How amazing would wall size Eve Spaceship stickers be?
This is my story. It is not an indictment, or anger, or anything other than simple frustration.
Frankly I've come to the conclusion over the past few years that I may care about Eve more than any other living human being on the planet. This would not be unusual for me. Whatever I do, I have to throw myself into it 150%. I care about things. I think about them constantly. I trained myself, in many ways, to do this for the sake of my clients. In my career I have often found myself caring more about a client's business than they do. I've become better at managing that over the past decade, having to weather the loss of your dreams can do that to a person, but I still believe that caring is important. In many ways, it is essential. Otherwise, why bother?
Back before I became the Rixx Javix you know and love today, I was just an Eve Blogger. I ran a fansite and played Eve because I loved it. I ran a large advertising agency, was going thru a divorce and building a new life with the woman I loved. Back then, and this is almost six years ago, I had a thought. I could create and sell some unique t-shirts with Eve art on them. I didn't know anyone at CCP back then, so I asked around. It should be possible, I mean just Google it and you'll see that there are plenty of people doing it already. So I sent some emails and waited. And waited some more. And waited for almost 18 months without a reply. Eventually I decided that no one cared, so I built a store anwyay. Designed a few shirts. And started promoting it here in these pages. Some of you may still remember this.
The ban hammer came quickly. The store was not only brought down, but I was effectively banned from the site for over a year. (I've since gotten my account re-instated) I took this with a grain of salt. Obviously I knew that I couldn't sell Eve IP merchandise without an official license. Duh. But how to get an official license? So I decided to just build my audience and create awesome artwork and keep trying to get some attention. Not just for myself, but for all of us would-be Eve artists out here.
To be fair, lots of changes were happening inside of CCP during those years. People came and went, some merchandising deals were made that should not have been made, and generally things went along that way for a long time. So apparel was obviously a challenge. What else could I do that would be easier than t-shirts? That's when I had the idea that led to 142 Spaceship Posters. Even so it took a lot of posts like this, a ton of support from the community, and hundreds of tweets, before CCP started to pay attention. Even then, believe it or not, the first idea was t-shirts.
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| Original designs never seen publicly before |
Those designs were done, along with others, way back in the early fall of 2014. Today I'm wearing a "test-run" version of that Hurricane shirt. Eventually the t-shirt idea was set aside for the posters and we created some for Fanfest, they sold more than anything else, and then they went up for sale thru QMx Online. And believe me, I considered this a huge accomplishment. I had no idea that QMx shipping would end up being an issue, trust me all I heard was that a solution was around the corner. I have nothing to do with that just to be clear. I'm as frustrated as anyone. More so.
I'm just this guy, y'know? I love Eve and I love creating things. I can't help it. I can't stop doing it. When I wear my Hurricane t-shirt people ask me what it is and it starts conversations about Eve. I've had more than a few good conversations about Eve because of one t-shirt. That is what merchandise is supposed to do. That is what it does. It is us expressing ourselves in public. It is an extension of what we find interesting. It expands the brand. It tells a story. Or allows a story a chance to be told.
Imagine opening that laptop in Starbucks?
So to all of you contacting me about more posters, or about purchasing hi-res versions that you can print yourself, or where is the Eve Store... I don't have any answers for you. I'm as in the dark as you are. Right now, over on Amazon, someone is selling versions of my Eve Posters for less than retail. This is why I can't send anyone hi-res printable PDFs, because they might end up for sale on Amazon. I'm sorry about that, but as honest as you might be, once a print quality PDF leaves my control - it leaves my control. I respect the EVE IP and the rights that CCP owns. And while I often try to bend and push and challenge things, I will never knowingly cross that line.
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| More designs |
I wrote this post today because of all the questions, concerns, and messages I've gotten lately. I felt like I owed it to my fans/readers/etc to provide some answers. Or at least set the stage and give some history. I am not angry at CCP or anyone at CCP. In fact I respect everyone there tremendously. I've had nothing but the best from my dealings with them. And I hope that continues into the future.
All I know is that I won't give up hope. But I may start drawing dragons or robots or something.