Tag Archives: Conventions

Essays

Banner Tweaking

Here’s a quick comparison between drafts of my GenCon 2014 banners. On the left, the banner I thought was the final one. On the right, the one that we used after I let the design “bake” in my brain a bit.

GenCon 2014 Banner, designed by Howard, using cover art from Privateer Press, Carter Reid, Julie Dillon, and his own hand.
GenCon 2014 Banner designed by Howard. Art by Howard, Julie Dillon, Carter Reid, and artists at Privateer Press
HowardBanner-5x7-2014-WEB
GenCon 2014 Banner designed by Howard. Art by Howard, Julie Dillon, Carter Reid, and artists at Privateer Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see  the difference? The big change was swapping XDM and SHADOWS BENEATH. For branding purposes, the original layout made it look like SHADOWS BENEATH was a Schlock cover. With XDM running interference, though, SHADOWS BENEATH gets to be its own thing.

I also changed the text effect on my name. The wavy effect was cool, but on a fabric banner it will make people thing the banner is hanging badly. The slight arch with the forward lean (the one on the left) will look much better, especially since people will be looking up at that spot.

This project killed an entire day, and that final tweak was made during three hours I could have spent writing. But I needed to make the tweak, and I didn’t know what exactly it was until I started nudging things around.

Essays

PAX, WSU, H1N1

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CNN is reporting that 2500 students at Washington State University have come down with the H1N1 virus. From the article:

…officials were surprised that the long Labor Day weekend, when most students left campus, did not do more to interrupt the virus’ spread.

Long Labor Day weekend, eh?

Maybe some of these students who left campus went across (EDIT: different towns!) the state to PAX. The Penny-Arcade Expo was also hit with H1N1. I mean, (EDIT!) Washington’s a big place, but it’s no stretch to imagine a few thousand local college students hitting a convention geared towards their demographic, right?

I’m not pointing fingers at anybody here. I’m just drawing connections that the CNN folks really should have already drawn — there was a big event (EDIT!) across the state, and both the University and a crowded convention center make for a fantastic confluence of vectors.

You know what? H1N1 notwithstanding, I still wish I could have made it to PAX this year. But I’m glad I’m not in college anymore.

Journal

My favorite part about GenCon

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I think my favorite part about GenCon was when my good friend ssanfratello showed up on Saturday evening following a 5-hour drive from Michigan, and he, Jonathan “Skippy” Schwarz and I went out for dinner. Skippy had a game demo to run aftewards, so Sal and I hit the convention center (which had just been emptied, and then re-filled thanks to a fire alarm) and walked through the game areas.

Upshot: For me it’s never about places or events. It’s always about people. The thrill of a convention center full of cool displays and awesome programming pales quickly when I bump into a friend and we get to geek out together.

Sandra was suggesting family trips for next summer and I realized that I don’t care where we go as long as we go someplace where there are people I like. Sure, sure, I’ll be going WITH people I like, but I want to catch up with old friends and make new ones. I don’t need to see the sights, ride the rides, or even eat the authentic eats. Not unless I’m doing it with friends.