Rosscott, Inc.

Here at Rosscott, Inc. we’ve had a real boner for infographics lately. Let today be no exception. Graphic designer (and fellow infographic lover) Stephen “Stivo” Taubman has created an infographic that depicts all the statistical and visual detail necessary to recreate the famous scene in the smash hit Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus where the mega shark jumps out of the water and eats the plane near the Golden Gate Bridge. When I saw this, I thought of my friends in tropical Madison, WI at Tank Riot, who I know love them some Mega Shark action.  LINK.

A 5-year old kid writes a comic. His 29-year old brother draws it. Together, they fight crime. It’s been everywhere in the last week but it’s worth posting here to, if only to visually throw my support behind it. Because it’s amazing. I just wish the site wasn’t in flash, so I recommend clicking “Non-Flash” in the top right the minute you get to the site. LINK.

On a personal note, this comic honestly makes me want to try harder. To come up with more original ideas, and let go the way a 5-year-old writing gets to. There is a joy in being able to concentrate on one part of things (the writing or the art) that lets you take things further than they could otherwise. That’s why I put so many rules into creating The System. The more rules, the more fun I can have seeing how I can manipulate them. I think that’s part of what makes the art of Axe Cop so fun, he gets to interpret a 5-year-old’s ideas into visual form. Not to mention, it narrates like a child would write it.  And there’s some video proof on the site, in case there was any doubt in your mind an adult would write Flute Cop turning into Dinosaur Soldier turning into Avocato Soldier (to say nothing of Uni-Baby).

I got this in the mail a few weeks ago, which means I just finally got around to seeing it at the bottom of a pile today.  Thanks to Caldwell (who does some awesome comics) for this awesome drawing on this great postcard. The card is from a series that has so many of my friends involved that I’m amazed I didn’t hear about it sooner! Go webcomics!

As for the content of the card itself, it says “Plumber X-ing” and is what I suppose goes on traffic signs in the Mushroom Kingdom. Well done, sir.

Time for another round of System in the Wild where you send in cool / interesting / funny interpretations of the characters you see in The System, and I post them on the site for everyone else to gawk at! First up is Systemic Holly, who saw this on a blog elsewhere. Don’t ask me to read it ‘cuz I can’t, but I think the baby looks like the 10 commandments in History of the World Part 1. Or, y’know, the Torah. Thanks, Hol! LINK.

Next up is from Systemic Yoni. It’s signage from the 80’s in case of a nuclear attack, which seemed looming enough at the time to get a nice little sign made and put in a cute little frame. Be sure to check out #8, it’s Yoni’s favorite. LINK.

Finally we conclude with Systemic Aaron. He saw this and took the pic while waiting for his girlfriend. Looks like this “wet floor” sign guy did a little more drinking than slipping. Lawsuit waiting to happen or open bar? YOU DECIDE. LINK.

There you have it! We’re always looking for more System in the Wild posts to put up on the site, so send them our way at systemcomic at gmail, and I’ll post them here on the site!

Yesterday’s comic, The System 333: Full Gadget Ratio has been doing quite well for itself. It made it to the front of Reddit for a hot second, has spread around pretty well on Twitter, etc. However, a bunch of people more mathy than I, thinking I’m secretly trying to be XKCD (hint: XKCD has yet to do a comic about crop marks and bleed), are having some trouble with the equation. Fair, since I spend too much time on the graphic and little on making the equation work. Case in point:

Why take so much time on the graphic only to have such a poorly thought out equation?

I’m not normally one to obsess over others’ comments on the comic, but they have a valid point. Systemics, let’s give this chart an equation to be proud of! Given the variables at hand, help me come up with something better. Use whatever units of measurement you feel appropriate and all the information at hand, and post them here in the comments. I’ll update this chart and give credit where due the best I can. In fact, I’ll be picking at random one of the people who helps in the comments to get a FREE PRINT of this comic from our store, HilariAwesome.com!

Another edition of System in the Wild, as the submissions just keep on coming! I haven’t seen this many submissions since the last leather and restraint convention I attended. First up is Systemic Kim, who sends in an artist with a strikingly similar subject matter. Mainly, international symbol sign characters as her muse. Some would get offended, I think we weren’t the first and certainly won’t be the last. An excerpt about the artist:

using pictograms familiar to us all from everyday life - such as road signs, toilet markers
and math symbols pippo lionni uses animation to tell a story or make a comment,
entirely without recourse to words.

All of that, and more, via DesignBoom. Check it out! LINK.

Here’s another from Systemic Kim. This one on using these symbols to create a universal language. Ironic, since many languages are originally based on pictograms in the first place. Kinda brings it all back around. Check out the site to read the artist, Xu Bing’s mission statement and an interview. LINK. Oh, and that interview they mention? I think this is it.

Next up is Systemic Rachel. She links to a story from the UK about new signs confusing the piss out of people. What exactly is an Ambulant Urinal? Or for that matter a Unisex Ambulant facility? Find out! LINK.

Well that’s about it for today! Be sure to send in cool crap you find to systemcomic at the gmail, and I’ll post it here on the site! In the meantime, stay awesome, Systemics.

Digital goods for the design community since the space-time paradox of 1887 says their tagline. Currently available on the site is a set of custom ampersands (available in EPS and OpenType formats) for just $10.00, but what really gets me going is how much fun the site is. The ampersands have titles like “Swooshium”, “Piercium” and “Elegantium”. The whole thing is set up like a periodic table of elements. LINK.