This post is going to have a ton of photos. We are at the very end of the proofing process, where we are receiving physical samples of covers. So get ready for a whole bunch of those!
We also have one bit of bad-news-that-we-fixed-so-it's-fine-now. Long story short, the MCC neon cover will use foil instead of fluorescent inks to achieve the desired look. Full details on that below.
Now, let's start with proof photos... so many proof photos...
BTW, these are called F&G's, which stands for "Folded & Gathered." These are printed on the true and final paper stock. They're folded, and gathered together (hence the name), but no binding is applied. That is why in some cases you see the "guts" of the book sitting outside the cover. The guts are printed "as you'll get them", just not bound in yet, so we're showing you what the inside will look like, too.
In some cases you'll see "firm" covers. Those have already been adhered to the board. In other cases they look "floppy." That's the PLC (Printed Laminated Case), which is "exactly what it will be printed on," just not yet glued to a board to make it a hardcover. In those cases, you actually see the bleed, which is an extra 1/2" or so on every edge. If you examine one of your hardcovers at home carefully, you'll see the bleed is wrapped around the board edge, then the endsheets are glued over it, covering off that final 1/2". In these photos you can see the edge bleed that will be obscured by the endsheets when bound. In case anyone is wondering why the cover edges look weird on some of those "floppy hardcover images", that is why!
Now, on to some photos.
Dungeon Denizens 2 5E monster-hide cover, printed on the actual stock with the actual foils with the final deboss.
Dungeon Denizens 2 DCC monster-hide cover, printed on the actual stock with the actual foils with the final deboss.
In case you were wondering - yes, this is the leatherbound!
These are the stretch goal booklets that you'll receive.
This is one of the "floppy" hardcovers, not yet adhered to a board, as explained above. Same for the next couple covers.
Inside the Flumph Book
A couple updates ago, a backer asked to see interior shots of the Flumph book. Here are a few photos for you!
Inside the Dungeon Denizens 2 Books
And while we're at it, here are some photos of the interior of Dungeon Denizens 2. First, the 5E version...
...and now some photos inside the DCC edition.
MCC Core Book, Neon Edition
Now, the tale of this title. MCC has a natural "radioactive" theme, and we want to do a cover that captures that. We were originally inspired by the option of fluorescent inks. This is the printer chip that beguiled us:
Don't those fluorescent inks look awesome? That was the menu of choices. So we designed a cover that would utilize fluorescent inks.
A while back, the printer told us they were having trouble executing the cover. They sent the photo below. This was their first proof for the MCC neon cover. They rejected it internally and told us they were going to re-do it, and not even send it to us. Sometimes inks don't execute properly, for a variety of reasons. Believe it or not, humidity can screw up the printing process. The surface underneath the ink can sometimes affect things, too, and fluorescent inks are persnickety like that.
The "scratchy stuff" around the edges is glow ink. Our vision was a neon green cover, which turned into a glow cover when the lights went out.
Glow ink is very cool, and we've used it before. It leaves behind a residue. When we've used it previously, the residue blended into the cover look. However, when applied to a black case, as you can see above, the residue is way too obvious.
Plus the green wasn't vibrant enough!
After spending some more time reworking it, the printer then sent us this proof, which we just received:
As you can see, this still doesn't work. The green isn't vibrant enough and doesn't fulfill the promise of that original chip of fluorescent inks. And the glow ink is wayyyy too distracting - that white scratchy texture is too obvious. The glow ink was supposed to enhance the cover when in dark environments, but instead it became a distracting application of its own.
It's rare that we reject a proof, especially with the amazing printer we have, but in this case we have done just that.
The printer is now acquiring foil to achieve the same effect using vibrant foils instead of fluorescent inks. We will probably abandon the glow-in-the-dark idea, too, since it's just not executing right. Here is our mockup using our foil choices:
Once the foil inks are acquired, we can confirm the exact final shades, then we'll share a proof photo.
All this is to say... this MCC cover will still look cool. We're achieving the same effect, with a different path.
Warehouse sale + game convention! May 1-3 in Fort Wayne, Indiana!
Dungeon Con 2 Is Coming
If you live near Fort Wayne, Indiana, come visit us! We are opening our warehouse to the general public! Our famous warehouse sale happens Friday May 1 and Saturday May 2.
In addition, Dungeon Con 2 will be held in downtown Fort Wayne, IN on Saturday May 2 and Sunday May 3. Hundreds of games, seminars, and more! Plus your chance to meet the Goodman Gang and pick our warehouse clean!
