Morflets: A Word Game
Morflets™ is on the web: www.morflets.com
Start with one four-letter word. Finish with a different 4-letter word. In between, you change one letter at a time to form different—real—words, continuing until you have transformed the start word into the finish word. The object of the game is to get from the start word to the finish word in the fewest transformations.
Some Morflets are easy, and take only 3-5 transformations.
Some are more difficult, and can take from 5-8 transformations.
And some are extremely difficult, requiring 8-15 or more transformations!
Click here or on the picture above to go to the website and begin challenging yourself. Every Morflet has a "par" you can try to beat. Each one has a limit, too, so you can't be too lazy!
Based on the word-ladder concept popularized by A.A. Milne in notes to his daughter, Morflets™ can be played solo, or side-by-side with a friend or two; it's ideal for classrooms with laptops as a study tool, where an entire class can play.
The name? Originally WordMorph, then WordWarp, and on through a dozen permutations, the term Morflets became the winner for several reasons. 1) My daughter liked it. 2) It worked as the name of the game itself, as well as the name of the couplet of two words—the start word and finish word—that make up each game. 3) It sounded like fun.
In order to qualify as a "Morflet," the two words must be related—and witty. Like changing "nose" to "pick," or "hair" to "wigs." Playing Morflets™ not only strengthens your logic muscles, it subtly increases comprehension while it broadens a player's vocabulary.
Portraits
I gave up an arts scholarship in college because I wanted to learn how to paint portraits like the masters of the genre, inspired by my mother's success as a painter. My professors all tilted towards the abstract and modernist, so the professors and I parted ways. Oils, conte crayon, charcoal, pencil or pen and ink—or digitally in Photoshop, if you're in the market for a portrait, take a look at these samples.
Dennis McMillan - watercolor
Dennis was a printmaker, bigger than life. I met him when I was hired to help demolish a group of offices he was converting to a print studio. He would fix his students with this look and they would fall in line.
Marc Chagall - pencil on kraft paper
The source for this drawing was a photo that lacked dimension, depth, and personality. The life-affirming spirit of Chagall shines through in this study.
Shoe Art Salesman - oil
When I worked for Florsheim Shoe Company, I met a lot of art- and photo-studio sales reps. This guy was really "old school" in manner and dress and volunteered to sit for me.
Kurt Vonnegut - pencil on paper
I took a photo of him when he came to speak at Steppenwolf. He appeared extremely ill-at-ease sitting still. And on top of his game when speaking. Thin in his younger years, he had filled out by the time I saw him.
Black Man - charcoal
I snapped a quick photo of this man, seated to my right, as we waited to get our drivers licenses renewed. He looked like a man who had seen everything, and was burdened by his experience—but there was a dignity about him I wanted to preserve.
Jerzy Kosinski - Conte Crayon
His gaze was hypnotic, his prose dynamic and cryptic, fearless and haunting. He was considered by certain critics one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century, and by others as a fraud. What was undeniable, however, was that once you saw that face, you could not look away.
Olga Korbut - Conte Crayon
Olga Korbut was Olympic Gold Medalist in gymnastics when I did this sketch, based on a photograph of her speaking to a reporter. Dubbed 'the pixie" by an adoring fan base and press, I felt she had an incredible power, an inner strength that deserved to be represented. Intensifying her eyes and mouth, I believe, helped to achieve that image.
Unknown Ancestor - oil
An old family album of tintypes served as inspiration for a series I created, with an eye towards offering clients the chance to do the same: take a throw-away old photo and transform it into an "official" portrait of a relative from long ago.
Female Model - Photoshop Original
This portrait was created from scratch in Photoshop, using techniques that would generate a surface quality similar to an oil painting. It took a dozen layers, and considerable experimentation with translucent layers over opaque bases, to achieve the luminosity that is the mark of a classic portrait.
Debra - Charcoal on Paper
I never felt comfortable asking my wife to pose for me. The solution was to capture her when she was resting. I think that the side view (profile) is key to the feeling the viewer gets that Debra is truly at ease, resting peacefully. I wanted the viewer to feel completely at ease looking at her.
Dorothy Hammill - Pencil, Pen & Ink on Paper
"America's Sweetheart" brought a combination of elegance and power to her skating. People forget that she was articulate, and that there were brains alongside the beauty. I wanted to emphasize that. Believe it or not, I did not exaggerate the size of those glasses!
Cartoons
Advertising
At Leo Burnett, as a VP and Associate Creative Director, I helped create dozens of TV commercials and print campaigns for Hallmark, McDonald's, Pillsbury, United Airlines, Green Giant, and more, in Chicago and in Paris, France. My 60-second United Airlines spot “Her Day” won Clio and Addy awards, the Chicago Film Festival Silver Plaque, was an Honorable Mention at the Cannes Advertising Film Festival, was selected for the “Women in the 20th Century” exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and remains in their permanent collection.
After leaving Leo Burnett, I created Peter Hoppock Writer+ Advertising & Consulting, working for small local agencies—and for myself—where I concentrated on local businesses and not-for-profits like McGaw YMCA and Habitat for Humanity. The work here showcases print/outdoor work, where I am both writer and art director.
TV Commercials Reel:
United Airlines
It was always a challenge to be creative with “route” ads for United—and they loved this one. But would Yale sign off on it? It turns out they had a sense of humor, too!
Disney
With the Walt Disney World account came a new venture: Disney Cruise Line. This was one of the launch ads—establishing the link to Disney World, while enlisting Disney lovers to “discover uncharted magic.”
The McGaw YMCA
This image and copy served as a billboard, an ad, and as the Annual Report cover for my first year (2006) working for the McGaw YMCA. The message is the essence of the “Y” brand, presented simply, elegantly, and powerfully. Update the logo, and this piece could run today.
Chicago Food Bank
When I first started working in advertising, this was the kind of work I wanted to create all the time. I wanted my company to take on this good cause, but failed. I can't believe this spec piece has never found a home in the food bank category.
Harmony Grill
The brainchild of the folks who brought you Schuba's Tavern, Harmony Grill was planned as a next-door addition to the famous club, set to serve All-American, down-to-earth, just-like-grandma's food for the whole family. These and other ads were designed to build the brand—and awareness—with wit and folksy humor. Pity it never got off the ground.
Habitat for Humanity
4 Amazing Days. One extraordinary event. Mayor Emmanuel kicked it off. Dignitaries from around the world attended and spoke to the values of Habitat for Humanity. I crafted the image on the left using ten different pictures a month before the actual event to create the illusion that workers were actually already at Pioneer Plaza building homes. The Welcome Mat ad never ran, but it captures the concept: 13 homes were built, from scratch, on the Plaza in 4 days and transported to site all over the city.
Miller Brewing Co
Miller had just become a Leo Burnett client when the competition for creating Olympic sponsorship ads began. I think this one hits the spot, don't you?
United Vacations
I loved working for these folks —the stepchild of the massive United Airlines account. We worked with a miniscule budget, media placement challenges, impossible deadlines, and low visibility within the agency. The visibility got high, and the client got happy when these ads started running.
Beef Council
We had the McDonald's account; The Beef Council was a natural—or so we thought. These ads were part of a group that targeted men 21-40 with sophistication and wit. Our would-be client said: “We don't think humor is appropriate.' What do you think?
United Airlines
When the long-time advertising director of United Airlines retired, the account was opened for competition. This spread ad was my contribution to the effort—doomed from the start—to reinvigorate the brand.
Angles
This unassuming but influential youth counseling service in Northfield, IL, provides essential group therapy, medical, intervention, and emergency services for LBGTQ youth. I guided the organization through every stage of their rebranding process: name search, stakeholder buy-in, logo design, and communications design and strategy. I threw in several ads, hoping that they might find the funds to run them.
Design
Later in my career, I was surprised to discover I had a facility for design work combined with branding processes gleaned from years at Leo Burnett. I focused on local and not-for-profit companies, developing logos and creating designs for Clesen Wholesale Florists, Eiesland Builders, ICRT Research out of Northwestern University, Harris Bank, Horton Insurance, FMT, and New Millennium consultancies, and more.
GiftGold
All things gold — online. GiftGold's plan was to change the way people shop for jewelry and other high-end valuables. It was an online gift-card site that drew clients by combining advertising programs and sources at a fraction of the normal cost to individual retailers, driving customers to local businesses where they could be confident that the retailer had the item(s) they wanted at the price they wanted.
Northwestern University
Cell Reprogramming and Therapeutics? These scientists were putting x inside y—that much I figured out. And they were doing it on a nano level. The thousand tiny red dots pictured here are reprogrammed cells, taken with a powerful microscopic camera. The scientists were quite happy with how the simple artist/designer (me) managed to get the idea across using the acronym.
New Millennium Consultants
The promotions' agency I was consulting for at the time wanted to grow into a branding, business-to-business, and consumer agency. The client loved this work—but the agency was not chosen in the end.
Eiesland Builders
Based in Glenview, IL, Eiesland is one of Illinois' premier building and remodeling contractors, with their own woodworking shop where they specialize in custom-built cabinets, shelving, trim, and more. They are the very definition of quality and class, and they wanted a communications plan—and logo—that impressed clients with the promise of what was to come.
FMT Consultants
The graphic represents what FMT does: it enters a client's organization, gets to the heart of the problem, and makes an impact by improving their day-to-day operations. The fonts help complete the picture by blending refinement (serif face) and sturdiness (sans serif). Job done!
Mattaliano Design and Furniture
Huge high-rise apartment and office complexes. Restored classic buildings repurposed for the modern era. Anchor tenants whose retail businesses border well-trafficked public spaces. Who fills those spaces? Who designs the furniture plans? Who builds custom chairs and tables and sconces, etc. for those spaces? Mattaliano, that's who. Forward-thinking, with the utmost respect for tradition. Exactly the feeling this logo transmits.
Utilities, Inc.
In remote and rural areas of the U.S., getting sufficient supplies of essential energy sources — water, gas, and electric — is a challenge. Meeting the needs of these communities is the cause taken up by Utilities, Inc., an organization that leverages the resources of local delivery systems with the global expertise of energy veterans. The three elegant shapes represent the energy sources, organized to create the illusion of a human head in the negative space, a strong and memorable branding image.
Angles
Under their previous name links, this unassuming but influential youth counseling service in Northfield, IL, provided essential group therapy, medical, intervention, and emergency services for LBGTQ youth. I guided the organization through every stage of their rebranding process: name search, stakeholder buy-in, logo design, and communications design and strategy. The three parts of the 'A' represent the three services of the organization, expressed in the tagline: 'for sexual health, identity, and education.'