Play is a powerful thing. It fires up the imagination, forms cognitive connections, and it’s a chance to let go and just have fun.

When Sears needed a rallying cry for their new Toy Shop, Real Art saw the opportunity to build on their reputation for expertise and quality in a new way: Sears could lead the industry as the advocates of play. We laid out a mantra for the initiative – play more.

With close-up imagery and games flooding the oversize pages, the Toy Shop Manifesto builds a compelling story, uniting the team at Sears around their new mission and inviting readers of all ages to join in the fun.

The story touched people around the country that believe in play, too. This weekend, the Toy Shop manifesto earned a national ADDY from the American Ad Federation.

Here’s to play!

Hello everyone! My name’s Connor Fitzgerald and I’ll be the new intern (and Pixelator team recruit) over the summer. I’m currently studying film, specifically screenwriting, at the University of Southern California, but I also love working with graphic design and short video production. Everything about Real Art – the edgy image, the progressive style, the gigantic claw machine – drew me in, and I can’t wait to work with all of you over the next couple weeks. But who wants to hear about that? These are the real facts about me you should know if we are to work together.

Things About Connor You Should Know

1. I lived in Dayton for two years when I was very little. Single lasting impact: my die-hard/obsessive love for The Ohio State Buckeyes. You’re my boy, Brutus.

2. I’m lactose-intolerant, but I enjoy eating vicariously through others, so please feel free to eat ice cream when I’m around.

3. Favorite Pokemon = Geodude

4. I’m in no way related to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Or am I?

5. No, I’m not.

6. Tofu scares me a little bit.

7. Once, I raced Mario in a live action Mario Kart Race (see photo above). I won.

8. I love to run, unless I’m being chased.

9. Few things can get me to stop talking about movies. Duct tape will probably do the trick. So will chloroform, but I ask you to please stick to the tape (no pun intended).

10. Favorite Radio Show = Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!

11. I learn best from working on projects where I’m in over my head, so feel free to throw things my way even if you’re unsure if I can handle them.

12. My serious life goal is to write for a dramatic TV series or write for commercials, hopefully a bit of both at different times in my life. My non-serious life goal is to memorize all the words to “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix A Lot.

Hello, my name is Kylyn Magee and I am the new software engineering intern at Real Art. For the last 2 summers, I have interned with some of the top DoD contractors in the Dayton area and gained invaluable experience, but I wanted to do something different this year. Sooo I am looking forward to spending this summer at Real Art! 

A little bit about me: 

• I received my BS in Computer Science from Wright State last June and am now a year into my MS in CS, also at Wright State. I’m funded by a teaching assistantship which is at times more educational (and more fun) than my coursework.
• I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but whatever it is will be awesome, I’m sure.
• I grew up in Fairborn with my 4 younger siblings. All of us were/are homeschooled by my super hero mom and now 3 of my siblings also attend Wright State (1 BA, 1 BS and 1 MS).
• My only pet is a battery-powered goldfish, but I’ve managed to grow flowers from seed packets for the first time ever this year.
• As my friends have recently discovered, if you have a hole in something, I can stitch it. I also knit and crochet – just finished my first afghan.
• My favorite outdoor activity is running from zombies. (No, seriously. There’s an app for that.)

Hey everyone! My name’s Cassandra O’Connell and I’m the new print design intern at Real Art. I decided I wanted a career in the creative world when I was six years old. I drew everything within view of my drawing pad and pencil. Now, fifteen years and one BFA in Visual Communication Design from the University of Dayton later, I’m ready to live that dream and learn everything I can on the print team here at Real Art. 

Here’s some stuff about me:

• I was born and raised in Cincinnati. West Side best side!
• I love banana peppers and could eat them by themselves. (Scratch that—I have eaten them by themselves.)
• I play the guitar, and my little Breedlove acoustic is like my child.
• I have two dogs. Harley is a one-eyed Miniature Schnauzer, and Wara (pronounced like Vara) is a German Shepard imported straight from Germany (she even has a passport). They’re a strange pair.
• I love all kinds of puzzles. Crossword puzzles, logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles—you name it, I’ve done it. I’ve even been known to take the pieces from multiple jigsaw puzzles and mix them up before putting them together.
• Speaking of puzzles, if you throw me a Rubik’s cube I’ll solve it.
• I have a seven-year-old brother (well, technically he’s my half brother) who would talk for days if you’d let him.
• I love to travel, and last summer I spent a month in Cameroon (which is in West Africa, right below Nigeria). But if I had to pick, I’d definitely say that Paris is my favorite place in the world.
• My iTunes collection ranges from Benny Benassi to Biggie Smalls to Beethoven. My current musical obsession is Walk the Moon, a Cincinnati-based band (which gives me even more reason to love them).

Anyway, that’s a little about me. You can drop me a line at cassandra.oconnell [at] realartusa.com if you want. I’ll be here for the next three months and I can’t wait to get to know everyone!

2013 is off to a big start. We launched a claw game outside the Superbowl, debuted a facial tracking game at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, and we’re working on a ton more new, exciting things this year.

That all means Real Art is growing, and we need people like you to join our team. You can’t help but come up with new, crazy ideas…then make them happen. You’re always challenging yourself and everyone around you to be more creative. Yeah, you. 

We’re adding a handful of different positions, and no matter what you do, creativity is a must for all of them. Drop us a line.

We’re hiring:

Creative Writer 

Motion Designer

Project Manager

Software Engineer 

Mix vintage machinery, serious design skills, and old school craftsmanship, and you’ve got Ink and Hammer Mfg. Co, a new shop opening its doors in Dayton’s Oregon District this Friday. 

The hybrid letterpress studio, metal shop, and wood shop is a passion project for Real Art designer Josh Flohre, who started making things while other kids were still stacking Legos.

Ink and Hammer makes one-of-a-kind prints, furniture, and custom built-ins with reclaimed wood and found materials. Josh rehabbed a historic building in the Oregon District as Ink and Hammer’s new home, and he’s opening the doors for a meet and greet Friday during Urban Nights. Tour the space, grab some coffee, and get juiced up on the incredible work coming out of this new shop.

Ink and Hammer Meet & Greet:

Friday, May 10
6pm-10pm
506 Wayne Avenue, Dayton
Details: Ink and Hammer Facebook Event 
Blog: inkandhammer.wordpress.com

Smells of spring are filling the air at Real Art. Some are sweet: fresh cut grass, flowers in bloom. Others, not so much.

Chronicle Books tapped Real Art to design the ultimate authority on farting, The Fart Tootorial, to add to its award-winning lineup of innovative books. Keeping it classy
cover-to-cover, we used a textbook-style design that elevates the art of the fart.

This one’s for all you tooters, blasters, and fartmasters out there. You know who you are.

Real Art is seeking a Creative Writer with the proven ability to write compelling copy to join the team at our headquarters in Dayton, Ohio. As a Creative Writer at Real Art, you will work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams on both client and internal projects. You will be involved in the initial conceptual and strategic development phases of projects, brainstorming ideas and possible angles. You will be responsible for executing on all copy deliverables as required by the project’s scope of work, ensuring that all messaging is consistent and strategically accurate.

Read more about the Creative Writer opportunity >

I’m Brian Retterer, the new web developer in Real Art’s Dayton office. My greeting, kia ora, is “hello” in Maori, the native language of New Zealand, where I worked for 6 months. I am so excited to be a part of such a great company and look forward to working with everyone here. 

Here are a few things about me:

I grew up in Ada, Ohio. That’s right, Ada – the same place Chris Wire grew up. I studied International Theatre Production at Ohio Northern University, with a focus on sound design.

My love for web development began when I built my sound design portfolio site. Next, for my senior theatre project, I developed a web app for tracking sound equipment repair data.

My awesome fiancé, Heather, has been putting up with me since we met 9 years ago in a stage management class at Ohio Northern. We’re getting married this Fall in an amphitheater at the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton.

Fun facts:

• I ran sound for Royal Caribbean and lived on the ship for 6 months.
• I love dogs. My dog Sophie is a purebred mutt!
• One of my hobbies is throwing pottery and creating awesome things with clay.

Cincinnati Children’s isn’t just a children’s hospital. The researchers there are making groundbreaking medical discoveries and have incredible stories to share, whether it’s about a treatment that gives kids a chance to control their asthma and play outside again, or about two cousins in Kuwait who travel around the world to receive care for a rare disease. Near or far, big or small—there’s a reason Cincinnati Children’s is a world leader. 

Real Art fused these ideas together for the 2012 Cincinnati Children’s annual report: scientific breakthroughs that have a real impact on the young patients they treat, and the almost tangible sense of wonder when an outcome is changed. The annual features illuminated photographs of real patients with extraordinary stories told through the lens of the wonder of childhood.