JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

Oscar Woodruff’s masterpiece illustration for Soft&Furry™ is now available right here, via JoyEngine as a desktop.  Three sizes are available, 1680×1050, 1440×900, and 1280 x800 -  so take your pic.  We have grand intentions of teaming up with Mr. Woodruff and lending a hand to help him reproduce this work as a limited edition archival giclee.  We’ll see.  Until then, download away!!!

Josh Holland’s furries, for SOFT&FURRY™ went on walk-about earlier this week and wobbled their way over to the Shoppe to soak up some java, cupcakes and typography.  They invited cypher13 to tag along and the boys we’re more than ecstatic to accompany them. More on the furries and their adventures into the great wide world of design soon!!!

SOFT&FURRY™ went from nothing to something due to a simple phone call.  We owe a debt of gratitude to Dea Webb and Dave Wendt for ringing us back in April, or maybe it was early May and asking us to show some of our work at their little Plastic Chapel.  It was their interest that inspired this project.

We’d dreamt (as silly as it sounds) of making our own toys since early 2004.  The notion of creating our own canvas and providing it to our friends, both near and far has been one of those little motivators that’s kept us pushing through the rough, not so creative days.  We fully realize that the fruition of S&F™ is a relatively insiginificant accomplishment compared to a great many others, Hilary and Barack for example, but nevertheless the process, most importantly,  will remain forever dear to our twisted little hearts.

An extra-special thanks goes out first and foremost to Kristian Kluver, Mike Dunn, Steven Elmes, Markham Maes, Josh Holland, Shannon Bontakis, Brian Krezel, Joseph Shaeffer, and Scot Lefavor.  For without their continued trust and support we never would’ve completed our strange little quest while at the same time maintaining a vague semblance of sanity and balancing our commercial workload.

Anyone who’s ever been involved in any sort of creative management knows well that wrangling nearly 50 artists/designers for a common goal is no easy feat.  And, it’s these artists and designers from every habitable continent on the globe that made this project a reality.  They’re our real source of inspiration and fuel our passion as creatives, artists, and designers.  We’re truly proud to have provided a platform to highlight their talents and their passions and share them with a great many others.

Those artists include : DeadVolt / deadvoltage.com / DENMARK, DGPH / dgph.com.ar / ARGENTINA, HELLOHIKIMORI / hellohikimori.com / FRANCE, ILK / ilkilkilk.com / FRANCE, Galaxy Bunch / galaxybunch.com / HONG KONG, Morten Andersen / m-andersen.com / DENMARK, StupidLove / stupid-love.com / ARGENTINA, Tilt Design Studio / tiltdesignstudio.com / GERMANY, TOKO / toko.nu / AUSTRALIA, Pulco Mayo / pulcomayo.com / FRANCE, PHU! / phuek.blogspot.com / SINGAPORE, Via Grafik / vgrfk.com / GERMANY, Zeptonn / zeptonn.nl / THE NETHERLANDS, Adam Haynes / stickfort.com / BEND, OR, Celeste Prevost / designis-fine.com / MINNEAPOLIS, MN, Dave Franzese / daveisdrawing.com / BROOKLYN, NY, Dookie-Poo / dookie-poo.com / MONTCLAIR, NJ, Eighthourday / eighthourday.com / MINNEAPOLIS, MN, Grant Gilliland / seegrantdraw.com / SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Mint Condition / iammintcondition.com / MINNEAPOLIS, MN, Lifter Baron / lifterbaron.com / MINNEAPOLIS, MN, Mike HYP / myspace.com/mhyp74 / PORTLAND, OR, Sketchbot / sketchbot.blogspot.com / BROOKLYN, NY, Toothjuice / toothjuice.net / MINNEAPOLIS, MN, Alvin Gregorio / alvingregorio.com / BOULDER, CO, Amanda Marie / artbyam.com / FORT COLLINS, CO, Brian Krezel / briankrezel.com / FORT COLLINS, CO, Chris Ericson / DENVER, CO, Chris McNally / chrismcnally.com / BOULDER, CO, cypher13 / cypher13.com / BOULDER, CO, Dea & Dave / plasticchapel.com / DENVER, CO, Derek Friday / finndustry.blogspot.com / BOULDER, CO, Jason Thielke / jasonthielke.com / DENVER, CO, Joseph Shaeffer / studiojoshephshaeffer.com / BOULDER, CO, Josh Holland / www.josholland.com / BOULDER, CO, Josh Wills / wearesuperordinary.com / DENVER, CO, Kristian Kluver / rocket-fly.com / BOULDER, CO, Magnet Mafia / magnetmafia.com / DENVER, CO, Markham “Shitty Kitten” Maes / shittykitten.com / DENVER, CO, Matthew Doubek / LAFAYETTE, CO, Mike Graves / DENVER, CO, Oscar Woodruff / oscarwoodruff.com / FORT COLLINS, CO, Regan Rosburg / reganrosburg.com / DENVER, CO, Scot Lefavor / scotlefavor.com / DENVER, CO, Shannon Bonatakis / shannonbonatakis.com / BOULDER, CO, Rafa Jenn / rafajenn.com / DENVER, CO, and Ray Young Chu / rayyoungchu.com / WESTMINSTER, CO

Without futher ado… or anymore touchy-feely crap, here’s some pics thanks to Adam Mattivi and Steven Elmes. The super-pro pics are Adam’s… sorry Stevesy – you know we love you:)

Reed and Zach from inkmonstr installing the vinyl and Dave Wendt of Plastic Chapel.

Josh Holland constructed the huge furries for us (there were 3 in total)!

Lucian arranging toys.

Guy with the awesome hair in back is the one and only Oscar Woodruff.

Man in the hat – Dave Smith, owner of Limited Addiction and David B. Smith Gallery.

Markham Maes’ insane diorama he built for DOO.

Hand sewed from StupidLove in Argentina.

Plastic Chapel has everything you need!

Colorado local, Ray Young Chu!  Thriller!

Lucian Foehr, Scot Lefavor and Alex Henry.

Oscar Woodruff’s stunning illustration.

Close up of GROOND.

Close up of LOOFT.

Close up of DOO.

Megan (aka Miz Astrid) and Charlie on the decks!

From Via Grafik in Germany.

The 3 Universal Truths – Hunger, Rest, and Fornication from Dave Franzese.

The cypher13 team.

Making toys!

3 Mythical Beasts by Scot Lefavor.

Dea (back) getting her swerve on.

Left to right: Mike HYP, Amanda Maire and Kristian Kluver.

From Denver local, Mike Graves.

Close up of Markham’s diorama.

Berger and Lefavor, kicking it.

Full house all night!

Markham Maes’ GROOND.

Markham Maes’ insanely detailed mushroom.

Brian Krezel representing Fort Collins.

All three Soft and Furries!

An additional extra-huge thanks goes out to Miz Astrid & Charlie (Lucian’s sister and brother’n'law) for bringin’ the beats to the evening.  You guys are rad!!!

NOTE: Front and back photos of each and every custom (including Josh Holland’s mega-plush) will be up on www.softandfurry.com real soon.

Kristian Kluver’s masterpiece from this Saturday’s SOFT&FURRY™ exhibition opening. Photos are being optimized for the web as we speak.

Pics from S&F™ at Dea Webb’s and Dave Wendt’s Plastic Chapel coming later today…

After much anticipation and excitement, it is officially the day of the SOFT&FURRY™ show. From 7PM to 11PM this evening, get ready for what could be the greatest toy show, ever. Make your way to the Plastic Chapel to see international artists, U.S. artists and local Colorado artists exhibit their renditions of Looft, Doo, and Groond. This truly is a show not to be missed.

Toy guru, extra-rad guy, and Editor-n-Chief of Toycyte,  Jeremy Brautman recently interviewed us (c13).  He wanted to know a bit more about SOFT&FURRY™ and get some inside cypher beta.  We’re seriously psyched to have been interviewed by Jeremy, and featured on Toycyte alongside so many amazing artists, designers, and brilliant little vinyl, and plastic, and wood, and resin figures.  Toycyte, is where keep our urethane covered little fingers (at least as of late) on the pulse of the toy world.  It’s really wonderful to have some of our stuff up there.

You can read the interview in its entirety here: cypher13 featured on Toycyte

To round out the S&F™ DIY toy line created exclusively for our toy exhibition at the Plastic Chapel, we’ve added a stash of DIY goodness (along with some help from GROOND) as well as some mystery kits…  They’re cute and fun.  We hope folks like ‘em.  They’ll be in play tomorrow night along with a stash of some of hottest most original customs from all over the golbe – that we’ve ever laid our eyeballs on.  And, yes we’ve got some paint on our eyeballs from laying them on the toys…

Adam Hansel is Deadvolt.  An expat artist/designer residing in Copenhagen, Denmark.  He’s good.  Real good.  He just added a LOOFT to his portfolio.  We’ll show off some of his new work next week.  It’s fresh.

The SOFT&FURRY™ custom toy exhibition at the Plastic Chapel this Saturday marks Oscar Woodruff’s first formal showing.  Oscar’s been pretty fired up about it and decided to push himself a little.  Aside from the three toys Oscar’s customizing, and the three others he’s handcrafted (or so it sounds, we’ve yet to see…), Oscar wanted to create an illustration in his signature style, his interpretation of the ancestral SOFT&FURRY™ and they’re environment.   And so he did.  Those close to story can imagine the world of the S&F™ prior to the introduction of man.  But, never in our wildest collective imagination did we see the tale of the S&F™ being interpreted to this extent.  Oscar is brilliant, wildly talented, and we’re all proud to show work alongside him and call him a friend and colleague.  I can’t wait to see his illustration up close!!!

…after

…before

Typical.  Alvin Gregorio produced another beautiful, timely and insightful piece of art.  This go round it his canvas was GROOND, realized as Filipino Warrior King Lapu-Lapu.  Alvin is calling his toy design, “lapu-lapu awaits magellan.”

Here’s what Alvin had to say about his recent work, “Filipino Warrior King Lapu-Lapu, on April 27th of the year 1521, killed the pirate Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan. Lapu-Lapu is known as the Philippines’ first National Hero. For me, he is a symbol for the fight against “big business”, which at that time was known as colonialism-in the name of religion. More simply, he is a symbol i use for keeping life close to the root. Word!”

Perfect.

Mike Graves has all three of our S&F™ DIY toys, LOOFT, DOO, and GROOND.  We’ve been super anxious to see what Mike’s been up to, as he’s one of our favorite artists, particularly when it comes to customizing toys.  We just got out first glimpse of GROOND, and the painting that accompanies him.  Frikin’ great shit!!!  Mike kills it.  We can’t wait to see what he comes up with for LOOFT and DOO!!!