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Mentors and Muses: FableVision Celebrates Dot Day 2016

Sarah Ditkoff: A Mrs. Cooper Dot

Sarah Ditkoff: A Mrs. Cooper Dot

I had the same teacher for second and fourth grade: Mrs. Cooper. When she wrote her name on the chalkboard, she turned the double O’s into the eyes of a smiley face. Her favorite word was cooperation. In fourth grade every student wrote a story, which we sent away to be “published;” it came back laminated with a spiral binding. I wrote my story about a beached whale named Meiko (pronounced MEE-ko). We made illustrations for our books out of dyed paper we made in art class. I put little whales on every page. During parent-teacher night, Mrs. Cooper told my parents that she loved my book because I always “put a little something special” into my stories.

Which in hindsight was a funny thing to say to the parents of a student who wrote a story about a beached whale, but my parents relayed that feedback to me and I remember feeling special. I was good at telling stories. I always put in a little something special – that was my mark.

Dot Day feels special this year too. An international celebration of creativity inspired by FableVision founder Peter H. Reynolds' book The Dot, the worldwide phenomenon encourages people to make their mark and celebrate it! FableVision is celebrating our 20th anniversary this year, so we’ve been a little nostalgic. It got me thinking about who inspired me to make my mark. And there was Mrs. Cooper with her seasonal sweaters, encouraging smile, and her love of cooperation.

This year at FableVision, we decided to pay tribute to the people who have helped us make our mark. Each dot that you’ll see from our team commemorates all those who have helped us reach our creative potential and continue to inspire us every day. Be it teacher, friend, parent, celebrity, historian, or creative thinker, we hope that our dots inspire you to make a dot for your creative mentor and muse.

Check out our work below. We want to know – who helped YOU make your mark? 

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FableVision’s Paper Pack Bundle hits Unity Asset Store

Let’s say you have an idea for a game you’d like to try building. You’ve got a great idea but you don’t have the resources, time, or the artist to make the assets. Let’s go a little further and say that you’re on a budget and want art that’s affordable without sacrificing quality – something that’s charming and paper-crafty. Where do you go? Who do you turn to?

Well, look no further, it’s the FableVision Paper Pack Bundle!

From the company that brought you the reboot of Zoombinis, the Paper Pack Bundle is a robust little starter pack of game assets that you can use to build out a game of your own. The collection of 2D sprites is styled to look like it's made from cutout construction paper, an easy way to add some style, whimsy, and texture to project.

I had a really fun time making art for this, and we have future plans to expand on the pack, including characters and asset themes. (Plus, it’s only $5 in the Unity Asset Store so it’s a good bang for your creative buck!)

We’d love to hear what you think and if this has helped you in your game development!

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September FableFriday: Terry Shay, FableVision Learning Lead Ambassador and Dot Day Founder

Behind every phenomenon is a genesis story: this one includes Terry Shay, a creative educator from Iowa who connected the dots with FableVision and the Reynolds brothers ten years ago. Known as “the Ambassador of Ambassadors,” International Dot Day founder Terry started the worldwide phenomenon, which now has over five million participants using their talents, gifts, and energy to help move the world to a better place.

Terry is a passionate music teacher who coaches, inspires, and mentors K-12 students in Traer, Iowa. When he’s not teaching up a storm, he’s continuing his mission to teach creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking as Lead Ambassador for FableVision Learning. As the originator of International Dot Day and the Celebri-Dots blog, Terry helps educators develop, discover, and share creative tools for the journey, and get the word out about Dot Day.

In this special edition FableFriday, we sat with Terry to talk about how it all began, his famous literary pals, where to find the best pizza, and the Better-Than-Broadway Swing Show!

It all started with an idea and turned into an international phenomenon. How did Dot Day come to be?
The idea for Dot Day sprouted from the focus on testing in schools. I made the suggestion to Peter H. Reynolds that we have a day where kids set aside some time to get creative and make dots that would inspire them to make their mark. Peter added “International” to Dot Day and the spirit of the day was launched. It started very small with light social media buzz about the day—and then a few friends joined in.

I think the idea of the return to creativity was very important for teachers. In 2011, some superstar librarians, Shannon M. Miller and John Schumacher, took up the cause, shared with their followers, and suddenly the idea for Dot Day had grown very large and started traveling around the world.

There are so many ways that people have “made their mark” on September 15-ish for Dot Day. What are some ways someone can celebrate Dot Day?
The ways to celebrate Dot Day are entirely up to the individual leading the celebration, which has helped make the day what it is. I have my junior high and high school chorus kids paint a canvas that hangs in my room all year long. It’s a great reminder to be creative. Some schools have added a service learning component and have kids work to “make their mark” with people in their area who need help. Truly, you can throw down butcher paper and crayons and just let kids create.

How are you celebrating Dot Day this year?
This year will be the most epic year ever at my school! Peter H. Reynolds is going to visit and Discovery Education is going to live stream from the place where Dot Day began (you can join by registering here). The teachers at my school are wildly creative, so there will be classroom projects around the entire school: math dots, reading dots, and dots just for fun. 

You rub shoulders with lots of talented and famous people! Who are Celebri-dots?
Celebri-dots started in 2011 when Newbery Medalist, Sharon Creech sent me a dot on Dot Day. I was amazed by her dot and it started me thinking about what dots other famous people would make. I have been so lucky to make friends with extremely talented people who are the best in their field on top of being extremely kind and giving people. Newbery Medalists, Caldecott winners, New York Times Best Sellers, and people who are widely respected in publishing and other fields have made dots. They are truly the best people in the world.

You’re the Lead Ambassador for FableVision Learning. What’s your favorite thing about being in that role?
I feel like being Lead Ambassador makes me the luckiest teacher on earth. I get to interact with very talented educators. I get to watch their projects unfold and see how they are changing their part of the world. I am truly blessed to be in the stands interacting and learning from the best of the best.

FableVision is celebrating our 20th anniversary this year and you’ve been a wonderful part of that journey. Do you have a FableVision memory that you’re particularly fond of?
There are truly so many memories that go with my time with FableVision, but my favorite involves Peter and Paul Reynolds. We were in Philadelphia for the ISTE conference and hosting an ambassador get-together at our hotel. There came a time when everyone was looking for Peter and he had disappeared. I asked Paul where he was and he pointed outside.

Sure enough, Peter was sitting on the curb talking to someone I didn’t recognize. Paul said, “Peter saw the woman fall, so he went out to make sure she was okay. I had better get out there.” Soon an ambulance came and took the lady away.

When they came back in, Paul said, “the poor soul was afraid to take the ambulance because she didn’t know how she would get back to her hotel. I gave her our business cards and told her to call and we would bring a cab and make sure she got to her hotel.” This experience cemented everything I already knew about Peter and Paul: they are kindness and compassion in human form.

You’ve been a teacher for over 30 years! How did you know that education was your calling?
I had good teachers who inspired me. I believe that being a teacher is truly a calling and I felt compelled to become a music teacher. I am sure it will seem corny, but when my high school chorus is performing, it’s very sweet to me. I know how far they’ve come and I know how hard they’re working. It’s always a very sweet sound to me.

You’re a great fan of music—both inside and outside the classroom. What are some of your favorite things to listen to?
I listen to a lot of different kinds of music. I love Broadway shows and listen to them a lot. My mowing-the-yard jam is currently “Something Rotten” which I was lucky to see on Broadway last year. It makes me smile (mowing does not). In the car, we usually listen to ‘80s. I do not enjoy country music.

What is Swing Show?
Swing Show is a tradition at my school. It’s a huge variety show where the chorus sings and dances, the band plays, the dance team dances, and there are funny skits. It’s the best time of the year because kids are so focused on making a great show. So many awesome moments promise to occur during Swing Show.

Do you have a favorite teaching moment or memory?
I have a recurring favorite teaching moment. Almost every year at our Swing Show there is a student who quietly comes in and auditions. As the rehearsals progress, I get to watch them grow and develop and become a star. It’s magical.

Terry and Ellen Shay with Peter H. Reynolds

Terry and Ellen Shay with Peter H. Reynolds

More about Terry!

Favorite thing about Iowa: I grew up here. I enjoy visiting other places, but this feels like home. It’s centrally located, just a few hours from many great cities.

What makes the perfect pizza? This is not so much a what…but a who: Giordano’s in Chicago. Thick, stuffed, and heavenly.

The best movie ever made: The best movie ever made hasn’t been made yet, but I’ve seen the ones leading up to it. When I taught computer classes, I challenged kids to make movies and I called them “creativity assignments.” They were so new and different; I just know that the best is yet to come. If I have to choose one currently out there, I’d choose The Wizard of Oz because of when it was made.

World’s best summer vacation spot: New York City, it’s my wife’s favorite place and, like they say, “happy wife, happy life.” We’ve been able to see some amazing Broadway shows….and of course there is banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery!!

What’s on your reading list this summer? I have read so many books this summer!! I read mostly middle grade books and the most recent was The Thing About Leftovers by C.C, Payne and it was wonderful and important! I highly recommend it.

In another lifetime, what else would you be doing? I often think about what my life would be like if I hadn’t gone to that conference and seen Stationery Studio. What if I hadn’t called FableVision Learning and reached Bill Norris? What if I hadn’t met Peter H. Reynolds? I was lucky to see the right things at the right time with the right people. Maybe in another lifetime I would be a gambler. (I am pretty lucky, after all.)

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Drawing From Memory With Tami Wicinas: Celebrating 20 Years of Stories That Matter and Move

This is a special year for FableVision. We’re celebrating 20 years of designing and developing a wide array of engaging media that have inspired, taught, and moved people to action. Behind this mission-driven company is a team committed to creating positive media to help move the world to a better place. This special series highlights some of our crazy-talented artist-friends we've worked with over the past 20 years. To help us celebrate our 20th anniversary, we asked each of them to put their own spin on a FableVision logo.

Read up on all our anniversary celebrations on our website here and save the date for our anniversary party on November 18!

Tami Wicinas is a freelance illustrator and mobile game artist in San Francisco. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she loved to draw as soon as she was able to hold a crayon. She moved east to earn a BFA in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, then spent seven years living in Boston, MA working as an artist at FableVision. We asked Tami what FableVision means to her. Check out what she has to say!

Tami Wicinas

Tell us about the logo you designed: 
While looking at all those points in the FableVision logo, one of the first things that popped into my head was unicorns, and that's what felt the most right to me. Everyone I had the privilege of working with at FableVision Studios is a unicorn, because FableVisionaries are rare, kind, inspiring, amazingly talented people as well as legendary, mythical creatures. Catch one now before it gets away!

What's your favorite FableVision memory?
My favorite FableVision memory is when we sent the spy tracker toy over to Jumpstart next door with a plate on top of it and both an audio recording and a sign that read "put a cookie on me." We had a lot of fun and laughter that day, and silly, creative moments like that help make FableVision a unique studio. 

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TechTalk with FableVision Studios

FableVision's Jordan Bach (Senior Developer) and Brian Grossman (Technical Director)

FableVision's Jordan Bach (Senior Developer) and Brian Grossman (Technical Director)

Among other things here at FableVision, we’re known for our gorgeous art and animation -- those visual pieces are a direct connection to our motto -- “Stories that Matter, Stories that Move.” But FableVision Studios also uses cutting-edge technology, tools and techniques to make our projects come to life. Using a wide array of software and hardware while working on many projects at a time for various platforms, the tech team at FableVision Studios are the behind-the-scenes maestros of those stories that move and matter.


Tools of the Trade


HTML: HTML is the bedrock foundation of everything on the internet -- it’s a computer language specifically for building websites, and every website uses it. Every time you go to a website, your browser translates those words into a webpage, complete with words, images, videos and more!

JavaScript: If HTML is the bedrock foundation of the internet, JavaScript is what makes a webpage do things. Any time you can type into a text box, watch a slideshow, or if something on a page is animated, that’s thanks to JavaScript.

Unity: Unity is a program for making games for computers, websites, or mobile devices, commonly referred to as a game “engine.” Making a game is complex, so Unity provides a foundation for a team to build upon, so they can focus on making it fun and beautiful.

“Because FableVision is a mission-based company, we focus on finding a project that fits our mission, then we find the technology that fits the project,” says Brian Grossman, Technical Director. He’s been working at FableVision for more than a decade, and has seen the tools and process change many times over the years. Developing the technology behind a project starts during the FabLab, the first step for any FableVision project, where everyone connected to a project meets to collaboratively plan and discuss every aspect. Being part of the process from the beginning is important and fun, says Jordan Bach, Senior Developer at FableVision Studios: “I can let people know what’s easy and what’s hard; if we do the hard thing we may not have time to do this awesome thing, etcetera. We want to be able to do as much awesome stuff as we can.”

Once the project gets going, Jordan describes the work of the tech team as “assemblers” -- they take the art, writing, sound, and more, and make it all seamlessly work together. Because FableVision works on many types of media -- websites, mobile games, museum interactives, and much more -- this means everyone on the team has to know an array of skills and toolsets. Websites and web-based interactive projects are frequently built in HTML and JavaScript and games are frequently made using the Unity 3D Game Engine, just to name a few. (See sidebar, “Tools of the Trade.”)

There is a truth about good technical work that not everyone knows. “This is almost a cliche, but I’ll say it anyways: our tech team is really talented, and if we’re doing what we’re doing well, you’ll never see it,” Jordan points out. If an app or game works as expected, it’s easy to never think of all the work that went into it, and everything that’s happening under the hood. A great example of this is what is called “Responsive Design,” whereby the tech team works hard to make a website, app, or game work well and look great on a multitude of devices, from laptops to cell phones. (See sidebar, “Responsive Design.”)


Responsive Design


Responsive design is the process of making a website, app or game perform the same and look good across many types of devices, whether it be a 30” TV or the iPhone in your pocket.

The website or application is constantly checking what the size of the screen is, and moves and re-sizes the content, whether it be photos, text, or buttons, to fit and follow certain guidelines. “We try to build things that can go everywhere,” says Brian Grossman, Technical Director at FableVision Studios.

It’s not always a rosy path to launching a project, however -- technology is sometimes fickle, and working with the cutting-edge tools and processes sometimes means working in uncharted territory. “Every project has its own quirky technology problem, or problems! There’s always something that makes it like no other project we’ve ever done,” says Brian. “Prototyping and core functionality isn’t hard, it’s the polish, it’s the potential problems and bug fixes. It’s lopsided -- 20% of the time is 80% of the functionality, 80% of the time is finessing and perfecting the last 20% of functionality.”

Ultimately the tech team is committed to getting the project done, and that means a lot of creativity and hard work. “You’ll look at a problem for a while and you won’t have a solution; suddenly you’ll have an epiphany and you’ll find the solution,” Brian says with a chuckle, pantomiming staring at his screen until suddenly the roadblock is lifted. Coding is modern problem-solving, working with computers by writing in languages they can understand, and problem-solving is an inherently creative skill, one that is incredibly important to our modern world and its future. That kind of problem solving and ingenuity are at work every day at FableVision Studios -- it’s integral to the level of quality media we’re known for, and what we pride ourselves on every day. No matter the media challenge, we’ll help you meet it.

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