my writing experiences as I wrote. In this way, I hoped to attract readers of the genre as well as aspiring writers and to create an online following that would help when it came time to find a publisher for the young adult, sci-fi story.

To that end, I created what I call a story site using the WordPress platform. As I developed characters, worlds, and plot details, I added them to appropriate sections of the site. These notes served as a story bible, helping me keep my ideas organized, and it also served as an early preview for readers.

The story notes, in addition to regular blog updates and writing progress bars, allowed the world to follow the creation of the Virt World story. Well, that is until I realized once again that writing a novel is extremely difficult and, perhaps, not something I’m quite ready for yet. The story site sits stagnant at this point, though I am still proud of what I did achieve and hope to return to finish it some day.

The Story

The story, as mentioned, is a young adult, sci-fi story. Here’s the blurb:

Virtual Reality technology has nearly replaced the snooze-fest that is the real world. Millions of people now spend most of their lives plugged into Virt, a series of virtual worlds in which they play, work, socialize, and otherwise ignore reality.

While gearing up for the biggest Virt adventure of the year, one gamer discovers that his gaming partner is actually playing against her will for the profit of others. In a world that’s all about keeping your head in the sand, he must decide what’s more important: winning gaming immortality or teaming up to save a fellow gamer.

The Story Site

I designed the site itself as well as all the graphics. The polygonal design aesthetic was intended to evoke the sci-fi virtual reality feel of the story. I even made a new headshot of myself in the polygon style.

Screenshots

virt-word-screen-1 virt-word-screen-2 virt-word-screen-3

 

Writing: Poems

August 14, 2015 by The Chad

A few poems, most from a more emo time in my life. :)

Peace of Crap

Peace of Crap is a book of stinky poems I self-published back in 2008. Read the PDF ebook.

Peace of Crap - Poems and songs by Chad Carpenter
Read Peace of Crap

The following poems were written after Peace of Crap.

Poetry Done Write

Weird Beard

Censorship and Sensibility

Bored In Heaven

Last Night I Dreamt I Was a Poet

Decaying Conveyances

I Write

I Write, Part 2

Divine Herring

Car Without Volition

The Benighted States

American Pie Hole

The Last Hand of Cards

The Man Who Lives in My Basement

This Calls for Some Monkey Lovin’

Writing: Short Stories

August 12, 2015 by The Chad

A few stories by yours truly. Enjoy!

The Fourth Day

The Emperor’s New Tailor

Popping Spell (A Very Short Play)

Merely Players

A Valet Story

Bless You

Whelmed

Mem’s Goodbye

Count Me Out

The Crotchetiest Old Man

Chase Your Dream

Photographers Web Comic

July 22, 2015 by The Chad

I created a series of professional photography themed web comics for a previous employer. The comics, released weekly on the company’s blog, added personality and humor to the company and were just plain fun to create.

The punchlines are likely to be hit-or-miss for non-photographers, but we had a great response to them in the photographer community.

 

And a few more:

 

 

Branding & Website: POST

September 22, 2013 by The Chad

editors-group

A previous employer needed a website update, so I took a stab at a mockup which used simple bubble figures (one step up from stick figures) as placeholders for photos and graphics.

Well, the mockup placeholders were so well received that we moved forward with the hand-drawn look for the actual site.  While the site was live, we received very positive feedback from customers and partners alike.

One of the primary goals was to instill a sense of personality into the site. We want our clients to know who we are, so we prominently feature a “meet the team” page with fun caricatures representing each employee. The information provided was streamlined, and a prominent path through the site delivers our messaging in our preferred sequence.

I’m proud to say the project was almost singlehandedly mine, as I was responsible for the design, HTML, CSS, drawings, and copy.

Screen-Shot-Home_Page

Screen-Shot-Editors

Screen-Shot-Services

Logo & Company Name

The website was part of a larger rebranding. Previously, we underwent a company name change in which I helped decide on the “POST” name and also created the new logo, shown below, with assistance from a designer.

header_logo

 

 

 

Additional Assets

Here are a few more branding and marketing assets I created while I was with POST.

For the Holidays:

A marketing email:

Another marketing email:

Marketing for a company name change:

Branding_change

 

Buttons for an industry trade show:

© 2021 · The Chad
Return to top of page

Copyright © 2021 · Author Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in