CuriousTown Producer

Each Bob Staake-designed CuriousTown building is made by Allentown, PA-based In Focus Tech, the preeiminent manufacturer of souvenir and replica metal buildings.

Owner Mike Merwine's attention to detail insures that each building is created with meticulous care and a commitment to quality workmanship.

"Our process has evolved over the years", says Mike, "and we have in place a truly unique system for insuring each design is faithfully reproduced.

We transfer the design information from computer to a Rapid ProtoTyping machine -- the same type of machine used to create products such as cell phone cases, TV remote controls, jewelry, and other small highly complex shapes. This machine makes a plastic "master model" of each building. Then we design and build rubber molds as required to accept liquid lead free pewter. Each building is then hand cast and we finish each and every object. There is no mechanization in this part of the process. Our metal models are created much in the same way it was done a hundred years ago."

Mike is a member of the Souvenir Building Collectors Society.

>> In Focus Tech

CuriousTown Designer

These unique fantasy buildings come straight from the imagination of Bob Staake, an internationally regarded artist known for his ecclectic sense of graphic design. Bob's illustrations and images appear in everything from magazines to books, animation to greeting cards, advertising to newspapers, cereal boxes to CD-ROM games. His Obama Victory image entitled Reflection and depicting the Lincoln memorial is the All-Time Most Popular Cover of The New Yorker.

In a recent online interview, Drawn.ca suggested that "to say Bob Staake is just an illustrator is like saying 'The Beatles' were just a bunch of musicians; the title doesn't do the artist justice" and Publisher's Weekly commented that "Bob Staake's modern, crisp illustrations ... practically jump off the page"

His clients have included The New Yorker, TIME, McDonald's, American Express, Sony, United Airlines, Nickelodeon, Sports Illustrated For Kids, Ralston Purina, Hallmark Cards, Kenner Toys, The Washington Post, AT&T, Sega, TWA, Dr.Pepper, The Chicago Tribune, Good Humor, Warner Books, Kellogg's, Cartoon Network, Turner Broadcasting, The Wall Street Journal, Netscape, Forbes, Simon and Schuster, The Ren and Stimpy Show, MAD, USA Today, Children's Television Workshop, Blockbuster Video, The Walt Disney Company, Anheuser-Busch, Doubleday, Klutz Press, Hershey's, Target Stores, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Fleishman-Hillard, DMBB, and countless others.

He has authored and/or illustrated over 40 books, including Headlines (written by Jay Leno, illustrated by Staake), The Complete Book Of Caricature and The Complete Book Of Humorous Art (both authored by Staake). The New York Times named Staake's The Red Lemon one of the 10 best illustrated books of 2006.

Bob lives and works in Chatham, Massachusetts in a 200-year-old house on the elbow of Cape Cod.