Illustration Friday, REFRESH

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The topic at Illustration Friday this week is "Refresh". This is what came to mind. I think my local grocery store is guilty of this. Enjoy.

Comicification

Comicification (verb): To make something a comic that wasn't.

What am I making into a comic that originally wasn't?

ROBO 6! 

If you don't know, which is probably the case, I did an 8-page kid's picture book story called ROBO 6. It premiered in 8: A Kid's Book Anthology.

Anyways, tabling at Denver Comic Con got me thinking that I need more work on my table that is just mine. Now, don't get me wrong. I love everyone over at illopond.com. My career would not be the same without them. They've played a pretty big part in my creative endeavors for the past 2 years. But, I felt kind of weird selling their work. So, that's why I felt like I need more of just me on the table. So, here is what I'm doing:  I'm turning ROBO 6 into a mini-comic, just like Pest Control. But this time I'm going to print it at the 5x7 "manga" size. So, it will be the same page count as PC, but just physically smaller. Since I'm in the re-vamping mood, I had to redo the logo and cover.

Now the part you've been waiting for, IMAGES! Here are the cover and page 2 side-by-side comparisons of the original and the re-design. Enjoy.

Denver Comic Con REPORT

Holy. Smokes. Denver Comic Con was AMAZING!

Below is an honest, full disclosure report of how things went. I want to do this to show beginning artists what kind of hurdles, failures, and successes they can encounter when tabling at shows.

First up is my expenses, such as table fee, hotel, etc. As you can see I come out of this with a $578 LOSS! But, the image explains why. But yes, tabling at a con, in my opinion, should not be thought of as a money making venture. Sure, it might happen, but that shouldn't be your main focus when starting out.

Now, lets move on to my actual sales. Here is a breakdown of my book and sketch card sales:

Now, if you're comparing how much I said I made in sales and double check it with my actual sales, it will NOT come out the same. Why? I gave discounts when people bought multiple books. For the anthologies I charged $20 a piece, $35 for 2, and $50 for 3.

Now, here is a look at my table set up for Day 1 and Day 2&3. Two and three's set up was the same. I learned some things from day one and changed it for 2 and 3. If you really want to know you can ask. It was nothing major, just flow of traffic and so forth.

DAY ONE

Day one I had my price guide down on the table, which wasn't good because people didn't see it there and kept having to ask me what the prices were. So, day two I took the "review" of Pest Control and replaced it with the price guide. That helped, but people still had to ask. So for the next show I think I'll just make little tags to put next to each product or something. I don't know.

DAY TWO

For day two I moved the banner over to the right of me so you could see it better. I pretty much flipped my table backwards to fit with the traffic flow. I now have the ink sketch cards on the table.

And lastly, if you have an iPad, iPhone, or Android smart phone, I HIGHLY recommend getting yourself a Square reader and register app. This bad boy was a life saver (when the Wi-Fi was working). Over $100 of my sales were from taking credit cards. It's easy to use and works great.

Now, I think I'd like to address some table etiquette that I actually saw that works and doesn't work.

Etiquette 

DO's and DON'Ts 

of 

TABLING AT SHOWS

DO:

- Chill out. Relax. 

- If someone stops and looks at something on your table, then talk to them. If they're just walking by and not making eye contact with you, then let them be.

- Smile

- I don't care what your brand is, be friendly to people.

- Make it look like you actually want to be there. Because you do, right? RIGHT?!

- Always look like you're having fun, even at the slow periods where you might not be having any.

- For crying out loud, make yourself look presentable. Shower, comb your hair, iron your shirt. I don't know, just look nice. Sheesh.

- While someone is thumbing through your book, tell them what it's about if they having asked.

- Let them touch stuff. Let them look at your book/art. Let them experience your work.

- Make yourself look like a professional. Get a banner. Use good graphic design. Make it look like you belong with the "big boys".  Make it look like you know what you're doing and that people should buy your work for what it's worth.

- Charge for what it's worth. You're an artist. You can do things that the average person can not. So, charge them for it. If a drawing SHOULD BE worth $20, don't sell it for $5, sell it for $20. Believe it or not if you charge too little for your work, it will be a turn off. People will wonder what's wrong with it.

DON'T:

- Yell at people from behind your table. If you do, you have become a door-to-door salesman. And who likes those?

- Going along with that first one, don't make a spectacle of yourself. Because if you do, then you're selling a spectacle, not your work. Spectacles don't make money.

- Try and MAKE someone stop at your table.

- Don't make the sad, desperate puppy face.

- Eat in front of people at your table. Do I even have to say this?

- Undercharge. You're worth it. Act like it.

- Have a 5 minute explanation of your book/art. If you can't explain it in 30 seconds or less, then rework it until you can.

I give you these because me and some other artists around me did the things in the DO list and had a GREAT show. On the other side of the coin I saw artists around me do the things in the DON'T list and they had a bad show. Coincidence? I think not.

Anyways, that's about it. It was a really great show and will do what I can to make it there next year. If you have any specific questions, just leave a comment below and I'll answer it the best I can.

If it will let you, you can click HERE to see some of the cosplay and other photos from DCC.

Enjoy.

How to make a height adjustable X-Frame banner stand for $80

Here's the story. I bought a 3ft x 6ft vinyl banner from GotPrint and needed a banner stand to stick it on. Long story short, so we can cut to the chase, I bought the wrong banner stand from VistaPrint. This one:

When I got it I realized it wasn't going to work. I needed an "X-Frame" banner stand with hooks to fit the metal grommets in my vinyl banner. But, VistaPrint doesn't do returns, so I was stuck with a stand that was useless. So, I scoured the internets looking for an "X-Frame" stand. I found TONS and TONS. The problem with all of them was that they all started on the ground and I wanted my banner to start around waist high. So, I searched some more and came across the perfect one! This:

But, you see the same problem I do right? It's almost $400! Yeah, that's not going to work. But, that's when I had my flash of brilliance. Shut up, it happens sometimes. So, here is what I did. Through research I found a $30 "X-Frame" stand from Power Graphics in Utah. So, I bought this one:

Okay, here is where we get to the good part:

HOW TO MAKE A $400, HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE, X-FRAME BANNER STAND FOR ONLY $80!

Step #1: 

Buy both stands mentioned above from VistaPrint (STAND A) and Power Graphics (STAND B). (if you find them cheaper somewhere else, then by all means, don't be stupid, get those ones instead)

Step #2:

Step #3:

Step #4:

Step #5: 

(ignore my girly hand)

Step #6:

(yes, I see the typo. Like you've never made one. It should say "stick IT into")

Step #7:

There you go! A height adjustable "X-Frame" banner stand for 80 bucks instead of $300-400. Hope this helps.

Table #76!

Hey everyone! Here is the floor plan for Denver Comic Con! I'll be at table #76 in Artist Alley with my booth-babe, I mean wife. Come see us!

Remember, mention this post, or that you found me from this blog, and you'll get 15% off ANYTHING on my table!