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Happy new year from Kathmandu! It’s distinctly colder than the last time we spoke, around mid December. Hope you all did something suitably festive, family-based and frivolous over the holidays. There’s a lot to catch you up on, so listen up: if you’re new around these parts and want to know more about my Nepal project, then check out this here kickstarter video. What’s that? You missed the Kickstarter campaign but still want to pre-order your copy of my graphic novel? Fear not! Click on the Kickstarter widget in the left hand side bar for a list of the possible rewards you can get your hands on, and then send me the money through paypal instead. In a nutshell, $10 buys you one interactive comic on human trafficking out here in Nepal (including diversions/meditations on the form of comics journalism), $30 gets you electronic versions of all of the comics I’ll be producing out here, $50 gets you a paperback tome, and for $100 you’ll get your very own hardback copy.
If you’re intrigued by the steps I’m going through to put this thing together (as am I, most days), then check out my behind the scenes production blog, where I’m posting wallpapers for your desktop/smartphone from my sketchbook, as well as showing you the different steps of my process. Some videos are to come next month, brace yourselves. A measly $5 gets you access, just click the link for payment details.
You should also check out my buy artwork page, where you can get your hands on original comic art from this project, the proceeds of which all go towards keeping a roof over my head, warm food in my belly, and the D.Archer Motorcycle fund TM (which I’ll need in a few weeks for investigating stories out of the Kathmandu valley). Those of you who ordered prints and art last month will be getting them early next week.
In other news, in a few weeks, to mark the end of Human Trafficking Awareness month, I’m delighted to announce that the BBC will be running an interactive comic of mine from the trafficking project in several different languages. More details soon.
We DID it!! Thanks to you, good people of the internet, I raised $13,303 for my project to use comics to report on/raise awareness of human trafficking in Nepal. Need an introduction to the project? Scroll down to check out the intro video below the fold.
Click here to read the first piece of illustrated reportage (published in the US) from my Nepal trip covering human trafficking, now up on the Poynter Institute’s website.
Interested in my Nepal project and want to contribute/ order your copy of the graphic novel/ebook/or artwork/get any of the rewards even though the Kickstarter campaign is now over, you can paypal me your pledge using dan [at] archcomix [dot] com as the recipient ID. Or, of course, feel free to drop me a line if you want to discuss specifics or a collaboration.
Apologies for the mini-hiatus – normal service will resume forthwith. Reason for it is my lack of a second or third pair of arms to continue pencilling and inking as my current pair hammer out relentless tweets and emails to promote my Kickstarter human trafficking graphic novel project, which is now 53% funded with only 8 days to go! It’s a Staff Pick but could still use your help, , choose a reward and make that pledge!
In the meantime, here’s a snippet from my sketchbook from a recent interview yesterday with a survivor of human trafficking, sketched live and direct. I’m experimenting with different ways of working, and I have to admit, there’s something about the immediacy and roughness (like her chin) in the portrait that gives it a more intimate, personalized feel that would be hard to replicate in a photo portrait (or even a meticulously pencilled sketch, for that matter). Or should I just not draw straight to ink? You tell me (by hitting the comments button below).
Breaking news: I just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund my comics journalism project to investigate human trafficking in Nepal. and read about how you can contribute.
Aforementioned Kickstarter project is currently awaiting official approval, for launch this week (hopefully before I leave for Kathmandu on weds). The artwork attests to the challenge of penciling, inking and watercolouring on a airline tray table, flanked by two portly co-passengers. I’ll post the process photo tomorrow. Coming up: what tools I’m bringing on the trip, to satisfy your inner graphic journalism geek.
We did it! A predictable sprint to the finish line, but we made it (see above for our triumphant screenshot – the video is NOT a live link!) and you supportive pledgers will be receiving your comics, posters, badges, pdfs, special feature packages and original artwork (depending on what you chipped in, of course) soon. A massive thank you to everyone who pledged, tweeted, shouted from the rooftops, mentioned it to their mates, wrote about it, you name it – your efforts buoys us independent creators who can once again prove to the world that it is possible to use art to effect social change.
For those of you who want a copy but have only just heard about the project, there are still plenty of ways to pre-order your copy – I’m just adding Borderland to my “store” page now, plus there should be a link to Borderland Comic’s paypal site too: $10 for your own full-colour copy.
and help us support the IOM in the fight against modern day slavery. Last day today!!!! We need to raise $8000 or all of the money raised will be returned! Check out the preview below. More Archcomix news below the fold.
Thanks to all of those who came to see Olga and I speak at Stanford’s d.school on Thursday evening. About 40 people showed up to hear about how the project came together and discuss the challenges and obstacles creatives face in using their work to instigate social change. Journalist Cynthia Haven did a great piece about the event for Stanford, which you can read here. You’ll also notice that our fundraising tally is up – we’re at 76%, with less than 24 hours to go! Please RT and share the link to our Kickstarter page on digg, facebook, wherever – if you didn’t already know, Kickstarter will return all funds collected so far if we don’t make it to our $8000 goal by this time tomorrow.
Last week was also my first full week of classes at Stanford, which was simultaneously challenging, exhausting, exhilarating and fascinating. Running around to find my classrooms/lecture halls on the first day was surreal, but a week later I consider myself a veteran, though I’m still wrestling with some of the e-classroom/syllabi that we’re expected to attend or sign up for online. I consider it slightly ironic that my data visualization assignment took me almost as long to post to the course wiki as it did to complete. Teething troubles aside, I’ve really enjoyed throwing myself into new projects and classes that are clearly outside of my comfort zone: Human-Computer Interaction; Data Visualization; Beginner’s German; and Multimedia Production are my main courses this semester. Needless to say, good ol’ introduction to cognitive neuroscience didn’t even get a look in past week one – too many lectures to get to as it is! The project’s also coming along well, especially with the news that the Knight News Challenge is definitely on this year, so expect more about that in the next few weeks as I put my application together.
Welcome to Archcomix – if you’re new here, take a look around by clicking on the tabs above. Some have drop-down menus for individual stories under that theme. See what I’m working on at the moment as part of my John S.Knight Fellowship here and please support my Borderland comic through Kickstarter here – less than a week left to raise our money or it all gets returned. And we wouldn’t want that. Also, check out the new comics journalism page I’ve set up.
Part 2 of another comic from the upcoming human trafficking comic, Borderland. Featuring 7 true stories told by human trafficking victims in comics format. Now at 1/3 of our goal! Please order your comic via Kickstarter here – $5 for a digital version, $10 for a hard copy, as well as more luxurious options like signed posters, behind the scenes views of the project’s artwork, and the chance to sponsor a copy for a Ukrainian school or NGO. More news on yesterday’s SF Zine fest journalism panel below.
