Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls T-shirt picture and phrasing

Hi All

Apologies for the delay in moving this on a stage ... I won't bore you with the reasons/story.

After looking at all the votes and counting in three different ways ... (you can tell I'm a mathematician) ... including straight winner, weighted winner etc ...

The winner was

Computer

Question 1

I've had my hubby do two original hand drawings. No copyright problems. So now you need to vote.

1. Computer and keyboard
2. Laptop and coffee cup

I'm also going to add three more options to the vote as I can do some 'swapping and changing' between, if you want.

3. Computer and keyboard - also include the coffee cup
4. Laptop - remove the coffee cup
5. Don't like them, can he do another please?



NOTE: If you vote for one with the cup in it ... please, please type below whether you would like some kind of 'fandom' thing to go on the cup, or leave it as it is. My hubby has hidden a diamond shield on both pictures, but a 'fandom' logo of some sort would really stand out on the cup.

Question 2

The issue of the 'phrase' we have chosen came up in the last thread. While it was the clear winner in the voting some people expressed concern over the tone of the second sentence. If this concern were to be resolved then there could be more sales. Alternatively, you may feel that changing the second sentence lessens the impact and therefore less sales would follow.

What do you think?

1. Leave it as is: It's a Fanfic thing. You wouldn't understand.
2. Remove the second sentence completely: It's a Fanfic thing.
3. Substitute something else for the second sentence: It's a Fanfic thing. FoLC will understand. (NOT to be taken as final ... just an example)


NOTE: If you vote for 3 then please give suggestions.

What picture do you want? single choice

Computer and keyboard (25%, 3 Votes)

Laptop and coffee cup (67%, 8 Votes)

Computer and keyboard - also include the coffee cup (8%, 1 Votes)

Laptop - remove the coffee cup (0%, 0 Votes)

Don't like them, can he do another? (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Votes: 12 Voting on this poll ends: 06/01/14 01:00 AM

Shall we change the phrase? single choice

Leave it as it is: It's a Fanfic thing. You wouldn't understand. (17%, 2 Votes)

Remove the second sentence: It's a Fanfic thing. (58%, 7 Votes)

Substitute something else for the second sentence: It's a Fanfic thing. ##### PLEASE GIVE SUGGESTIONS (25%, 3 Votes)

Total Votes: 12 Voting on this poll ends: 06/01/14 01:00 AM

Laptop and tea (as I choose to interpret it - maybe some of Clark's oolong??). I think I like the plain mug.

"It's a Fanfic thing." - short, simple, less condescending than "you wouldn't understand" and non-fandom specific.

Thanks for all your (and your hubby's) hard work, KK.

Great job, KK...and great artwork by your hubby (love the hidden shields in the pics ).

I voted for the laptop with the coffee cup--and probably prefer the coffee cup as it is shown in the pic above.

And I, too, voted for making the slogan 'It's a Fanfic thing'--I think it does the job the best

THANKS!
Laura

Thanks for your comments.

Please, please can everyone vote.

I've voted for "substitute second sentence for something else". I feel it needs something. It stops too short otherwise. But, at the moment I can't think of anything that flows nicely. I will swap my own vote to "It's a Fanfic thing" if nothing comes of this.

I think it would be good to keep the shirt fandom-neutral (aside from this hidden El shield, which I love). I don't like the second sentence as it is, but I would be equally happy if it were eliminated or if it were changed.

Perhaps the second sentence could be something like, "Come join us in our other worlds," or "Living in two worlds." Maybe it could be a spoof of the bumper sticker that says, "My other car's a <fill in the blank with name of luxury car>. Our second sentence might say something like, "My other world's more fun." I'm not completely happy with any of my suggestions, since I would prefer the saying not to seem too escapist, but perhaps my ideas might spark someone else's imagination and they could come up with something better. Hmmm.. How about, "Sparking imaginations one reader at a time" or "Celebrating other worlds"?

Victoria, I second the thanks others have given to both you and your husband for all your work on this. And an extra thanks for including in this poll the question about whether to have the second sentence.

Joy,
Lynn

Both awesome!! I like Chakram's suggestion of it being Oolong Tea. Maybe adding a the little tag/string to the mug with "Oolong Tea" on it? It could also be fun to add some other "easter eggs" to it, which would still keep it more or less non-fandom specific. Like maybe having only the LOIS&CLARK keys on the keyboard labeled?

As for the slogan. I'm cool with just the "It's a fanfic thing." (I do want to nitpick because I'm an editor and it's niggling at me... the fanfic shouldn't be capitalized. I know this isn't the final mockup, though, and I'm open to hearing other opinions if people want it capitalized. :))

Thanks so much KK and hubby!

Sara

I capitalised the Fanfic to kind of inflate the importance of the word, to indicate some bigger, global thing, to turn it into a 'name' of a phenomenon. Grr, I can't really explain the idea I was getting at.

Anyway. I'll deal with that on the next round ... or maybe more people could comment about this.

How about Lapsang Souchong? That seems to me to be a less common tea than Oolong, and therefore something that would be more easily recognized by those in the know as being an L&C reference.

I can see both sides of the capitalization argument. I'm fine with either a majuscule or a minuscule initial letter.

Joy,
Lynn

Ah! I get it! Not sure how I feel about it, but that's because I spend all day editing in mostly AP style, lol. I'd love to hear other people's comments, too. Maybe FANFIC for emphasis? Not exactly what you're after, tho...

Sara

Ha! I was just kidding around about the tea. I'm not a coffee drinker at all, so I always interpret steaming mugs as tea. And I'm almost exclusively an oolong drinker (also, regular black Lipton). But I'm totally down with actually making the mug Clark's oolong, if that's what everyone else wants!

I really like this tea idea--a nice little bit added in for the show to personalize the shirts. And can see using either 'fanfic'/'Fanfic'/'FANFIC'...

Any ways to make the shirts more 'L&C-specific' sound great to me.

Turning out great--excited

Laura

One way, if there's color added to the design, is to make the stripes on the mug: Blue, Red, and Yellow.

Thanks for all your comments. Keep voting and keep commenting please.

Hubby is going to add a dangling tea tab to the cup.

Ideas for any other 'hidden' things please. Doesn't even have to be LnC ... what about a Star Trek symbol, or an Avengers 'A' ... ?

I'm not suggesting anything that stands out as obvious, but some more things that could be 'in' jokes for other fandoms as well as our own. In fact, are there people on here, who write for LnC, but also write for another fandom? Surely you want to cover both? *shrug*

Hmmm...I actually like that it's a more neutral design, than heavily "fandomized." I love the hidden Superman shields - after all, this is for a fundraiser for a Superman fanfic site. I'd feel weird about it if it suddenly contained a Batman symbol, or the One Ring, or some Harry Potter wand.

I also think the neutral design (still containing the hidden shields) is actually MORE encompassing of fanfic as a whole - I don't even like Star Trek, so why would my ficcing contain a Star Trek symbol, but I do write for Xena, so why would a chakram be missing - that sort of thing, know what I mean? I'd also prefer not to see the design get "bogged down" with all sorts of other things thrown into the design (on of the reasons why I didn't like the "messy desk" idea - it was just too busy for me).

Very cool that your hubby is adding a tea tab!

I had thought I had posted the following earlier this morning, but it seems to have disappeared, so I'll retry:

Could we work the number 42 into the design somewhere for HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy? I had originally thought that the tea bag tab could indicate a price of 42 cents, but choosing a particular currency might lessen the worldwide appeal -- not to mention that that radio show/TV show/movie/book series originated in Great Britain.

Perhaps we could have the tea bag tab say, "Earl Grey." that would represent ST:TNG in particular, and the entire ST franchise in general.

Joy,
Lynn

I completely agree with DC. This is the only fanfic I read. Even though I love Harry Potter and Buffy, I've never had any desire to read fanfic from either. It must be because this site and the people who come here are so wonderful.

Disclaimer: I must admit I am enjoying the Superman in Other Canon FanFic I've been reading here. I don't see that as too big of an exception since I'm reading it here, though.

I'm only involved with this fandom and only read L&C fanfic, so having it geared in this show's direction would appeal most to me (but fundraiser-wise, if this would effect the money raised, I could see adding some hidden things from other fandoms for that purpose--of helping the fundraiser. Whatever is best for the fundraiser...).

I agree in liking the simplicity of the t-shirt design currently--and I love that there is going to be a tea tab coming out of the mug

Thanks,
Laura