Hi all,

(FIRST - I have survey details below in the backer only section!!! Please skip straight to that if you only want to know what's up with that extended timeline.)

I have been negotiating the proof details with my manufacturer ever since paying for them, so it's been a few weeks now. There were issues with some of the details getting lost due to the size and honestly I'm frustrated, because I asked when I was getting them quoted if the size would be an issue with any of the smaller details and she said no. Well, she didn't check. This sort of thing happens constantly so I need to stop being surprised and just adapt. As a result, though, I was really firm about maintaining as much as I possibly could in my original details, because the whole campaign was ran on the impression they'd look like the art!

So here is what had to change:

Here are the approved proof versions of the above (ignore the metal looking grey, it's just to make it easier to distinguish):

Please ignore the colors, manufacturer proofs are notorious for good reason for looking super weird color-wise. The important thing is that all pantones are correct, which they are.

Everything else will turn out as expected! Teeny tiny cut out areas in the artwork shouldn't be expected to go all the way through but they'll still look like holes from the front, however due to the beveling I mentioned there will be very few holes all the way through the backs of pins on the ones with the tiniest cut out details. That is something I knew would be the case from the start as this is my 8th year designing pins, but since I'm mentioning changes I want to point out that this isn't one (with an example).

As you can see, from the front they do look like cut-outs, and it doesn't detract from the design at all that they aren't visible holes on the back because of it.

Also, the hearts for the Elfling pin have been in production for a couple of weeks! All of the proofs I'm given from them are always gold, please rest assured it WILL be black.

Here is also a comparison example of my 12mm hearts that are similar that already exist, unfortunately I felt they were way too big for the pin which is why I paid a new mold fee to have these done in 8mm instead.

Now that everything is approved, physical production on the factory floor is finally beginning!

I also want to show what the frosted mascot charms turned out like:

They don't have the matte surface texture that I wanted, but the visual effect is still a frosted acrylic appearance and I'm pleased with that. The purple is slightly darker/more saturated than my mockup appears on some screens, I hope the difference is acceptable!

As far as the sequel campaign goes, I've been dealing with some acute health issues that pretty much came out of nowhere so I haven't been able to do a whole lot of cleaning up of the art. Instead, now I just have a lot of different sketches rather than any designs having been fully finished yet:

(kuchisake onna - inspired by techwear and the "straightjacket chic" thing that an alarming number of Reverse: 1999 characters have got going on)

(harpy - inspired by a delinquent/yanki aesthetic and feminine rage in general)

(k/gumiho (either letter is technically correct) - She will also be really big like the harpy...man. I personally like my pins to be pretty petite so I'm going to feel overwhelmed by these designs so we'll see how long it takes me to finish her.)

Dullahan and Mummy's proofs have also already been approved, and I'm now armed with all of the knowledge from this current back-and-forth that just resolved so I'll be extra careful finalizing these new designs. That should speed things up a bit next time...

Mermaid is finished now except for probably having to change up the flow of her hair/tentacles so those cut-outs are more achievable.

I'm still working on the pose for my geode lady (name not final lol...) cross collab design, so I don't have any sketches I like of that done yet. Next non-survey update I will post my progress with the above designs, hopefully my edited Onmyouji, and the fixed Mermaid cut-outs. I will hopefully have 5 finished designs by then (in addition to Dullahan/Mummy) and a working presave page for the next campaign.

Thank you for reading! The backer-only portion is next: