Loose Ends and MoCCA

[teaberryblue]

So, you have probably noticed there were no comics last week, and the week before there were only a few.

I am not giving up on comics, but I do need to cut down on the number I am doing for now, because I have to take time to do my homework for class, and also, I need to spend more time preparing for MoCCA, because I WILL have a table. If you are going to be in NYC on April 10 or 11, you should stop by and see me! After then, I will try and figure out the right schedule for comics. I think it will be three days a week.

I am super excited about this whole thing. But I need to do a lot of work to get ready. I am crocheting hats, and working on minicomics. shinyredtype and I are working on an awesome little project for it.

If you offered to send something for the charity raffle– or if this is the first time you’re hearing about it– please contact me privately and I’ll work this out with you.  You have about a month to send things.

One thing I need to do is make a business card! I’ve never made business cards before.  Here is my first shot at one:

What do you all think?  I deliberately didn’t include my phone number, as I prefer working via email and I don’t want to give my phone number out to crazies.  Also, I like the idea of putting “cute stuff” as opposed to a specific jobby-job because I do so many things, and cute is probably the best unifying term.  Suggestions, advice?  Let me know what you think!

Mirrored from Antagonia.net.

Comments

[spiralstairs.livejournal.com]

Scrap the emoticon for a comic Tea self-portrait. It's more personal. :)

[kamenkyote.livejournal.com]

I'm going to agree with the person above; why use an emoticon when some of your own work would not only be cuter but let the person identify your name with your work?

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I definitely do not want a self-portrait. I'm very uncomfortable with the idea of handing out something with a picture of myself on it-- it seems kind of icky, and I'm a little leery of putting any more complex artwork on it because you don't know how it's going to look in print what with the colors and stuff.

[dragonmagelet.livejournal.com]

I like it! Very eye-catching and simple.

I'm not sure about the distribution of negative space; if it were my design I think I would move the website/email addy up a little, but that's just a stylistic thing. Also in my experience pinks specifically never print out the same that they look on the screen, which is maybe something to be wary of/adjust for with test prints?

[themis.livejournal.com]

I like it! But I would change the font with the contact info (or maybe just the anti-aliasing? make it crisp instead of strong or something) to something a little rounder.

Also, I think the graphic should be something more reflective of your artistic style. By which I mean, something you've drawn. Although if you want to stay very general, then I think that this graphic is good. :)

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I'm really worried about printing things with a lot of colors, and I don't want a black and white business card.

[cacophonesque.livejournal.com]

What about cute anthropomorphic food?

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

Like I said to the people above, I really don't want to risk putting artwork on a business card and have it come back from the printer looking crappy. The contact info I can play with though!

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I'm still concerned about the print quality of doing something more complicated than a 2-color design. Colors never come out the way they look on a computer monitor so I'm a bit ehhh about sending something off to the printer and having it come back looking totally wrong.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I used magenta percentages I have worked with before in print! And I'll play with the contact info, thanks!

[spiralstairs.livejournal.com]

I'd go for it, honestly. I made impromptu business cards last comic con that retained some of the paper texture from the original drawing, but it looked kind of cool. And it got a positive reaction from everyone I gave them to. A drawing of your own would sell yourself better than something everyone does. [/business hat]

[spiralstairs.livejournal.com]

A greyscale image would stand out really well against the blue and pink. :) Especially with your portrait.

[kamenkyote.livejournal.com]

Why not have your line drawing in the same blue as you have here for the emoticon? Keep the pink background.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I already said I'm really uncomfortable with the idea of putting myself on a business card, so no, I'm not going to do that. It's really creepy. I don't want people to have a picture of me, drawn or not, in their wallet. And greyscale drawings look terrible on glossy stock. If I do artwork stuff, I think it would probably be better to do simple vector art than line stuff.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking about doing something in vector art. I liked Destiny's idea of doing anthropomorphic food, so I might make a happy cupcake.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I get what you are saying. I'm just trying to figure out a type of drawing that would work well for printing. I also am kind of worried about sticking myself with a certain style of artwork since I change my stuff up so frequently. I definitely don't want to use my current comic style to represent me since that's basically just me being lazy.

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

Everyone else has focused on the look, so I'm going to comment on the text.

I'm not sure that "cute stuff" is the best phrase you could use, although I completely understand your reasoning. Maybe "bespoke cuteness" or "cuteness made to order"? The way it is at the moment, it reads to me as if YOU'RE the cute stuff rather than your goods and I'm pretty certain you're not intending to sell you along with everyhing else.

Alternatively there's "cute things" which is short but I think you want to aim more towards the image of "I'm a professional and my goods might be cute, but they're also well made and long lasting"

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

Actually, that is a really good point! I hadn't even thought about it that way, but you're right. I like Cuteness Made To Order a lot! Thanks a ton.

[dragonmagelet.livejournal.com]

I figured you probably had experience with magenta already, but there's so nothing worse than getting back something from the printers and having it look different than you expected.

[teaberryblue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's exactly why I'm leery about using a lot of colors. I think I have an idea though! Which I will work on tomorrow!

[deutscheami.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I like the color scheme a lot! And I really like how you also made the design simple and punchy.

Couple things: to me, "Cute Stuff" is a really, really general descriptor. I am assuming you want to advertise your art, so would "Cute Art" maybe work a little better? I was also thinking about how to best communicate some of the rest of my thoughts, so I threw together a quick mock-up in Photoshop that I hope explains things a little more clearly:

[liret.livejournal.com]

I like Mr ^-^ man!

[negativeneve.livejournal.com]

A business card is a reflection of you and what you do. It's supposed to send out a message. What message are you trying to send?

Here are my thoughts:

1) Your name is not one that people recognize right off the bat as a name. You need to find a way to get that across here. This one doesn't necessarily do that.

2) "Cute stuff" might be a good descriptor, but it sounds more like a business name here. I wouldn't have known it was any different if you didn't mention it.

3) I like the colors.

4) I don't like the emoticon. It doesn't show your creativity.

5) I don't think it would be a problem to only include your website and email address.

I was once told the best thing to do is to find a way to get people to keep your card and remember it. A lot of businesses will put calendars on the back of them or schedules of sports teams just so that the person who has it will constantly be seeing their card and go to them first if they need something. I wouldn't suggest that for you, but the point is to make a card that people will remember.

[daydreamweaver.livejournal.com]

I like the font and I agree with whomever said you should change 'cute stuff' to 'cuteness made to order.' I think that might be slightly confusing if you also change the graphic to a cupcake--people might think that means you are a cake goddess instead of a graphic artist. So I would probably add 'graphic design' under your name, before 'cuteness made to order,' if you are definitely going the cupcake route.

[spiralstairs.livejournal.com]

Or 'Cocktails, Comics, and Cuteness to Order'? :) It's all true!