Quick Links:

•What is Applied
  Cartooning?

•Our Objectives

•Why We Do What
  We Do

•Who are "We"?

•Contact

Applied Cartooning in the News:

•Cell Biology

•History

•Literacy

•Politics

•Education

"How To" and Reference:

Faster than a speeding
  bullet: the rise of the
  graphic novel

    NEWS, UPDATES AND EVENTS:

• Goo U Summer Camps in Grandville and at Hope College were a great success! Thank you to all of you who attended...we had a great time discovering with you. Have a great summer and we hope to see you again next year!

•Goo U keeps us occupied for most of the summer, but if you're interested in our other subsidiaries, click on one below to send you to the appropriate page.
-GIGL              -Goo Goods    -Goo Student
-Goo Pro         -Goo Tech      -Goo Foundation
-Goo Toons     -Goo 4 Good  -Investment


•Neils Boar has a sidekick! Please welcome Arthur (pictured above to the right). Call him Art for short. He's a Geniusaurus. He and Neil met at a conference in November and decided to join forces. Neils is more left brain in focus...Art is more right brained in approach. Together they're the perfect teaching duo. Look for them in all our visual camp curriculum.

•Googenius has solidified its vision for the future and is now searching for investment participation to grow and expand our Applied Cartooning concept. We have finished an initial Business Plan detailing the direction, value, and estimated impact of applying visual cartoon techniques to communication. Anyone interested in learning about, and potentially participating in, the business side of Applied Cartooning can find out more on the "Big Picture" page.

What exactly is "Applied Cartooning"?

With that in mind, here are our official objectives:

1. Promote graphic literature (cartoon story) as a legitimate form of
    communication.

2. Develop graphic literature (cartoon story) into an improved form of
    communication and idea exchange.

3. Apply cartoons and cartoon techniques to all forms of practical
    communication.

4. Promote right-brain (innovation and synthesis) aptitudes by teaching
    cartooning techniques.

5. Present the richness and historical impact of graphic literature (cartoon
    stories) internationally.

6. Introduce cultures to each other by making their graphic literature
    (cartoon stories) available and accessible.

7. Appreciate and expand the humor, beauty and artistry of graphic
   (cartoon) story worldwide.   
      
8. Develop new ways to market and apply cartoons to consumer interests.

Are cartoons really worth the effort of promoting them?

We sure think so! While there are lots of ways to communicate, and some forms are better than others for different situations, we believe cartoons are a form of communication whose time has come. They "deliver the goods" in so many ways and they are adaptable to nearly every discipline, language and way of thinking.



Why we do what we do...

Catering to and Augmenting our Right Brain to match our predominantly left brain approach to communication and learning is one of the major philosophies of Googenius. You'll read about a few of our other philosophies later, but this is a good place to start.

If you don't have time to read this whole section, here's the 30 second version:
•We believe the world would benefit greatly if we all read more.
•We believe the world would benefit greatly from actively developing right brain
  aptitudes.
•We believe that reading cartoon narratives and learning cartooning techniques are
  excellent ways to accomplish both of those goals. Beyond that, they just might be
  the perfect exercises for integrating your right and left brain skills for life and
  business.
•We believe reading cartoons and learning cartooning have the added benefit of
  teaching clear, concise communication skills.



And now, the long version:
The world is a rapidly changing place. Information technology is wonderful; the advances of the last three decades have done much to level the global economic playing field and allow each of our daily lives to be more organized, productive and convenient.

Unfortunately, among other things, tests have shown that the information age has caused most of us to read less and concentrate less on single issues. The constant deluge of often-useless information has seen to that. Nowadays we can all know a little bit about nearly everything, but we rarely invest ourselves to know a lot about any one thing. It's just plain easier to settle for the quick video, tagline and sound-byte opinions of others.

At Googenius, we'll be the first to admit that a continued paradigm shift in information is inevitable, and we understand that traditional black-and-white literature as the primary means of idea transmission (like poetry in the 1800's) will probably go the way of the dinosaur. And while that alone is not such a horrible reality as long as people are getting the information anyway, where we see a growing problem is in our ability to evaluate, retain and apply that information. Those skills are diminishing and we believe that has to do primarily with the fact that we read and focus less.

You see, reading does amazing things in our brain, it fixes information in our minds and helps develop our ability to concentrate. We believe these are important skills for a society to have. Reading, in many ways, makes the information we input "our own". Cartoon literature can help put complex ideas in concise terms...encouraging readers to grasp full concepts quickly and enjoyably...making them their own. Whether we're talking education, business or entertainment, that's a perfect bridge between the old and the new ways of acquiring information.

Please don't take any of this as a jab at the computer age, at Googenius, we love computers...quite frankly they make all of our cartoon goals possible, the more processor power the better! But we're worried that the same technology that weaves magic into our lives in so many ways is also causing our collective attention span to sink to dangerous lows. However, we see that as more of a side-effect than an inevitable condition. Nevertheless, in our estimation it's a side-effect we need to improve upon soon. Our solution? We want people to read more. And we believe cartoon literature is the ideal format for encouraging that.               

Not only do cartoon narratives represent a viable, inviting middle ground between traditional print literature and electronic information streaming, but when properly executed, they also wed two important historic art forms: writing and visual representation. These two art forms have been mixed in various ways for thousands of years with precision and powerful effect. We believe they are still the best combination for relating complex ideas in clear and understandable ways.

Reading and following a visual narrative engages your mind in the assimilation of a message and helps develop your ability to evaluate concepts and weigh opinions as well as synthesize information into a "bigger-picture" understanding. Those intuitive, innovative, synthetic qualities are known as right-brain aptitudes. And they're becoming more and more important in today's global society and global economy.

Left-brain analytical skills are just as important as ever, but the market is becoming saturated with these types of thinkers as evidenced by the movement of engineering, programming and accounting positions to cheaper emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere. Automation stands to take a fair chunk of these types of occupations away from people over the next twenty years as well if computers continue to develop at the same rate.

Thinkers who develop their right-brain capacity on top of a traditional left-brain education relate to co-workers and employees better, they spot trends better and they foresee the consequences of certain courses of action better...in short, they've developed a finer intuition for evaluating the world around them. And that puts them at a decided advantage. We want to help everyone develop that advantage, and cartooning is the perfect place to start. In fact, it might just be the perfect right brain discipline.

The great part about cartooning is that it is accessible to all ages, and whether you're reading cartoon narratives or practicing cartooning techniques, you're developing right-brain aptitudes! And there are so many other positive side effects of delving into cartoon history and cartoon culture that we can scarcely contain ourselves about just how amazing they really are. They can put you in better touch with the world, with history and even with yourself. Cartoons truly are pure genius!


We hope our vision and enthusiasm for this mode of expression will one day effect you and those around you in a positive way. We believe the first step to innovation and outside-the-box thinking is to master and incorporate the important parts of inside-the-box thinking.

If Inside-and-Outside-the-Box Thinking resonates with you, then we invite you to join us in our quest to take cartoons to the next level.

We use "We" a lot. Just who are "We"?

Well, for the moment "We" are two brothers and supporting cast of part-time and contract workers. We have a large network of artistic and educational contacts and will be adding positions as the world embraces Applied Cartooning and the genius of cartoon literature. We have a short list of highly capable talent we'd like to employ as our business grows or investment becomes available.

Wade Gugino: Owner

Wade graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan in 1992 with a Business and Art composite degree. He has lived for fifteen years in Europe playing professional basketball and studying the international culture of cartoons and graphic novels. He has contributed numerous sports and editorial cartoons to newspapers and magazines in France. Now retired from professional sports, he lives just north of Holland on the shores of Lake Michigan with his wife and four children. He is dedicated to making his childhood dream of cartooning and developing the art of cartoon expression a reality. (Pictured here teaching cartoons to first graders in West Ottawa).




Tod Gugino: Googenius University Partner

Also a graduate of Hope College (Biology, 1985), Tod has served as Hope's Chemistry Lab Director for over twenty years and is active in many educational programs. On top of his regular duties, Tod runs the Hope College Summer Science Camps, teaches lab courses at Hope, and provides science instruction for home-school programs as well as serving on the committee to update the science curriculum in Holland Public Schools. He lives on the south side of Holland with his wife of twenty years and four children. Tod loves science and education and believes that by starting young, kids will be inspired to excel in these areas.