Contact Poorlydesigned Studios by sending an e-mail to: robertcouch42 (at) gmail (dot) com
“‘Poorly Designed’? Are you SURE that’s what you want to call this?”
Shakespeare asked, “What’s in a name?” In our consumerist/media-driven culture, just about everything is in a name. Mainstream marketers would say that your brand name needs to say clearly and quickly what your product offers, and make it exciting at the same time. Wow them with the intro, then hope you’ve got the goods to back that up.
Poorlydesigned Studios takes the opposite approach. We believe that if you offer your clients the best product they could hope for, at a price that makes them happy, the name shouldn’t have a whole lot to do with it.
Poorlydesigned Studios was founded in 2003 by freelance cartoonist, painter, photographer, videographer, 3D artist, graphic designer and mechanical engineer Robert Couch. Working both solo and with partners, Poorlydesigned Studios has produced music and films, developed games both on the PC and on your tabletop, and had weekly cartoons published in a leading Michigan newspaper.
What does PD do?
Poorlydesigned Studios is experienced in providing low-cost high-quality art production services. We’ve handled everything from webcomics to feature films. Take a look around the site at some examples of our work, or follow one of our a links to one of the friends of PD to see more.
Interested in working with PD?
Poorlydesigned Studios may be available to help you with your project. Send me a message on Twitter or drop me an e-mail so we can talk about it.
Twitter: @poorly_designed
E-mail: robertcouch42(at)gmail(dot)com
The Poorlydesigned Timeline
2003 - Poorlydesigned Comics is established by Robert Couch and launches Movie Mice, a weekly comic about two white mice who comment on films, new and old. The mice, named Yossarian and Mr. Wiggly, quickly become PD’s most popular feature. The Movie Mice were soon joined by several other weekly comics including Potato(e), a journal comic about Couch’s daily life, and Drunken Comics, a collaborative project between Couch and his friends at parties.
2004 - Poorlydesigned Comics is joined by Eric VanSingel, a local artist and cartoonist. VanSingel contributes his Poptastic! line of comics including Here at the Dude Ranch and Do Something! Couch also starts Poorlydesigned Records and Poorlydesigned Software with the goal of creating and publishing independent music and computer gaming software. Later that year Poorlydesigned: The Album is released with music from AK Divine and the 45 Thousands and Jason Heystek.
2005 - Poorlydesigned Software, thanks to Brenda Reeves, releases its first and only piece of software, Hangman. The game features several characters from Poorlydesigned Comics’ library and a diabolical dictionary of difficult words. Later Hangman is put together on a disc with Poorlydesigned: The Album and released as the PD Power Disc, a limited edition free giveaway at Kalamazoo area LAN parties and geek-related events. Couch and VanSingel collaborate again to create Pirates: The Journey to Mars, a board game and comic made available at several local coffee shops and bars.
2006 - Movie Mice are invited to become a weekly feature comic in the Kalamazoo Gazette’s Friday magazine. But Couch decides to pull the comic after just 4 issues due to editorial issues.
2007 - Poorlydesigned Comics stops publishing. Poorlydesigned.com goes dark.
2008 - Poorlydesigned partners with Imminent Entertainment to help produce Coffee Shop Kings. Though some aid is given throughout the project, Poorlydesigned focuses mainly on publishing support. Later in the year Couch opens Poorlydesigned Pictures to help Imminent Entertainment film a documentary called Hobocon. They are joined by BFT Ghostworks to work on the picture. Poorlydesigned Records records a new track, Sexy Hobo for the project. Coffee Shop Kings is released and plays at several film festivals.
2009 - Hobocon is released to positive reviews. The filmmakers are temorarily banned from the convention they sought to document, then later are allowed back to show the film. The picture turns out to be more controversial than anyone expected. Late in the year Poorlydesigned and Imminent Entertainment begin to work on the story for what will become Atrophy.
2010 - The entirety of 2010 is given over to the production of Atrophy. Couch, now under the name Poorlydesigned Studios, enlists the help of FlipWorks Media and James Alan Newman to create the world of Atrophy from the ground up. This means everything from building sets, to costumes, prosthetics, props, weapons (real and stunt), languages, and even a 7-foot tall steam-powered automaton. All are created by or under the direction of Poorlydesigned Studios.
2011 - Post-Production on Atrophy continues. Poorlydesigned.com is relaunched.
2012 – Poorlydesigned Studios partners again with Imminent Entertainment to launch Building The Game: A Documentary Podcast.