Later this week the first shipment of the Antarctic Expedition pins should arrive. Based on how great the Australian ones came out I'm really looking forward to showing them off.
On the other hand, one of my side projects might turn out to be a disaster. I had the bright idea of doing some period Arkham postcards, but I may have made a very expensive error in choosing the company that printed them. I had assumed that not ordering a coating on the back of the cards meant I'd have a plain cardboard surface for the address and such. After talking with my print rep on Friday that doesn't seem to be the case- the cards are coated.
That could be a problem, since there's a good chance that ink from a pen will smear before it dries unless you're extremely careful. It might seem trivial, but if I'm selling something I want it to be the best product possible. "Inexpensive" shouldn't mean "shoddy". Unfortunately, if the coating does turn out to be a problem I have no one but myself to blame. We live and learn...and order the replacement cards from a different printer.
I'm also going to start working on another potential product this week- customized Moleskines. After receiving a set of Cahier pocket notebooks from my always generous significant other my first thought was "Man, these are cool." My second thought was "They'd be even cooler with an expedition logo on the cover." Here's a rough mockup of what ran through my head:
For now I'm just going to concentrate on making my personal copies, but I think the idea has a lot of potential. It's not only a great prop, but an excellent notebook in and of itself. If I do go ahead with doing a run of them they'll have some appropriate inserts, like newspaper clippings, sketches, and photos, tucked into the paper pocket on the back cover.
I like the way the notebooks look. I'm pretty sure Moleskin hasn't changed their product in about 70 years (or however long they've been around), so it gives you a nice, honest, period piece as a base for your logo. If you ever do a run of these, especially one with some clippings, etc., I'd love to hear about it.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if I mentioned this, but I don't even role play (anymore). I just like your stuff as props from the stories. So your influence is spreading; you'll be ready for that whole "take over the world thing" any day now...
I love the idea of the custom moleskines. Great notebooks - they would be even better with Miskatonic on the front!
ReplyDeleteProp, if the printer can't work with you, consider something like this: mark/stamp the postcards with PROPNOMICON webpage all over it, then put them out as less expensive bundles...not a prop so much as super cool stationary and public notice!
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