DVG:BLG

End of March Update

2009-03-29T22:21:00.003-04:00

I've made some very good progress the past few week with orders. The following are the orders I have remaining in my queue to complete:

(Listed by order's initials, in no particular order)

ZR
GE
WK
EC
MP
JB
JH
CH

I very much hope to have all these done soon.
As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Progress Update

2009-02-12T21:19:00.002-05:00

I've been making good progress with the pending orders. Like I mentioned in my previous post, the orders with multiple icons (and there are several of these) are taking longer just because of the sheer volume of work. I apologize for any delays.

If you're concerned about your order, as always, please feel free to email me.

I hope to make a considerable dent in the work list this weekend.

End of January Update

2009-01-31T23:20:00.002-05:00

I made some great progress this weekend with orders, and I hope to continue this pace.

The following orders are set to be worked on next (orders are listed by the initials of the orderer)

CB
EB
JC
TS
GS
EZ
DG
MT

Several of these have multiple icons to be completed, but I will do my best to get them out in a timely fashion.

If you have any concerns with your order, please drop me an email and I'll be happy to help.

-Paul

Back open

2009-01-01T21:48:00.000-05:00

I've re-opened for orders.

I know, hell has frozen over.

Checking In

2007-12-06T09:48:00.000-05:00

I'm still here! Just wanted to touch base in case anyone was watching here for anything. I'm still not accepting any new orders (sorry).

All old orders have been completed and accounted for on my end.

If you were expecting one, and haven't received your icon...please contact me. I've had a few emails bounce back, so I want to make sure everyone is getting what they paid for.

Cheers.

Bounced Orders

2007-06-14T02:15:00.000-04:00

It's come to my attention that a large number of orders that I sent out a while ago were bounced back to me without my noticing. As a precautionary measure, I've started re-sending orders I suspect were affected.

If you've placed an order anytime within the past 3 months and have yet to get your icon, just send me an email, because chances are, it may have gotten caught in this snafu.

I'm really sorry for any problems this may have caused.

Back on Track

2007-05-05T18:40:00.000-04:00

Hey All!

After a few intense weeks of playing catch-up, I'm pretty much caught up. I've been having some email issues with a few orders. I'm not sure if the problem is our servers. So, please make sure that once you receive your order you send me a reply confirming receipt.

On other news, for all you techies out there, I've just switched to Adobe CS3. Which means I'm working all orders on the coolest Illustrator software yet. I'm still stumbling my way around things, but I'm set on mastering it pretty soon. This of course is good news for all our clients, since I'll be using a few goodies that ship with the new version of the program on their orders.

Back to work

2007-05-01T13:50:00.000-04:00

I've officially finished my last class at school- this gives me infinitely more time to work on Iconize Me! orders. I'm now able to send out new orders every day and really work through this backorder.

Thanks for your patience, everyone.

A Dent

2007-04-15T18:41:00.000-04:00

I made a pretty solid dent in the backorder today and sent out about 1/3 of the icons that I had pending. A few more days like this (where it's raining non-stop and I'm stuck inside) and the backorder will go away very quickly.

A few of you have rather large orders (3-5+ icons). Because of how long it can take to complete the entire set, let me know if you'd prefer to have the icons delivered as I complete each one. A few of you have already contacted me about this...no need to email again if we've already discussed this.

And once again- a big thanks to all of you who have shown infinite patience as I work through all this. As always, never hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions.

More pointless delays

2007-04-07T15:55:00.000-04:00

Sorry, but once again the gods have interfered and decided to delay my Iconize Me work even further. My graphics tablet pen decided to stop functioning the other day. Without the pen, I can't draw the orders. I ordered a new one that evening, but it was past their shipping deadline. And now with the weekend here, it look like it will be at least Monday before it arrives.

As always, please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns: paulsahner@gmail.com

Orders and Delays

2007-04-04T15:23:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to thank all my customers for their patience right now as I work through some delays. Currently, my workload is only allowing me 1-2 days per week when I am able to work on Iconize Me orders- which simply isn't enough to get all orders out within the standard "2-week" period.

I know some of you have been waiting a while- I really am sorry.

I can understand how frustrating it can be to purchase something blindly on the internet. If you are uncomfortable with waiting any more I would be more than happy to issue a full refund at your request. Otherwise, just hang tight, and I promise to get everyone's icons done. If you're under a time constraint and actually need the illustrations for whatever reason (as a gift, etc)- Please email me and I'll see what I can do about expediting your order.

Things will calm down for me in May and I'll be able to devote a lot more time to getting everything complete.

Again, thank you everyone for your orders and patience. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me.

Order Update

2007-03-08T01:23:00.000-05:00

I sent out a bunch of orders tonight...below is a list of remaining orders listed by orderer's initials:

RM
PR
BK
EB
CS
PS
CD
JY
JR
MB
PS (A different one)
TH
SW

I'll be working on more and more this week, I would really like to get everything out the door by Sunday night, but we'll have to see.

A bit delayed

2007-03-04T01:13:00.000-05:00

I'm running a bit behind on orders (as USUAL!)- but I have the upcoming week off from school, so I'll be using the time to catch up.

If anyone has any questions or concerns about their order- do not hesitate to drop me an email.

Iconize, Blog, and DVG

2007-02-26T19:25:00.000-05:00

I've been working hard to send out icons that have been ordered in the past few weeks. I hope people are enjoying them. If you haven't received your order yet and are concerned, please feel free to email me.

My order page is still open at Iconize Me!, so anyone who's interested in finally getting an icon can do so.

If you've never been the blog before, or never really paid much attention to it, then you may not have noticed I revamped it's design a bit. The overall design is actually mimicking my own personal site. But, whatever. I think it's a much-needed improvement. I'm going to try to post here more...about Iconize Me, DVG and anything design-related.

And what about DV Graphics? Well, it's been throughly ignored for nearly a year now. I've just been so busy that I've been unable to post anything new to it. Also, it's hard to find things that are worthy of being posted there. My person work goes on my personal site and deviantART. Designs-in-progress go on the Partners In Design blog. And everything else has been posted to this blog or Iconize Me!. I'm going to try to get some desktops or icons created to post on DVG eventually. The site is still getting a few thousand hits a week, and for some reason, November and December of last year had record hits- so it's far from dead.

Domain Problems

2007-02-19T18:57:00.000-05:00

I have no idea whats going on- but I'm having some domain issues. I couldn't say for how long it's been going on or for how much longer it's going to be happening, but I'm going to wait it out until tomorrow night- at which point I'll start taking more action. If you really want to get to the various DVG sites, you can do so through here:

Iconize Me!:
http://s106475891.onlinehome.us/iconizeme/

DVG:
http://s106475891.onlinehome.us/

Iconize Me in Practice

2007-02-15T23:34:00.000-05:00

Dan Alvarez over at Mydaytradingtutor.com recently did a site re-design that included three icons from us here at Iconize Me!:

http://www.mydaytradingtutor.com/news/2007/02/12/day-trading-tutor-gets-a-new-look/

Open...for now.

2007-02-08T18:07:00.000-05:00

I've opened to new orders, and they've been coming in strong! Thanks to everyone who expressed an interest- I really appreciate it.

I've been sending out emails and order confirmations to those of you who have contact me. Depending on what I've been doing and where I am, I've been using two different addresses:

one from "@gmail.com"
and one from "@dv-graphics.com"

Hope this doesn't mess up anyone's SPAM blockers.

Minor

2007-01-03T08:50:00.000-05:00

I updated the blog template today for no reason.

Holiday Orders

2006-12-21T16:05:00.000-05:00

All holiday orders have been sent out. If you've yet to receive yours, please email me before Sunday. paulsahner@gmail.com

Christmas Orders

2006-12-17T23:11:00.000-05:00

I am working on and sending out christmas orders RIGHT NOW. All orders WILL be sent out by tomorrow.

Orders I'm currently working on (by orderers initials):
VE
JH
CT
SW
MJ
SMW
JM
WB
DH
PJM

Another happy customer!

2006-11-22T06:32:00.000-05:00

Check out what our IconizeMe customers are saying:

http://www.mitchgroup.com/2006/11/drum_roll_pleas.html

Holiday Special

2006-11-15T02:25:00.000-05:00

For a very short time, I will be accepting orders.

More information here:

http://www.iconizeme.com/holiday.html

Quick Update - October

2006-10-22T22:36:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick update on orders. Just sent out the following:
C.K.
G.M.
G.B.#1
G.B.#2.
Also in production are:
G.B.#3
H.H.#1 through 4
and
Mrs. V.V.
These should be going out this week. Again thanks for your patience.

Jose

Busy October!

2006-10-04T22:54:00.000-04:00

We've been very busy at Iconize Me (as usual), and of course, we want to thank our clients for making us the number one portrait icon designers in the world.

In our commitment to keep our clients up to date on their orders, we will keep posting progress reports, as often as we can. So, having said that; P & L, V.V. and A.R. are all sketched, scanned and digitally inked. Now the fun begins.

Ya'll come back now, ya hear!

A few more

2006-09-27T21:32:00.000-04:00

We're in full production mode, here at Iconize Me. I want to thank all for your patience. Just sent out today the following orders:
J.C.
T.N.
S.W.

I want to also thank our clients for all the kind comments and positive feed back we've been getting from them. There's nothing more satisfying than a happy customer.;-)

Quick update Sept 15

2006-09-16T00:29:00.000-04:00

Just completed and sent out the following:

A.R.
B.B.
C.D. 1 and 2
D.P.
J.K.
M.L.

Enjoy!

More Updates

2006-09-13T07:18:00.000-04:00

1) C.D.#1(band) is done, and I must say, it came out pretty darn good.
2) J.K. is colored and ready for the last phase.

So I think we're right on schedule. I will be sending out a large batch pretty soon. Stay tuned.

Updates on orders

2006-09-11T21:49:00.000-04:00

This particular post, concerns orders that came in through my very good friend Jim. If you're in this group, I'll do my best to keep you posted. Ok, here we go:
1) A.R., B.B., D.P. and M.L. are all sketched, inked and painted. Which means they're about 75% done.
2) C.D. 1 and 2, as well as J.K. and A.P., are all sketched and inked. So, they're 50% of the way there.
If you didn't read your initials, please check back tomorrow.
Thank you all for your support and stay tuned!!!

Quick update

2006-09-05T19:19:00.000-04:00

I recently updated/launched my personal web portfolio:

Click Here

Out of the woods....

2006-08-25T22:21:00.000-04:00

All the icons are done, and sent out! If you ordered an icon and have yet to receive it, please contact me: paul@dv-graphics.com

The order page is still closed, but I don't think for too long. I just have a few other things I need to work on before re-opening to the insanity.

Disaster Progress

2006-08-21T09:34:00.000-04:00

I suppose it's only fair that I provide an update, right?

So to repair my old G4 would have been $700...and that may not even be the actual fix. So repair was pretty much out of the question. I mean, I could get a nice stop-gap MacMini for the same price or less.

So what to do?

Well, I could get the MacMini, except:
-It can't do dual displays
-It can only handel one hard drive (internal)
-It's intel (I need Adobe CS2 and After Effects, and my Final Cut is not eligible for cross-grade).

I could also get a G5, except:
-The configuration I'd really need is about $3000
-It's "last years technology"
-The Mac Pro had just been announced and the G5 seemed just silly now

So yeah, I figured the best thing to do was consider the old G4 officially retired and just invest into a new "workhorse" machine. I went to the 5th Ave store and picked up:

Quad 2.66 Mac Pro with a 250 gig HD, 3 gigs of ram and superdrive.

With my education discount, it wasn't too much more than an older G5 with MUCH lower specs, so I did pretty well.

***
"But wait, didn't you just say you can't go intel because you need CS 2?"
-Yes, but, after reading some reviews and benchmarks, I figured it would be OK, because: Even under Rosetta, the Quad Mac Pro still runs most CS 3 apps faster than my old Dual G4. The key apps, like Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects (surprisingly enough) all run without any noticable glitches. And once CS3/AFX 8 come out, this thing is going to SCREAM.
***
I'm awaiting bluetooth and airport modules (they didn't have them in stock), I ordered a secondary 320 gig HD for backup, and I have my old G4 HDs sitting in Firewire cases for a combined 1TB of storage. The Superdrive I had in my G4 (An 8X DL deal that I got online) was easily installed into the lower bay on the Mac Pro...So very little is being wasted from the old machine.

When I got back to the apartment, I was able to get all of my data off the old G4 boot drive onto the new Mac Pro drive- After a bit of messing around with permissions (Migration Assistant didn't want to transfer anything correctly, so I opted for the scarier "Log into Root, transfer data yourself and correct the permissions later"). Everything was up and running in about 3-4 hours. I spent the evening making sure everything was working as it should, and installing the new Final Cut Studio (I need it).

The next day, got right back on track and immediately completed and sent out some icons. And that's what I've been doing. Each night, I've been sitting down and completing as many as I can and sending them out right away. I've got a LOT done, and they're all being sent out ASAP. I'm confident all pending order will be completed by the end of this week.

Here is a list of pending orders, listed by initials:
KCT
MW
MT
NM
CG
SD
AEC

None of those orders contain multiple icons, so things will move very quickly.

Whew. Ok. I think that's everything.

Disaster update...

2006-08-10T23:17:00.000-04:00

So I have been able to recover all the orders- So if you haven't yet resent your image, you don't need to now. However, my computer situation is still dismal- So things are SLOW. AND on top of things, I'm moving into a new apartment on Sunday. I'm really failing as a human right now- Forget about businessman.

I REALLY appreciate the kind emails and infinite patience people have been sending my way. In the coming weeks, as I (hopefully) improve my computer situation and get settled into my apartment...things will clear up.

In the meantime, I have closed to orders...to prevent and even further backup.

Below is a list of orders I am currently working on (listed by orders initials):

TL
MS
DM
EA
KM
KCT
JB
MW
MT
NM
CG
SD
AEC

Big problems

2006-08-09T13:10:00.001-04:00

IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ:
So last night my computer bit the big one. It seems the logic board, video card and main hard drive all died. It's a big inconvenience...But not the worst thing that could happen. I have several backup HDs with most of my data- My last backup was July 11th, so that's where I'm starting off again. Luckily the ONLY thing I'm working on during this summer is Iconize Me...I don't have any big projects lost.

So what does this mean? Well, right now I'm working on my powerbook- hooked up to a larger display so I don't strain anything. I have my July 11th backup connected to that- everything seems to be fine...But this is where you come in.

Any order placed AFTER JULY 11th is LOST. I will be going through my PayPal records and seeing how many of them I can recover without having any of my customers be bothered. Essentially, if you placed an order with a URL- I can recover it. If, however, you emailed me the photo, I will require you to email the photo again. If you'd like to do so before I contact you- feel free: paul@dv-graphics.com Just include a copy of your PayPal transaction number.

Now, aside from recovering lost orders, I am significantly slowed down in my work because of this. I know a lot of orders are already delayed...and this will only make things worse. I apologize. The majority of this is beyond my control. If you don't mind waiting, I assure you, everyone who has ordered an icon will get it completed. I just cannot quote a time frame right now. If you are not comfortable with this, please let me know and I will issue a full refund, no questions asked, and your order will be cancelled.

Big problems

2006-08-09T13:10:00.000-04:00

Getting Personal...

2006-08-07T23:16:00.000-04:00

Think your Iconize Me! icon is hopelessly tied to your computer screen? Not so! Take a cue from Peter from New Zealand and set it free! Not only did he manage to get his icon on a mug, but also some postage stamps!

Orders

2006-07-13T00:17:00.000-04:00

I'll be sending out a handful of orders tonight and tomorrow...Sorry for any delays. I've been very busy looking for a place to live. It's hard to get a lot of work done when the housing clock is ticking.

Display Woes

2006-06-22T00:52:00.000-04:00

The orders having been coming in at a very nice pace- Keeping up doesn't seem to be too much of an issue right now...

What IS (or was) an issue is my main monitor started to die last week and severly slowed down my work (Can't do a whole bunch when half the display is dark). I quickly picked up a really cheap 20" off NewEgg and got right back into the groove today.

I have to hand it to NewEgg. A 20" DVI-D widescreen for $299 with no tax and free shipping had me thrilled- But what sealed the deal was that I got the monitor in one day (Ordered Tuesday morning, recieved Wednesday afternoon)- I barely had time to track the package. All that with their free ground shipping! Way to go NewEgg!

Open!

2006-06-09T22:21:00.000-04:00

Both Shalimar and myself have re-opened for business. Order away.

Some changes and updates...

2006-05-18T03:13:00.000-04:00

Soon both Shalimar and myself will be reopening to orders. (Horray). With school over for summer, there's more a lot more time to devote to the icons.

I made a bunch of MUCH-needed cosmetic changes to IconizeMe.com, tonight- most of which you all probably won't notice. But, here's the rundown:
- Made the white divider "lines" not so damned distracting.
-Made the text be, like, ya know- REAL TEXT. Before, and I have no idea why, all the text on IconizeMe.com was done in PNGs. I guess I thought it would be easier to layout. What a bonehead move it was. I'm amazed it took me almost a year to change that. As a result, I'll be able to update the site so much more than I used to. I also changed it from a mono-spaced catastrophe to a simple Arial.
-All the pages line up much nicer with eachother. Readability is MUCH better.
-Gave José a much needed Featured Artist page: http://www.iconizeme.com/jose.html
-Little things not worth mentioning. I cleaned up little bits and pieces of code and other things- Nothing thrilling, the HTML still sucks and will never validate. But I don't care- it works.

I think that sums it up. If you're one of the billions of people that visit the site on an hourly basis...enjoy.

Complete!

2006-05-12T03:24:00.000-04:00

Ok! Whew, I finally got all of my orders out the door. According to my list, everything is completed and sent.

If you have ordered an icon and not yet recieved it, please do the following:

1) Check SPAM folders. This happens all the time, especially because I'm sending these a ZIP files which are commonly filtered.

2) Check for any emails from paul@dv-graphics.com. The subject line should be "Your Iconize Me! Icon"

3) Nothing? Drop me a line. Either the email just didn't get through, or (worse case, and rare scenario) I've misplaced your order and not completed it. If this is the case I will, as quickly as possible, finish your icon and get it out to you.

I hope everyone enjoys their icons. It's always fun to see how people use them, so if you have it up on your blog/myspace/facebook/forum, I'd love to see it.

5/11 Update

2006-05-11T12:46:00.000-04:00

Sent out a bunch of orders last night- I'm on the home stretch of this backorder...I should be able to finish everything tonight. I'll keep everyone updated here.

MacNation birthday

2006-04-30T21:39:00.000-04:00

Hey,

They're having a fun contest over at MacNation to help with their mascot redesign. They're also celebrating 10 years online. 10! You can win a LOT of great Mac shareware- including an Iconize Me! icon.

visit http://www.macnation.org for more information

Delays

2006-04-15T22:59:00.000-04:00

I'm right at the end of the school year and have been working around the clock on my portfolio and final projects. I'm trying REALLY hard to get icons out along with it, but I'm just not able to match my typical rate.

I'm going to work on a bunch tonight and hopefully ease the delay. Those of you who have contacted me with various deadlines, don't worry, I will meet those no problem.

If you need your icon by a certain date (birthday, etc), then let me know....Otherwise, it will just be a little delayed...But I promise everyone will get theirs.

4/10 Update

2006-04-10T12:58:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts / action. Been very busy getting my portfolio ready for the end of the year.

While icons haven't been moved to the back burner, they have been shifted to the left a little. Sorry. But I have been getting a bunch done in the past few days....Here's a list of orders I'm currently working on (in various stages, between just starting and 99% done), listed by orderers initials:

JM
JS
PJN
JA
DL
SW
DM
SC
MS
WJ
LJ
JO

Cool tools!!!

2006-03-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

Just found some great filters in Illustrator that I, frankly didn't know about. For all of you that don't know, Adobe Illustrator is the software we use to digitally paint the caricatures and icons we make. The filter is called, scribble, and I'm so excited about it, I had to tell the world. Can't wait to use it on you guys icons.

March 14th Update

2006-03-14T14:07:00.000-05:00

I sent out about 1/3 of my pending orders today. I hope to get the other 2/3s done over the next 10 days or so.

I'm Back

2006-03-13T21:59:00.000-05:00

Hi:
It's been a while since I posted, but we've been pretty busy at IconizeMe. Currently working on Glenn's order, and as soon as I'm done with that, I'll get started on Herb's. You guys wouldn't believe the fun I'm having with these.;-)

Signing out!

March 9th Update

2006-03-09T20:37:00.000-05:00

Been busy tonight working on icons.

The following orders have either been completed and sent, or are in the final stages and are due out in the next batch:
(Listed by orderer's initials)
WH
AS
MS
JW
OJ
CG
LT
CB
LB
NW
MX

The proof is in the cake

2006-03-05T16:30:00.000-05:00

I love it when people come up with fun things to do with the icons:

http://www.dv-graphics.com/temp/aaroncake.jpg

Testing

2006-02-24T10:38:00.000-05:00

Just testing a new blogging widget.

2/20 Update

2006-02-20T15:50:00.000-05:00

I sent out a few orders this afternoon. After I get back from class tonight I'll be working on more. A lot of orders are just on the verge of getting sent...They just need coloring or whatever.

2/15 update

2006-02-15T11:13:00.000-05:00

The following orders are almost complete and will receive their icons within the next group:

(Listed by orderer's initials)
CN
CB
SW
WH
LS
JT
AS
MS

Call for Help...

2006-02-12T04:13:00.000-05:00

Several months Back, Leo Laporte's show Call for Help had a small feature on Iconize Me!

Here's a transcript:

>>Amber: YOU KNOW, JUST-- AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S EASIER -- OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WITH USING, LIKE, PHOTOS OF PEOPLE AND JUST THOSE TYPES OF PHOTOS, THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO COMPRESS THEM TOO MUCH SO THEY'RE BLURRY, BUT THAT -- THAT -- THAT'S FINE AS FAR -- AND AS FAR AS COMPRESSING THEM TO 20 OR 30k. THE NEXT QUESTION HE HAS FOR US, AND THIS IS A PICTURE OF HIM. THIS IS A PICTURE OF MARTIN RIGHT HERE. IS HE WAS THINKING THAT HE WANTED SOME KIND OF MASCOT FOR HIS SITE. SO, HE WANTED TO, YOU KNOW, MA-- MAYBE IT COULD BE HIM BECAUSE HE'S ONE OF THE EDITORS OF THE SITE. SO, I FOUND THIS REALLY COOL PLACE WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY GO, AND IT'S CALLED ICONIZE ME! OR ICONIZE ME!

>>Leo: OH, THAT'S SO NEAT.

>>Amber: AND WHAT YOU CAN DO IS YOU CAN SEND THEM IN A PHOTO AND THEN THEY HAVE THREE DIFFERENT ARTISTS, PAUL, SHALIMAR, AND JOSE, WHO WILL ACTUALLY TAKE YOUR IMAGE AND TURN YOU INTO A LITTLE ICON THAT YOU CAN PUT ON YOUR SITE.

>>Leo: I LIKE-AZAY.

>>Amber: I KNOW. THESE ARE MY FAVOURITE.

>>Leo: YEAH.

>>Amber: AND I THINK FOR MARTIN THIS WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD OPTION BECAUSE IT FITS WITH KIND OF THIS MUSIC SITE.

>>Leo: YEAH.

>>Amber: IT'S NOT TOO REALISTIC. IT'S GOT MORE OF -- JOSE DOES MORE OF KIND OF A CARTOONISH LOOK.

>>Amber: RIGHT.

>>Leo: SO, HE CAN GO HERE AND HE CAN E-MAIL JOSE. LOOK, WE HAVE THIS GUY. THAT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE YOU, LEO. A LITTLE SHUFFLE.

>>Leo: YEAH. YEAH, I LIKE IT.

>>Amber: BUT HE COULD GO AND HE COULD GET A PICTURE OF AN ICON AND HE COULD --

>>Leo: HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST?

>>Amber: IT'S PRETTY INEXPENSIVE. ALL OF THESE ARTISTS CHARGE BETWEEN 40 AND $60.

>>Leo: I MIGHT DO THAT FOR ALL THE TWiT GUYS. IT WOULD BE KIND GOOD TO HAVE THOSE KIND OF STANDARDIZED ICONS.

>>Amber: IT REALLY WOULD BE GOOD.

>>Leo: YEAH.

>>Amber: SO, YOU CAN CHOOSE WHICH STYLE YOU LIKE OUT OF ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT ARTISTS. AND, LIKE I SAID, BETWEEN 40 AND $60, THAT'S LESS EXPENSIVE THAN PRETTY MUCH ANYWHERE YOU WOULD GO TO ACTUALLY GET SOMEONE TO KIND OF CUSTOM CREATE AN ICON FOR YOUR SITE. AND ALSO IT'S NICE TO USE YOUR IMAGE. IF YOU'RE -- IT'S, IT'S VERY EDITORIAL, THE SITE HE DOES, THE 80's MUSIC CENTRAL. SO, IT'S NICE IF HE ACTUALLY KIND OF NICE ASSIGNS HIS -- HIS FACE AND HIS BRAND TO THE SITE --

>>Leo: YEAH.

>>Amber: -- AND MAKES IT KIND OF CARTOONISH AND FUN --

>>Leo: I LIKE THAT, YEAH.

>>Amber: -- AND USE THE SAME COLOURS THAT HE USES ON HIS SITE.

>>Leo: YEAH. AND HE CAN CALL HIMSELF LIKE, YOU KNOW, Mr. HOT PANTS OR...

>>Amber: OR HOT STUFF. MARTIN HO-- OH, THAT'S MIKEY'S NAME.

>>Leo: OH, THAT'S TRADEMARKED.

>>Amber: [ laughs ] BUT HE COULD DO SOMETHING, YOU KNOW. AND, AND IT'S A GREAT WAY TO JUST, YOU KNOW, GET HIS IMAGE UP THERE AND --

>>Leo: I LIKE IT.

>>Amber: -- HAVE SOME FUN AND IT'S PRETTY INEXPENSIVE.

>>Leo: WHAT'S, WHAT'S -- ICON-- ICONIZE ME?

>>Amber: iconizeme-

>>Leo: ICONIZE ME, I LIKE THAT.

>>Amber: -.com. AND WE'LL PUT LINKS TO THESE ON OUR SHOW NOTES --

>>Leo: GREAT.

Saturday update...

2006-02-04T21:46:00.000-05:00

I've been busy, and got about 10 icons sent out this evening. I hope everyone enjoys them.
I won't be able to get any done tomorrow (got school work and the super bowl to attend to :-)

...But the next batch isn't too bad...there are no "multi-orders" (individuals who order multiple portraits in at once)- which I have NO problem with (don't be discouraged, by any means) but it does tend to slow down the process of getting orders out.

That's all for now.

Feb 3rd

2006-02-03T02:34:00.000-05:00

I got 9 icons drawn out tonight. The next step will be to color and send them out.

To be colored/sent (initials):
BC
JH
NE
CF
CG

To be drawn/colored next
CN
CB
JR
SW
DS
WH

Icon Update

2006-01-27T01:32:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post an update....Icons have been going well. I sent out a bunch last night. Another bunch will be sent out in the next few days.

Open

2006-01-09T11:43:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a good break (if any).

I reopened my order page this morning, so everyone is welcome to send me money ;-)

Vacation

2005-12-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

I'll be out of town starting tonight. I will return early January. I will have email access- but it'll be spotty. For now, enjoy the new DVG site and Signs 2 Icons.

New Site!

2005-12-20T03:48:00.000-05:00

Finishing all my icon orders allowed me to concentrate on a project I've been wanting to finish for a while- A new site design for DV Graphics. Maybe this new one will last longer than a year! ;-)

http://www.dv-grahics.com/main.html

I had a lot of fun designing this one. You can read more about it on the main page.

Backorder Complete

2005-12-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

I've finished all pending orders....Everything is sent out, and groovy!

If you've placed an order and have yet to receive it:
1) Check your spam bin, it may be lost in the mail. Nothing there?
2) Send me a message, I can resend it.
3) There's also the possibility that I've misplaced your order. Which is RARE, but could happen- If so, I'll see what I can do about getting out to you the same day.

However, as of tomorrow I'm starting my vacation until January 9th-ish. So no new orders until at least then.

Those of you who have requested so, I will email you as soon as I've reopened- so you'll have the chance to be first in line.

Orders for 12/15

2005-12-15T00:45:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone...
I just sent out orders for
BG
CM
and PH

I'm confident I'll finish these before the weekend, and at the latest, Sunday:
KD
ME
JB
AM (I'm still waiting for a photo)

After that, I don't have anymore orders pending. If you haven't gotten yours yet and aren't listed here, contact me.

Also, based on the poll, I've begun sending orders in ZIP format, so hopefully that'll be easier for everyone.

All Done (for now)!!!

2005-12-10T18:07:00.000-05:00

I've just completed and sent out all pending orders (for Jose, that is). I have also received (already) very positive feed back. One of the orders I completed was an icon design for a ferret. The good folk at www.redferret.net, wanted to have their pet iconized. So, it's a first for me. Let's see what happens. If all goes well, as it should, maybe Paul can open a special section in "Iconize Me" for pets. You think?;- D

More Icons!

2005-12-07T20:14:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let ya'll know that today I sent out 4 icons. So following in Paul's foot steps, I will post the initials of the ones I just sent out.
AW
JS
TD (you wanted your icon just like ProBlogger)
MH

...and I'm currently working on:
MS
NP (Red Ferret)

I did something extra special on one of the icons. It's for a great 80's music site. Check it out at
http://www.80smusiccentral.com/
Free plug, I guess. But, you know what they say, "What goes around comes around", and it's already coming around!

Hope ya'll like them!

Poll

2005-12-02T13:40:00.000-05:00

Here we go, lets see if anyone visits or reads the blog....I have a poll for everyone to take

What format would you prefer Iconize Me! orders be compressed and delivered in?

Sent

2005-12-02T03:04:00.000-05:00

Got 9 orders sent out tonight. More on the way over the next few days.

Marathon

2005-11-30T22:33:00.000-05:00

I just sat down for most of the afternoon to really focus on icons- It's been non-stop madness this month up until this point. It's still madness, but now it's all icon-related. I know a bunch of you have been waiting for a while for your icons- If I can keep up this pace, I will get a lot sent out before and during this upcoming weekend.

Now for the disappointing part (kinda of)- I didn't finish any of the icons I worked on today- Instead I got a handful of them almost done (essentially all they need is to be colored and packaged up)- It's a lot quicker for me to work this way....Draw an icon, save it, move on- Keeps me in a good mindset. I will do the same thing when it comes to coloring- Color it, save it, move on.

I need to take a break to have some dinner- Perhaps after I get started on coloring and send some out tonight.

Incase you're wondering if yours is one of the icons I worked on tonight, check this list to see if your initials are there...If they are, I'm almost done with yours!

JB
SW
SW (a different one)
PH
PC
MK
MR
KB
TM
HD
EO
EP
CK
AB

DV Graphics

2005-11-28T11:11:00.000-05:00

Not sure what's going on at DV Graphics- but all pages are resulting in endless redirects. Iconize Me and others work fine. I'm looking into it.

Quick Update

2005-11-25T19:46:00.000-05:00

Hi!!! I'm very excited becuase I've just completed all of the orders I received for this month of November. So if you ordered from Jose and have not yet received your order, please write me ASAP so I can resend it. Just in case, my email is: jose@dv-graphics.com. By the way all the icons came out pretty cool! I hope ya'll like'em.

By the way, I want to urge all of you to stop by DV-graphics and check out the cool desktops Paul has available for download. Not only are they cool, but they're also FREE! Can't beat that!

Take care.

FAQ

2005-11-21T14:05:00.000-05:00

I've updated the Iconize Me! FAQ with a whole bunch of clarified and new answers. I've also re-ordered a bunch of them in order to clarify the responses.

http://www.iconizeme.com/faq.html

November update

2005-11-18T01:54:00.000-05:00

School has thrown me a little behind on the icons this month, so it's possible that the wait may be beyond the reported 2 weeks, but I'm trying my hardest to prevent that. I've been able to get a steady flow of several icons per day out the door, so it's not too bad.

Also, a heads-up: I will be out of town from 23-27th for Thanksgiving, so I won't be sending any icons out during that time- Some of you counting down the 14 days until approximate delivery might need to consider that :-)

For those of you who haven't seen it, we have a new featured artist page. This is a place where you can go to see more work and samples by one of us here at DVG....The first page up is Shalimar: http://www.iconizeme.com/shal.html
We're looking forward to have more features like this in the future. It's one of the perks of having multiple people on-board, you actually have something to highlight ;-)

I hope everyone who has received their icons in the past months have been enjoying them, I know I've enjoyed making them.

Finally!

2005-11-01T11:23:00.000-05:00

Hey! I'm finally posting, or is it blogging?

Anyhow, I'm thrilled to be here! Wanna thank Paul and Shalimar for giving me a chance to have so much fun designing you guys' icons. Not only is it fun to design them, but also to get to know so many people from around the world.

So, just to let ya'll know it's been a great ride, thus far.

Icons

2005-10-29T17:42:00.000-04:00

Today: Made some and sent some. Enjoy.

New Desktops

2005-10-24T11:50:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, I know, its been a long time since my last post. Busy. Busy. For those of you waiting for your Icons, they will be done shortly I have about 3 left to do, until i have no more. I just did a whole bunch of new Desktops for the freeware section of DVG. Check 'em out , feel free to download and use. Signing Off
~Shal

Open

2005-10-22T15:31:00.000-04:00

I've just re-opened my order page for those who are interested.

Done

2005-10-22T04:49:00.000-04:00

I've finished all regular orders and sent them out. I have a few things to finish up and then I'll reopen. Should be open before the weekend is up.

Untitled

2005-10-17T13:03:00.000-04:00

Sending out the very last few icons here- I'm beginning to send them with the halloween masks...Those are really fun- I hope we have some lazy customer's in our queues who would be willing to just be themselves on the 31st.

A day or two of solid work and I'll be able to re-open.

In the meantime, check out Shal and José's work...I'm a hack compared to some of the stuff they send out. :-)

Update

2005-10-08T21:57:00.000-04:00

I sent out a bunch of order over the past few days. Only 7 remain. When I finish up on those final 7, I'll open up my order page again.

I've been getting emails from a few people asking when I'll reopen my page. Well, once those 7 are done, you'll have your answer :-)

Also, in the next few days, we'll be starting our Halloween Mask promotion! This is really cool: Every order we send out between the 10th and Halloween will also include a "mask" file. Esentially its a regular JPEG, but with a "cut out" line around te head, eyes, and mouth. It will also be formatted for an 8.5x11 page.

I will try hard to open my personal page by the 10th (but no promises). But, Shal and Jose will also be doing the halloween mask stuff- So you can get your fix from them, too.

One more thing- While I'll try and get most "halloween" orders out to you guys BY halloween- I can't promise it.

Manipulating the will of IE for Windows

2005-09-29T12:57:00.000-04:00

It's been a common complaint of vistors to my site (Of the Windows-using variety) that transparent PNGs dont render correctly on Internet Explorer....Well, Aaron Adams provided me with this very cool java script that corrects IEs shortcomings...Even better is that it's one little line of code, so Firefox and Mac users wont notice the change.

So as much as I hate bowing to the will of a broken arcitecture- There ya go. And now that it works- Switch to firefox.

Orders

2005-09-13T12:42:00.000-04:00

Things are going well in the first week of orders, I've actually had to close down my own personal order form so I can catch up.

I REALLY urge people to try Shalimar and José's icons. They are SO amazing.

I hope everyone is enjoying their new icons and the new site.

New Iconize

2005-09-08T19:15:00.000-04:00

Well I got a bunch of orders today. Its fancy schmance. Ill keep the blog updated with my progress.
W00T.

Shal

Welcome to the new Iconize Me!

2005-09-07T22:18:00.000-04:00

Wow....I've been open for only half a day, and the orders are already pouring in- Even at the higher price! Which leads me to the number one question I'm getting: "Why the higher price?" Simple. Supply and demand. :-)

Anyway....I hope everyone enjoys the addition of Shalimar and José to the team. They are both SO talented...I can't wait to see some of the work they come up with...Talk about a bargain!

Anyway, maybe I'll be able to buy a new iPod nano with all these orders ;-)

If anyone has any questions or complaints, feel free to contact me: paul@dv-graphics.com

Iconize Me!

2005-09-02T11:07:00.000-04:00

All orders that were placed between June and August are complete. If you have not recieved yours: First, check you spam folder. If its not there, then drop me a line and I'll resend it.

For everyone who has been waiting to place an order for the past two months, check back in a few days.

Frames

2005-09-01T08:36:00.000-04:00

You used the little frames! Totally my idea. :-)

September

2005-08-30T14:34:00.000-04:00

So it seems we showed up on digg.com....Which is odd because I'm not accepting orders right now. Oh well.

Speaking of not accepting orders- I'm looking for a September 1st opening. It's not POSITIVE, theres a lot of work to be done- But thats what I'm shooting for (With my track record, it'll be October 5th ;-)

Check http://www.iconizeme.com on Sept 1st- Hopefully there will be something new.

Titles are hard to think of.

2005-08-26T02:41:00.000-04:00

Getting the FINAL bunch of icons out for the summer. Sorry for the delay everyone. Look for your "missing" orders in the next 8 days.

I'm also working on something really cool. Those of you who were waiting for Iconize Me! to reopen- Stay tuned.

Wasting away

2005-08-18T20:03:00.000-04:00

I wish I could have Iconize Me! open like I had promised this summer. But I'm still dealing with a day job and the site- So it's just not possible. Getting really close to finishing every single order- So that's good. Again, it still stands that if you are angry that you haven't gotten an order, you can bug me and I'll do the best I can.

I'm in the middle of doing even more drastic changes on Iconize Me!, I hope the results will be visable soon. It'll involve service changes, site changes- The works.

School is also slated to start-up again soon....That means in place of a summer job I'll have classes and homework- So no more free time than I have now....But the good news is school forces me to work really hard, and my work always gets better- Which means better Icons and stuff. so yay!

paul@dv-graphics.com

Icons...still

2005-08-04T22:45:00.000-04:00

I've been getting a steady flow of icons sent out on on my days off lately. Day in which I have work are hard...I'm usually not able to finish any. So usually the 2 days off a week I get are my icon days...Which is why things are slowish.

The Iconize Me! Project

2005-07-19T22:33:00.000-04:00

I got a lot of orders done today...I hope all of you who got them are pleased with the outcome. I have a late night tomorrow, but I have thursday off, so I'll get a bunch more done then.

Because I got so many out tonight, I decided to reward myself with a little project I've had in my mind for a while. I've decided to dub it "The Iconize Me! Project"....Essentially, I'm making two 36x24 posters...each one will have 900 images. One poster will be 900 icons I did for Iconize Me! and the other will be the 900 corresponding photos that were sent for those icons. Each icon/photo will be in the same position on the posters. This is really just for me, I'm not mass producing or selling them. So those of you who have had icons done don't need to worry about your image being everywhere- This is just for myself.

Why only 900? Well, I wanted them to still be large enough to see, for one. But I also needed a number that could easily be divided into portrait-sized boxes for the poster. Also- 900 is still an impressive number ;-)

I might post small thumbnail updates of the poster as it goes along. As of right now, I only have 12 images in place...It's very time consuming. I'm pretty much choosing random images, but I still have to keep track to make sure there are no duplicates.

Charlie!!

2005-07-18T00:41:00.000-04:00

Everyone, go see Charlie and The Chocolate Factory! It's amazing!

Complications

2005-07-15T10:52:00.000-04:00

My work sched. changed drastically this week...So I didn't get out as many icons as I had hoped. However, this upcoming Monday and Tuesday I have off- So I'll be able to work on them then.

Icons

2005-07-08T01:02:00.000-04:00

I got quite a few icons done today. I sent out 6 this evening alone. Enjoy everyone. I work for the next 4 days- So icons will be few and far between until I get another day off.

Site issues followup

2005-06-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

Ok! We're back online. No worries now.

Yipes! Site problems!

2005-06-30T00:24:00.000-04:00

Ok, I know not many people will see this, but just incase:

I had some issues with my hosting company today with my credit card and it's resulted in them taking down DV Graphic temporarily. This includes DV-graphics.com, IconizeMe.com, DVGdesign.com and a few others.

My biggest concern are my Iconize Me! customers right now- If they have a problem and try to visit the site, they're going to be greeted by a big, scary, german-language error....Which, if I were in their shoes, I would think "Well, these people just took my money and disappeared"....But I didn't! I'm still here!

So if you know anyone who is a current customer, please try and direct them to this blog. I will keep updating it as I resolve this issue.

Likewise, because my server is down, I'm not able to use my DVG email addeys (iconize@, paul@, etc)...so if anyone needs to contact me, I can be reached here:
paulsahner@earthlink.net

Now if only this company had 24-7 billing and tech support. Dern. Ok, Hopefully this will all be cleared up tomorrow.

Backorder

2005-06-28T23:49:00.000-04:00

I've had a lot of work lately, but in between shifts and on my days off I'm managing to get quite a few icons out each day.

I still have a lot to go, but I'm getting through it.

Label

2005-06-25T11:40:00.000-04:00

I am having such a hard time placing type on this label!

Iconize Me!

2005-06-25T00:36:00.000-04:00

Sent out 10 orders in the past 2 days....Enjoy everyone.

Icons

2005-06-22T21:58:00.000-04:00

I really wanted to keep Iconize Me! open longer, but the backorder is getting scary, so I put a stop to it.

For the next few days (whenever I can) I'll be sending out icon orders.

I need to reconsider the price of Iconize Me!, demand is just too high for $15. No complaining....This is fair warning....Kinda.

Blog

2005-06-20T22:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I just wrote a whole long blog, but something happened and I lost it. So lets just wait and see if I get the energy to write it again.

The jist:
-Iconize Me! is open and making life busy
-I'm considering a small price hike for IM.
-I reccomended The Vanity Project as my music pick of the week:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=72990540&originStoreFront=143441

:-p

Tiger

2005-06-19T17:16:00.000-04:00

Im totally Tigering and Widgeting and Dashboarding. Its all so very sexy.

Saturday

2005-06-18T11:43:00.000-04:00

I got a few more icons done last night. For the rest of the weekend I'll be at an official "Box Social" off in New Jersey....Thus, I'll be out of contact until Sunday afternoon.