WELL, MAYBE NOT “MADNESS;” at the very least, a “short intense burst of activity.” I wanted to provide a visual “tag” for the Wovel corner of Underland’s homepage, you know, an itty-bitty little graphic icon-cum “cover design” for a potential reader to click, so I enlisted that hack, Brian Boucher, to pump out a few concepts, see below. I’ve also included comments on the designs from friends and industry professionals, all very helpful and instructive—thank you very much, guys. Said commentators shall remain anonymous. So, without further hesitation…
CONCEPT ONE, also known as My Name is Drax and I Write Slick Shameless Vacuous Crap
COMMENTS:
“Doesn’t evoke an air of mystery…”
“Fine, but could be ‘any’ story…”
“She’s haunting… a human element…”
“This is the one!” (from multiple respondents)
CONCEPT TWO, also known as Lose the Babe, Lose the World
COMMENTS:
“Pig-thing monster looks kinda funny.”
“It’s got to be this one! Tells a story!”
“Lose the skull face.”
CONCEPT THREE, also known as Noncommittal Cool
COMMENTS:
“Tron-time photoshop.” [Ouch!]
“I like the color and image but too hard to read…”
“Like the wormhole. Very cool…”
CONCEPT FOUR, also known as… well, see comments below…
COMMENTS:
“Tron-time photoshop.” [Ouch! 2]
“Too vaginal.” [?!]
“I agree, totally vaginal.” [?!?!]
“I see the Star Trek insignia!”
“I like it it—it has a nice woozy feel!”
And so on. I just want to thank everybody again for taking the time to weigh-in; your opinions are highly valued and appreciated. And I wish I could say, “And the winner is…!” but even at this late juncture, I still don’t know. It’s probably going to be option 4. And in all likelihood, it won’t be up on the homepage in time for the launch tomorrow.
The launch tomorrow… well, this is it. I was going to drag THE INTERVIEWER out of his shadow box and bat it back and forth with him about the ol’ anxiety demons, but fuck it. I’m just going to say that I am going to honor the spirit and intent of The Wovel, that I’m going to treat this is as a true serial, that even though I had the time and opportunity to stockpile a shitload of pages and material and tailor it accordingly as the readers dictated, either Option A or Option B… I didn’t. This sucker really is going to be written on the fly, with (groan) a wing and a prayer. Oh, it’ll have its clunkers, sure, and the prose will be nowhere near as polished as I’d prefer it to be… but that’s where the fun and craziness comes in, right? This is where the soul comes through… Right?
Right. OK.
Exit Vector launches June 22 on Underland Press. Tomorrow.
2 Comments
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Just finished the first installment; compelling opening scene. Fell in love with Mori pretty much instantly. She, without question, had me at: “. . . her problem was that her drink hadn’t materialized.”
As far as the art, I’m going with option #2–but lose the skulls (as much as I like them).
PS: I fuckin’ dig the bot.
Thank You Young Master Drake! Looking forward to your own super secret announcement!