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MCM Birmingham Report

Fri 

Me and Paul left around lunchtime from Gloucester; everything was pretty smooth in transportation, getting to the hotel etc. The hotel was in a bit of a scabby area that smelled of fish, and there were roadworks outside. But it was cheap, clean and comfortable. After walking around Birmingham for a bit, we took our suitcase of con stuff to the NEC from the hotel near New Street – a return ticket was just a couple quid each and the journey was about 10 minutes, so choosing the hotel away from the NEC to save multiple hundred pounds turned out to be a fairly good idea. Set up was fine, and we spoke to the person next to us who was difficult to talk to, but kind enough. We were on the end of the row. This, we hypothesised, could be a good thing as it’s a table people will see when walking past / through the comic village.

In terms of the display itself, we put in some more effort here. Last MCM, I wrote about how I needed to work on the display, so this time I bought black put-together stands (instead of the wire ones) and themed the table; we agreed on a rustic theme as it’s something we both like, and works well with comics as a cosy / homely theme. We bought a wooden printed table cloth, used chalkboards, and put up some twine with fabric leaves. We also thought about what we’re selling. Comics are and always will be the focus, but they struggle to get us money alone, so we took a plunge into creating merchandise which is “original” (to comply with MCM standards) but something recognisable that people will buy. I made a few things for my comic, but Paul made a shiba inu badge. And in all honesty, they looked a lot better than my badge, and not because I’m being kind just because he’s my partner. It made me realise that simpler is better when it comes to badges; so that was something to think about too.

Sat

We arrived half an hour before opening and put up the stands etc we’d laid flat the previous night; we worried this wouldn’t be enough time, but it was more than enough thankfully. Quite a few people didn’t turn up, especially on the row behind us, so we used our spare tablecloth to at least make the table behind us look okay; as customers could see this which could affect how our own layout looked. The people on the table opposite were late, and I didn’t like their initial set up, but this changed after a while. They had loads of plush monkeys for their comic, Girl n Monkey. The plushies were cute but I can’t justify buying a plush monkey when I’m trying to make my OWN money. 

The first thing I noticed in comparison to last time at MCM – I was more confident. Before, interaction scared me, but this time I was inviting people to the table to take a free comic and talk about interests / comic stuff. Since last time, I’ve been taking some mild medication for depression and anxiety, which hasn’t helped much in day-to-day life, but I think the kind of issues I have at MCM are the kind those meds can actually combat. And being more confident made me feel, perhaps in a childish way, quite proud of myself – which then gave me the confidence to carry on talking to people, which all-in-all was a pretty good cycle.

In terms of sales, I did okay. Not good, not bad, just okay. I sold a handful of badges, comics, and lucky dip packs. I gave away 50-60 odd free comic previews. People like free stuff, which is good for me as it was also advertising my social media..! And as it’s a thing people will keep and not throw away (like business cards), hopefully even if people don’t follow me right away, they could do in future as they’ll have all my details. Paul, on the other hand, sold a LOT better. He made back his money on his Shiba pins, meaning each one he’ll sell from that point onwards is flat profit. He made 25 and sold 10, for £2 each, so the remaining 15 should give him £30 profit if he sells them all. He also had a few commissions, and sold some comics… At this point he made about five times the amount I had. Commissions usually depend on the convention, so that was out of my hands, but the pins made me think. I had pins too and they didn’t sell as well, but it was of MY comic character. I want to push my own work, but I need to get recognised first before I delve into too much merch of my own stuff. I thought about what sells and had a look around. Cat-ti was something Sophie Lou sells, which were like, cacti cats. It was cute, and unique. I’d have bought one. It’s her own thing but it’s recognisable, so I’d like to think about that. People like [insert thing] girls. She had carousel girls, my friend Holly has shark girls, and I’ve seen lots of monster girls and mermaid girls. People LOVE themed girls. Maybe I could make an artbook, sticker pack, pins, or a combo thing of that sorta thing. Autumn themed girls maybe, I could have Maple based off leaves for example, and other things. Or fruit girls. They could have a cute animal counterpart too, as people like animals. But this is just thinking out loud at this point. 

I saw someone who didn’t have much art, but they had a HUGE display. Like, a fortress. And they sold a lot, even though a lot of what was displayed were just repeats of the same thing. Maybe I should try that, as it certainly draws attention, and I have enough squares to build it up like that. As a contrast, the guys opposite were really good but didn’t sell much as their display was quite… Flat. I’d been staring at their monkeys all day and I got emotional because of how cute they were, so me and Paul went halves for one, at least they made some money there. They gave Paul a copy of their comic for free and they chatted, but sadly I couldn’t as I was minding the table. The two were called Zeng and Ren; they’re brothers from Singapore who work on hit movies like The Avengers, Pacific Rim, Star Wars, etc. Even though we were a bit star struck, they felt the same about us as they just want to do comics and were amazed to talk to some English comic artists! It felt nice that they have such amazing careers but would rather do comics and are trying to break into that.  

It snowed that night, luckily the train back was all good. We went to Wagamama’s and while we were there it got much, much worse, and had to slip our way back to the hotel in the dark and cold weather.

Sun 

Oh boy. I can summarise Sunday very well as TERRIBLE. We had to take our personal suitcase to the con hall, but that wasn’t too bad as it was just a small one with some clothes in. Tried to check out, but nobody was at the hotel desk, we shouted, waited, then just put our cards on the desk and left as otherwise we’d be late for our train. Not that it would have mattered as it was thirty minutes delayed anyway because of the snow! We got there late despite taking the earliest train, but luckily the people next to us said nobody had even turned up to the comic village yet. And it pretty much stayed like that. I started off giving people the free comics, and people were a bit more reluctant to take them, so I was a bit disheartened. The nail in the coffin, however, was this; my dad had attended the previous day and bothered me quite a lot, to the point it affected potential sales as I couldn’t talk to customers. I thought it was the end when he left, until Sunday when I saw a tweet linking to an article he wrote – about why he will NOT be attending MCM again. It was full of creepshot pictures of me I had not consented to, lies about how he had to take me there, and he twisted my words to sound like I hated the event when I was complimenting it. It was incredibly anti-MCM, and my name was all over it. I went into what was, looking back on it, a panic attack. My career is at MCM, my connections, and my application was being reviewed for London at that very moment. What if I was denied? What if I couldn’t go back? Would it be the end of my comic career? I’ve worked for years to get my foot in the door. I was angry and upset but didn’t know how to process it, so I left, as I didn’t want to be in the state I was in front of customers. I went into the toilets and cried. For an hour. I decided I’d been gone for too long so I went back but sat behind the display a bit, and gradually talked to people more and more until I felt okay. But I lost all motivation. I didn’t direct customers to the comics. I’d shrunk back to my previous convention confidence – which was NO confidence. And it showed, as I made no further sales that day. Despite the obvious bad time, a positive I could pull from it was that it just proves that inviting people and having that bit of confidence to chat really benefits my sales, so I’ll make sure I force myself to do it as much as I can. I was also told that while I was away, someone voiced interest in my new comic and was thinking of getting it at London when I’m debuting it. So that was good for definite! 

We wrapped up; Paul made his money back on the table but sadly I hadn’t, but as I mentioned before, I have a few plans for that after looking around displays and actual items around the comic village. Better display, better items, more confidence..! And definitely push commissions, as that gets the most money! The pins did well too, so we were right to take a risk on them. We could do some more of that sort of thing in future.

 Post-con 

Interestingly, Paul spoke more to Zeng and Ren at the convention, but I’ve been chatting more to them online. I think I’m better at chatting online, but Paul’s better in person, so it makes sense. I’ve had a few likes / follows on my accounts since the con, so clearly reaching out has helped somewhat. I’ve gotten a few commissions too, though unfortunately I can’t tell if these are due to the convention or not. I think the biggest thing I’ve noticed is more online interaction with fellow Comic Village artists, they’re liking my stuff and I’m liking theirs. The support is great and people are beginning to recognise me at conventions. I think, finally, I’m feeling like I’m getting SOMEWHERE. So far at least one stranger has recognised me at each con this year. I just gotta keep going to conventions, keep improving myself, and I feel like I can get somewhere in this career.

[inkspiredartiss-blog]

So much of my time was spent preparing for Birmingham MCM! I made loads of free previews of Pilot Light - the first 6 pages - and put together its accompanying merch such as button badges and pin badges. Annoyingly this meant I couldn't make as many additional pages as I'd have hoped, but I'm just working extra hard on comic pages!

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My wooden pin badges of Pilot Light's goddess, fully made and packaged! I brought them to Birmingham MCM and later to MCM London in May!

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Statue concepts; the goddess statue and a bit of development of a golem which will be of importance later in the story. 

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Comic pages are underway! 4 completed and 2 more are in progress. 20 more to go! Usually I pencil the entire comic, then ink, then do any extras. This time I've fully completed a page at a time, which feels a lot less monotonous.

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I've finished the planning and research for my comic, thumbnailed all 24 pages (as well as some illustrations / extra pages!) and begun work on the comic itself.

So far my comic progress is 3 pencilled pages, one of which is partially inked. I'm planning on using screentones for this comic, so I've been practising with that!

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Screenprinting session! This is where we discussed ideas on how to use these; possible comic bundles containing all Inkspired comics!

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Speaking of merchandising and advertising etc, I’ve been doing a bit of research into it. 

Before deciding to make button badges, I was torn between that and pocket mirrors. I prefer mirrors as I have more use for one, however my opinion doesn’t reflect that of every con-goer. I posed this question to the CVA (Comic Village Alliance), as people more experienced with selling in the comic village have more knowledge on this. I’ve seen Kit Jo Yuki at a lot of conventions (including sitting opposite my table at London MCM in May 2017) and they sell incredibly well, so I have a lot of respect for their opinion; this influenced my decision to then create button badges.

A little while later, I looked at Project Wonderful for advertising. It’s incredibly interesting, people bid for an ad for a day on a website, not per views / clicks. I noticed Maximumble was there, a name I recognise, who gets 15,731 pageviews a day, but an ad for a day is 26 cents on average. That’s incredible in my opinion! I wouldn’t mind giving a few cents to see how well it works and give feedback on that.

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A few reuploads here, but these are the graphics I intend to use for merchandising. I want just a few, but good quality, products to sell.

Top image is for a wooden pin badge, ordered through Zap Creatives; I ordered 25 wooden charms as well as silver pins / backs which I will attach to the charms using strong glue. The cost of the charms and pins means each pin badge cost 80p to produce. 

The bottom four images are for button badges, ordered through Awesome Merchandise. I would have done one big order with Zap Creatives, but these were cheaper, had free delivery and allowed me to upload multiple designs. I ordered 100 in total, making 25 of each design, at 20p each. I intend to sell these as a pack of four, so each pack would cost 80p to produce.

My wooden pin and 4 pack of buttons will be packaged attached to a backing card which I’ll have designed, and sealed in clear plastic packaging. Thanks to last semester’s unit, I realised packaging is insanely important and want to put more time into it for future conventions!

I also worked out that with my total of 50 items both costing the same (80p) and being sold for the same amount (£2), I’d break even if I sold 20. The remaining 30 sales would be flat profit. 

I understand this is original work, which doesn’t do so well, but across five days of two big conventions (Birmingham MCM and London MCM), I’d definitely hope to at least break even. I’d just need to sell four of these packaged items per day to achieve this!

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I’m beginning to tie up the loose ends of this story now, turning the last few ideas into reality! I’ve created some lineart for a concept for the village’s appearance, a graphic for the emblem which will be used throughout the comic, and a graphic that will be used as a pin badge. This has been ordered as 25 wooden charms, which I’ll craft into pins and package to sell as merchandise! I don’t want to go too overboard, so while considering merchandising, I’d like to have a few nicely made, thoughtfully packaged items, as opposed to lots of items on the table as they are. I feel that if they are displayed this way, they’ll be more desirable to customers.

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Character turnaround sheets for my three main characters. This has been incredibly helpful as a reference of what they look like from all angles!

I’ve finalised names by this point too. In order as they are shown; Hanami Ito, Goddess Misaki, and Oishi Takagi. 

By this point, I dropped the other character of the leader. She didn’t have a role that would be relevant to the story, and forcing her in wouldn’t have been a good thing. I loved the character (and her design) quite a lot, so I’m quite sad, but I can’t hang on to a character with no benefit to the story just for personal satisfaction! I wondered if her race might be an issue, as a black woman in an Asian village, but as it’s a fictional world there would be absolutely no reason this village couldn’t be mixed race. Sadly there was just no place for her. I might consider having her appear in the background of village scenes, but without a significant position.

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Some miscellaneous pieces from the last week; lineart of the goddess and a headshot painted with coffee, as well as a concept for a flower which will be the focus of the story! All will come together to create a fantasy story for London MCM!

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Finalising the designs of my main characters. For the main character and the goddess character, I experimented with several colour palettes, eventually choosing the second colour set for the main character, and the largest depicted palette for the goddess. The goddess’ colours, however, were chosen via Instagram poll by my followers and had double the amount of votes against the other palette I chose! 

The remaining two were simpler, colour-wise. The priest dresses in black and white, and the remaining lady, the village leader, had already been designed!

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Group meeting! Talking about our collective progress and where to go from here. Plus ideas for comic bundles!

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I thought I'd share some of the mood boards for my comic ideas and its development. There were a few initial things I wanted to do; something about science / lab stuff, or an Asian themed fantasy story.

My initial mood board for the science theme has strong influences from Lost's Dharma initiative, Portal, and Portal's comics. Later, while the Asian fantasy idea was in mind, I produced a mood board with inspirations of The Last Airbender, Mulan, The Legend of Zelda, Okami and more.

I found I had more inspiration for the latter, so went with that. I liked the idea of a goddess figure, but also kitsune designs, so I designed a character that was both of these things. I then made a board for this too, as I found her design required the most research.

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My comic is of a fantasy-adventure theme, in a fictional land of Asian inspired culture. I've been developing characters, which also have lots of various in(k)spirations!  

Usually I'd create the story and design characters later, but this time I want to focus on character work and fit the story around who's in it. One such example is the goddess figure I created, who sparked the idea of making her a figure a village could worship as a statue, but will eventually seek out the main character.

However, it means all these designs won't be used; but that's what I want! It feels nice to put effort into perfecting the characters and not settling with the first draft.

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I created the logo which was eventually used for Inkspired; this took influence through my Pinterest board for logos, the final product being inspired from the Art & Soul logo!

I went though a few variants, using real ink and experimenting with the use of masking fluid for the inverted text. Eventually, I found it easier to make the text inverted digitally, however still used the fluid to make the circular shape as round as possible!