Dear Insane Children,
It kinda snuck up on me and Font Lord so we forgot to mention it but May 1-5 in China was a National Holiday. It’s the celebration of Labor Day… though I believe the Chinese holiday is out of sync with what’s known as “Labor Day” in other countries around the world (or “Labour Day” if you’re into Brit-speak). The origin of the holiday is the same – I think? In any case, the point is…
We just had a 5-day national holiday during which I did take a few (much needed) days off to spend time with Yan and Lucky. Yay! May Day!
So that’s “May Day” #1 explained. “May Day” #2 (in the title above) is me calling for HELP from under this pile of neverending things that need to be shipped out. Ahhh! May Day!
Seriously, I appreciate all the support you send our way in the form of orders and add-ons. So don’t take what comes next as a real complaint (or as a request to reduce your support). But Boy Oh Boy there’s been a LOT of things to pick, sign, pack, label, and ship out of our studio in Shanghai.
The image posted above shows the interface I stare at while handling our fulfillment duties. This is what drives workflow for items shipped directly from my hands – basically anything I need to sign or things that we only produce/ship in limited quantities. Fortunately, when it comes to things like the Enamel Pins (which number in the thousands) we use a fulfillment center where all the pick-pack-send work is done for us.
That’s all a long way of explaining why there’ve been no updates since last week. May Day + May Day = no fingers available to write an update!
The good news is that I am almost finished with all the orders that can be handled these days. Yay! And…
Our Artists are Still Arting
Lots of work getting done on a variety of characters, locations, items, and more…
Jen’s been turning mushrooms into weapons.
Let us know what you think of these designs in the comments below!
Joey’s turned in a FINAL version of “Snail Posters” – but there’s one last step… we need a name for this illustration! Ideas? Crowd Design Time!
Brainstorming here… Is she cuddling that snail? Or using it as part of a spell? Is it an ingredient? Or a muse? From those questions I get the following name ideas:
Creepy Cuddles? Patient Love? The Patient Patients? Cochlea Cuddles? Escargot Cargo?
Helix Hex? Helicaidae Homicide? Murderous Molluscs…
Ok, I’ll leave the punning and nonsense to the Insane Children. Let me know in the comments below what you come up with.
One last question… do we want this print offered WITH or WITHOUT the Asylum logo?
For me… if I am going to hang this in my house – and I am – then I think I’d prefer it without?
Again, let us know in the comments below!
And work continues on mapping out Alice’s movements and animations. More of that coming soon!
No Live Stream Today
We will NOT have a live stream today. I’ve simply not had time to set up anything. And I think we’re mainly on an every-other-week schedule again?
We WILL have a live stream next week and will go through all the latest design, art, and project updates at that time.
CORE – “Through the Looking Glass” – Art/Design Contest
Last but not least… we’ve partnered with “CORE” to present a level/art design contest based on locations and illustrations from Alice: Asylum pre-production.
Check out all the details via THIS LINK.
The basic idea is that you create game level content inspired by Alice: Asylum concept artwork. “CORE” is a game development engine geared towards non-technical designers. Their goal is to bring game/level design to the masses. And with this contest, they hope to inspire more people to try out their tech.
My hope in partnering with them is that we will end up with 3D level content in which we can run around. This can be used to illustrate what sections of the Asylum game might look like. Could be a useful sales tool? And the contest could raise awareness of our efforts? So… let’s see!
Ok, I have to get back to packing. Really want to knock out these final orders today.
From Shanghai with A Lot’o Escargot,
-American