THE DAILY MONSTER

WEEKLY MONSTER 133

Good morning. How are you? I hope things are well on your end. Thank you for checking in on the monsters. Today's creature --- No.133 --- will be the last Weekly Monster for a month. Starting on Friday, we'll celebrate the countdown to the Monster Book with a February's worth of Daily Monsters. They'll be Old School --- just one minute of drawing and an invitation for you to submit your stories. I hope we'll have fun!

Today there is still a little bit of animation at the end, but boy... it's a little weird. I'm counting on you to figure out what's going on here. Clarification is clearly needed! Please take a look:

I must leave you now to draw new monsters, but I can't wait
to see what stories you'll come up with! For now, allow me
to remind you once again that 344 LOVES YOU

WEEKLY MONSTER 132

Good afternoon. How are you? I hope you're staying healthy during cold and flu season. (I seem to have caught a little bug this week. Sigh.) I'm also meeting with my fabulous photographer client in a few minutes --- more about that in a few months. It's all hush-hush for now --- but of course, it's Wednesday, so there is a new Monster:

It's an old school monster without too much animation, but with obvious question marks. I hope you'll feel inspired to fill in the blanks!

For now, I hope you're having a great day
and that you know that 344 LOVES YOU

THE FIRST REVIEWS ARE IN

Good evening. How are you? I'm preparing Monster 132 for you right now, but that's still got a few hours to go. In the meantime, I thought I'd share the first three advance reviews of the Monster Book with you.

First off, Whitney Matheson wrote a very kind and lovely review on her POP CANDY blog on the USA Today site a few days ago. You can check it out by clicking here.

The ever-excellent Alissa Walker (of UnBeige) and my brilliant friends at STEP Magazine gave the monsters a full-page shout-out in the current issue. You can click on the images to get a legible version.

The monsters also make an appearance in this month's issue of Los Angeles Magazine in a Buzz Cut review by the fabulous Robert Ito that features an implicit shout out to monster writers Brooke N., Sam B, and Rob C. Again, you can click on the images to get a legible version.

It's so exciting to see the monsters start seeping out into the wider world this way! I can't wait for you guys to get your hands on the book! I really hope I did you proud. Because you gotta know that 344 LOVES YOU

MEET THE MONSTER BOOK

Good evening. I just got home from an appointment and guess what I found on my door step? An unannounced, swollen UPS box from my friends at HOW Books. I thought "No! It couldn't be!" But it was! And it is! The first copy of 100 Days of Monsters! Needless to say I dropped everything else and filmed it for you. Why? Because this is your book as much as it's mine, and besides 344 LOVES YOU

WEEKLY MONSTER 131

Good afternoon. How are you? I hope that the new year has been treating you well these first two weeks of the New Year. (Does it feel like only two weeks to you? Seems like a lot longer to me.) I have for you a new Weekly Monster. It's a little bit different from the rest, but I hope you'll still have fun. Please take a look:

It's an upper crust monster. Are we looking at master or servant? Another performer? Or an inheritor? I'm curious to see what you think is going on here. If you have a minute, won't you please

For now, I hope you're having a lovely day doing something you enjoy!
And, as always, please remember that 344 LOVES YOU

WEEKLY MONSTER 130

Good afternoon. How are you? I hope the skies aren't too gray where you are.
Be it sunny or gloomy on your end, I do hope that the new Weekly Monster
will make you smile:

I realize that the monsters in their current incarnations aren't quite as open ended as they've been in the past. But there are still questions to be answered here. For example: Is this the regularly scheduled performance? Is he the opening act, or the headliner? What made this one such a hit? Is this the beginning of his career? The zenith? The end? Are we watching a Royal command performance? And if so, who's the monarch?

If you've got a few minute to spin a tale, please...

For now, I hope you're having an entirely passable Wednesday!
Do remember please that 344 LOVES YOU

OPEN SOURCE MONSTER 23

Good evening. How are you? While I'm noodling around on Weekly Monster 123 for tomorrow, I thought I'd finally post the great Open Source Monsters you sent me for Blot 22, along with a new blot for you to play with.

If you haven't thrown yourself into the giddy frenzy of monster creation, maybe this is your week! Here's how it works:

Download OPEN SOURCE INK BLOT 23, print it out, and have at it in any way you like: Draw, paint, origami, film, sculpt, create a dance for it. Just scan, photograph, or otherwise document the result and send it my way at opensource@344design.com and I'll put the result on the blog right here. If you can, please make your file 480 pixels wide. If you can't, don't worry about it.
I'll resize it for you.

In the meantime, please take a look at these excellent drawings for OSM22:

I got in on the action, too:

Kyle Yost bypassed the Open Source Blot
and just made his own damn monsters!
Kudos, Kyle! Nice work!

As always, you guys astound! What excellent monsters! Thank you very much for all your brilliant energy and your most fearful creatures! No question: 344 LOVES YOU

WEEKLY MONSTER 129

Good afternoon. How are you? Are you ready for a new Weekly Monster? I hope you'll enjoy today's creature. What do you think his story is? Where is all this happening? Is he surprised? Or did he know what he was looking for? If you have any thoughts on the matter, please don't hesitate. Please...

More Open Source Monsters are on the way, and there have been some fun additions to the World's Tallest Monster, too. All in all, we're off to a good start into the New Year! Here's to 2008 bringing you lots of love, health, and inspiration! For starters, you can always count on the fact that 344 LOVES YOU

COOL NEW MONSTER BY MEANNA BLOG

Good morning. Happy New Year! I hope you've entered 2008 in high spirits and high style. A new Weekly Monster is going live this afternoon. In the meantime, please check out this cool new creature by Meanna Blog:

No wonder 344 LOVES YOU