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Full size pencil sketch of the cartoon for October 2008

September 29, 2007
Calendar Update

Here's the first version of October that I drew for the 2008 Midnight Fiction Desk Calendar. Initially I envisioned a wrought iron arch framing the entrance to the graveyard where the costumed trick-or-treater is surprised by the zombie. I was pretty happy with it at this point, so I made a scan and reduced the image to the size it would appear in the calendar. Then I trimmed the print to fit in a jewel case holder and set it down on my desk.

Actual size pencils of the cartoon for October 2008 Unfortunately at this size the image was just too small. The characters had to be larger in order for them to "read" properly from the distance the calendar would be viewed.

The misty lettering for "Comix & Reviews" also was revised to improve the readability.

Final cartoon for October 2008 Here's the final artwork at about the size it appears in the calendar. Although I hated removing the arch, the extra space allowed the pirate and the zombie to be considerably larger. Now the characters can be seen clearly when the calendar is positioned 2 or 3 feet away from your eyeballs.

Sean Azzopardi, who contributed the artwork for June has an entry on his blog that shows how his contribution progressed from the pencils to the final image.

Since the calendar's debut a few weeks ago, the word-of-mouth has been very positive. In fact, its even had a couple of reviews. The printed version that includes a special front and back cover is now being offered at Optical Sloth along with Kevin Bramer's review.

The new small press review site in the UK, IndieReview, posted a very nice review by Hassan Otsmane.

If you have comments about the 2008 calendar or suggestions for 2009, please send me your ideas. Top

September 22, 2007
DTP for Stumptown

Robert Sumner, who publishes the small press news and review zine Ka-Whump!; and runs the Ka-Whump website is sharing a table with Wade Busby of Archetype Media at the Stumptown Comics Fest this year. They'll be offering their zines for sale including issues of Ka-Whump! (Sumner) and Mr. Emergency (Busby). They'll also be promoting other small press publishers wth lots of free flyers and promotional pieces, so be sure to stop by their table. They'll also have printed versions of the 2008 Midnight Fiction Desk Calendar for sale.

Booklet with a pencil for scale I've been working on a MF.com promotional handout for the show over the last couple of weeks. To keep in the spirit of small press, I thought it would be fun to make it in the form of a mini comic. After a few iterations, I decided on a micro mini format. This would enable printing four copies per letter-size sheet on my desktop printer. The final size is pretty small, but it makes for a fun little 8-page booklet with a full bleed cover.

Rough sketch of box Of course I had plenty of time to daydream as I went into production mode trimming, folding, and stapling these micro minis. After a few dozen copies I started thinking about making a little box to put them in and that led to a display piece. I did a rough sketch and things still looked plausible.

Rough box Fortunately the booklet is so small the display box would be as well. I've always admired the work of packaging engineers and the clever ways they design 3D boxes and displays from a flat sheet of cardboard. With at least an appreciation of the geometry for this sort of thing, I created a prototype box on the drafting table. This was cut out with an X-Acto knife and folded together for a sanity check on the structural integrity and size. Things looked good!

Box page 1 Next I created the artwork for the box using InDesign and Photoshop.

Box page 2 The cartoon was drawn by hand and scanned. Since the cartoon portion is so large the final display is actually printed on two pieces of letter-size card stock. The box is the first, and the cartoon is second. The cartoon includes a long "tongue" that folds into the box to hold it in place. Everything is held together with a few pieces of double-sided tape.

Photo of box with mini comics

If you're going to Stumptown this year you can check out the real thing at the Ka-Whump!/Archetype table as you peruse their excellent line of small press comics and zines! Top

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