Wood Box Production, Printing and Shipping Update
about 4 years ago – Fri, Mar 20, 2020 at 02:36:13 AM

Wood Boxes

Things are coming along with the wood box manufacturer. They're currently working on the lids of the boxes. Here's a video they sent...

Printing

Printing was supposed to start by the end of this week but they're having mechanical issues with one of their presses. The issue should be resolved soon. I'll keep pushing to get the printing done as soon as possible. 

Shipping

I keep hearing that shipping rates are going to skyrocket due to this virus. My original plan was to ship to me from the factory and then ship to you, the backers. If the shipping prices do skyrocket I'm exploring the possibility of shipping directly from China... using a fulfillment company. We'll make the final decision in the coming weeks as the boxes and cards are finished with production. 

Virus Update

I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe. Things escalated quickly. Looking at the numbers from China, I think things will be improving within a month to two months. That's because the virus appears to be under control in China now and as we all know they had a two month head start. With that said, they took extreme measures by locking down everyone... including factories. I'm hoping the measures the rest of the world is taking will have similar results. 

My family and I are doing fine and staying healthy. Unfortunately, my main place of employment considers themselves essential, so I'm still going to work on a nightly basis. I'm doing my best not to expose myself anymore then I'm forced to do. George Carlin said it best... “they want obedient workers, people just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to passively accept their situation”

I'm still working hard on my next project, The Wizard of Oz deck. I hope one day that I can turn my art into a full time business. Here's some prototype cards I had printed by MPC to check the colors....

BIG Surprise.... Printing Proofs Have Arrived!
about 4 years ago – Sat, Mar 07, 2020 at 07:55:03 PM

Here's some great news! I'm running way ahead of schedule. I just got the digital printing proofs from the printer. I was able to get all the artwork submitted a week sooner than I planned. Once I look over these and make any needed corrections, I'll submit any revisions and/or give the green light for the printing process to begin. 

As you'll be able to see within the proofs, I have a little surprise inside the box. I decided to print inside the box too. On the bottom of the inside box it will show the Titanic as it looks now and on the inside of the lid will be a dedication to those who sailed the Titanic. 

The surprises don't stop there!

In addition to printing inside the box, I'll also be printing the booklet in full color. It will consist of 88 pages. The back cover of the booklet will show the Titanic as it's sinking in the water. The back cover design is a real subtle play of the main cover. 

 What's Next?

I checked with the box manufacturer earlier this week. He said they were in the process of cutting and "polishing" the wood. I'll check with him again next week to see where they're currently at. So far, it appears they're well ahead of schedule also. 

Once I approve the printing proofs we'll be placed on the print schedule. I'll have to ask WJ to see how many orders they have ahead of mine. But typically once the proofs are approved, they print within two to four weeks. 

With that said, we'll either be printed or close to being printed during the anniversary of the sinking. I don't want to get peoples hopes up, but I can almost see fulfillment starting in early to mid April. 

Last night I placed the order for the brass name plates. They shouldn't take any more than a week or two to get back from the supplier. 

The boarding passes are almost completely filled out and ready to be stuffed into envelopes.

Hopefully I order enough wax to seal all the envelopes. If not, I can order more.

One possible change of plan

Due to lack of interest, I might have to cancel the jumbo playing cards. We only had 13 people order those. If we do cancel those, refunds will be issued (for the jumbo cards) to the people that did order them.  It's still possible they might get printed because I'm doing my best to find a distribution partner for them. I also contact several Titanic museum gift shops. The South Street Seaport Museum in NYC seemed interested at first but now they're ghosting me. I had a message from a distribution company on Friday but I'll have to call them back next week. 

For awhile I did local history decks like these but at regular playing card sizes. They're normally very popular. Here's a photo of some of the prototype cards....

 Backerkit

There's still 9 people that need to fill out the Backerkit survey. If you're one of those 9, please get your survey filled out. 

Printer Update, Shout Out and More Oz Artwork
about 4 years ago – Mon, Mar 02, 2020 at 01:15:48 AM

Printer Update

This time next week all the artwork will be in the hands of the printer. I decided to go with WJ printing because they're the ones who produced the prototype two piece rigid cardboard box. I was thinking about using a different printer but decided it would be too much of a risk hoping that their box would fit nicely into the wood box. With WJ, we already tested the sizes and everything should work out great. WJ has done many of my playing card decks and I think their quality is amazing. 

Shout Out

Jessie Driscoll, who helped support the Titanic Tarot, has just launched her own deck on Kickstarter. Her deck is called Crystal Skull Tarot. Crystal Skull Tarot is a photographic deck that follows the Rider Waite Smith system, and many of the images are direct homages to the classic RWS Tarot. All photographs were taken in natural window light, using a handmade antique tablecloth as a background. Rachel Pollack will be writing the book for Crystal Skull Tarot. Please take a look and support Jessie with her project...  Crystal Skull Tarot 

More Oz Artwork

Here's a few more pieces of Oz artwork. This deck will be ready to launch on Kickstarter after the fulfillment of Titanic Tarot. 

Update on Manufacturing and More Artwork
about 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 22, 2020 at 06:57:12 PM

I've been in constant communication with the printer and the wood box manufacturer since the virus started causing delays. I have good news from the wood box manufacturer... they're returning to work and will be starting production on our wood boxes this upcoming week. 

Now we just need to wait for the printer to return to work and we should be able to start getting things finished up. With that said, it will take at least a month or two for the box manufacturer and printer to complete the work. We're well on our way to delivering on time and perhaps even start fulfillment a few weeks (to a month) before schedule. A lot depends on the speed of the manufacturer and printer. I'm going to assume that both might have a backlog of orders.

Here's some more artwork...

More Artwork and Future Project
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 11, 2020 at 10:30:40 PM

I just wanted to share with you some more artwork for Titanic. Nearly everything is ready on my end. Just a few pieces of art to finish up and the boarding passes are being filled out by hand. Speaking of the boarding passes, I upgraded to a nicer paper stock that has an off-white finish. I also upgraded the envelopes too.

As I suspected, the shutdown in China has been extended further to help contain the virus from spreading. As of right now, some of the factories don't expect to reopen until the start of next month. We're still okay on time, so no need to worry. I'll keep you posted if the shutdown period continues. As far as printing, I know of a really good printer in Taiwan who isn't currently being effected by the shutdown... however, we're already committed to the box manufacturer in China. If it wasn't for that, I would probably use the Taiwan printer.

In addition to finishing up some Titanic stuff on my end, I also started the design process of a future tarot deck. My grandmother passed away Sunday night, so I've had a few days off from work. With my free time I started working on the Wizard of Oz deck. My first concept was to call it the Dark Side of Oz, however, after reading the books I realized that Oz is already pretty dark to begin with. I might just call it Oz Tarot... we'll wait and see. I'll attach the back design and the Fool card below.