affinity designer eejits

[eejits]

Thanks Peter. I will be working on a series of stories soon. I've already worked on some of the details for the characters, have idea for the first story. Writing's not my strong point though, but I'm willing to give it a good try. The ultimate dream would be to get the stories released as an animated series. That's the dream.

 

Thanks for taking a look at my website,

 

Cheers,

 

George 

[MattP]

Awww... such a little cutie! I'll check our tree to make sure we haven't strung one of the little guys up and left him without food and water for a month! :O

[eejits]

I hope you did Matt, poor little beggars hanging there, ignored and neglected..... :)

 

George

[peter]

The future's bright, the future's Eejits...and it could/should look like this...

http://www.flanimals.com

 

Hopefully another AD success story for the next Ezine :D

[peter]

Just seen your site, the place is infested wiv 'em :P

Good luck with the words...

[GRScott]

I think he's hanging on my tree right now. Great job.

[eejits]

Peter: Thanks. Yeah I saw Flanimals I while ago. It's a shame that they didn't get the animated show done, it would have been good and hopefully funny too. I like the way the creatures there interact with each like an ecosystem. Thanks again for the kind comments, it's inspired me to try a bit harder this coming year!

 

GRScott: I do hope you're looking after him. Watch when you take your decorations down, he might just try and make a break for it!

 

George

[peter]

Why not think laterally and use the world of advertising to launch the wee beasties...it worked for the Smurfs. Or you could use them as a (as it pains me to say this, because I hate football) football team icon.

 

This would be team coloured/flavoured/mascot; for example Everton's would be a rich blue when relaxed, then horizontal black and white strobing effect (Everton toffee mint) when ecstatic. His name would be Keepus infrontus...As Everton is famous for its keep/mini gaol.

 

Hope this helps as a serving suggestion.

 

peter

 

PS if you need any word skills, brain storming, or even sub-editing tasks just ask; I hope I can help. Nothings too daft!

 

Happy Hogmanay George.

[penwiper]

These guys remind me a little of the beans in the card  game Bohnanza . . . Awesome stuff!  :-)

 

http://perlkonig.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/cards.jpg

 

So do you have a plan for all these guys or are they just for fun? 

[eejits]

Peter: Thanks for the suggestions, Peter, but I think I'll stay away from the football stuff. I'd rather get eejits out there on it's own merit rather than using other products to prop them up. I'll get there one day and I appreciate you thinking about their future! Keep the suggestions coming.....

 

penwiper: Ha! That game looks pretty cool, never seen nor heard of it before. eejits started as a way for me to learn drawing and digital colouring and really was just for fun. But now they've grown so much that it's impossible to ignore them. They'll be going on to bigger and better things. I have plans......

 

Thanks again guys,

 

George

[peter]

That's a relief! Staying away from football.  It's good to see your spirit of independence is strong; but you will have to go commercial one day.

 

Have you contacted any published authors/illustrators...if so how did it go?

 

peter

[eejits]

Hey peter,

 

I haven't contacted any published authors outside of the few I speak to on twitter & instagram (Facebook, I use for many family & friends). I had a one-on-one with a Nickelodeon character designer Stephen Silver, where we discussed where I could take eejits next, what strategies to use. It was less about my art skills and more about business advice. It was pretty cool and inspiring.

 

I'll be putting what I learnt into practice this year..... :D

 

Can't wait!

George

[CartoonMike]

Have really enjoyed you eejits, Eejits!

 

Did you say "story"?

 

Well....

 

For some good basic story writing info, have you read any books by Brian McDonald? His books are all about the story and has been an invaluable source of inspiration and information for me. His blog is: http://invisibleinkblog.blogspot.com There's links to his books and stuff there.

 

Invisible ink is one of his books. The Golden Theme is another. Both are in my iBooks library and have been read a few times each. He has a couple of videos on YouTube which are very good. He's also been on the PaperWings Podcast a few times and mentioned a lot on the Moko Expedition (a podcast on iTunes that's also all about stories). What I like about his books is that it's no-nonsense to the point without all the contrivances that other books seem to have. Like the first conflict has to be on a certain page and so on. 

 

From my experience (working with writers and other comic creators), story can be a major stumbling block. Having appealing and cute and interesting characters are the foundation, but if the stories are lackluster, then it goes nowhere. Just look at the popularity of Groot and Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy. They wouldn't be so popular if the movie didn't have the compelling story it had. "We Are Groot" at the end still gets me. :'

 

hth

[eejits]

Thanks for the advice Mike. No i haven't read anything on story writing. I've been working on 10 characters, their personality traits & designs, getting the merry band of eejits together before looking at stories. I do have some ideas for stories though. Hopefully I can write something that's good enough. I'll definitely be looking up your links and recommendations once I'm ready to start.

 

A few years ago, I tried working with a local author on a series of books but they weren't working; not what I was looking for. I feel I'll get a better product if I try it myself (but then again, I could be horribly wrong!) as I know what I'm looking for, what fits the eejits world. Totally agree that having great characters isn't enough...... 

 

Funnily enough I have listened to the PaperWings Podcast in the past, but haven't given it a shot in a while. I listen to Podcasts all day at work (when I can) so I'll add that to the list again.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time out to write,

 

George

[CartoonMike]

The Moko Expedition is one podcast that, as a story teller, I can't rave enough about. Currently they are (in every-other podcast) going over the Pixar "22 rules for good storytelling" that is just great thinking-material. One of the hosts of that podcast is a webcomic creator Robin Childs (comic is at http://leylinescomic.com). 

 

I feel that there's something great when a single creator works on a story/series. There's the Spirit (Will Eisner) and The New Frontier miniseries by Darwyn Cooke not to mention the many webcartoonists out there ( Sinfest, Girls with Slingshots and Deconstructing Rita for example). I've tried to work with other writers, but the story usually begins going in a direction that isn't what I wanted, so the project just withered. I do think that having an editor/beta reader is very good. I'm lucky that my wife is an editor and proofreader, so my stories get a good once-over before I embarrass my self publicly. 

 

Good luck on the eejits, looking forward to seeing how they work in a narrative!

[peter]

The big question is who is your audience? In children's television, the true success is whether or not you've got a hit will only show up a generation later. Kid's tv is very difficult to pull off...but when the fully grown adults are buying/downloading those programmes 25 years later. Then you know that the proof is in the pudding.

 

This leads to the next point, layers. When jokes are cracked, you need to impress the parents and the child at the same time. Both Matt Groening and Seth McFarlane have cracked this one. Neither of these cartoons were aimed at children; just look at the age certificates on the DVDs, but they are a huge hit with adults and kids. Therefore making it an unofficial family show. That is a huge mountain that is worth climbing.

 

Have you been to any conventions or festivals? I'm Sure Cartoonmike could be really handy here.

 

What about using Pinterest?

 

Have you though about who is going to be providing the voices? Which ones do you have in mind? Eddy Izzard and Stephen Fry spring to mind.

 

Have you any experience with the comedy festival up in sunny Edinburgh? There has to be plenty of great writers up there. Seems like a magnet for writing/performing talent.

[eejits]

Mike: I've heard of the "22 rules for good storytelling" mentioned before. I'll look into that as well. Sounds like a great resource.

 

Yeah, that's what happened with the previous author. It all just withered away and, in fact, she gave up writing after that!! Me and my silly wee characters must have put her right off! Oops! Thanks again for all the tips and resources Mike, appreciate it. I'm about to dive into reading Show Your work! by Austin Kleon. But that's more to do with promoting eejits as they stand now, not my future project.

 

peter: I'll be aiming for the top end of Primary School (9-12yr olds) but I'd like to manage to get the humour right that adults can enjoy it too and it's not too contrived. That'll be the hard part I guess. That's where the magic lies and I know many have tried (and probably failed) at that sort of thing before. But they haven't got eejits!!

 

 I live in the faaaaaaar north of the Highlands of Scotland (Caithness). Not many conventions going on here but if I'm going to make a success of this and promote it I'm going to have to get out from behind the screen and meet people face to face (eeeeek). That was one of the things Stephen Silver said to me.

 

Haven't thought about voices....hmmm? Who would I have?!? Stephen Fry would be a good one (and I know what character he would be ideal for too), I liked his voice work on LittleBig Planet.

 

Thanks for the conversation guys,

 

George

[CartoonMike]

George -- check out local drama clubs or schools with drama/theatre programs. You could get some "free" voices that way, pay them off with a trip to the local brewery or some such. There's a book about indy animation production that has some good tips in it. My copy's out on loan now, when I get it back I'll have the author/publisher info if you'd like it. 

[eejits]

Never thought of that. We have a good Drama group here in my town, with some great personalities. That's a great idea!!

 

I'd definitely be up for info on that book.

 

Funnily enough the book I am reading: Show Your Work! just mentioned one of the 22 steps for good story writing by Pixar. Seems those rules have been going round for a while and are universal. I'll hopefully put them to use.

 

Cheers,

 

George

[CartoonMike]

That's why, imho, doing a comic strip about your Eejits, would be a good idea: it would help you work out story ideas (and problems and since you could do it within AD, the assets (characters, backgrounds, etc) could be reusable. Most importantly, you could print up a set of them and they could serve as a storyboard/script of sorts to show to prospective participants. 

 

The book is "The Guerrilla Guide to Animation" by Walter Santucci. Its ISBN number is 976-0-8264-2985-8. It was first published in 2009, so the technical parts may be a bit outdated but but still useable in a general sense. 

 

One more thing, doing Eejits as a web comic could do a few things, cement proof of your ownership of the characters and create prior art for when you need to trademark things. And you could garner a following of people who like the strip and be willing to fund an indiegogo (as Kickstarter, iirc, doesn't accept non US peeps for it) project or you could have a Patreon campaign for an monthly influx of funds if you want to totally do the indie route or just help out with things Eejits-focused. Some webcomic creators use Patreon to pay for colorists and supporters would be privy to behind the scenes stuff or what ever "special" features you want to share with them. And -- this could also be used for a presentation package to shop around your ideas.

 

hth

[eejits]

I think I'm going to skip the comic strip (I've tried web comics before and they are very hard to get right and take a huuuuge amount of effort with regular updates of new content) and go straight to illustrated books, one for each potential episode of the final animated show. The first one or two could be used to do all the things you've mentioned as well as being promotional tools to bring to publishers, studios or interested parties as well as take to cons and grow an audience with.

 

That's the game plan anyway......

 

George

[CartoonMike]

Best of Luck to you, George. I feel that you've got something really special here and very deserving of success!

[eejits]

Thanks Mike. Appreciate the input, it's really put fire in my belly to get this somewhere successful!

 

George

[MEB]

You will never know unless you try it... You're already on the right track. Your eejits's website is (and looks) great. You're already selling prints. Why not  exploring other sideline merchandise like gift cards, iphone cases and skins, t-shirts etc. Do you know Society6? All this as a complement and promotion of the Illustrated Books. I'm sure you will do great.

[eejits]

Cheers MEB!

 

The prints aren't selling really. I was planning on changing them, with 3 new ones every month but that hasn't happened. I am working on an A2 poster that'll hopefully launch soon, I haven't looked on Society6 but was looking through RedBubble last night. Maybe they are the way to go for now, when my fanbase isn't all that large.

 

Thanks for the compliments,

 

George