SF Zine Fest Wrap Up: Thank you!!!

Hi everyone! First off, we'd like to thank everyone who helped to make the 2010 SF Zine Fest the most awesome one yet! A special thank you goes out to all the volunteers who helped organize the fest, spoke in a panel, put on a workshop, and came out to exhibit and show your wares! The Fest wouldn't be here without all your hard work and support!

Also, a HUGE thank you to everyone who signed up for our email list, bought something, gave us compliments, and stopped by to talk to us. We are honored and touched by all the love. We hope that we can continue to aid and inspire other artists in one giant ball of artist-love for years to come. Thank you for buying all of our t-shirts (we sold out, but we'll print more!), ties, prints, postcards, and zines.

(Note: this is sort of a lengthy post, so just be warned!)

While we had a great weekend, we realized that there are a lot of people who we met who are artists (regardless of what you might say, we know you are artists are heart, and so do you!) who might be intimidated by something like tabling at the Zine Fest. Let us assure you, the Zine Fest is about as awesome as you can get for an artist who is just starting to get out there.

For one, it's inexpensive. Although rumor has it that table prices will go up a bit next year, the organizers like to keep it affordable. There were $30 "third-tables", which meant a 2x2 foot square for you to sell your work, which is great if you're just starting out with a few postcards or a comic or a zine or two. It's a far cry from something like Renegade Craft Fair or Wondercon, where $300-$800 for a booth is the norm.

Second, it's not a juried show. That means there is no non-refundable application fee - you only have to send in your application and payment before it sells out. Easy, right? No stress about whether or not a jury will like your work enough to get in. As long as you're on top of things (signing up for the mailing list might be a good idea) you'll do fine.

Third, it's THE place in the SF Bay Area to get your work out there. Monkey + Seal love the Zine Fest because it's a place where everyone is welcome. Whether you're working to make art for a living (like us) or just want to get some ideas/comics/stuff out there (like many zinesters), or are a crafter, there's a place for you. There's also a place for all styles and experience levels: from people putting out their published graphic novel to people photocopying their comics and self-publishing, it's a great place to be!

Anyway, we think the Zine Fest is great.

And for anyone who is new or curious about what's like to be an exhibitor, here is a glimpse in the life of Monkey and Seal: a behind-the-scenes look at our preparation and day of Fest.

Friday night was spent packing. We made a list of all the things we might need at the Fest and did our best to get everything ready. Prints, displays, table cloth, shirts, ties, tie packaging, painter's tape, masking tape, duct tape, pink fanny pack, zines, comics, small original pieces, and new postcards were all set aside. Monkey spent the night burning screens, packing ink, scoop coaters, old emulsion buckets, packing tape, squeegees, and everything else he would need for the screenprinting workshop. Seal was finishing up some freelance work, and this was all after helping set-up the comics reading at the Cartoon Art Museum.

We had dinner that night around 11pm, and then we were up doing more prep work, freelance work, and reserving our zipcar for the next morning. Due to lots of work to be done, (plus remembering we had to pack our painting supplies as we'd be live painting) we turned in for the night around 5am.

At 7am, the alarm went off, and we got up and got ready for the Fest. After some quick showers and a handful of chips for breakfast, we picked up the zipcar (or "zippy," as we like to call it) and loaded up all the stuff. We drove past an ATM to get money for change, then went to be at the SF County Fair building by 9 to help with set-up. We got there a bit early, so we got a warm white hot chocolate with soy for Seal and then headed over to the nearest bank to wait for them to open to change our 20's into change.

As soon as we lugged all of our stuff into the building, we split up. Seal would return the zippy and finish up some freelance work, while Monkey went about setting up tables and chairs for the Fest, and helped direct the volunteers.

By 9:30, other exhibitors began to come in, and while there was a bit of a delay due to the building not having enough 6-foot tables, we worked around it by using blocks of 8-foot tables and subdividing them into 6-foot spaces. Francois from Family Style, the lead organizer then started checking people in, and Monkey was then left to set up the table for the show.

By 10:30 or so, Monkey had the table set-up and started talking with neighbors (like the ever-friendly Kimmy Phi) and suddenly realized that he had forgotten our new product - the collaboration Steampunk Animal postcards! Oh nos! Fortunately, Seal was still at home working, so after a few phone calls, Seal had packed some cardboard and Simple Green (other things left behind necessary for the printing workshop), and the postcards, and would be on her way via bus.

The public started walking in about 10 minutes early (as they tend to do), and from then on, it was a fast 7 hours of talking with people who would stop by our table, trying to stay hydrated and well-fed, while we worked our creative magic during the live painting. Monkey painted a new zombie girl while the traffic was slow, but ended up stopping early as we fortunately got a lot of people stopping by for the rest of the Fest. We got lots of compliments on our new shirts, and were vastly unprepared for the positive response. We had ordered 17 extra shirts (besides the ones that were already sold via pre-order) and of those we had 3 misprints (which we sold at steep discounts). By the end of the Saturday, we had 4 shirts left and had sold out of the misprints.

Monkey was away from the table from about 3-5, as he was busy prepping, running, and then cleaning up after the silkscreen workshop. People seemed to enjoy it, and Monkey is happy to announce that he'll be soon running a more hands-on workshop at Big Umbrella Studios in the very near future. Unfortunately, he bit off a bit more than he could chew and some ink got dried up in some of his screens. While this can be a bit costly of a mistake if he can't get the ink out via power-washer, it is a good lesson learned on how to run the workshop in the future!

After we wrapped up the day at 6pm, we headed out via bus to the Mission district where there was an after-party mixer at Mission:Comics and Art, a cool new-ish space down on 20th st. Before going to the mixer we stopped by our favorite Mexican joint Mariachi's. After two big burritos there, we headed over to the mixer and got to hang out with the Family Style crew, as well as new friends Liz and Donna. We then headed home around 10.

We arrived back at our apartment around 11pm, then proceeded to print out more covers for the reprinted Bad Date Zine: No. 2. Monkey packed up more stuff to bring on Sunday for the bookbinding workshop he was running with bookbinding maverick Erin Fong. We then watched the latest episode of One Piece and then went to bed by 2am or so.

The next morning it was up at 8am. We were a bit late to catch the bus we wanted, but since most everything was set up, it wasn't a big deal and we ended up strolling into the Fest at 10:15. We set up the table again quickly (we had left most of the stuff locked in the building overnight) and Monkey then realized that he had foolishly only made singled-sided copies of BDZ2, effectively leaving out half the zine! We couldn't do anything about it at that point, so we re-worked the table, spreading out a bit to fill the spot of the sold-out zine, and as more prints and the shirts sold out, tweaked and reworked the table throughout the day.

Monkey left again at 12:15 to set-up for the bookbinding workshop, and returned at 1:30 to assist Seal in staffing the table. Monkey went on an interview with journalists from City College, and they then stopped by the table to film Seal live painting. Monkey and Seal would switch off between talking to customers and painting/eating snacks, and Seal then took a break to go and get a vegetarian plate from a nearby Mediterranean place. After Seal returned, Monkey then took a quick jaunt around the Fest to see what else was being sold, and was bummed when he found out that Vegansaurus' own Laura Beck's zine was already sold out! Drats!

Finally, at 5:40, Seal took off to go pick up the zippy we had rented to bring all of our stuff home. Monkey took down the table a bit after 6 (hoping for that last-minute sale), and then assisted all the other fine Zine Fest volunteers who took down tables, stacked chairs, and swept the humungo hall. By 6:30, Seal was back with the zippy and we packed up, said our good-byes, and were off!

Whew! It was quite a weekend (and quite a long post), and we're now taking it easy this Monday and are probably going to head off to Green Apple Bookstore (of which we are proudly and affiliate for) to further immerse ourselves in cool books, comics, and indie literature. Thanks again for stopping by, and we hope to see you next year at Zine Fest '11!

Paper Hat Productions Features: Francois Vigneault

Today's Paper Hat Productions' spotlight shines on the witty, ever-talented Francois Vigneault. One of the lead organizers of the San Francisco Zine Fest, this zine-producing, comic-creating, illustrator will be showing a series of illustrations painted on book covers, offering new takes on classic works of literature. Check out more of his awesome work over at his publishing company Family Style or at www.tourdefrancois.com.

Cool new zines: Ochre Ellipse 3 + Bird Brain

So Monkey is buddies with Jonas Madden-Conner of Family Style, but disclosure aside, his newest work Ochre Ellipse #3 is pretty amazing. Both Monkey and Seal have been re-reading it the past few days and we have to say that it is a damn good comic.

The illustrations are cute, but the overall storytelling shown here is damn good. The story follows a man of the future who travels back in time (a common recreational pursuit in the future) to try and revisit his childhood. The whole thing unfolds as smoothly as..well, something that unfolds really smoothly, and the ending is sure to pull at a few heartstrings (or you are a cold, dead human being).

Monkey is also buddies with Francois Vigneault, editor of Elfworld, creator of Friends, lead Family Style dude, and grand organizer of the SF Zine Fest. Francois also happens to be an avid bird watcher, and he mixes his love of comics and nature in his latest work, Bird Brain.

Filled with illustrations of various birds around the SF Bay Area mixed with hand-written observations, Bird Brain works well as it is such a personal work. Not only are there little stories about identifying birds, but there are little snippets of Francois' life while watching the birds, and the trips he took while checking them out.

We highly recommend heading over to Family Style to pick up a copy of each comic/zine ASAP (although Ochre Ellipse 3 isn't up yet, issues 1 + 2 are, and are also awesome) and you might as well browse the entire Family Style offering to find something great to read tonight!

Bird Brain #1

Our good friend, talented illustrator, independent publisher, and mastermind behind the SF Zine Fest, Francois Vigneault, has just started a blog for his newest zine, Bird Brain. Monkey was lucky enough to do an advance trade of Bad Date Zine 2 for a copy, and Francois' newest work is pretty damn spiffy! There are plenty of cool facts, great illustrations, and interesting excerpts from Francois' life looking out for birds in the SF Bay Area.

There are lots of fun page previews of Bird Brain at the blog, and until they get it up at the Family Style catalog you can pick up a copy at the Zine Fest at the Family Style table! Go now, and buy lots of stuff!