Thanks for your Bullshit
over 5 years ago – Tue, Sep 11, 2018 at 05:20:59 PM

Hey! 

Just a quick note to announce that submissions for the bonus card are now closed. I've got 318 entries, many of which are pure Arcane gold. Thanks a ton to everyone who contributed.  I'm really looking forward to judging the merit of your nonsense phrases!

I'll judge them over the next couple of days, and narrow it down to a list of 10. Then I'll run a poll so that we, as a weird family, can determine the winner. If that doesn't work for whatever reason, I'll just choose something.

Also, if you know of anyone who didn't have a chance to back the Kickstarter, I've started taking pre-orders for the second wave of Bullshit that should land around March 2019. You can send your friends to check that out here: https://arcane-bullshit.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders.

If you ARE a backer and want to add to your order, you'll be able to do that in about a week, when I send out the surveys. 

Rest in Bullshit, 

-Evan

Bullshit, Season 2
over 5 years ago – Fri, Sep 07, 2018 at 11:10:19 PM

Hey Bullshitters!

Every time I sit down to write one of these updates I always tell myself "this one will be super short"....Well, as you can tell by the completely unnecessary and self-indulgent preamble, this one probably won't be super short. 

First of all, I had to have a special pump installed on my face to keep me from drowning in tears of joy this week. It's a metaphorical pump, but try to imagine what an actual one would look like. I'm walking around, trying to live a normal life with thick streams of tear-water pouring endlessly out of my eyes...then, intermittently, this (probably super noisy) industrial-looking headgear kicks in to suck up all the tears. It's attached to a super cumbersome backpack that converts the tears into drinking water, or Gatorade or something. Anyway, the point (obviously) is that I'm really happy.

The campaign is over. Arcane Bullshit is ridiculously funded. And I am immensely grateful to everyone who pitched in. I'm just one person and, on top of that I'm an artist, so I didn't even run the best possible campaign. The support has been completely, surprisingly overwhelming. I try not to mix too much sincerity into these updates, but I am sincerely thankful.  

Now, actual information:

Backer Survey Stuff

I'll be sending out backer surveys in a week or two. This will let me collect your shipping info, and ask any other relevant questions. Please submit to this process peacefully.

Pre-orders

I've had some requests from folks who missed out on the Kickstarter, regarding pre-orders. If you want to reserve yourself a deck, I'll be collecting pre-orders via Backerkit. I assure you that you are special, but not AS special as a Kickstarter backer, so you likely won't get your deck until Spring 2019. You'll be able to access the pre-order store via the Kickstarter page AND arcanebullshit.com, so tell all your friends. 

Art Updates

I've been working on a million things, most of which I'm sure you couldn't possibly care about, but here they are anyway:

• Final touches for the completely new Goat Worshipper pin and Big Sexy Satan patch (I've had to simplify the designs a bit, but in a good way).
• Working with (graphic designer) Joel to complete the design for the card backs. This is looking REALLY good. I'll post a WIP design below. You're going to want it printed on posters, bedsheets, the inside of your eyelids, etc. It's great.
• Concepts for the front of the box are nearly complete. I may ask you folks to vote once I have a few done. I may also leak these on Instagram, so check that out.
• I've been chatting with my printer, who suggested that there may be some benefits to doing the edges of the cards in BLACK instead of metallic. I think this would be super cool, but let's get your thoughts. I know I promised shiny. 

Bonus Card

I'm still taking submissions for Bonus card ideas. If you haven't already, please add your idea to the google form. The link is here: https://goo.gl/forms/hJxX6BGarvKEsZ6o2. The password is "hidden" in the August 23rd update. The deadline is September 10, at midnight. After that, I'll pick my favourite 10. Here are some guidelines that may help you come up with an idea that will win me over: 

• Try to balance something that could be seriously mystical and profound, with something utterly ridiculous.
• Keep the visuals in mind. It has to look AND sound stupid.
• I don't like drawing things that have complicated perspective, or overlapping layers, because I have the design sense of a cave painter. Ask yourself "can Evan actually draw this?"

I think that's pretty much it for now. The next time you hear from me I'll have a short-list of Bonus card ideas for you to vote on. 

-Evan

Full of Shit
over 5 years ago – Tue, Sep 04, 2018 at 12:34:51 AM

Greetings Children of Bullshit!

We are in the final 48 hours of this fabulous mess! If you've been reading these updates, you've followed my emotional trajectory from childlike wonder, to blackened hollowness – but now I'm just fucking ecstatic again. So many more essentially meaningless number-based milestones! 800% funding! Over 1,000 backers! 675 hours spent on a previously unknown plane of worry and dread! Haha, just kidding. I am very confident and trustworthy ;)

Here are some more things: 

Surveys

I will be sending out surveys after the campaign ends to collect your mailing info. I'm using a service called BackerKit that will also make it easy for you to add extra stuff to your orders if you're so inclined. If you've already added extra stuff, they'll make it easy to ensure that you get that stuff. 

Stretch Goals

We unlocked the $66,666 stretch goal, so everybody's getting extra stuff! If you've been with me from the beginning you've seen me change my mind about this goal a couple times. I decided that, to keep things simple, I'd just add more small things to this incredible bundle of nonsense. So now EVERYBODY who has pledged at the "Shit Starter" tier or higher is ALSO getting a Big Sexy Satan patch, and a Goat Worshipper pin. Absolutely nobody asked for this, but you're fucking getting it! Don't make me turn this car around.

Oh yeah, because of the apparent magic of stretch goals, I added a new stretch goal for one billion dollars. Each of you just needs to convince 100,000 of your closest friends to contribute one dollar, and I'll purchase barren land in the Arctic wilderness where I'll create Arcane Bullshit, the Town. My vision is for a super cold, bear-infested Buffalo New York. Get to work!

Bonus Card

Don't forget the deadline to submit your idea for the BONUS card is next Monday, Sept. 10. I will whittle that down to a lean 10 ideas, then we can all vote and I'll start drawing frantically.

Anyway, here we are. So much more Bullshit to follow. Here's a drawing to remind you that time is running out, in so many different ways.

End.

Shit Happens
over 5 years ago – Thu, Aug 30, 2018 at 11:34:17 PM

Hey all!

I'm still here. Still working to make this Kickstarter great. Still staring into a crystal urn, looking for patterns in the crow semen. Do crows have semen? I mean, I ~totally~ know, I just wanted to see if YOU knew. 

AAAAAnd elegant segue into another joyless bulleted list of updates:

• Thank you! With five days left to go, we're over 850 strong. That's 850 people who want to predict the future using 100 pictures of bread. That's right! I'm pivoting, as they say, and the whole deck is now just pictures of bread. Isn't that great? Ok, just kidding. Please remain confident in my leadership. No bread. I promise.
• If you've just joined recently, don't be intimidated by all our familiar banter in the comments. I know it seems like we're a happy family that doesn't need you, but we're all desperately lonely. Join in and express all your weird feelings. Go on. 
• I've been businessing extra hard to make sure I can handle this volume of awesomeness, and I'm feeling very good about the level of business-ship I have achieved. 
• We reached 666% funding, so the bonus card print stretch goal is unlocked! Let me just reiterate that EVERYONE from the 10 dollar pledge level on up is now getting: the thing you pledged for, 1 sticker, 1 patch, 1 enamel pin, AND a limited-edition print of whatever the bonus card ends up being. Deck pledgers also get the mystical velvet carrying sachel. 
• Don't forget to use this form: https://goo.gl/forms/30IfDazVLQF9Kldj1 and the secret password I put in a previous update to add your idea to the bonus card ideas list. There are 185 suggestions in there currently, and only 5% of them are jokes about Shia Laboeuf. Shia Laboeuf, if that was you, please stop. 
• At the end of the campaign I'm going to send everyone surveys so I can get your order information. PREPARE THINE INBOXES. 
• I added another reward tier for retailers. Retailers, you can now grab 10 decks for just 200 bucks. I'll be collecting your urine soon to verify that you are, in fact, a retailer.

I've also been working on some rough designs for the backs of the cards with my designer pal, Joel. I know some of you had requested that the design be symmetrical, but we wanted to fit as much nonsense symbolism in there as possible, with no repetition. We're still designing the cards to be "direction agnostic", so it will only really be clear which way is up and which is down once you're familiar with the cards. Here is a small preview of some of the early sketches:

That's it! 

Smells like Magic
over 5 years ago – Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 09:30:41 PM

Greetings Acolytes!

This is the final week and everything has stayed fresh, just like the ancient pizza box under my porch foretold. Thanks again to everyone who has supported the project by pledging, or by putting locks of burning hair into an off-brand discman whilst reading from a 1974 TV-Guide.  Thine collective will hast been manifestialized. 

A couple of new things:

• I've added mock-ups for most of the stretch rewards to the project page, so check those out. Here's the mock-up of the tarot bag, which is shaping up to be pretty cool: 

• I added one new stretch goal that we're already pretty close to reaching. If we get to $53,280 (666%), I'm going to make prints of the (currently non-existent) bonus card and send them out the EVERYONE who is already getting something in the mail. 
• Speaking of the bonus card, I've got a survey going where you can submit your ideas if you like. The deadline to submit will be Monday September 10 at midnight. Check the last update for a link to that survey. Extreme gratitude to the 149 of you who have already contributed.
• 7 out of 10 of the King Shit rewards have been claimed, which is super exciting. If that's you, start thinking of ideas for your custom Arcane Bullshit print. Message me through Kickstarter to submit them anytime. The sooner the better.

I think that's everything I wanted to say for now! Keep telling everyone you know about the project, especially if they are famous. Tell your non-famous friends too, but maybe also gently encourage them to become famous.

Yours in Bullshit, 

-Evan