Questions to whoever feels like answering.

[reeds]

Well, I certainly wouldn't mind holding a Reynardine plush doll myself.

[tonie]

I always respected Bill Watterson for his no-merchandice policy. Making beloved characters into mass-produced consumer goods does have a cheapening aspect to it. Especially given the critique of mass consumerism which was a key message in some of the Calvin & Hobbes strips. Then again if Tom makes some t-shirt designs of his own selection available and the proceedings go directly to him, not to some corporate gigant, I suppose it would be more tasteful.

[Tom Siddell]

I really don't know how to answer the question adequately.
I wish I had merchandise to sell because, frankly, more money would be pretty good right now.

Some people are good at marketing and merchandise, but I am not.

[cenit]

The T-shirts are a cool idea; I wouldn't mind a Rey's T-Shirt, or that one with Coyote that reads "Original Prankster" I tought that was hilarious...

Tom, couldn't you speak with other web-artist in the UK that sell merchandise, and ask them how they do it? I'm still haunted by the image that you posted in your bio (the one waiting for the bus)

[benpaulintx]

On page 285, who makes the shield that appears in front of Reynardine: Donlan or Rey?

[popo]

I'm pretty sure it was Donlan

[reeds]

I second Donlan. Go Donny!

[imaginaryfriend]

nikita said:

Actually, I find it hard to imagine people running around in Gunnerkrigg shirts.

It may be that GC shirts won't ever grace the cover of GQ or a Nordstrom's catalog but yes, I can easily imagine a GC design that people at a comix or anime con would be interested in buying and wearing even if they had no idea what GC was. There are plenty of icons within GC that have general market crossover appeal. Faeries are a popular theme, though they're not as hot as they used to be. Wolves are another, and there's always the old standbys of cute female characters, magical creatures, and true friendship. Robots can be popular too, depending on their visual appeal. In fact, I've seen T-shirts similar to the ones in the test thread for sale at Target.

Tom, you have been regularly demonstrating that you have the graphic arts skills to produce a salable design since well before comic #100. Marketing isn't rocket science. If you are honest and realistic about how much time and/or money you can put in and what you expect in return then there is no reason why you can't merchandise GC successfully.

If you require motivation or an intellectual foundation for acting, or are concerned about the ethical/artistic implications, let me know and I'll start a new thread about that. In case you can't guess I have Views on the subject and don't mind expressing them.

nikita said:

Also, creating merchandising that isn't generic predictable and boring isn't easy and even if you got a nice design, you still have to find someone to actually produce the shirts for a reasonable price.

Lots of mass merchandising looks similar. There's reasons why that's so. Some are related to economies of scale; for example, shirts come in standard sizes because humans come in a limited range of sizes. Custom fit T-shirts can be and are made but most people would prefer a cheaper T-shirt over one that fits them exactly. Over time these choices became ingrained patterns in the greater scheme of things and it became harder to get custom shirts, but if tastes change then this trend will reverse. Other reasons merchandise tends to look similar relate to purpose and utility and consumer expectations. Those are too complicated to discuss in this post but suffice to say that because people have similar wants and needs there are ruts that get dug in the road to making things. Getting out of the ruts is always possible but the system does try to impose consequences... but just like in the Matrix, some rules can be bent. Others can be broken.

I don't really think doing something unexpected, exciting, or something that nobody else has ever done makes a good starting point. That sort of thing belongs on runway models in Paris. I don't think that the focus should be on how to make GC T-shirts (or whatever) different from everything that's come before but on making them successful and beloved.

That said, there may be unique opportunities within your (Tom's) situation that can be taken advantage of. For example, if you have some older relatives who've retired and don't know what to do with themselves, perhaps you could hire them to stitch plushies. Maybe you have an uncle who's crazy for tin soldiers; he could make molds for GC figures and teach you how to cast and paint them. Maybe there's a second hand shop in your area that has similar school ties cheap; embroider the Court crest and you've got a cosplay collectible. The mind boggles at all the possibilities.

[benpaulintx]

popo said:

I'm pretty sure it was Donlan

Yeah, you would think so, but I've always kinda resisted that idea because it would have been so far outside of Reynardine's character. Just to shield Annie, and thereby to get on Y's bad side and possibly even Coyote's, would be enough. But to throw himself in front of the proverbial bus for her would be something entirely different. He didn't do anything of the sort on the bridge in the last chapter, or with the robots in the one following. Why here?

[nikita]

No, I meant generic like.. for example taking a seemingly random portrait or sentence from the comic and printing it on a shirt (or whatever). Example: questionablecontent.net/merch.php . (20$ for a shirt with "the" printed on it - wtf?) The point is: T-shirts sold as merchandise are usually very expensive so I'm expecting a bit more than that. (Maybe I'm not the typical consumer)

btw a black coffee cup with this printed on it, www.digitalhills.com/junk/mortshirt.jpg that'd be something that I might buy.

[Tom Siddell]

benpaulintx said:

On page 285, who makes the shield that appears in front of Reynardine: Donlan or Rey?

It was Donald.

[imaginaryfriend]

nikita said:

No, I meant generic like.. for example taking a seemingly random portrait or sentence from the comic and printing it on a shirt (or whatever). Example: questionablecontent.net/merch.php . (20$ for a shirt with "the" printed on it - wtf?) The point is: T-shirts sold as merchandise are usually very expensive so I'm expecting a bit more than that. (Maybe I'm not the typical consumer)

Sorry for mistaking your meaning. I've noticed sometimes things get lost in the translation in short posts. That's why I write posts of incredible size.

You make a valid point about those T-shirt-on-demand places. They charge more, but the advantages to Tom are that he only has to upload a design and fiddle with the account settings. They handle everything else. He doesn't have to spend much time on something like that, relatively speaking, and I don't believe those sorts of places ask for any money up front.

Most of the other ways to get T-shirts made would require investments of time and money, but the advantages would be that Tom could set the price lower and still make as much or more per shirt. For two-siders or non-standard prints these other ways might be cheaper to start with. It all depends.

nikita said:

btw a black coffee cup with this printed on it, www.digitalhills.com/junk/mortshirt.jpg that'd be something that I might buy.

Not a bad idea at all. There are many places that businesses use to put their logos or adverts on all types of swag, and coffee mugs are one of the more common sort. Sometimes the bricks stores offer better bargains than the clicks stores. I don't know how it is in the UK but around here the smaller local places sometimes have sales or promotional offers based on overruns from bigger clients... By the way, that's an example of making the ruts in the system work in your favor, if I may continue my mixed metaphor from my last post. The trade off would be that for Tom to find these deals he would have to invest an amount of time. (sidenote/) Usually you find golf balls or things that would be a bad match with GC, but sometimes it's T-shirts or coffee mugs or pens. (/sidenote)

Perhaps I'll start writing down all the possible GC swag that I can think of and email it to Tom someday.

[imaginaryfriend]

cenit said:

Tom, couldn't you speak with other web-artist in the UK that sell merchandise, and ask them how they do it? )

Also an excellent idea! Comic conventions are good places to meet such people and hit them up for thoughts on such things, or you can try emailing them.

Phil Foglio would be an excellent person to ask. He's really got an organization now, and I'm pretty sure he's got full-time staff. He also seems like he's got a sense of humor and a cooperative spirit. The fact that he promoted GC in one of his GG strips leads me to believe he'd help you.

And if he haughtily refuses, you can always crash his next society party with a deck of his ill-starred xxXenophile CCG and challenge the snootiest guests to a match.

[spritznar]

i never thought about it before, but any gunnerkrigg glassware would be amazing.
and i might just sell my soul for gunnerkrigg court shot glasses

not really sure how difficult shot glasses are to make but dorms at my college made them to raise money for (alcohol for) parties so i can't see it being that difficult...

also, perhaps it's time for a seperate thread for this topic?

[nikita]

spritznar said:

not really sure how difficult shot glasses are to make but dorms at my college made them to raise money for (alcohol for) parties

also, perhaps it's time for a seperate thread for this topic?

;D


Good idea. I made a new thread.
gunnerkrigg.proboards75.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1206875056

[cenit]

Tom, can Smith use his power at will?

[Tom Siddell]

Largely, no.

[Tojo]

Where did you get the idea for your April Fool's joke?

[Tom Siddell]

The Well of Dreams?

[cenit]

admin said:

Largely, no.

when you say large...you mean in terms of quantity? Like, he couldn't turn a pile of debris into a building again

[Tom Siddell]

I mean he is largely not in control of his ability. As an adverb.

[reeds]

admin said:

I mean he is largely not in control of his ability. As an adverb.

Ah, thus 'subconsciously', as Jones had once pointed out.


Here's my question then: hey Tom, how do you pronounce your surname?

[Tom Siddell]

Sidd-ell
Not Siddle.

[yinglung]

speaking once again of smitty, are you surprised about his recent popularity, in part due to his remarkable eyebrows?

[Tenjen]

Tom went to the pantheon of the eternals and had his charector imbued with glammer to steal our hearts/

[Tom Siddell]

yinglung said:

speaking once again of smitty, are you surprised about his recent popularity, in part due to his remarkable eyebrows?

It'll pass when he's not the focus of a page.

[Tenjen]

STEAL...OUR...HEARTS I TELL YOU!!

[Mezzaphor]

Since the first 14 chapters covered about half a school year, are you planning on the comic following a similar time-scale in the future?

[Tom Siddell]

Undecided. I would not expect an evenly distributed flow of time during the course of the comic if I were you.

[reeds]

admin said:

yinglung said:

speaking once again of smitty, are you surprised about his recent popularity, in part due to his remarkable eyebrows?

It'll pass when he's not the focus of a page.

That comment reminds me of poor Aly... Forgotten, unloved and for all we know he might as well be on Coyote's next lunch menu!