This is only phase two of the design process - the first round of product prototypes. But I thought I'd show you where we're at. These are not the final product. In fact we have a couple of disasters 😂. Its all part of the process.
Also, before we begin; its wrong to have favourite children and I would never do such a thing.
Holo Promo
Holo Promo
Card previews. We didn't end up going with this manufacturer, and felt this size was a little too small, but its nice to see them in person. I ordered them before the assignments were totally finalised so a few have changed. I really wanted to check that all the fine details would be visible at this size and the balance would work out when they were printed, also that the font was clear and legible. If it works at this size, it'll work at the larger one.. The holo was just for fun, its pretty but not for a whole deck. This back design, I'm still not 100% on, it was the one I was using until someone pointed out it looks like an underwater portal to somewhere else and now I can't unsee it 😂. The border is staying, the middle section might change.
Bookmarks. Matte laminated card and PET plastic. The card is flimsier; the PET is a little chunkier. Both are nice though. The card makes a nice freebie for the larger orders, the PET will probably be in the survey add-on store. The print colours have come out very well.
Magnetic bookmarks. These are free in some of the bundle pledges. They're smaller than I thought and the camera isn't doing the colours justice. Not many of the creature designs fit on this shape, but I definitely need to pick something a bit simpler. (These are two different sides of the same bookmark). The border is working though, and the print is clear.
Stickers. The colours and print came out well. The default is clear matte vinyl, we're going for 3in in size because a lot of the designs are long by default. I also tried out a fancy gold finish but it was definitely toooo much. I also made some static window clings but then totally forgot to get a picture. The firework jelly on a transparent window cling looks pretty neat.
Acrylic keyring. The epoxy dome is making the print seem a little fuzzy, but its not rl. Its a bit clunky, this is why we're going with just the creatures and not the cards. It works for the pins because there's not another border around that too. This one has the holo effect, we'll probably offer both holo and clear in the keychain options. The front has a rounded epoxy finish, the back is flat.
And our total disaster notebook, proving not everything goes right the first time 😂 . I didn't mention foiling because I did half fear this would happen, and that's the design lines are just too fine for it. I made a chunkier border for this specifically but it didn't help. Its hot stamped foil which is durable but too thick for this in my opinion. The print itself is actually very good, I have no idea why it washed out so much in these photos. So I'll be tweaking the cover design to lose the chunky lines, and getting them done without foil. Also I want to get the frosted protective covers their spiral notebooks usually have, I don't know why they're missing.
These are the inside pages;
Actually the design looks very much like I wanted, BUT that's an a6 sized notebook. Even if you used two lines at once you'd still be writing for ants 😂. That's easy to fix though, so once that's altered this is going to be default inside for all the notebooks.
That's it for round one of development. We're now waiting to order another trial print of cards from the manufacturer we're working with, in the new size. I'll also be ordering another test print of notebooks very shortly once the changes are made. Because this product manufacturer has very small minimum order numbers, we're going to be offering a lot of options for your choice of notebook covers and keychain designs, since I have no idea which cards/creatures you're all hoping to see.
As always, let me know if there's anything you'd like to suggest. It IS fun to slap a gulper eel on everything, not gonna lie.
