LEAFY LOUNGERS COASTER SET OF 6; THE SLICE AND DICE PIZZA HATCHET; THE ESCAR-SOAP DISPENSER; THE CHILL PEAS HOT-COLD PACK
The Cactus Makes Perfect Scrub Brush, Swipe and Wipe Credit Card Squeegee, Slice and Dice Pizza Hatchett… these are just a few of the everyday objects turned cartoon characters in the Everyday Objects catalog. What does this have to do with sport? Nothing really, other than it’s the brainchild of surfer and The Swell Season surf podcast host Tyler Breuer, and just turns ordinary things into extra-ordinary fun!
The Everyday Objects catalog is a pop art comic book, in which Tyler is a character, and tells the evolution of Everyday Objects. The story of each product creation is brought to life in an animated cartoon. The products themselves turn 2D into 3D with Lichtenstein-esque graphics. So amused by it all, I had to find out more – and as I had been a guest on The Swell Season last summer, I invited him to be a guest here on SOS…
STYLE OF SPORT: This catalog and these products are so silly and fun. We could all use some comic relief right now. Tell us how it all came to be.
TYLER BREUER: I’ve always loved comic books and pop art. I used to have paint parties where my friends and I would hang out and drink and paint the door — and then cut up magazines, stick everything on, make collages, and create this collaborative art. I’ve always loved doing that sort of stuff, just being creative, but I’ve never been trained as an artist or anything of that nature.
SOS: And you got AI to create the comics and cartoon graphics for the products? I’m really fascinated to hear about this process.
TB: I’ve been working in the gift world for about 10 years. Last year I was at a company I was not enjoying and we mutually split. And I said, fuck it, I’m just going do my own thing. I started typing in product ideas into AI, and it came up with some renderings then from there.
SOS: But you didn’t know what the products were going to be?
TB: I didn’t. The vision evolved.
SOS: What did you prompt it with?
TB: So I had this idea, cable ties that looked like licorice twists and come in a little bag of Twizzlers. And then spaghetti cable ties that come in a Ronzoni box type of thing. So the original concept was to take real products, real world things, and make them have a different functionality that is really fun. And that’s always been at the core of it.
SOS: What was the visual inspiration?
TB: The aesthetic and the look came from thumbing through social media and finding a couple of these artists that just blew my mind. There’s this guy, Joshua Vides, who does these two dimensional drawings on real objects — like cars! It looks like the famous A-ha video for Take on Me. It’s trippy. Like when you look at it, your brain has difficulty processing it.
SOS: What were the other artist inspirations?
TB: I’ve always loved Roy Lichtenstein. Then there’s a cafe in Chicago called 2D Restaurant. Everything in the interior is two dimensionally drawn, and there’s one in Soho that just opened last year, Shirokuronyc. I want to go there and give them the product and be like, ‘Hey, can I do a photo shoot here?’
SOS: I want to go with you!
TB: When I saw that aesthetic, I was like I love this and thought what if I could apply these graphics to some of my product ideas — something that looks fake, but real, and has a functionality. I could find products on Alibaba, from a factory that has the pre-made molds. I wouldn’t have to shell out as much money for the tooling of it. Then all I’d have do is apply my graphics and maybe make a few tweaks. Like the cactus scrub brush, it had a different holder and was a different color. But we said, let’s put it in a plant pot and put the graphic on it. It transformed it.
SOS: I love it. I really love the pizza hatchet!
TB: The pizza hatchet is the number one bestseller.
SOS: What about the comic strip with each product in the catalog?
TB: With the comic book I just started putting in ideas and doing prompts. I asked AI for a template. You give it an overview, and then it pumps it out scene by scene. Then you can you tweak it.
SOS: Did you give it visual reference?
TB:I did gave it Archie comics style for the Leafy Lounger Coaster comic. The Chill Peas I asked it to design it as a New Yorker comic. The Pizza Hatchet is a play on Kawaii comic style and The Shining.
SOS: I do see they are all a little bit different. And what about your origin story that opens the catalog?
TB: Everyone already asked if I was doing drugs while coming up with the idea. So I made an origin story where I eat a laced chocolate. My mind blows up into this mad scientist, with a big head. Now when I’m at trade shows, I tell people, that’s the story of how I lost my hair. It’s a nice conversation starter.
SOS: I love it. The whole thing, start to finish, is just so much fun. Thanks Tyler!
