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Proof that we're really sorry and we absolutely do not want this to happen again – we've already started brainstorming solutions for next year, while we're still working on 2013 stuff. When I had some down time at work today I did some concept sketches for [supah sekrit solution] and next year's main website design.

Hi guys! I'm the gal who handles picking and pitching the themes to the chair and marketing teams for each year. First off, I want to say I'm really excited you guys have taken the time to create a feedback thread on this. I didn't know people were that involved in our themes, since it usually sticks to just the artwork and visual image of the con. Hopefully it's something we can work on integrating into more events (love the parade of nations idea). I really wanted a mystery-themed stamp rally for the Steampunk theme but we couldn't get it off the ground. I think our folks at Stage Zero will fo a great job integrating sports, though, cause they are pumped!

We picked the sports theme to tie into a genre of anime we haven't yet covered (as a well-loved sub-genre of anime, it's pretty nerdy) AND with the 2012 Olympics. For this reason, the characters will actually be depicted in Olympic sport uniforms (swim suits, etc) and Team Fanime track suits as well. Sports each character will represent are tennis (Prince of Tennis), beach volley ball (DOA), soccer (Inazuma Eleven), rythmic gymnastics (Ranma and several other anime feature this sport), and track & field (Battle Athletes). However, any sport is welcome for cosplay and fun! :)

I'm loving some of the suggestions here... especially folklore, Fanime 500 (go, Speedracer!), and under the sea. I'm definitely adding those to the pool of ideas! As for K/J-pop and visual kei.. we did rock/pop music in 2009, so though Visual Kei is more extreme in costuming, those would be too close. Similar thing for Cybergoth. Our cyberpunk theme was actually infused with a bit of gothic lolita style (doing an over-the-top sweet lolita theme would still be valid, though). Pokemon is an actual licensed title, so there would be a very fine legal line to walk between parody and copyright. It's also a very specific thing that people are attached to. I like to keep the themes a bit more generalized. Dolly kei would be neat for a "Fairy Tale" theme, though! To the person who suggested dolls.. though you mention Victorian dolls, a BJD theme IS in my pool of ideas. :) Trying to keep it more closely associated to Asian culture, hence the BJD focus.

Keep the suggestions coming.. I like to brainstorm all year for coming years, and keep a running tab of my favorite ideas in a notepad file. :)

When and where will the arebooks be available for purchase? The DA site says Artist Alley and this thread says Dealers. I'd like to know so I don't miss the chance to buy one

Artist Alley; forgot to update the thread, sorry!

Thanks for the votes, guys! They've been added to the tally. Voting is now closed.  :)

All the awesome entries have been received for our artbook fanart contest and now it's time for the fans to pick their winner! Please visit: http://s648.photobucket.com/albums/uu201/fanimecon_artists/artbook_contest/?albumview=grid

Pick your favorite entry and private message me with the subject "Fan's Art Contest Vote." Please format your message like this:

Entry ## (this is your most favorite piece)

You have until Friday, April 24th to get in your votes! Any votes after that will not be counted. Thanks everyone! :D

Just a note, everyone! There are only 5 days left to enter the contest! You can find a list of the entries so far on fanimecon.deviantart.com. :)

Hey guys, the deadline has been pushed back to April 3. :}

Fetta, have you been posting this on every con's forum? That first post is verbatim one I read on Anime Evolution's forum. This topic was posted on DeviantArt by a fairly well known artist, and the reaction was far from positive. Also, you posted the same followup about tickets.

This is just my opinion, but in no way, under any circumstance, should a convention tax its artists. Ever. Not only is it a financial/logistical nightmare for the artist, on top of taxes we have to pay to state, local and federal levels - it's a nightmare for the convention staff. Fanime will have around 200 tables this year. Who's going to police 200 or more artists and request forms and receipts from all of them? Some artists make a lot of money in AA, but it's maybe $2000-$3000 at most (only the most popular reach those figures.. maybe less artists than you can count on two hands). Subtract the costs of attendance (airfare, food, hotel, registration), cost of materials (paper, ink, printing, etc) and state and federal taxes. Artists in AA really don't reap a ton of profit. Think about the other 90% of artists who are lucky to make a couple hundred bucks, if at all. Personally I barely break even for the cost of my stay. Moreover, the very idea is very unfriendly to the fostering of a  creative and open, independent atmosphere. It seems like a very big-business thing to do. Any con willing to implement a practice such as taxing artists deserves the significant drop in artist attendance they would inevitably incur.

Cost
$20 (subject to change, but not likely to)

Thank you! I'm so ready to buy it then.

But where specifically will it be sold during Fanime?
Dealers Room booth? Info booth? Artist Alley booth?

Dealer's Room. :} There's usually a table that sells Fanime merch (except the main t-shirts) and serves kind of as the Dealer's Infobooth. It will likely be sold there.

[Major Update!]

Major Update!

Hello, everyone! Firstly, I want to thank everyone who has expressed interest here and contributed their thoughtfulness and suggestions! In the interests in staying true to our motto, "By Fans, For Fans," we feel we should create more of a doujinshi-style artbook that includes not only Fanime artwork archives and comics, but fan art as well!

By creating a doujinshi-style book, we are able to keep costs low so that more fans can purchase copies at a reasonable price. Finances are tight for everyone, including Fanime, which is why we want to make sure we don't pass astronomical printing prices onto our fans!  Additionally, we feel that a nice paperback book would feel more home-grown, as is Fanime itself. We know a hardback pretty would be delicious, and certainly our fans are worth it! However, we decided that being able to shave $15 from the cover price would make an important difference!

We got budget approved and now we're ready to make this thing happen!

Details
So here are the new details on the book! Please disregard the old information.

Content
Chronicles the artwork produced by Fanime's Artist Pool over the last 5 years! We're hoping to include to short manga chapters from two of our staff artists as well as a sketch/work in progress gallery. But, we also decided thanks to the input of many fans, that it wouldn't be a proper Fanime book if we didn't have fan contributions! See below for information on the contest.

Size/Specs
A4, 8.264inx11.694in. Paperback, perfect-bound with a full color cover and full color interior pages (except manga in black and white). Page Count TBD, at least 68 pages.

Cost
$20 (subject to change, but not likely to)

Editions are limited! The first pressing will only run 250 copies. It is not yet known whether Fanime will pursue a second run as we are doing this as a special celebration of our 15th year. If they are snapped up quickly, we may consider printing more. If not, we will continue to sell them until they are gone and that will be it.

About the Contest

By popular demand, we will hold a fanart contest! However, it will be slightly unconventional. There will not be a traditional ranking of 1st, 2nd, 3rd. There will be three winners in the following categories: Artist Pool Favorite, Staff Favorite and Fan Favorite! Each of the three winning pieces will be printed on a full page and the artist will receive one free copy of the artbook, signed by the artist staff (and maybe even sketched in, if you ask nicely!). There will also be a gallery of runners up that will be printed in the book in much smaller spaces, similar to fanart sections of magazines. Unfortunately, the runners up will not be elligible to receive free copies of the book, but will be able to be recognized for their hardwork by being printed and seen by hundreds of fans!

Fans will have until Friday, March 13th, 2009 to submit their pieces! That's just under one month, folks. It may seem soon, but we need to get the selection process underway so we can get the book to print in April.

Rules/Details
1) Deadline: 11:59PM, Pacific Time, March 13, 2009. NO ENTRIES SUBMITTED AFTER THIS DATE WILL BE ACCEPTED.

2) Content: Your fanart must be an illustration or drawing featuring at least one of Fanime's five mascots: Amber, Becky, Candy, Damien and/or Elliot. http://fanimecon.deviantart.com/art/Fanime-Character-Sheet-113001063. Sorry, no photography or writing allowed; this is strictly an illustration-based project.

3)The characters can be featured in any theme from the last five years (Urban/College Students, Cyberpunk Gothic & Lolita, Space Odyssey, Feudal Japan or Music/J-rock) OR you may come up with any situation or theme of your choice, within good reason.

4)Absolutely NO hentai, yaoi or yuri! Anything of an exaggerated sexual nature will be declined. We have a wide range of attendee ages in our audience of which we have to be considerate. Romantic situations are welcome, of any gender pairing, but please keep it PG. (For the record, Amber/Damien and Elliot/Candy are considered "canon" in the Fanime universe.. aka in the artist pool's brains. LOL)

5) Media: Any media, traditional or digital, color or black and white, is accepted, so long as the file you submit meets our requirements.

6) File Submission:
- You MUST submit a CMYK digital file or scan of 300 dpi or higher
- File size should be 8.514in x 11.944in. This is bigger than the book size to allow for trimming during the printing process.
- Vertical orientation preferred but not required. If you have a neat idea for a landscape, square or oval design, go for it, but make sure your piece is at least 8.514in wide.
- All art should be sent to [email protected]. Please avoid sending attachments larger than 5MB! We may not receive them! Use a free file hosting service such as YouSendIt.com or MegaUpload, and send us a link.

7) Info to be published with your artwork if it wins:
Title of the Piece: (Optional)
Name you would like published: (Required!)
Age: (Optional)
Location: (Optional)
Website or DeviantArt URL: (Optional)

8) Info we need for legal and logistical purposes (will NOT be shared with anyone!)
Your Legal Name:
Your Age:
Your Address:
Your Contact Number:
Your Contact E-mail:

9) Agreement: By submitting your work you certify the following:
- Fanime has permission to reprint your work as part of the "Fanime 15th Anniversary Artbook" without compensation other than outlined in the prizes section.
- Artwork becomes property of FanimeCon, as all characters are copyright FanimeCon, however FanimeCon will NOT use your artwork in any profitable projects outside this artbook. As artists ourselves, we respect artists rights.
- You are over the age of 18 OR you have received parental permission to participate.
- The artwork is 100% your creation! Copying or tracing is prohibited. All members of the artist team are active on DeviantArt. We all love anime genre's across the gamut. Don't think we won't know.
- You are not and never have been part of the FanimeCon artist staff.

10) Winners for each category will be chosen by vote. Artist Pool will vote on their favorite, Staff Pick votes will be held at a staff meeting. Depending on the number of entries, the Fan Favorite category will be isolated into 10-20 finalists on which fans can vote. Final voting will be held via poll on this forum.

Please feel free to post with any questions!

Hi guys! We're still ironing out the details of this as things got pretty crazy over the holidays. Hopefully after this weekend we will have more solid details.

Althena: The book will be full color, yes, with a black and white section for a doujinshi/omake style chapter. As for prizes, yes, I was never considering a cash or goods prize, only a copy of the book and a credit, maybe a fan profile. Forseeably we could probably award three full books. Any more than that might be difficult, as the staff artists will also be receiving free books, the run is very limited and Fanime will be making very little from them. Printing books is expensive, but we also want to keep the price low so fans can actually afford them. :}

Ewu is right; Mainly this is a compilation of Fanime's official artwork thus far. I feel that a special section for fanart would be appropriate and I will move to get that included. It wouldn't be FANime without the fans, afterall. :}

Hi, everyone, sorry its taken me a bit to get back here and reply. Thanks for all your feedback! To address some things:

I like the idea of taking some fan submissions, but as I'm sure the response would be huge and space is limited, I think it might be a good idea to have a contest for a fan section, where Fanime artists and board members would choose their favorites.. and maybe we can have a page of art grid, like many Japanese magazines have for their fanart. I'll have to pitch it and discuss the logistics with my higher ups! But there are also legal issues such as compensation, et-cetera, which realistically wouldn't have money to give prizes for everyone. Maybe to the top three. But it's really something I'd have to discuss.

As far as Fanime photos, we really want to keep this illustration and character focused, and there are a lot of legal issues with publishing photographs of people; generally you have to get release forms from every individual who appears, and this would be logistically difficult. Some publications don't, but Fanime believes on cooperating with the full extent of the law, and its better to make sure everyone's rights are protected. However, the fanclub on DeviantArt accepts event photo submissions for its favorites gallery, so by all means head over to fanimecon.deviantart.com and share the photos you may have uploaded to DA!

Some people have expressed some concerns about the cost of the project. This is a special project and would not significantly take away from our guests or programming activities. It's a very limited run, maybe only 250 or 500 copies. Also rest assured, being a fan myself who collects many artbooks, I want to keep the price reasonable so the most fans have means to purchase it. Lets just say it'll be likely cheaper than most artbooks you can by at Kinokuniya. ;]

We're shooting for around eighty pages, hardback with dust jacket, size A4 (a bit larger than letter size). The artists who are currently on staff will be contributing profiles and self-portraits, and we will also have one, maybe two omake manga chapters featuring the Fanime mascots.

There will be a section for concept sketches and character details as well. :}

[New Update!]

New Update!

All is said and done for the contest, the entries were fantastic and the voting was close! The books have been sent to print and will be available for purchase on 5/22 in Artist Alley for $25 incl. tax. There will be an awards ceremony for the art contest winners on Friday, 5/22 at 4pm on Stage Zero. Come check it out and help us celebrate this truly By Fans, For Fans project!

Old Update!

Hello, everyone! Firstly, I want to thank everyone who has expressed interest here and contributed their thoughtfulness and suggestions! In the interests in staying true to our motto, "By Fans, For Fans," we feel we should create more of a doujinshi-style artbook that includes not only Fanime artwork archives and comics, but fan art as well!

By creating a doujinshi-style book, we are able to keep costs low so that more fans can purchase copies at a reasonable price. Finances are tight for everyone, including Fanime, which is why we want to make sure we don't pass astronomical printing prices onto our fans!  Additionally, we feel that a nice paperback book would feel more home-grown, as is Fanime itself. We know a hardback pretty would be delicious, and certainly our fans are worth it! However, we decided that being able to shave $15 from the cover price would make an important difference!

We got budget approved and now we're ready to make this thing happen!

Details
So here are the new details on the book! Please disregard the old information.

Content
Chronicles the artwork produced by Fanime's Artist Pool over the last 5 years! We're hoping to include to short manga chapters from two of our staff artists as well as a sketch/work in progress gallery. But, we also decided thanks to the input of many fans, that it wouldn't be a proper Fanime book if we didn't have fan contributions! See below for information on the contest.

Size/Specs
A4, 8.264inx11.694in. Paperback, perfect-bound with a full color cover and full color interior pages (except manga in black and white). Page Count TBD, at least 68 pages.

Cost
$20 (subject to change, but not likely to)

Editions are limited! The first pressing will only run 250 copies. It is not yet known whether Fanime will pursue a second run as we are doing this as a special celebration of our 15th year. If they are snapped up quickly, we may consider printing more. If not, we will continue to sell them until they are gone and that will be it.

About the Contest

By popular demand, we will hold a fanart contest! However, it will be slightly unconventional. There will not be a traditional ranking of 1st, 2nd, 3rd. There will be three winners in the following categories: Artist Pool Favorite, Staff Favorite and Fan Favorite! Each of the three winning pieces will be printed on a full page and the artist will receive one free copy of the artbook, signed by the artist staff (and maybe even sketched in, if you ask nicely!). There will also be a gallery of runners up that will be printed in the book in much smaller spaces, similar to fanart sections of magazines. Unfortunately, the runners up will not be elligible to receive free copies of the book, but will be able to be recognized for their hardwork by being printed and seen by hundreds of fans!

Fans will have until Friday, April 3rd, 2009 to submit their pieces! That's just under one month, folks. It may seem soon, but we need to get the selection process underway so we can get the book to print in April.

Rules/Details
1) Deadline: 11:59PM, Pacific Time, April 3rd, 2009. NO ENTRIES SUBMITTED AFTER THIS DATE WILL BE ACCEPTED.

2) Content: Your fanart must be an illustration or drawing featuring at least one of Fanime's five mascots: Amber, Becky, Candy, Damien and/or Elliot. http://fanimecon.deviantart.com/art/Fanime-Character-Sheet-113001063. Sorry, no photography or writing allowed; this is strictly an illustration-based project.

3)The characters can be featured in any theme from the last five years (Urban/College Students, Cyberpunk Gothic & Lolita, Space Odyssey, Feudal Japan or Music/J-rock) OR you may come up with any situation or theme of your choice, within good reason.

4)Absolutely NO hentai, yaoi or yuri! Anything of an exaggerated sexual nature will be declined. We have a wide range of attendee ages in our audience of which we have to be considerate. Romantic situations are welcome, of any gender pairing, but please keep it PG. (For the record, Amber/Damien and Elliot/Candy are considered "canon" in the Fanime universe.. aka in the artist pool's brains. LOL)

5) Media: Any media, traditional or digital, color or black and white, is accepted, so long as the file you submit meets our requirements.

6) File Submission:
- You MUST submit a CMYK digital file or scan of 300 dpi or higher
- File size should be 8.514in x 11.944in. This is bigger than the book size to allow for trimming during the printing process.
- Vertical orientation preferred but not required. If you have a neat idea for a landscape, square or oval design, go for it, but make sure your piece is at least 8.514in wide.
- All art should be sent to [email protected]. Please avoid sending attachments larger than 5MB! We may not receive them! Use a free file hosting service such as YouSendIt.com or MegaUpload, and send us a link.

7) Info to be published with your artwork if it wins:
Title of the Piece: (Optional)
Name you would like published: (Required!)
Age: (Optional)
Location: (Optional)
Website or DeviantArt URL: (Optional)

8) Info we need for legal and logistical purposes (will NOT be shared with anyone!)
Your Legal Name:
Your Age:
Your Address:
Your Contact Number:
Your Contact E-mail:

9) Agreement: By submitting your work you certify the following:
- Fanime has permission to reprint your work as part of the "Fanime 15th Anniversary Artbook" without compensation other than outlined in the prizes section.
- Artwork becomes property of FanimeCon, as all characters are copyright FanimeCon, however FanimeCon will NOT use your artwork in any profitable projects outside this artbook. As artists ourselves, we respect artists rights.
- You are over the age of 18 OR you have received parental permission to participate.
- The artwork is 100% your creation! Copying or tracing is prohibited. All members of the artist team are active on DeviantArt. We all love anime genre's across the gamut. Don't think we won't know.
- You are not and never have been part of the FanimeCon artist staff.

10) Winners for each category will be chosen by vote. Artist Pool will vote on their favorite, Staff Pick votes will be held at a staff meeting. Depending on the number of entries, the Fan Favorite category will be isolated into 10-20 finalists on which fans can vote. Final voting will be held via poll on this forum.

Please feel free to post with any questions!

--------------------------------------
Old Post:

2009 will be the 15th anniversary of FanimeCon! Woo! We have been throwing around the idea of putting together a special, limited edition commemorative artbook to collect mascot artwork from the last several years of Fanime. The artbook would contain illustrations spanning the last 5 years of the convention, Fanime character profiles, artist profiles and maybe even a short manga featuring the Fanime characters. It will be a nice hardback book with a dustjacket, like anime and manga artbooks one can purchase from their favorite series.

We'd like your feedback on interest in this project! To get this project approved, we need to make sure there will be enough fan interest and demand, so please post your thoughts and feelings. :}

Bettina Kurkoski--creator of TP's "My Cat Loki" and has worked on a few other titles for them (Star Wars, Warriors)
Svetlana Chmakova--creator or TP's "DramaCon"

A majority of North American manga-inspired artists that are published leave something to be desired (IMO), but these two floor me in their ability to tell a compelling and expressive story. Bettina in particular has, in my opinion, the finest skills of published OEL authors. She also seems like a happy go lucky, down to earth gal! She's been a guest at a couple east coast/mid-west cons, but with Fanime's "By Fans, For Fans" mantra, I think they'd both be great to have as success stories and experience of North American manga fans/artists.

I just saw this thread. I usually help out with the T-shirt planning and design each year. I wanted to say your suggestions have been duly noted (in addition to Milton the Marketing Man(tm)'s, who is above my authority).  :) I can't make any promises either, but I've sent in a suggestion. I did the blue, pink and tan chibi shirts that were available in 2005/2006 but it didn't hit me that they had stopped making them.

I'll see about getting black ones made, if I can. ;] Only in the girl's size though because we cant confuse them with the staff shirts. Again no promises, but I feel ya and I'm seeing what I can do.

Hiya, everyone! I'm the Artist Pool Manager & Theme Coordinator for FanimeCon. I thought I would post a few things about this year's theme that you might find interesting, or things to look forward to regarding our characters.

The official theme for the year is "Feudal Japan." As always, we will be making sure we retain our cool/fun image you all know so well, while promoting the sophistication and elegance of the theme. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do... it's been a blast developing the artwork and characters for this year.

Aout the characters. Some of you may know the names of our characters already, but I describe their features anyway for those who don't. This year, our characters have been put in the universe of fuedal Japan and they have been given occupations/class status to reflect it. The characters will be consistantly be portrayed in these roles in most cases.

Amber: This is the quiet girl with long black hair. This year, she's a skilled female ninja (daughter of the leader of a the leading clan).

Becky: This is the perky light-brown haired girl with pig tails. She's the fairly non-specific class, the daughter of a middle class family.

Candy: Candy is the girl with wavey, firey orange-red hair. This year she's featured as a princess.

Damien: He's the casual cool brown-haired guy. He's the son of a merchant who is helping run the family business with his father. He and Amber have a little connection... ;]

Elliot: This is the confident blonde guy with glasses. He plays the role of a swordsman for this year's theme.


The artwork currently on the website are the works of Wen-M and Myself (colors) and were only meant for promotional purposes. Hopefully we will have the finished artwork for the website up soon.