The collective has a banner (hard-wearing vinyl), book stands (many, many book stands. Of the perspex variety) and cloths (in both red and black) for the tables that we got together for convention appearances.

Cheers
Malcolm

Contested Ground Studios

Thanks!

I wonder if there's anything we could usefully and affordably add to that? Any suggestions? I personally like these free-standing vertical floor banners, but I know they tend to be a bit pricey (especially the ones that you can roll up for easy transportation.)

Ash

The cheapest I have found them is £50

(http://www.displays-2-go.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=139_18_138&products_id=362)

Neil

Take the King's shilling at http://www.omnihedron.co.uk/dutyandhonour/

One problem we do have with our shared resources is transporting them about, given that the conventions we attend are spread across the country. We've just had them all down in Bournemouth, for example, and the perspex stands are kinda stuck down with Rich until we next meet up with cars as Iain can't fly them up to Edinburgh! So maybe we need to think about getting some more to have up in Scotland?

That's a lot cheaper than I'd ever seen! I'm almost tempted to have one made just for decorating my home.

Ash

I currently have the banner and table sheets. I would back up Andrew in that we need some display material 'up north' as it is the most cumbersome to transport. We may also need more in general for Games Expo but i will split that discussion off into another thread.

Cheers

Iain

Mob Justice now available!

'The Giant Brain':Small games, big ideas.

I was having a chat with my printer today and it appears that I should be able to get some 5-10 poster runs in amongst some of my bigger runs as expected. Thats about £1 for each A2 full colour poster. I'm certainly considering getting some done for D&H as I think they will look quite great with the original art that Peter is doing for me.

It isn't beyond the realms of possibility of a few of us getting some done and we can slip a selection into a poster tube for the North-CE-ers and the a poster tube for the South-CE-ers. A display of 6-8 big full colour posters would definitely draw attention to the booth and highlight the games that are on offer.

Neil

Take the King's shilling at http://www.omnihedron.co.uk/dutyandhonour/

I think posters are an excellent idea, they advertise the games on the stall and could help us at at cons where erecting the banner is problematic or impossible.

Could we make them nice enough to sell as well? I bet a cool Cold City poster would sell well.

Cheers

Iain

Mob Justice now available!

'The Giant Brain':Small games, big ideas.

What do you think? I think they look tremendously professional (more than posters) and they're adaptable to just about any space, because they sit on the floor.

They'd look bloody good with the Collective Endeavour logos on, too.

They'd be, what, £15 quid each, assuming we wanted two for £100? I'd very happily chip in for that.

Graham

I'd expect the problem with large posters to be resolution. With small increases in size you can use various tricks, such as bicubic filtering, to increase the size of an image with negligible loss of quality of pixellation. With certain forms of material-based banner, resolution is not important either because the weave of the cloth masks the jagglies that form at higher magnification. The best type of artwork for this purpose is vector-based, since it is infinitely expandable with no loss of quality (although some loss of detail will doubtless occur). Computer generated artwork, such as I seem to remember seeing on Piledrivers and Powerbombs and of course A/State, can also be sent back to the renderframe at a higher resolution, although doing so will result in hideously long rendering times in many cases and you'd usually be better advised to increase to only a quarter of the size you intend to print at and swell it the rest of the way by using bicubic. If your artwork is in traditional media, then another good answer is to scan it at a higher resolution. The scanner I was using earlier went to monstrous levels, over 2,000 dpi I think, possibly even ten times as much as that (my memory is awful today). Scanning at that kind of res would allow you to increase the size of traditional artwork immensely, although naturally it might also accentuate flaws that were initially invisible in the original and require further digital cleaning work to make suitable.

If in doubt, ask the printer what resolution he recommends for posters. It may be that the practical res is considerably smaller than that of printing books since they are meant to be viewed at a distance, but I'd still be careful about low-res images.

I'd be happy to do the same, although I just started a new job so you'd almost certainly have to wait until the start of next month for my part of the contribution since I need pretty much all of my remaining funds to live off in the interrim.

Ash

Theory aside, a standard 300dpi A3 pdf will blow up to A2 poster perfectly using this printer. I use them all the time and the examples are always good. I'll be getting some D&H ones done anyway so I will bring them to Conpulsion and everyone can 'feel the quality'

Neil

Take the King's shilling at http://www.omnihedron.co.uk/dutyandhonour/

That's good to know, Neil.
If necessary I can also help convert simple lineart to vector.

Ash

Before we all get carried away with what we could have, consider whether we should.

How will an additional banner fits into booth strategy? At a lot of Cons we go to space is an issue. People crowd around the front of stands, space behind is limited. Play space is a priority. Where does a freestanding banner sit in this setup?

From experience at GenCon posters can be a problematic issue, particularly once you get past a couple of companies on a shared booth.

I'm not saying don't get 'em. Just think about how they facilitate what we do booth-wise.

-Matt

Realms Publishing

As I understand it, there is occasionally problem getting the existing banner to fit in with the stall and be visible. Firstly, a free-standing banner of sufficient height is visible over crowds and being unusual attracts the eye more. They're also pretty modern compared to the ol' sideways banner, which makes CE look good. Yes, space may be a problem (though another option is to shorten the height of the stand, place that on the front of the bench and let the banner hang to the floor) but one benefit that I do see from a freestanding banner is that it takes up floor space as opposed to desk space or shelf space, and thus it fills a different niche to a horizontal banner. When there's room for one, you use it. When there isn't but there's room for the other, you use that.

I'm thinking they would have looked better at Dragonmeet than the banner on the wall (one would have gone in the corner).

They'd have been just about the only option at Conception last year (there was nothing to hang a banner on, really).

They'd have marked out the territory neatly at Conpulsion last year.

I definitely think they're worth considering. Tremendously versatile things.

Posters I'm less keen on. The Forge booth stopped them a while ago: apparently they get tatty very quickly and cause fights over placement.

I think they'd be particularly difficult for us, because there wouldn't be room for everyone's poster: so who would get one and who wouldn't?

But it's more the presentation of the booth. A mass of posters for different games isn't, for me, as effective as big banners saying "Collective Endeavour".

Graham

Posters that are handled, placed and overused can be a really poor choice for a promotional medium. However, used wisely they can accentuate what is happening at an event and fill in a gap (metaphorically and literally) that other media cannot.

I think that the aim could be to have a selection of promotional items that can be used, in combination, to suit a particular event.

- The banner is an obvious eye-catcher for those that already know who and what CE is, but it doesn't say anything about our games or what we are doing on the day. Pros: Big, Bold. Cons: Needs lots of space, low information, not easily adaptable.

- The vertical roller will, by its nature, have much the same impact as the horizontal banner. However it is far easier to set up and far more versatile in its placement. It can act as a backdrop or a side panel or even as a stand-alone placement to draw people in. Pros: Big, Bold, Professional, low space. Cons: Expensive, not easily adaptable.

- Posters cannot be used en masse but they can be used to give a visual element to the offerings on a particular day. So maybe a poster alongside the playing tables of each game that is coming that day. Intelligent postering. They are cheap, highly portable and easily reprinted for adaptability. Pros: Cheap, disposable, high information yield, versatile. Cons: Fragile, nickable, need for management

- Flyers can be either event specific or generic. Generic flyers will highlight CE itself as this information rarely changes. Specific flyers could be tailored to a particular event and feature the games that are being run at that event - although the usual problems in balancing print run, cost and demand will raise their heads. Pros: portable, easy to use, loads of info. Cons: can have a short shelf life, can be expensive

What I personally find fascinating is what the members of CE want to achieve from this branding. What's the CE message? Is it about UK games design? Is it about the sale of quality small press games? Is it about a place where you know you can come for some kickass con games? Is it all three and more? That is however (a) just my thang kicking in and (b) possibily a tangent that needs another thread?

Neil

Take the King's shilling at http://www.omnihedron.co.uk/dutyandhonour/

Of course, one of the shared resources we haven't really mentioned are the flyers/booth menus Neil had printed for us at Dragonmeet. I think this look really professional and people seem drawn to them on the stall. It gives people both our web address, and a description of our products, and the prices for them all. Very useful, and when we run out we should definitely get some more done.

Looks like we need a poster thread, a vertical banner thread and something else, too.

If someone else wants to do it, that's cool; otherwise, I'll start one.

Graham

I'd suggest a new thread on general booth strategy before anybody starts threads on equipment.

-Matt

Realms Publishing