Sunday, January 31, 2010

Carroll Yeti (for Whole Foods)

I was at Whole Foods the other day and the woman in front of me in the checkout line had the following graphic on the front of her hoodie:



Remembering this post from last July, I queried her about the source of her yeti-themed hoodie. She replied that they were only available to Whole Foods employees. Apparently, during the holiday season, they were given out as gifts to staff. They were such a huge hit, that now, post-holiday, employees were clamoring for more merchandise with the graphic, even offering to fork over additional payment. There are no plans to make items with the design available to the general public. This is strictly a Whole Foods employee thing.

I had to track down the source of this most popular and exclusive yeti.

Turns out Whole Foods wanted something to go on their produce boxes. They commissioned package designer Christy Norris Carroll and illustrator David Carroll to create four unique designs (of which this yeti is one) to act as fictitious brands to prettify their produce boxes.

Someone later decided to stick the yeti design on a hoodie as a holiday gift to Whole Foods employees.

And then one of the employees wore it when she went grocery shopping yesterday.

And then I happened to go to Whole Foods and checkout at the same time as her.

And I happen to maintain a blog about yeti designs...

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Schaller Yeti



Meet Yanci the Yeti, a creation of Scott Schaller.

You can download the papercraft of Yanci here.

Mandee Yeti Crab



You can get this on a t-shirt. It's a painting by Mandee.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Not Yeti Friday - Moonkin



A Moonkin is a character from the World of Warcraft game. I don't know much about it. Except that it's apparently the same as an Owlbear. But I think it's all friendly and kinda laid back.

I was gonna say, Owlbears in other games are NOT typically laid back:


But these World of Warcraft Moonkin guys are like hippies. Wait, I'm just making stuff up. Apparently in WoW, every druid has to fight a particular nasty Owlbear in order to obtain the ability to turn into a bear.

Maybe it's just this one Meankin who's kind of a jerk. The rest are all pretty easygoing.

Anyway, the reason I found out about the Moonkin is 'cause this guy made a custom figure of it.

Honestly, if you want to know anything about Moonkin or World of Warcraft, I'm not the guy.

I can state with some authority, however, that the Moonkin is not yeti.

My job here is done.

Could Yeti DOMINATE a third holiday?

I think we can agree that yeti has pretty much already owned both Christmas and Halloween.

Now Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Could the "Adorable" Snowman give Cupid a run for his money?

I think the answer is Yes.

Etsy artists are proving the point:


lovemongers by scrumptiousdelight


Yeti Loves Sea Monster card by tinaseamonster


"Yeti Love" Card by slugwork


Adorable Snow Monster by Lucy Ravenscar
(You may ask why I included this particular item. It is because if you give this to someone on Valentine's Day, his/her heart will melt and he/she will instantly fall in love with you... Until the End of Time.)


"The Best is Yeti to Come" card by little toad

.....

And don't forget Loveandasandwich's Mini Love Yetis.

See? Love (and the yeti) is in the air!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Mazur Yeti



Oh man. Just click here to see all the little monsters, of which this yeti is but one.

Mini-Monsters and Tiny Terrors. By Nathan Mazur.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

More Mustful Yeti



Season Mustful made this yeti out of a Frosted Mini Wheats box. See more pictures of it here.

I previously blogged about her plush yeti.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Gotta wear shades



Yeti costume found here. It's a promotional costume for the car company SSANGYONG made by a Chilean corporate costume firm.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Paler Yeti


Yeti by ~ArchaicEphony on deviantART

Interesting design by artist Jethro Paler. I like the inclusion of additional action poses. Look at yeti's ROCK STRENGTH!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Not Yeti Friday - Snow Jabba



Is this a yeti in the snow? No. It's Jabba the Hutt.

From here.

Speaking of Not Yeti, there is a new blog called "I Love Bigfoot ... and so should you." If you like Bigfoot, I recommend it!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Pufahl Yeti



Robert Pufahl took his design and put it on a skateboard:

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

About this Blog

Since there have been some new readers to the blog (Welcome!), this is a good opportunity for me to describe what I Love the Yeti is all about.

This blog is an attempt to showcase and archive the rise in popularity of the yeti, aka the Abominable Snowman. For those of you who don't know, this is the big hairy possibly-ape-like creature said to live in the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet.

For the purpose of this blog, it is not to be confused with another possibly-ape-like creature that resides in the Pacific Northwest of N. America known as Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Nor any other similarly ape-like creatures from other parts of the world. Unless said creatures have white fur. In that case, it's close enough, and I'll post about it. Brown fur on a possibly-ape-like creature is probably not going to make it though. If the brown-furred creature's standing in the snow, however (as seen in this example), we're good. These are the House Rules.

(Update: Just to be clear, the creature known as yeti has never actually been reported by eyewitnesses as white-furred. This is just something we in the west made up. This blog isn't really about cryptozoology (which can be a legitimate science for finding real animals). Instead, this blog is about our popular culture's flawed desire to popularize and skew the idea of a possibly real animal. And our idea these days is that this animal called yeti is a weird polar bear crossed with a gorilla, even though that has little to do with the evidence. For actual cryptozoology, see sites such as Cryptozoology Online and Cryptomundo.)

Here's a basic pictorial guide to what I typically post to the blog:



As a testament to the yeti's popularity, artists are often inspired to use him as the subject of their work. This blog's main focus is to share the various, unique visions of the yeti. It's interesting for me to see what people think a thing looks like when that thing doesn't actually have a "look". Unlike many artistic subjects, the yeti's not real - or at least there's no photos of it. I like seeing how artists' depictions of this imaginary thing can evolve over time. If you showed someone from the 1950's (who knew what yeti was) an artistic representation of the Abominable Snowman from 2010, he/she may not recognize it at all. It would not fit in with what they think a yeti is. Yeti is continually shape-shifting, incorporating different concepts and aspects from the popular culture.

(Note: In the description below, I've included links to the various labels (or tabs) that I have used to categorize my posts over the years. Feel free to use this as a starting off point to explore the site further.)

The depictions showcased on this blog include 2D visual Art (such as drawing, painting, etc.), but also the 3D: Plush, Figures, Designer Toys, and Sculpture (statues). They also include the suits and costumes (Disguise) that bear his likeness as well.

Besides the arrays of artistic depiction, this blog hopes to capture yeti's best moments...

...When he appears in Comics, Television, Movies, at Theme Parks, on hip T-shirts, and when he tries to sell something (Endorsements).

...When he's associated with food (Edible), drink (Potable) and also with sports (Athleticism), particularly Snowboarding of which he is rather fond.

...When he hails from Japan, Canada, or Outer Space. Or even better, an Alternate Reality.

...When he wears Armor and when he wields a Stave (which is the same as a sword). And even when he rips out a tree trunk and fights people with that (Tree-as-Weapon).

...When he consorts with Pirates, Robots, Unicorns and Zombies (which isn't all that often actually).

...When he battles his adversaries one-on-one (Versus), paying particular attention to the Hulk and the Superman.

...And when he's Red, Green, or Yellow for whatever reason. When he wears a Hat. Has Horns (which is very often). Just one eye (Cyclops). And when he enjoys an iced treat (Popsicles).

By being in a position to chronicle and observe, this blog is able to note trends:

It may surprise you to know there is a rise in the number of images depicting him with the following: Lederhosen, Undies, Skull Apparel, Scooters.

And that he is rapidly becoming one of the major icons of both Christmas and Halloween holidays.

And then there are your usual theories that Yeti=Snow Troll, Yeti=Walrus-Man, Yeti=Wendigo, and the ever-popular Yeti=Were-Bear.

There has also, and this is interesting to me, been more and more depictions of yeti rendering him in a highly stylized, abstracted manner. Less discernible ape-like features. More like a hulky blob-man. Cutesy, you could call it. Totoro-esque, if you know the reference. I call this new yeti the Ablobinable Snowman.


An example of Ablobinableness by Jess Bradley

This blog also desires to highlight artistic works inspired by kiwa hirsuta.

All hail the "Yeti Crab". It's real. And it's amazing. Worthy of praise and song.



And here are a few other things about the blog:

Out there exist things that are like a yeti but aren't a yeti. Each Friday, I typically have a post called "Not Yeti Friday" to showcase said individuals.

Every year I do a Gift Guide.

I personally think that when a yeti speaks, he probably says the following word: "Snaaaurr!" But others have different ideas. So I've done my best to collect his different utterings.

There are a few running gags that amuse only me (and just barely). For example, whenever a yeti depiction includes blood, I say that yeti is participating in Bloodpainting. I have no idea what that is. I also say that yeti enjoys Frog Collecting. And that somehow Bananimals are important. Again, no idea.

This blog has been featured twice on Boingboing: once in December 2005 and once in March 2008.

That's it! Hope you enjoy! Oh, my name is Henry.

Lemonflower Yeti


Yeti, In The Plural by ~lemonflower on deviantART

Friday, January 15, 2010

Not Yeti Friday - The Enemies of the Yeti



According to the artist Zachariah Bauer, this guy is a "member of a tribe of ape-men called the Golden Yeh Rén. They live deep inside mountains near lava flows, and are the hated enemies of the Yeti."

I am interested in seeing more from this world of Mr. Bauer's where the yeti have such a foe.

This may be my favorite cartoon yeti crab so far


Yeti Crab by =chaoskomori on deviantART

It really captures the yeti-ness.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

loveandasandwich's links

In my opinion, the biggest super-star of the hand-made yeti art world is loveandasandwich (blog, etsy, deviantart, flickr)

I've previously blogged about her here and here.

She just sent me a whole bunch o' links to yeti goodness! Thanks, loveandasandwich!

In etsy, she has stumbled across:


This guy's got a whole series of yetis doing random things.


And this needs no description, it's just ridiculously adorable.

~~~~

But loveandasandwich has not been sitting idly by while others share their yeti related content! She is probably the most prolific artist that depicts yeti related content working today! (perhaps ever?) Observe!


Did you know loveandasandwich is one of the Heroes of 10/31/2009?
Check out her Halloween costume this year.



For Valentine's Day, she has made some loooove yetis.



She created a custom yeti for a child for Christmas. His name is Yorni. Hey, is that a depiction of loveandasandwich on the wall behind Yorni?



Something I wish I'd included in my Cephalopodmas post, she had bedazzled us all with her yeti squids (also comes in a striped variety).

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Dunkin' Donuts Yeti



Dunkin' Donuts is using the yeti in its promotions. Kind of strange, this whole "yeDDi" thing. But anyway.

I would like to draw your attention to the fine print within the ad.

What is with this "affectionately known as sasquatch" part?

Who affectionately knows the yeti as "sasquatch"?!

Affection implies intimacy.

And who intimate enough with the yeti would conceivably call it "sasquatch"?!!

Is it like a playful tease? A tongue-in-cheek pet-name? Maybe the intimate person affectionately calling the yeti "sasquatch" is playing on the common misperception that yeti=bigfoot=sasquatch. They're like: "I'm going to start calling you sasquatch just as a little joke between us!"

It's hard for me to imagine the affection running the other way.

Oh, there is the character from the Darkstalkers video game. He's basically a yeti that everyone calls Sasquatch. Maybe there's some connection we don't know about between Dunkin' Donuts and Darkstalkers. A conspiracy?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Yeti Club

I draw your attention to The Yeti Club.



A mother and daughter started a blog to share their love of yeti with the world.

The mother is an artist and created the above drawing which her daughter loved (It is now available on a t-shirt).

This inspired them to form the Yeti Club and start the blog. Since then, many other members have joined and they all share yeti related content they've found.

There's some great yeti stuff on their site that you won't find here.

A big thanks to Jen for the scoop!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Friday, January 8, 2010

Not Yeti Friday - Himalan



Himalan is a designer toy by Itokin Park.

It comes in many colors:


From here


From here


From here

And even has folks customizing it in neat ways.


Example: Star Yeti

It is very expensive to purchase. I will never own a Himalan.

I was going to propose that a Himalan was actually a yeti. I assumed that the designer intentionally named it "Himalan" in order to evoke "Himalayan".

However, I think it is not yeti. This post on Vinyl Pulse discusses a book called "An Encyclopedia Of Kaiju" - and look who's right there smack in the middle of the front cover, all spruced up in orange:



Can the word kaiju refer to a yeti? Maybe, but probably not. I think Himalan is in a class by itself.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Here's What I Got

This then is my holiday haul:



Pictured: Uncle Dapper, Yeti Kong t-shirt, a glow-in-the-dark Qee yeti, a luggage tag featuring Gama Go yeti, Patch Together's Yeti Guy, and a magnet made by my friend Emily.

Here's the awesome magnet close-up:



Big thanks to Brian, Kelly, and Emily!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Warburton Yeti



Yeti illy by Hylton Warburton

He likes the yeti. Here's one that could be one's silhouette.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Waters Yeti


This yeti's name is harry and is drawn by Robb Waters.

Trudge.