Hey Everyone!
We're officially at the top of the Pintopia page! T H A N K  Y O U ! for following along and helping grow this audience and get us into the spotlight!
Welcome to everyone new! We're growing more quickly every day. 
Each follow really helps grow this idea into the real thing, so feel free to share.

There's a new poll this week for you to choose which class I design next! Scroll to the bottom to vote.

I've had my head down working this week but I've spent the last two days working on-

The Ranger is one of the most classic figures in fantasy- from Aragorn to Drizzt and everywhere in between, so I knew I wanted to go back to a more obvious direction that started as crossed swords to hint at dual-wielding and things went wild from there- a mix of fangs/leaves, scimitars, and an arrow oriented into a claw-like shape (or a long skull, or a dragon's head, or just a badge!) 
For me the Ranger is important because reading the Drizzt series when I was younger is what first led me to illustration, and eventually working under Todd Lockwood who designed the character and helped build the modern vision of Dungeons and Dragons. I decided to make this one personal and eagle-eyed fans will note the unique two swords set into the design. Please don't sue me, Hasbro. No one tell them. 

This one went through a lot of iterations! And I could have made this schedule easier on myself than finishing a poll Friday for release Sunday! Unfortunately, I accidentally merged my sketch layer, but do have some I can show! 

I hope Todd doesn't mind me designing around his own drawings.

A quick note about the cards and designs overall
You'll notice I'm not putting so much work into the cards. Well, that's because none of them are finalized, and I think I've decided to move toward more of a nice boxed and packaged design that the crests deserve. The crests themselves also may change by the campaign. This one in particular may be very difficult for my manufacturer. But we'll see!

I've been extremely busy this week, and I wish I could say all of that was working on this campaign- but I'm an illustrator when I'm not having fun with you all! So I've been working on Magic: The Gathering and book covers, none of which I can show yet!

What I can showcase is that my playmat Kickstarter has been going very well! And as a stretch goal I'm going to be releasing this expanded version of "The Last Light" representing The Fighter D&D class as a playmat for a stretch goal! This isn't finished yet and will be what I'm working on today and tomorrow! I need to order them now so they can get to backers by Christmas.
If you'd like to see more: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allenmorrisart/fantasy-art-playmat-collection

Jeszika and I have been chatting a lot lately on what our free pin design should be! But nothing is set in stone yet. 

So, there aren't a ton of updates on this project besides the new pin-
I do have to start building the actual campaign page to have for December, so make sure to vote and comment on this home page featured poll if there's something you want to see!

Thanks again, and I can't wait to see what you vote for this week- down to our last three!
-Allen

Hey Everyone!
With all the new followers, we're creeping to the top of the Pintopia page! Thanks so much for following along! And I'm glad some were interested in the reservation reward- I was hesitant about introducing it because I didn't want it to come across the wrong way, so seeing such a positive response has been really encouraging.

Welcome to everyone new and THANK YOU!
Each follow really helps grow this idea into the real thing, so feel free to share.

There's a new poll this week for you to choose which class I design next! Scroll to the bottom to vote.

This week I have a few great updates! But first...

I knew from the get-go that the Sorcerer should also have a gemstone, so not to be outdone by the Wizard!
The Sorcerer is also about having power from within, and more organic power than the studied mage, so after some sketching this is the design that felt the closest like a crest a Sorcerer would wear him or herself! I hope you like it!

Here's some process sketches:

Most importantly this week, I'm happy to announce my collaborator for this project- Jeszika Le Vye!
Jeszika is a huge inspiration of mine and I'm happy to call her a friend as well. She talked me into this from the start, so you can thank her if you're enjoying things so far!

We're doing something a little different from other projects. Both of our collections will be named INVOCATIONS and feature 12 crests or charms of the different classes, only with our own takes. I believe some of her designs will even be wearable jewelry. I think it's a pretty fun idea! You can find her page here:
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/jeszika-le-vye/invocations-sigils-to-invoke-the-spirit-within?ref=am

I launched a Kickstarter this week!
It was really more of a shadow-drop and I was reluctant to mention it here as I don't want to use this space to advertise, but some of you may be interested. I'm creating several playmats / deskmats from my series of evocative statues.

The campaign funded in 1 hour and has been growing quickly every day which is outstanding!
If interested, you can find it here. Thank you for any support and be on the lookout for more designs:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allenmorrisart/fantasy-art-playmat-collection?ref=73j780https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allenmorrisart/fantasy-art-playmat-collection?ref=73j780

Lastly, a bit of fun housekeeping:
You may not have noticed, but there's a new poll at the bottom of this project's pre-launch page! There, you can vote on any extras you'd like to see along with the pins. And any suggestions we all like from that poll's comments will be added to the overall poll. It's really a space to chat and hint to me what direction to take. I hope you'll take the time to dive in.

That's it for this week! 
I'm eternally grateful to everyone even following along, You really don't know how long I've wanted to do this. And thanks to Jeszika for pushing me toward it. It's good to have good friends!

-Allen

Hey Everyone!
The amount of people following along now is blowing my mind! At this rate, I think this will be a huge project. I'm glad everyone believes in bringing these insignias to life!
Welcome to everyone new and THANK YOU!
Each follow really helps grow this idea into the real thing.

There's a new poll this week for you to choose which class I design next! Scroll to the bottom to vote.

This week I'm revealing the next pin and have some updates below!

But this new design is very special:

As you can tell, this might be the best design so far. I am very happy with it and I think it can speak for itself!

This one also went through several iterations before becoming what you see! I had a wonderful time exploring the different posibilites- and as always the idea I had in my head at first just didn't land right at first. It started as 3 fangs in a circle and evolved into a dragon in a spiral. Well, you can see how it progressed from there into something unique. Once I had the title in my head "The Tale of the Dragon and the Lotus" it was all over!

This has been another busy week- but I'll start with the most important part.
THE WARRIOR ARRIVED ! ! !

It's sleek, and solid metal, and everything I wanted it to be. I've been taking pictures like a happy parent.
I'm planning an actual, nice, photoshoot to better showcase the crest, but I was too excited and wanted to share them with you right away!
It's amazing to hold something in your hand that started from just an idea and a sketch. I don't think I'll ever get over it.
The backing card is not finalized.
These are just prototypes and a small order. I think I may lean toward shipping and handling them in nicer boxes with foam padding like jewelry to give them the honor they deserve.

Also- for anyone interested in all 12 I've begun designing a display box / case that they can be displayed in. I want it to look and feel like something to be proud of.

OPTIONAL RESERVATION BONUS
This is something I've added to the campaign on Backerkit's suggestion and I'd like to explain it since it's not immediately intuitive.

You can place a $1 reservation and you'll receive a pin-to-chain or charm converter with your pledge once the campaign is live.
This is a simple, elegant accessory that lets your crest be worn as a keychain or bag charm.
This campaign is growing quickly- so I wanted another way to say THANK YOU! for following along! This is only available to followers before the campaign starts. 

I've also been slowly working with the sculptor on the wizard pin:

We've already sourced the jewel that will rest at it's center and it's going to look outstanding!

That's it for this week- but it's a lot! 
T H A N K  Y O U ! again for taking this journey with me! You can probably tell how excited I am about everything happening. 

I'm going to be eternally grateful for everyone- follower, backer, reader, for helping me bring this to life. I don't have the words.

-Allen

Hey Everyone!
There's A LOT of new followers this week- welcome and THANK YOU! for following along. I can't believe we're already at 100+ followers and growing!
Each follow really helps grow this idea into the real thing.

There's a new poll this week for you to choose which class I design next! Scroll to the bottom to vote.

This week I'm revealing the next pin and have some updates below!

But without further delay-

This design got a little wild on the illustrative side- so here's a clean cut of the actual crest pin! Not just for you- but for the sculptor! Those metal effects are a bit hard to get just right while still making a shape like this clear.

This one fought me! It started as an entangled jewel, representing power under control, before evolving into a hand grasping or a demon biting into the enamel elements. I experimented with chains and other details, but by the end of day one, I'd settled on a hand in offering.

Coming back on day two, I knew it wasn't quite right. Back to the drawing board! I decided to take a less illustrative approach, much like the Druid, and design something a Warlock might actually wear.

I explored ram's horns, demonic shapes, thorns, and other patron-inspired elements, but everything felt too literal. Eventually, I duplicated and mirrored an abstract design around my original circle concept, and BAM! There it was.

It felt elegant and refined while still capturing the spirit of the Warlock. From there, I sculpted the shapes into symbolic teeth, horns, and thorns to give it the dimensional quality of the rest of the collection.

 

I hope you like it! - Here's some process shots- you can see the first inklings of this design at bottom left:

It's been extremely busy over here- but in a good way! I won't bore you with all of it. Here's the sparknotes:

You'll see we have an excellent new banner I designed (inspired in part by my friend Jeszika Le Vye's bookcharm cover image for her previous campaign).

I got my start ing graphic design- so between using the preview images the manufacturer has been kindly sending me and some shading / textures / typography this was like stepping back in time!

Lastly, a brief look at the rogue pin from the manufacturer. This one is sitting a little flat for me, but it's great to see it come alive. I'll be hammering out the details with them closer to launch. They've been great so far!

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom!
We still have a long way to go, but I'm extremely excited for this! Have a great week. 
T H A N K  Y O U ! !

-Allen

Hey Everyone!
There's a lot of new followers this week- welcome and THANK YOU! for following along.
Each follow really helps grow this idea into the real thing.

There's a new poll this week for you to choose which class I design next! Scroll to the bottom to vote.
Last week there was a mix up on my part. That won't happen again! I'll wait on the poll to come to a complete end!

This week I'm revealing the next pin and have some updates below.

But without further delay-

This one went through several iterations. from a sunburst to a long shield to a lot of different scribbles trying to get the correct idea. In the end, I went with a sunburst inside of a shield with an enamel pour of white to contrast the gold. I think it fits most paladins extremely well and feels like something they may actually wear. 
I think the white and gold, mixed with a slightly more conservative sculpt, makes for something iconic.

I also wanted to highlight the wonderful comment from a follower-
"The Paladin has always been an interesting device in that the protagonist can't simply wish it into being, but rather must earn the right for it to manifest.  No matter how talented, skilled or experienced a character has become.  Any self doubt or lack of conviction, and the Paladin will remain elusive."

Last week I shared my excitement in seeing the sculpt for The Warrior pin from the manufacturer. Well, things have progressed quickly. I've never made pins before, but I can't believe how good these prototypes look!
It's wild that something you've had in your head for a while, and finally sketched out- to see it come to life is extraordinary. 
I'm working on adjusting the images for the campaign to better match the actual color of the finish. 

Thanks again for following along! I'll see you next week. Have a good one!
-Allen

Firstly, T H A N K  Y O U  to everyone who has followed the campaign so far! Followers have a compounding effect when it comes to bringing new people in, so I'm incredibly grateful!
My plan is to post updates here every Monday. Feel free to share the word. 

But this week, there is no poll.

Why?

I checked last week's poll right before it ended, and it was tied between the Paladin and Druid crests. Since I'd also received such a wonderful comment about the Paladin, I decided to tackle that one first.

But unbeknownst to me...

Someone swooped in at the last minute and cast the deciding vote for Druid.

I did not realize this until I had already finished the Paladin. 
But I cannot go against The Poll. The Poll rules over all.

Thus, I spent much of my weekend painting and designing both pins.

And honestly? I had a great time. These are incredibly fun to design.
But the Paladin will have to wait for next week. This week, I present:

I went through several iterations before I landed on a simple, understated, leaf and branch design. I think it preserves the elegant feel of this pin series while still feeling organic. In the end, I also added a copse of berries (Goodberries) as an anchoring point to the design. This one has a lot more of a flow to it, so I didn't get the best 3D look in my painting- so I'm extra excited to see what the sculptor does with this one!
I had considered making the berries red or white- what do you think? 

Everyone who follows and backs the campaign is now going to receive a free "Adventurer's Guild" Crest sticker.
It's just something to say thanks! I think they look pretty nice!
 

And finally, I decided to order a batch of Warrior Pins so that I could get used to the process, find a manufacturer, and avoid pitfalls later on.

I have to say, I've been having a blast looking at these 3d designs I've been getting! Here's a look at the finalized sculpt so you can see behind the curtain:

Thank you, again, and I can't wait for you to see the Paladin a week from now. It may be my favorite so far!
- Allen