A New Way Measure Progress

In an effort to better share my project progression with you all, my limited artistic talent produced the image (currently) seen on the right. Apparently, better ways exist.
Below you will see my "mindmap". This "map" provides a little more insight into the different projects I'm working on; where I'm at, where I've been, and where I'm (tentatively) going.

Take a look at the interactive image below and leave me a bit of feedback (here or facebook)... it is appreciated.

100% Fulfilled, but not Done.

The final international sets have been shipped today. Thanks to all of you that pledged toward this project I have been able to take a virtual concept and bring it to tangible reality. Many of you have been asking what the future holds for the Medieval Game Pieces collection. After much consideration I've come to a few decisions on where I want to take the collection and how I want to get there.

When it comes to my creations, I am a perfectionist. I was the kid in school that never finished his art projects, not because he wasn't interested, but because the vision was so strong it has to be done "right". Since then I have learned to suppress a lot of those tendencies.

I look at the Medieval Settlement and City pieces and find a great sense of satisfaction in the design. Frequently, throughout the production of the pieces I would say to myself, "Wow! I made this." I'm drawn in to the streets below and feel the geometry of the buildings come alive. The colors are distinguishable and closely reflect the original pieces. There is very little, if anything I would change on the two designs. I am, however, slightly disheartened by a portion of the end product.

One goal behind the project was to eliminate the bubbles that decapitate the trees and plague the country side. And that goal has been met. Though I still struggled with decapitated trees on vary degrees, overall the process to remove the bubbles kept the issue under control. The side effect to the process was the creation of bubbles to the underside of the pieces. Though not noticeable on the game board, to its creator it brings me some shame knowing what lies beneath. Does it ultimately matter? No. But as I pursue the creation of new products, I want to improve.

My biggest regret is my inability to offer the pieces on this website at the same price that I made them available during the Kickstarter project. Unforeseen was the great investment of time needed to produce the pieces. A subject that I hope to expound upon in a future blog post where I draw out in detail my experiences and assessments of the entire project. On the bright side, there are processes out there that can help reduce the production cost by a significant amount, but not with some more funds.

It is with much eagerness that I plan to continue my development of new products that may assist in the acquisition of equipment that will help facilitate a cheaper production process for the Medieval Game Piece collection. From there, I would be able to continue to roll out new pieces for the collection and explore new games to create pieces for.

In the meantime, I will continue to offer the Medieval Game Pieces on this blog and develop my true surround sound headphones.
Again, thanks to everyone who pledged and supported the Medieval Settlements and Cities project.

Kickstarter Funded

What a great response. From January 15th to March 1st the Kickstarter project ran for my Medieval Settlements and Cities. Thanks to 79 backers the project surpassed its goal of $1500, raising nearly $2500 in pledges. I good portion of those backers are thanks to a few of you who passed on the word.

The past week I have been working on refining my casting techniques in preparations for making the 3960 pieces for those the backed the project. The vacuum pump and chamber purchased, as promised, with the money has dramatically improved upon the quality of the pieces. There are still logistics and some other minor cosmetic issues to iron out before the "full-scale" reproduction process can begin.

I have already received some emails from some of you who did not find out about Medieval Settlements and Cities until it was too late. Never-fear, sometime during the production of the 3960 I will be releasing an ordering system (possibly via this blog) so that you too can enjoy these pieces. Stay informed on any further developments into a Nathaniel Custom e-store by following this blog or joining me on facebook.

The Wait Is Over

After some holiday season delays the moment has arrived. I am proud to annouce the launch of Nathaniel Custom's Medieval Settlements and Cities on KickStarter.com.

I won't bore you with pictures of the City model or any of the details behind the project... please take a few minutes to visit my KickStarter project to read up on the project and watch the 2 minute video. If you don't have time now, be sure to bookmark the page, but don't wait too long, the project will only run for 45 days.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ncustom/medieval-settlement-and-city-game-pieces