Reinventing Storytelling - Müz Zine Blog

Another illustration in my personal copy of the bible.

   She closed her eyes to silently say a prayer. She thought of her parents, who she knew only through photographs, and of asking her grandfather more about the dead. And as soon as she began formulating a question, the world again suddenly fell out from underneath her. by Ricky Morales

This is simple, but I'm proud of it. I taught myself how to do small animated gifs for an upcoming project. This gif and others will be in a future presentation.

Pattern and color scheme inspired by 80's fashion.

Before traveling to NOLA, this composition was composed to be the combination of all of the preconceptions and assumptions about what it was going to be like.

Untitled Photograph by Stefan Orzech

Page of doodled creature concepts by Nara Strete

Sitting in an enclosed dark room, this was the image in my head.

I/D by Stefan Orzech

My girlfriend waited for me patiently while I entertained the thoughts. Eventually she put her arm in mine and we walked out into the cold, in the opposite direction of the birds.

A piece somewhat humorously inspired by different notions of alien lifeforms that have supposedly visited earth and the concept of crystal skulls with mystical powers and an alien origin.

Bear by Nara Strete

In the attempt to come up with an idea for my current project, I unconsciously painted the word sex into the composition.

Happy Valentine's Day! Apple Core by Stefan Orzech

Soo... maybe this one needs a little explanation. I went to see Noam Chomsky speak at East Stroudsburg University the other day. He talked about the common good and how corporations -- and our SOCIETY -- are predicated on a value system where we celebrate the individual but lambast the collective because (GASP) that's socialism (paraphrasing him, of course). It reminded me of my radical roots and why I started my own business to begin with. This is hanging above my desk so I don't forget that people are most important and I'll never, EVER place efficiency and profits above what's best for the common good. Also, so I don't forget where I came from (I attended the first weekend of Occupy Wall Street and started an Occupy movement at my own Penn State University) and remember that we can build a culture off of real -- not fake -- mutual respect and equality. I've been in too many workplaces where this is simply not the case and I'm astonished that we live like this in the U.S. We can -- and should -- expect more from ourselves. So at Müz, we're always going to have tons of fun doing honest work that contributes to the common good. I'd rather end the company than ever lose that. Of course, after ending it, my backup plan would be to turn into a traveling hobo, which would be almost as much fun as running a company. It'd probably involve less time staring at computer screens too, ha. </endrant> Ricky Morales

I’m spending the night at this place called the Nittany Budget Motel. In the bathroom, right next to the sink, I see two small words written in blue pen: “hold on.” I get closer to examine the writing, but as I read it over and over again, I gradually realize it doesn’t say “hold on” at all… It's nothing but a place where the paint has chipped a little. No grand message scrawled out by a drunkard who found spiritual revelation one night in the bathroom and wanted to tell the world by writing a profound message, as small as he possibly could, next to the sink. No divine word written out by some twist of fate the way the face of Jesus appears on loaves of bread to believers in religious belts the world over. No, it's just my own mind -- my own mind and a message that isn't there. I wonder what strange subconscious yearning read "hold on" into a perfectly normal and unassuming imperfection in the wall. When I go to bed, I'm still thinking about it. Hold on. But no message. The paint has chipped there a little. That's all.

Scrapped work for the original concept for "Noise Poetry" by Nara Strete