Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Charm ideas.

After hearing Printcess is shutting down at the end of the month, my Precocious charms goals have to be fast-forwarded.  (There are surely other charm-making sites, but Printsess has a great reputation.)

The goal for Precocious charms is not just to make them desirable to Precocious readers, but have extra appeal for those who don't know a thing about the comic. That's where I'm having issues. What you see here is a first attempt, with me turning the kids into the suits from a deck of cards.  (Current setup: Autumn=diamonds, Bud=spades, Tiffany=clubs, Jacob=hearts.) I need something that people might want, that also comes in a set of four - and doesn't require a label to identify, as these are charms.  These things can't be too complex in design. (I could, in theory, also design them as jack, queen, king and ace cards.)

If I was less egotistical, I would design cute charms for the conventions I attend, but I know so many others who could do a better job.  (I'm hoping to set up a deal, where I can have the adorable charms from Becca and/or Heidi with me at Anthrocon this year.)

These charms are my first idea for little table trinkets people can grab at my convention tables. I have other plans that I'd like to pursue, but with my health issues I have to tackle these things when I can.  If I'm on the ball, maybe I'll create a reader survey for Precocious readers and test the market a bit. Every promo I do costs a hefty chunk of change and LOTS of development and drawing time, so I need to pick my projects wisely.

4 comments:

Iron Ed said...

I particularly like Autumn at bottom-right. I like her eyes/smile and the wrapped-around tail positioning.

Darc Sowers said...

Aww, these are cute! Do you know how much they'll be? I'll set aside some money for a set for my drawing bag. :D

How's your jaw doing? :(

Christopher J Paulsen said...

I'm not sure about pricing yet. They'll probably be $3 each, but I have to crunch numbers before I go any further.

I'd love to be able to offer charms, but I also don't know if my readership is charm-friendly, or if these charms are the best plan. Also, furcon people might not care if the charms are of Precocious characters.

Jaw's bad as ever. I'm not sure how much I should share with the public, but there's a reason all my grand plans ended up grinding to a halt. It's not for lack of desire. I've got a doc appointment next week to figure out treatment for the rest of February.

Oh, and I've been referred to a chiro named.... Dr. Brian. Of course.

Finally, since I'm here, sorry for missing the stream. I was doing a project critique with some SCAD folks at the time.

Darc Sowers said...

True. It's hard figuring out what people will buy. I just heard that Angry Viking, another small press comic company, will be closing its doors in a few months if sales don't pick up. And the readers of the comics it prints are like, "eh, whatever." Urf!

Your chiropractor is Dr. Brian too? Okay, now this is getting scary. It's like an invasion. Or a bad Monty Python skit. ;P

I'm sorry to hear the jaw's still acting up. If you want to talk please feel free to drop me an email. I haven't written because when I'm in pain I tend to want to be left alone and I wasn't sure if you'd feel the same way. I really need to figure out what my old Skype account is. I haven't used mine for a few years and I suck at passwords.

Oh yea, it must be close to semester's end for them! Please tell Becca good luck! :D