Critical Kit

Hey there!

Happy Monday.

This is a short but sweet one. The ribbon bookmarks are all created now and with the printer, so we are just waiting for someone to confirm the books are edge printed then it's on to binding it all together. As soon as that happens we will have images of the completed book.

For now, here are the ribbons:



I know this update my feel a bit inconsequential, but I do like to share the process where I can and also let you see the small details that go into every aspect of creating Wires in The Woods. 

I'm not sure what the next update will be as I keep getting little production surprises myself. But I do know it will be soon.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Tim (& Simon who is still computerless)

Hey there!

It's so nice to be able to come to you, once more, on a Friday with yet another production update after a dearth of news over the past few months.

So, this time it's the punch out cards.

These contain some nice additions to the game:

Anyway, here are the receipts (better photos coming once I have them here)!






Next thing we are waiting on are the photos of edge-printing on the books, which I am assured is happening RIGHT NOW, and the journals which are currently having their spines fitted with cloth tape.

I can't wait!

But I'll have to.

Back soon with more news. In the meantime, have a lovely weekend.

Tim (and Simon who has a broken computer).

Well, hello again!

I didn't expected to be updating you so soon, but we have lovely little Friday surprise.

12 boxes of playmats have just arrived to us after several weeks at sea.

Below I've added a few photos as well as the pile of boxes I now have sitting in our Critical Kit HQ:



That's all for this one as I am exhausted and need a weekend off after UKGE and the madness of this week.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Tim (& Simon, who is excited to see them all together).

Hey all,

No sooner had I posted the update about the ribbon, we received images of the book sample (it's only taken me 4 weeks of nudging).

Before I show them off, in my previous update, Simon spotted I'd put the ribbon I printed upside down. That doesn't affect anything other than show you that you are in good hands.

It's worth nothing that the samples don't have the edge-printing, spot UV or bookmarks. All that malarkey gets done just before binding the covers. Additionally, since these were produced, we have nudged the cover images a little bit away from the spine, but that's just our nitpicking to get things exactly as we want them. 

Right, enough words from me. Let's allow them to speak for themselves:











I've also got a video of the book in action - basically being flipped through - which I'll upload to YouTube at some point to get you even more excited.

Back soon with more!

Tim 

Hey there,

Firstly, Simon and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to see us at UKGE this weekend. What a great show it was and it was wonderful to speak to so many of you who are understanding about the delays we have had, but also very... very excited to get the book!

Simon and I were on separate booths, but we also managed to grab a few minutes to speak to each other and discuss potential new things to follow on from Wires. We also were gifted some wonderful WiTW-related things from fellow creators:



Okay, now let's get to the nitty gritty of this update. The books are still being bound and edge-printed. At this stage, they will also have ribbons attached. We expect this whole process to take around two weeks. That said, I will have photos of the first books that were created as samples this week (I was promised today, but nothing has emerged as of yet).

The bookmarks are completely custom made, down to the colour of the ribbon. Simon and I have had a lot of tos-and-fros about sizes and specs for these, but we eventually nailed it and the result is perfect.

Now, whilst I don't have the actual bookmark photos to share (though I should do imminently), I can show you Simon's design and a real size print I did on paper to test them.

First, the design:



Simon has used the same orange as appears throughout the book and has used icons that denote each major section of the book. The book mark is 6mm wide and extends approximately 5cm from the bottom of the book. It's bound 2.5cm into the inner-spine to ensure it stays in place.

Here is a printed mock-up I did using Cezar Capacle's Weird Whimsy & Wonder book (this is a book I had manufactured by the same printer so you can get an idea of quality of print and colour reproduction):



If you are interested, here is a summary of some of the WhatsApp photos Simon and I share during the process (10 points if you can guess the games):



Okay, that's all for this one, but very near future updates will likely include:

- The sample book.
- The fully completed book.
- The punch-out cards.

And other things that will likely surprise me when a manufacturer says "we're done".

Have a lovely rest of the week!

Tim (& Simon, who is bookmarked-out)