First look – the reMIND slipcase!

by Jason Brubaker on November 27, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Posted In: Blog, Making Graphic Novels

Today I received a package from my printer. Inside were some goodies. Here is what I found.

This is the cover proof with cloth binding. It looks beautiful too! I am always worried about how the image will line up with the cloth and logo and stuff but once again, Chris Kosek did a great job making sure all the files worked together and the end result is amazing.

Above, it  is folded like a book. There is a slight morie pattern on the cloth in this picture so just ignore that. Below are the fake Volumes inside the new slipcase! I need to make a note for the printer to make sure the size of the new printings exactly match the first printing. You can see here that the new printing (Volume 2) is slightly taller than the first printing of Volume 1.

Below is the slipcase that Christopher Kosek designed. It’s nice and subtle and super cool looking. I really compliments the books well. It’s hard to see in the pictures but the log is just a spot gloss. It’s not printed on the art but you can easily see it because it’s the only shiny part of the slipcase.

Here is the other side.

It looks sooooooo good I almost peed my pants.

If you like this slipcase but didn’t pledge on my Kickstarter, but you really want one, then you should join my mailing list becasue I will only sell them on my website for a super limited time early next year. I’ll also be selling them at a few conventions while they last. I ended up printing 1000 slipcases but about 800 are already pre-sold. You can join my mailing list to be notified when I announce a pre-order here: http://www.remindblog.com/subscribe/

That’s it for now. See you soon!

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Proofs have been proofed. I have proof!

by Jason Brubaker on November 18, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Posted In: Blog, Making Graphic Novels

Things are moving along smoothly with the printing of reMIND Vol 1, Vol 2 and slipcase. I received that proofs about midway through last week and made my small notes and sent everything back. There was only the new cover of Volume 1 that was missing so I’m waiting for that still. We are still on schedule for me to get the books at the end of January too. Here are some pictures I snapped of some of the proofs.

Here are the digital proofs. This is what I look at to make sure the color looks exactly right. These digital proofs are what the printer people will try to match the final colors too. So if these are off then they will be trying to match to off colors. These turned out perfectly though. :)

Next were the Ozalid Proofs. These are to make sure everything is cropped right and the pages are in the correct order. Usually ozalid’s a very ugly with horrible color but for some reason this time, they looked great.

Here you can see how they are made out of signatures, as they call it. A signature is pretty much just like a comic book. Each signature is printed on one sheet of paper and folded over and over and trimmed until it looks like this little booklet. These signatures are stapled but the book itself will be sewn. In this closeup you can see a little number for each signature so the binder will know they have the signatures in the correct order. This is the Ozalid for Volume 2.

Next are the Wet Proofs. These are actually printed on the printing press and they are trying to match the colors to the digital proofs above. In this case they were pretty close but some of the yellows had a slight green hue so I made a note to adjust it. Other than that the Wet Proofs were spot on. You will notice that the wet proofs are all cropped sloppy because it doesn’t matter.

There were also Wet Proofs for the cover. A glossy and unfinished version. I approved the glossy version. The left side is what the back cover will look like.

Here is a picture of almost everything, minus the slipcase proof and Volume 1 proofs.

That’s it for now! We are getting so close I can feel it.

In other news, reMIND Volume 1 made it onto a state reading list for Arkansas! I don’t know how it happened but I am honored that any state would entrust their children to read reMIND. :) Thanks again for all your support!

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reMIND 2 – Boxset Dummies!

by Jason Brubaker on October 22, 2012 at 11:31 pm
Posted In: Blog

I came home from work today and I had a nice shiny package waiting for me from my printer! Book dummies! Yay!

So what is a Dummy? It depends on who you are talking about. Kidding. A dummy is a blank book that has the correct paper, trim, and binding. It’s exactly what your book should look like but without anything printed on or in it. I also got a dummy slipcase which looks great too.

Volume 2 is slightly thicker than Volume 1. Above is a close up of the binding.

For those of you who are wondering, Volume 1 is EXACTLY the same size as the first printing. I tested it out by slipping a first printing of Volume 1 into the slipcase along side the dummy for Volume 2 and it looks seamless together. I gotta say, this thing actually feels like a collectors item now. I think everyone who ordered the box set will be very pleased.

Here’s one last picture of the back of the slipcase.

Oh yeah, and look at one more thing:

Everything is pretty much finished now. I’m just in proofread mode. A bunch of my friends and family are reading it all as we speak, giving me notes or pointing out any mistakes they can find. Soooo close!

See you soon,

Jason

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reMIND 2 Progress!

by Jason Brubaker on October 11, 2012 at 9:52 pm
Posted In: Blog

Here is the new progress chart!

Actually the lettering still has a few pages but I got excited about blocked it out because I’m letting my editor take a stab at some of the missing dialogue. Even so, it’s an amazing feeling to be finished with all the artwork for this book now. No, serious. In fact it’s kinda hard to explain really. Let me try.

With the brunt of reMIND finished I’ve been spending my free time these last few days cleaning the massive piles of paper and random stuff that have been collecting on every surface in my studio for the last 2 years. I never felt like I had time to do anything but work on the book since I made a tight deadline for myself. After the first printing ran out of stock I just kinda went into obsessive mode to get things finished. My wife would want me to clean up piles of junk around my desk but I would instantly get overwhelmed because I knew it would take 2 weeks to organize and clean and I wouldn’t be making progress on the book. But now that I have time I find myself in a curious situation.

I just started digging through piles of artwork. Bills. Scraps of papers and letters. Things that need to be tossed. Things that were thrown aside in a rush and then buried. I’m finding memories from the last 5 years of working on reMIND in it’s various forms and it’s starting to feel kinda strange. The closest thing I can compare it to is digging through someone’s house after they passed away. It’s sounds kinda morbid but it’s not really. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t consider reMIND dead in any way, in fact now is when its life will truly begin. But the time that it was being created has passed on and now it will always just be a memory of the journey. Finding old art is like finding old photographs. And now it’s time to start packing those memories away and organizing it as best as I can so I can finally move on. It’s kinda sad but it’s also a relief.

I really am excited to see reMIND venture out into the world on its own as a complete story finally. I’m even more excited to start working on some new projects. I  clearly remember the time that I decided not to touch any other personal projects until I finished reMIND to ensure that I actually finished it.

Okay, enough of my long, strange, state-of-mind ramblings. Plus I need to start packing for New York Comic-Con! If you see me wondering around I’ll probably have a complete copy of reMIND 2 on hand. ;)

8 Hours to Go!

by Jason Brubaker on August 22, 2012 at 7:46 am
Posted In: Blog

As I write this, the reMIND Kickstarter has 7 hours left before it closes. 7 HOURS! Also we are about $1500 away from hitting $100,000 and unlocking the Hardcover “Making Of reMIND” book!

LOOK AT THE CHART NOW! SOOOO CLOSE! (it’s already out of date)

Progressions: The Making of reMIND

We are so close to that 100k goal that I am going to open up the option RIGHT NOW to add $25 to any reward tier (under $75) to have the Making Of book added to your reward. If you have selected a $75 tier or higher then you will automatically be getting a “Making Of” book when we cross 100k. Unfortunately when I came up with this 100k goal idea, I didn’t factor in the extra shipping costs because I realize now that I will be sending the “Making Of” books at a later date. So what I hate asking, but feel I must, is if you are an international backer who will be getting a “Making Of” book, would you be able to add an additional $10 to your shipping? ( I can feel the frustration welling up inside of everyone as I type) If you are in the US, It would be helpful if you could add at least $5 extra for shipping for the Making Of book. If you simply hate the idea of adding money for an extra book then I will not force you though. :)

There is also the option to forfeit the Making Of book if you really don’t want it. This will save me lots of production and shipping costs for your copy if you are not interested. Then I can sell it at a convention or something. So for those of you who simply want what you pledged for and nothing else, then please just tell me in the survey that I send out in a few months.

Just so you can see what I am thinking for this book, here are some spreads I assembled a few years ago when I first started thinking about doing something like this. I’ll add a little more text and show as many stages of the progress from initial ideas to animation to layouts to coloring tutorials (I think). Check it out:

30 more Box Sets Available!

Last night I added 20 more $75 Box Set slots and they were all eaten up in a few hours so this morning I added another 30 slots. It looks like they are going fast again so grab one quick if you want one.

T-Shirt Designs

I have been getting a few questions about the T-shirt designs so I might as well give you more info before this thing closes. I have 2 shirts. The gray one with the cover of Volume 1 on the front was printed about 2 years ago and it is the shirt that I usually take around to conventions to sell. Here is a close up of the front and back.

The new design that I am making for this Kickstarter campaign is this blue shirt below with Victuals in his robot suit. So far this shirt has not been printed because I am just waiting to tally up all the sizes for this campaign and then I’ll place my order.

Once again, if you want to add any of these shirts to your pledge then first refer to the chart on the home page to see if you are eligible. If you are interested in the hoodie then here is a picture of that. There is nothing printed on the back.

The Hoodie is kinda an inside joke for the die hard reMIND fans. There is a scene in the book where a bubble watcher is wearing this hoodie and several of my readers asked if I would make it. Once again, check the chart to see if you can add one of these if you want one.

____________

Well, I hate to say it but this will probably be my last update before this campaign closes. You have all been a wonderful group and the comments section of this campaign is off the charts! I love it! I have a lot of you to thank for your help in keeping the momentum alive for this campaign too. I’ll get to that in my next post after everything is done. :)

Keep in mind that even though this campaign is closing today, I’ll still be giving you updates as I make progress on everything. The updates will probably drop to once a week and then once a month but I’ll try to keep you informed as best I can.

Thanks again for all your support in this crazy dream! Now lets hit that $100,000 ULTIMATE goal and close this thing down in style!

Love you all!

Jason

Goto the reMIND Kickstarter here!

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