Motor City Nightmares

Today I took in Motor City Nightmares armed with three custom autograph cards.  Motor City Nightmares is like a comic-con, but completely horror genre themed.  This was the 12th iteration of the convention, but my first time partaking.

In looking at the guest list there were a some really cool attendees, a few of which I'd gotten autographs on custom cards in the past.  Two names stood out that I'd not yet gotten autographs from that I thought would be fun for custom cards.  Those two being Traci Lords and Thom Mathews.

For these I made autograph cards, that's to sat they're different from the vintage inspired designs my cards are usually done in.  I've been doing more of these lately just for my personal autograph collection.  I like the challenge of it being an original design of my own and figuring out how to best design a card around the anticipated autograph.  With a vintage inspired custom card the design stands on it's own and getting an autograph on them is a great bonus.  With an autograph card the signature is the centerpiece and the card is incomplete without it, so it's a different kind of approach to the design.  I also have to research those particular signatures to make sure that the way they sign their name will fit with how I design the card.

I'm a big fan of Traci Lords and B quality movies from the '80s/early '90s ... which Lords appeared in a number of.  The card to the far left is from the movie Shock 'Em Dead.  It's a movie that combines horror and heavy metal so I just adore it, lol.  The movie is very "of its time".  

I spent a lot of time on this card, mainly because it didn't turn out anything like I pictured in my mind.  The way I pictured it turned out to have a much too busy composition for my liking.  It just didn't flow nicely as I would have hoped.  What I ended up with was better than what I initially had in mind I feel.  One thing I really wanted to incorporate somehow was the double guitar that the demon used in the movie. I thought of a way to use a vectored version of it as the "K" in Shock with a custom movie text logo.  It's not something I'd normally do, but the movie really doesn't have a  recognizable signature font logo like a lot of movies do, so I was okay taking the liberty.  I think the way that element turned out is just as fun to look at as Traci herself, and the signature ties it all together.

The next two cards were done with a template I had made previously.  I tend to use this design for horror movie autographs.  It works best when the movie has a text logo and some sort of secondary logo or graphic image specific to the movie.  I did one for Not of This Earth because, c'mon, Traci Lords and one of Thom Mathews from Friday the 13th Part VI.  It's also worth noting I brought my own Sharpies to color coordinate the autographs to the cards for that extra little touch because, like I said, the autograph is the key to the design.

I also wanted to do cards of Thom from Return of the Living Dead and its sequel, but I ran out of time enough to make those.  I've had a lot going on outside the card thing lately.  I also wanted to get some VHS slip covers auto'd but resources are not unlimited and when it's a choice between those and cards, well, I'm a card guy first.  I did pick up an issue of Fangoria that I was looking for at a decent price, so that was an unexpected win.

As for the signers they were both pleasant.  I wish I could have chatted them up a little but, and I think I mentioned it before in other posts, I'm a pretty awkward/introverted person.  It would have come off about as well as Chris Farley interviewing Paul McCartney.  So, I just get the autographs say "thank you" and sort of fade away.