March 02, 2006

All clients please read!!!

Hey gang!

There's some exciting development in our design lives, and as things unfold more we'll be happy to share that with you.
Unfortunately it's not allowing space for new projects at this time. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may create
for you, but hope we get your blessings in the meantime.

Thanks!

Anni Poppen & Barry Abrams

Posted by Anni at 12:20 AM

January 03, 2006

A New Year

New Year's Eve is always so anticlimactic for me. It's like getting ready for a date and the person being a putz. Don't get me wrong, I like the countdown and smoochin' friends and loved ones. Calling friends and relatives all over the states to hear what their midnight sounds like. But really, anticlimatic.

OK, this isn't a negative entry at all. Just a reevaluation of what I expect from me in my personal life and design life. Doesn't seem very efficient to get all pretty for something that just isn't gonna happen. So, the new year's resolution (since I broke the original one already), to trust my gut instinct. I have a pretty good sense of what can happen, or more specifically how I will be affected by what could happen. Design opportunities, volunteering opportunities, new acquaintances, family decisions, taking some more time out for me by choice and not because I have nothing else to do (which means pushing the business side a little more). Even if that means (gasp) schmoozing, bleck!

What is your resolution? Not the one that makes you feel like something is wrong with you (quit smoking, lose weight) - the one to remind you of how great you are? The one that reminds you what affect you have on the people around you. The one that leaves the mark on this world long after you're gone.

Happy New Year gang! May love be contagious, doubts be erased, and lessons learned for all of us.

heart, Anni

Posted by Anni at 08:49 PM

December 07, 2005

Happy Holidays!

I'm feeling extra festive this year. And, apparently, ma boys are too. Barry, the web/flash guru (who does amazing stuff in print too) designed another eye candy of an animation. With his extra hint of dark comedy thrown in, because it wouldn't be right without it.

A Barry Abrams Holiday

And our new intern who is excelling quickly in flash put together a holiday card for us too. He started teaching himself flash in September, and as you can see, has that lighter side of our sense of humor that we love also.

A Kyle Moore Holiday

I'm really lucky to be working with such great guys, and of course Jenny, who is nothing but a dose of sunshine on these gray days.

Happy holidays to all of you - may it be filled with warmth, love, and super yummy food.

heart,
the LMNtal Family

Posted by Anni at 07:47 PM

October 23, 2005

A lil welcome to a new employee

LMNtal has its first intern, and we're really excited! Welcome to the crew Kyle. I met Kyle through a group called High Tech Edge. Which is a program that works with high scool students to work on a community project, this year called Big Small All. From day one Kyle gravitated towards Flash, which is the program that created the animation on our front page. And he works really well with it, so we're giving him a project or two, and hopefully some other skills in the design world. You can check out his bio on the about us page!

Posted by Anni at 07:21 PM

October 11, 2005

the Farm Life

This past weekend I drove up north to my home town Hampshire to visit my farm. It's quite sad there these days. No one lives in the house, the yard isn't perfectly kept, the barn isn't as bright a yellow, and the memories are all that are left. I would call the weekend disastrously beautiful.

I don't know if this happens to you, but when I'm in the middle of what may be called chaos (at least in my world) I tend to appreciate the little things all the more. Nothing went right this weekend, but what happened while everything else was not going according to schedule was more than I could have gotten out of the planned weekend. Sweeping off the sidewalk to my grandparents house though no one would walk on it was satisfying. Eating pumpkin pecan pie with my step mom while watching bad TV was calming. Having a drink in a little local bar I'd never been to with friends (new and old) and my sister was releasing. None of those things were the plan, none of those things would have been considered journal worthy. But this weekend, they were.

In chaos I find a place I like to call home. Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to get to that place with out the chaos. But I've never learned a lesson the easy way, I always take the less beaten down path, and nothing comes to me for free. I wouldn't change that for the world. It's how I got here today, and I'm pretty damn proud of that and the people I've surrounded myself with.

heart, anni

Posted by Anni at 06:24 PM

September 29, 2005

This weather is heaven

I love the fall, I feel all cozy and wanting to check out more things in town. It's not so hot that I don't want to leave my air conditioned apartment sufficating on altered air. It's not so cold I want to stay home and watch movies in sweats on my couch. It's refreshing and releasing. It's football weather. My favorite time of year.

With that I'm doing a lot more things. Tomorrow night alone is packed. The art opening at Parkland College tomorrow night sounds amazing. Curated by Paul Young, an amazing designer, teacher, and personal mentor. Featuring Chris Sickels , an amazing illustrator who uses puppets he created himself. The site alone is so cool I have to go meet him. That's from 6-8p at the Parkland College Art Gallery tomorrow (Sept 29th).

After that I'm going with a pal of mine to a Black Outs show (oops, I mean the Living Blue). They're playing at the Highdive after a tour throughout the US. . . coming home for a CD release party. I haven't seen them in so long, and I was reminded by my friend I'm going with of the numerous summer nights playing with the Living Blue in sweaty, small, short basements. So, we're going to go relive the memories via sound vs throwing back bottles of JD. They're really talented and have gone so far, that it's fun to see them enjoy the well-deserved lovin'.

And this weekend? The beer & chili cook-off of course. I've actually never been, but a friend of mine has made it a tradition and she's requiring it to be a part of mine too. C'mon! It's beer and chili in the Urbana parking garage. Rain or shine you can get your chili tastin' on!

After that, we'll see. Coming back from FL recently, which allowed me to relax and enjoy life with my mom and our friends, has me a bit more laid back than usual. It's always nice to slow down and enjoy what's going on around you. Appreciate it. And I don't want to jump back into the grind of daily life just that fast. Granted, I'm lucky enough to have a creative job which allows for many positive outlets. But, work isn't everything. I can still do my daily work and enjoy everything else. Sometimes I get so wrapped up I forget those things.

I'll step off my soap box for now. I just want to encourage the rest of the world to slow down with me. Which means you mom, because you're the only one who reads this :)

heart,
anni

Posted by Anni at 02:59 AM

September 20, 2005

"I'm the man in the box" - Alice in Chains

Quick little entry here. I was just chatting with Barry and he sent me a link to an experiment he's doing. Which I thought was clever, so now I will enlighten you with this link: lifeinabox

I asked Barry if we could have a box in the office for when we need to see nothing in order to see something. Enjoy!

heart, anni

Posted by Anni at 07:27 PM

September 19, 2005

End of Cinematics World Premiere

In the words of me talking to Mikel Rouse, creator/composer/writer/
actor/genius of End of Cinematics, "You f%#cked my brain, it was so amazing!" Embarrassed that I said that, yeah, but quite honestly, I don't regret saying it. What else could I say? It has me looking at everything differently now. I'm smarter because I'm using parts of my brain to watch this performance that I haven't used in awhile. I know my friend Quimby (who joined me for the evening) would agree!

I am truly appreciative to John and Paul getting Barry and I involved in this. I may only have 30 seconds out of an hour and 17 minutes. But I'm really proud of that animation on it's own and as a beginner to the performance. He may end up putting his opera trilogy out on DVD (or parts of it actually), but it will never be like seeing it live. Especially this third part, it would defeat the whole purpose. I know the group is touring for the next three years for sure (leading up to the Liverpool film festival), with hopes to continue tours after that. So, keep an eye out on their schedule. You should really take the time to see this!

To add to the news, I just got email that:

To the entire staff of Mighty Fine Art Films
Congratulations! Dear Cindy was a big hit! Lots of great feedback!
The big news this morning is that the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) has booked Cinematics for next year's New Wave Festival in New York which is the most prestigous arts festival in the country (or at least that's what the New Yorkers say).

Thanks again. We got a lot of complements from some very important people in the arts industry from the U.S. and Europe.

Now - awhile back Mikel talked about extending the video to cover the whole song so that it can be downloaded from iTunes. . .
-Havlik

I'm in on continuing the animation, but if it happens? We'll see. I'll keep you posted!

heart, anni

Posted by Anni at 04:18 PM

September 14, 2005

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

September 14th!!!

Happy Birthday Mr. Barry! If you'd like to send him some birthday love letters he can be reached at barry@lmntal.com

Irish pub soon in B-N for sure!
heart, Anni

Posted by Anni at 04:57 AM

September 06, 2005

END OF CINEMATICS

If you didn't read the last entry, well, shame on you! Also, you should know about End of Cinematics. It's opening night is on Sept. 17th at the Krannert Center. Regardless of Barry & I taking part in the first two minutes of the production, I really feel like you should check out something that is going to be big before it's big (like Welcome to Tolono that I can't see because it's sold out before the tickets even go for sale - what's that all about).

THE END OF CINEMATICS A Film by Mikel Rouse

The End Of Cinematics is a dreamlike meditation on the history of cinema as well as a reflection on corporate entertainment and its transformation of the potential art of cinema. Suggesting that plot and screenplay have become artifice (while corporate entertainment continues to insist on its supremacy), The End Of Cinematics captures mundane scenes ("pictures of people talking" as Hitchcock would dismiss) of its characters and surrounds them in a world dominated by music and random sound.

It's cool, cool, cool people! We had a sneak preview of the set, which is amazing in unfinished form let alone what you could be seeing on the 17th. To all the fabulous people out of Champaign-Urbana, this is produced by the Krannert Center but not staying at the Krannert Center. They're working on pre-marketing schedule of premiers through out the world until it lands in a Liverpool Film Festival in 2008 I believe. The music is available on iTunes (with the possibility of the introduction Barry & I worked on with Havlik & Young available for download in the future).

OK, I just did a little research on this Liverpool 08:

What is the European Capital of Culture?
The European Capital of Culture programme gives Europe an ideal opportunity to celebrate the culture of Europe's great cities and to involve the community in that celebration. There will be a new European Capital of Culture every year from 2005 onwards. In 2008 the European Capital of Culture will be in the UK and Liverpool beat off 11 other contenders for the title.

Everytime I look more and more into The End of Cinematics I'm more overwhelmed by the amazing thing that Barry & I somehow (thanks to Havlik & Young) took part of, even if it was only 30 seconds each and no one reads the names of the animators! My friends and family will damn it, and that's exciting enough for me!

heart, anni

Posted by Anni at 08:14 PM

August 23, 2005

I'm back from FL

Visited my mama in FL who is recovering from breast cancer - she not only conquered it, she attacked it like 9 ninjas against a plastic bag (the bag being cancer, not my mama). She's awesome and quite the inspiration. And really fun to sing with in the car with her pal Terri - even if it was unchained melody.

Being back things have picked up a bit. Barry and I (Barry more than me) is working with John Havlik of the Krannert Center and Paul Young (two of our former teachers and in general mentors of all things cool) on a project called End of Cinematics. It will play for one night, Sept 17th, and if tickets are still available you should get the rest of them. Because I saw the beginnings of the set today, and it's so amazingly unreal that I can't really put words to it. But my jaw dropped and with what brain I had left I said, "holy shit!" If you catch the commercial on TV, starting to air Sept 1st I believe, that's what we worked on. The four of us had about 30 seconds to create an animation for one of the songs that will be playing in this multi-media masterpiece. I knew I was getting involved in something cool, but meeting Mikel & everyone else involved and seeing the set made me realize how friggin' lucky I am.

yeah, wow.

And then I went over the class schedule with Paul, whom I'll be assisting. We're working with high school students who I'm pretty sure are smarter than me when it comes to the programs we're working on. But I'll have a chance to teach the design end of it with Paul. If this program existed when I was in highschool my business would be 10 years old by now. It's an amazing set-up.

So, pretty much I've learned that I've walked into projects that are way over my head . . . or at least I thought they were at first. And learning that Anni Poppen and Barry Abrams have a lot more to offer than we ever knew. I mean, I know we're talented creatives, but I also know we have a long way to go. And I feel like we're putting ourselves in the right projects to grow. Which is a really great feeling. Hopefully you agree Barry!

OK, enough shop talk, I'm gonna go make some dinner, relax to either a movie or bad TV, and go to bed early because I have my first day of school tomorrow and I don't even know what I'm gonna wear. o....ma....gawd!

heart, anni

Posted by Anni at 01:43 AM

August 01, 2005

Rawk & Roll(ercoasters)

This weekend the Violents (my old band) reunited for a four-song quickie in the 1st Annual Rawk & Rollercoaster weekend. I hadn't touched my bass since the last show we played in September of last year. I can't even explain the energy it created, the hole it filled, or the cheesiest of smiles it put on all of our faces. We played with one of our fav Chicago bands Fourth Rotor. They're so great to listen to, to hang out with, and to look up to. Yeah, wow, you need to keep an eye on their shows and see them some time. I'm going to work on getting them down here. We also played with Mad Science Fair, C-U boys ex-Hot Glue Gun, AD/HD, Guilt, & more. They have a new CD coming out really soon definitely worth owning. And Terminus Victor who also have a their 2nd CD coming out, but I'm guessing is nothing like seeing them live. Even if you're not into drum machine, 2-man, bass, git, loud music you still need to see them at least once. They turn the smallest of venues into stadium standards with lights, sound, and a voice that would fit into the World Series of Rock I saw in 8th grade with Hurricane Alice, Great White, & Skid Row. Yeah, Scott's voice can take up that much space! Last night at the Rail was Cameo Turret (a new band moved from Montana, I missed them but heard great things),Lil Isaac & the Dirty Stank (Mike, owner of Cal's where we played the night before in Chicago, from Chicago), Camero Rouge (ex-the Drapes, another fav band of Chicago, bass player Andrea went on to do this band, good stuff), and again Terminus Victor.

Outside of the rock shows and seeing our pal Aimee back in from New York I'd have to say my fav was going to Gurnee for the roller coasters (hence, Rawk & Roll(ercoasters)). I paired up with my pal Grrr who isn't a fan of rollercoasters but loves the water rides. And I won't touch a wooden rollercoaster. Are you kidding? Once piece of wood falls off and the whole thing collapses in my head. Yet, by the end of the day we went on Batman, where your feet are dangling as you scream thru loops, corkscrews, and drops that send your tummy into your throat. Then we went on Raging Rapids, crashing into freezing water and landing under waterfalls. Needless to say, we were soaked! Then I soloed it on Superman, which was for the best for Grrr, because I thought I was going to die thru the entire ride. Which is great if you love the feeling of controlled fear! This ride has your entire body parallel to the ground emulating flying. Crazy, crazy, crazy! Voted the scariest ride I went on that day. Then we went on the Demon, old school from when I went to Six Flags 10+ yrs ago. It has double loops and double corkscrews, flashing tunnels, and great screaming potential. Voted most likely to knock yer head around until brain oozes out your ears. Following we met up with Aimee and went on the classic American Eagle, or Screaming Eagle (notice now that Grrr has been on two terrifying coasters and I'm about to go on a wooden coaster). All wood, no loops, no corkscrews. And for my hometown friends in Hampshire, IL – it brought me back to the days of Rollercoaster Rd. Voted my favorite ride of the entire day. Oh, and Most Likely to Make Me Throw Up was ironically the swings. The swings. What?

What's the point of all this? I had a pretty scary weekend. Forcing myself to get through things that I don't regularly do anymore: get on stage, play songs with my fav girls that I haven't practice with in 11 mos, allow a machine to hurl me around high in the air and fling me any which way it wants to. Nerve-racking, yes. Rewarding, more than I can explain. I encourage you to do something this week that scares the hell out of you (on what ever level you want)!

heart, Anni

Posted by Anni at 05:30 PM

July 21, 2005

Taking a Personal Day

Yesterday I decided I needed a personal day. The shoulders were sitting in the Chicago winter position above my ears, naturally. AKA, the stress level is a little too high for my likings. So, enough! I took the day to camp out on my couch and watch movies. The beauty of being a designer is that my personal days are useful for working too. Distract myself long enough and I'll find the answer to a problem or feel a little more creative. Anyway, I thought I'd start a blog with the LMNtals about movies.

Yesterday I watched Shaun of the Dead, the Hours, and Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. Overall it was a great movie day. Shaun of the Dead was absolutely genius! As a friend said, "If you don't laugh outloud at least once in that movie, something is wrong with you." I agree. It's a romantic comedy with zombies, guts, and a cricket paddle. How can you go wrong?

Next was Series of Unfortunate Events. Which was a great story of three amazing children and . . . their . . . um, yeah, series of unfortunate events. The casting of the kids were great, the sets were very Tim Burton & Edward Gorey, but I'd have to say I wasn't a big fan of Jim Carey. I can say I expected him to ruin the movie, and he didn't. It made for a nice segue into the Hours, as strange as that sounds.

the Hours is the beautiful reality between three women in three different eras, one of which is Virgina Wolfe played by a hypnotic Nicole Kidman. The writing was amazing and the cinematography was haunting.

It was a really nice day away from the boring ins and outs of my office. Hey gang, two questions you can go off from here with. One, what do you do to distract yourself from stress? Two, what was the last great movie you saw?

Yeah?

Posted by Anni at 08:05 PM

July 15, 2005

"Let's hear it for the boy!"

Since Barry is such a modest chap, I'm going to start this entry and I know Jenny will continue you it . . . On Barry's t-shirts he's selling off his personal site, www.barrysfarm.com. Mind you, this has no connection to LMNtal, it just gives you a chance to see further into the genius of Barry Abrams.

We were sitting around the table at Esquire last night and Jenny said she went to check out Barry's site where she discovered the shirts. She then went on to describe how cute they were one by one and why. This is where I'm going to let Jenny take over and hope that Barry is blushing as he reads this right now. Look, they're cool. And you should know about it!
heart, anni

Posted by Anni at 07:18 PM

June 13, 2005

Tingum, it's everything in the Bahamas

Holy wowzer o'mighty, yeah we have some great news. Tingum®, a trademark and tourist-y line of stuff Jeff Riehle (Solutions Network) and I have been working on for over a year, has been introduced to Mr. Heineken and Mr. Kalik (no, that's not their names, but you get what I'm saying). And they loved it! In 2006 expect a new line of Bahemian beers with merchandise to boot! This is LMNtal's biggest client to date, and we're freaking out over it. I mean: can't sit in this office - must do something to keep me busy - do I even know what I'm getting into - hell yeah - grab that apple - maybe I'll drive up North - where's my shoes - I should get a passport - they like me, they really like me . . . freaking out! It just so amazing to see rewards for all the hard work Jeff and I have put into this. Thanks Jeff, for including me on your big adventure. Thanks Mr. Heineken & Mr. Kalik (and Charlie and George) for letting Jeff talk your ears off about this. And thanks to Heather for believing in all of this from day one. We have our work cut out of us, and we say, "Bring it!"

heart, anni

Posted by Anni at 05:45 PM

June 06, 2005

2004 CHAAMPS

Hi gang! CHAAMPS was a success, on many levels! LMNtal (well, er, Reaction Design) won for corporate identity on the work we did for Persimmon Grocery. Hooray! I volunteered this year for CHAAMPS, and I think the event went over really well, not that I'm bias or anything. Awards were given at a nice speed, it was great seeing everyone, and I liked the set up though maybe a little too cozy this year! Barry still claims there was a typo all over the place because it's 2005 and not 2004. Jenny concurred. And after the awards ceremony was great too. It was a little class reunion for Barry and me. We went to LIVE BAND KARAOKE (said in echoing microphone emcee voice) at the Cowboy Monkey with a few of our cohorts from the schoolin' days! And I have to say that was entertaining in a whole other way. Barry, Jenny, any comments? Thanks to the judges for our award, thanks to Thad for opening another business, and thanks to the other board members of Ad Club I really enjoyed working with you on this!

heart, anni

Posted by Anni at 04:10 PM

April 27, 2005

New name, new site, new love!

Yeah, it's up, but can we get it finished by May 27th?!?

To all of you reading this after May 27th, this is our new site. I'm going to speed up the process of getting to the "oh, I get it"s for this entry.

LMNtal = elemental. Obvious once you say it out loud a couple times, but really quite vague. Yet it's been dear to my heart long before the ideas of Anni Poppen Design and Reaction Design. Sticking with vague, I'll introduce you to the even less obvious identity of LMNtal. Those four little circles on the "shirt tag" (as Barry calls it, cute, I know) to the bottom right are not only clickable but also the logo. Yep, the logo. Water, earth, air, and fire. All summed up: LMNtal brings you simplicity in it's purest and most beautiful form, while balancing all the elements at hand, and creating design to communicate between you and your audience (and some other people you may have not thought of).

It's a different look than what Reaction Design gave you, but it better defines what we've been doing all along. So, you still get the casual and playful employees of Reaction Design, but you see our talents right away through LMNtal.

Welcome to our new home, help yourself to whatever is in the fridge, relax, and I hope you enjoy our new decor.

heart, Anni

Posted by Anni at 05:03 PM

April 25, 2005

Happy Spring

As silly as this email may be, I don't care.

I just went out to the balcony to have a little lunch and realized that my flowers started coming through the dirt and I have to say I'm quite excited. Why? Because I haven't planted anything since some experiment in third or fourth grade with potatoes and meal worms or something (that could have been separate experiments, it's all a blur with my new found hobby sending my brain into full-on giddiness)!

I thought I was grown up when I got my mutha of all charcoal grills, but now that I can actually get seeds to sprout I'm feeling like a well-rounded grown up!

Watch out world!!!

H'zah!
Happy Spring Gang!
Anni

Posted by Anni at 07:12 PM | 16418