@Ruber: You can do just about anything in Zazzle, so adding a little “tester” label to the shirt is no big deal. If I want to do that, that is.

The main difference between a site like Zazzle and a site like Big Cartel is that Zazzle takes care of everything for me — ordering, payment, printing, packaging, and shipping. Big Cartel is a nice way to create an online store where they can take the orders and payments, but everything from that point on is up to me — they don’t print posters or other items, they just take the orders. I have to have the poster already, and I have to pack it and ship it.

Big Cartel is a good way to save money (and to make more profit), but it’s more work for me. A number of places will print posters for much less than Zazzle depending on how many you buy — one place will print 1000 for less than 50 cents each. So then it’s really just the cost of the packaging and shipping, which is probably how Tale of Tales sells theirs for $10. But, like you said, do I really want a few hundred posters and packing tubes sitting around the house, especially when maybe 10 people will want one?

Talking about the shop,… there’s no need to stick for Zazzle, just search for a better platform to sell your goods. For example, the marvelous posters at Tale of Tales, are only 10$ each 8-O. It seems they use Big Cartel:

http://bigcartel.com/

Another, more cheap option is to handle yourself the goods. But that consume a lot of time in printing (going to a print store to make high quality posters of Vespers, some times you didn’t need to go yourself, you send them the source file by email, and receive a packet the next day with the posters), and packaging. But ey!, the margins are better: they cost you 3$ for a full size poster, but better prices are allowed for massive quantities of the product (a bad idea if the thing doesn’t work).

There’s no hurry, just talk with other devs, to see if they have used merchandising, and how the experience was going.

Good luck!

“As for the full image poster, I think that would be fine, it’s just that the shape of the arch leaves a blank space in the upper corners that doesn’t look great.”

Here’s a quick approximation of what I was thinking of:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/947038/Poster.png

I think it looks pretty good that way…

For some reason, the fresco’s aspect ratio and the sense of drama (and maybe the sense that we’re looking at it slightly from above) reminds me of this iconic Dali painting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_of_Saint_John_of_the_Cross.jpg

…which is also a spooky rendering of X-ian imagery.

Re the wallpapers: Yeah, I bet they do look pretty darn good if you just crop in on an area, rather than try to show the whole thing. When do you think you might release the first wallpaper? (That was meant to be a subtle hint.)

And cropping in also might be one way that, in doing a paced release of posters, you could maintain a balance between lessening the in-game impact of the image, and getting some of that awesome out to the crowds…

“…the bloodstain thing is a little creepy.”

Agreed. It’s… different. The conferences are something special.

“…sounds like a…unique business venture.”

It is! A very specialized market for sure, but at least I know I have the best software in the world! I’ve actually been working on the bloodstain stuff since 2005 – before I worked at GarageGames.

“Bloodstained mouse pads?”

Like you I wanted to experiment with the print-on-demand stuff. I’ll probably do some of them with my product logo on it to give out at conferences. Now if I could just get those crazy forensics show fans interested…

Pics: fire me an email and we can sort something out.

I certainly don’t intend to put merchandise out there for free, though — I don’t think I could afford that. Zazzle allows you to set up a store where you can set your profit level, but I’m not sure how well that would work. The posters I made are 18″ x 24″, which is a nice size for a wall poster, but the base cost is $19.95. If I want any profit, it just adds to the total cost. So even if I wanted to earn $5 for a single poster sale, that would mean a cost to you of $24.95. Seems like a lot for a poster for you, and not a great deal of profit for me. So I’m not sure how well that would work.

But there are certainly other types of arrangements I could work out, whether it’s with pre-order specials, gifts for providing support, free giveaways, and so on. It’s nice that there are so many options to consider.

@Andy: Good to hear from you again! Although, I have to say, the bloodstain thing is a little creepy. I never knew this about you, sounds like a…unique business venture. Bloodstained mouse pads? I’d definitely be interested to see some additional pics, if you have more.

@Erik: I’m definitely considering releasing one poster at a time on a schedule like you suggest, the only problem is that I’ve struggled a bit with the issue of showing late-game material before the game is released. It’s not exactly spoilery, but it does lessen the impact of seeing it in-game when you might otherwise not know what comes next. But the benefit of building anticipation and maintaining interest might outweigh that.

As for the full image poster, I think that would be fine, it’s just that the shape of the arch leaves a blank space in the upper corners that doesn’t look great. That could be hidden to an extent by the logos, but I’m not sure just how effective that would be. The other issue is that it’s nice to see more of the detail in the close-up shots, but I guess I could pretty easily offer multiple versions of each poster highlighting different areas.

Oh, and by the way, they also do make great desktop wallpapers. I’ve been using one from fresco #5 on my laptop for some time now, and I can hardly believe how many comments I get on it. Many people think it’s a real historical painting. (It’s also fairly provocative given the content.)

I definitely plan on making those available, too, at no charge.

And how about releasing one poster at a time on a fixed schedule as you close in on the game’s release date? That might be a great way to keep folks coming back to the site, renewning interest and building anticipation. (Plus, the DESCENT INTO MADNESS AND EVIL that the progression of frescoes will reveal would handily foreshadow the themes of the game…)

One thing on the posters: Zazzle can print in many different size ratios, so I’d really consider doing the full 1.7:1 ratio for the frescos, rather than cropping into them (or in addition to a cropped version). You could then put the logo(s) above or below the image. The effect would be more dramatic…

It’s too bad the frescos are so different in aspect ratio from a computer screen, but there are still probably some creative ways to make desktops/wallpapers from them.

My two cents–thanks for sharing this stuff! Can’t wait for another status update on the state of the game/animation/etc.!

Being a bloodstain guy, I was going to comment on the Vespers logo’s bloodstain, but man that fresco is coo-el! What a great solution.

If you find you need some bloodstains for in-game art, let me know… I’ve got some images here.

THIS IS F$%&$% AWESOME!

Of course, as a future tester I want one of that i-shirts and I will feel a pretty proud wearing this around. Man! (I imagine my t-shirt with the sublabel “tester” added, under the ORS logo )

But the question here is the numbers… you must decide if you want to be a nice guy who put merchandise of his game for free or cost price on the net for the love of his fans, or an enterprise guy, who wants to earn money with this. This is the time to discuss the numbers, if Zazzle allows some margins for you to earn money for your efforts in bringing us this pretty awesome game and art.

About the posters… I feel the same… look, I’m always searching for high resolution image archives with good art of my preferred games, because, it is sooooo cheap to go to an press and print a full size poster for less than 3$ or € (you know, I don’t buy paintings any more, I prefer to scourge the net for high resolution art). So the intelligent move is to use that resources to make merchandising, and use net shops to run your own. Look at Tale of Tales, with the merchandising of The Path:

http://store.tale-of-tales.com/

It is awesome, I would kill for one high resolution poster of those, but… I must pay for them if I want it.

Resuming, you should start selling Vespers merchandising NOW. Forget about free resources, and free felies for fans, you deserve that money, and it will help in finishing the proyect.

However, a good way to promote yourself is give “one” giveaway for free, or at cost price, just to bite the desire in your customers…. so, where is my shirt?

PD: really, to give a giveaway is a really good idea… because, you could announce the thing via indie portals, via TIG source and Indie Games Weblog, RGIF, and such. This could help to refresh the buzz about your game, and add more fans to it.