August Production Blog (2/2) (Patreon)

Re-branding

This is something I've been meaning to talk about for awhile, but didn't the answers fully formed amidst the chaos around me (that is day-to-day survival.)

For the longest time ever, I felt deeply isolated primarily for the fact that I was mostly doing very niche furry art (even within the community itself, by it's alleged broad and open-minded standards) and catering to a very specific audience. This had been the voice I was most comfortable with because it was the most authentic version of myself. I don't do "safe" or "accessible" furry porn. I make hyper, borderline absurd muscle inflated furry content that cater to my own specific tastes (and to anyone else who shares that palate.) Pretty much from the get-go, I knew I wasn't hitting critical mass (pun intended) and there was no way I could compete with peers who had a significantly larger following.

I've always been vividly aware of my limitations in that aspect, and felt the strain of not being able to hit a substantial fan-base in order to be among the ranks of "commercially successful" indie creators. That's not to say that I got into all this with unrealistic expectations. For the most part, I started MEATIER SHOWERS not expecting it to even be self-sustaining.

As I watched industry peers on local soil continue to rise up the higher echelons of art society, it became very clear that the reason for what I outwardly perceive as "commercial success" was their ability to utilize G-rated content and tap into a larger pool of followers.

On a business level, it's very straight forward. That's why European comics are self-sustainable within their own soil, and rarely have to reach out beyond their borders. Likewise for Japan, their sheer volume alone sustains mainstream comics. Anything reaching international acclaim acts as a bonus multiplier for companies.

It is in that vein of frustration of not being able to hit that "sweet spot" of followers and (working wage) revenue that I started to have doubts about my own brands, like MEATIER SHOWERS for example. It was too niche, too inaccessible and relatively challenging and inadvisable to show potential clients and employers a portfolio of man boobs and log-for-schlongs. I'm constantly advised, as the generic cure-all for my ailments, is to do G-rated content. SIMPLE - as long as I was vocally homogeneous and bland as mainstream content - which is not what I want to be. And it's not the kinda of experiences I want to leave a legacy by, let alone waste my time and effort trying to pander to a crowd who's loyalties are as transient as the next big trend (let's all draw X because everyone else is drawing him and he's awesome!)

All that said, I actually caved into the financial pressures and decided to hit a wider audience as part of my marketing strategy, by tapping into the macrofur community. KAIJUICE was by design meant to attract more readers to that end, and was a title initially coined by myself for a friend's product line. During a local illustrator's festival, it suddenly occurred to me, despite her allowing me to go ahead with the name usage, that she had already produced a product line of stickers under KAIJUICE. I found myself contemplating if it was really necessary for me to be reusing the name. As much as I love puns and great ideas, my training as a storyboard artist has taught me never to cling onto an idea, or be too emotionally attached to them. As Joe Ranft once said, "Trust the process".

I was resolved to removing the KAIJUICE title, but what then? What was I going to call this project? At this point, I had already plotted ahead in my mind the third chapter in the KAIJUICE story arc. The more I thought about it, the truth was that it wasn't so much about macrofurs or Kaijus to begin with. I mean, those themes DO pop up visually in chapter one, yes, as you've currently seen in the page updates, but the THROUGHLINE of the whole story arc was never really about stomping cities and radioactive monsters in every chapter. It was ultimately (spoiler alert) about MEATIER SHOWERS and how it came to be. Project KAIJUICE from the very beginning was designed to be the ORIGIN STORIES of several characters, as well as the building, as a character in and of itself - MEATIER SHOWERS.

Epiphanies

In all this while that I had been trying to reach out to more readers, the story took on a life of its own and was rerouting me to where my voice would resonate in its truest volume... back home... back to MEATIER SHOWERS.

That made me re-assess my perspectives on what MEATIER SHOWERS meant to me as the creator. It wasn't just a title or product. It wasn't just a character or cast of characters. MEATIER SHOWERS is my true voice, the mechanism I built for myself to navigate the real world, and for the most part, has been the one thing I've been most proud of. WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING, ABANDONING IT FOR SOME PRETENTIOUS NAME!?

And so with all that expressed, I've been reworking my business strategies so that they divert value and content back to the MEATIER SHOWERS platforms. I have on hand right now, a new marketing campaign which will take awhile before I can actually implement - but there is a plan.

Product Overview

(Spoiler alert) The future titles and overall KAIJUICE story arc will take the following form, on top of the existing volumes:

Tanz & Groover Arc (existing chapters) Trade Paperback 1 

• Chapter 1 - Get Groovy
• Chapter 2 - Living Large
• Chapter 3 - You're the One

Pridestar Arc (existing chapters) 

• Chapter 4 - One More Time 
• Chapter 5 - Harder, Buffer, Faster, Stronger 
• Chapter 6 - Bulge Indulge 
• Chapter 6.5 - Baewatch (Patreon exclusive)

Origins Arc (work in progress)

• Chapter 7 - Supersized (2017)
• Chapter 8 - Critical Mass (2018)
• Chapter 9 - Pridestar (2019)

In short, I'm doubling-down on strengthening my core brand, better understanding what it means to me and how I can convert "weaknesses" into vantage points as well. You'd think I'd have known these things by now, this long into whatever I've been doing, but no. I'll still learning and finding my way to the future I want.

Snares
Aug 2017