Last weekend, we tabled again at North East Comic Con. I was again, very nervous to see how it would all go, but then it ended up being a success in the end.

The morning of each day was a little slow, but soon it picked up and a lot of people were stopping by to buy things (mostly because this time I brought around the Disco Fett helmet!)  Plus, having some variety, ie magnets and stickers certainly helped as well. Also, I feel that we are so close to Christmas helped a bit. People were coming to the con to look for not only something for themselves, but also something for a loved one.  The fact that our items were on the small side certainly made it easier for people to consider them as stocking stuffers!  Saturday proved to be a strong day, but then Sunday, I figured I make our table a bit more interesting...

Lately, I've been getting a lot of great attention for the minimalist art I have been doing, but recently, I've started trying something different.

I wanted to keep with the minimalist look, but perhaps take a few more risks when it came to design.

I had a few ideas in regards to puns and word play.  The phrase, "Release the Kraken" of course refers back to the movie, "Clash of Titans", which were the words were spoken in order to release the giant sea monster by the same name. So, I wanted to put on a spin on it, and instead played on the notion of "cracking" open a lobster or crab before one would eat it. Staying consistent with a minimalist style, I came up with two different designs. It made me chuckle and I thought that eventually, I could see it a seafood restaurant, maybe on a bib?  This was kind of the direction I was going with my brain.

Soon after, it also became clear to me that maybe certain characters in sci fi or comic book movies and television shows had fake products either during or after their careers.  For example, Commander William Riker from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was a trombone player.  I thought it would be hilarious to imagine Riker opening up his own music academy after serving his time in Starfleet.

 When I started watching "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" a few months ago, I found that I wanted to see more of the Star Trek universe, especially because the preceding show, The Next Generation, was a very a different take on everything. The two were similar in that they both existed in the same universe, but tonally, they were clearly not the same.

Experiencing all the shows made want to create title cards potential stories that I would love to see in the Star Trek universe.  Here were just a few.

"Chronicles of Garak" made sense to me, mostly because the character on DS9 was such an interesting and intriguing person. His past adventures could work as a show. I had to use a picture from Cardassia, his home planet, as well as showing a sense of mystery.

Another idea was perhaps a show focused on the different types of spaceships on all the TV series and in the movies. Simple and clean made sense for this title. We would see so many different types of vessels fly through the show, each giving a quick snap shot of their importance and capabilities.