PaperSpecsGallery.com Presents: Monster Folder (Video)

"This is a very unique promotional piece that our client can present to his potential clients. His brand is encompassed in one neat little package making him stand out from the pack." — Carrie Grove, TPI Solutions Ink

If reality TV has taught us nothing (and it hasn’t), it’s that a little “in your face” goes a long way. But every once in a while, “in your face” is precisely what’s needed. This nose-slapping, eye-gouging monstrosity of a self-promo tells you everything you could ever want to know about the mad art of Chris Piascik in one disturbing, psychedelic head-trip of a piece.

Since 2007, Chris has been posting a new drawing to his website every day. Of course the reality is that online you’re never more than a few clicks away from as much anarchic, attention-grabbing art as you can handle. But in real life, that’s another story. Not only did the artist have TPI Solutions Ink digitally print four of his works as leave behinds for potential clients in the same square format he uses on his website, he designed an absolutely unignorable carrier to put them in.

He “wanted to bring one of his monsters to life in this self-promotional piece,” says TPI Solutions Ink VP Carrie Grove. “Chris developed the concept and die line for his Monster Folder which, when opened, holds informational cards about his art….

“Because it was such a short run, only 100 pieces, we ran the job on our HP Indigo 5500 on Finch Fine iD Bright White 130 lb. Cover. The heavy cover stock provided the feel and the durability that he was looking for once the project was die cut/scored, hand folded and assembled.”

The result is something that quite literally makes anything and everything else on your desk pale into insignificance which, when you think about it, is the gold standard for a self-promo piece.

From the vivid green slime emanating from the beast’s mouth (and emblazoned with the artist’s name, no less) to the diecut and hand-folded pouch that holds the cards, you’re left with something that looks like a jarring, joyful collision of Ren & Stimpy and every 2 a.m. Cartoon Network offering ever. And should you be brave enough to pluck one of the cards from this beast’s mouth, you’ll find the artist’s bio, contact details and list of prestige clients on the back.

Looking at this piece now we realize that we’ve seen it before – it’s the monster that gurgled and groaned beneath our beds when we were children. And now it’s emerged at last in vivid digital color growling, “Hire this Man!” Now that’s what we call a pitchman, er, beast.