I decided to add this extra post today in regards to what I enjoy about presentation. When I get the opportunity to throw some bells and whistles onto a project that I really enjoy, I tend to have a lot of fun doing it. That is of course if time allows. I was able to come up with a nice package presentation for the Necronomicon prop, but not for the baby mold that I did previously.
For me, presentation is the icing on the cake. It’s my way of taking that excitement that my client has for the product they commissioned me to create and elevate it that much more. I don’t do it for the sake of making a gaudy spectacle as I like to think of myself as professional. I do it because I want them to remember the product as well as the experience of working with me. It’s an opportunity to put a little more magic into the job. And if I like doing the job, I like to think the end result is that much better.
I decided to cut my own box from a sheet of cardboard I had lying around. This way I could tailor it to the shape of the book. I added a separate area below to store the jaw bones and replica claws that I wanted to send as well. I never used them, but the client paid for them so I thought that maybe he could use them as set dressing for the shoot.
The box ended up to be really slick. I think I might cut my own boxes more often to mail items. I closed it up and thought it looked pretty dull. I had the idea of writing all over it….but I didn’t have THAT much time. I then thought a cool idea would be to have the sigil from the book on the box. And of course potato stamp came to mind! Hah, no really, that’s what popped into my head. I haven’t done a potato stamp since I was a kid. But it turned out to be really easy to do and the effect was spot on with a little ink:
Here we have the book in place and the jaws and claws safe below. I then put the book in a bubble wrap sleeve that I had and I then packed everything firmly into place with packing peanuts:
I closed it up and added the stamps. I almost just taped it shut, but that didn’t fit. I mean, I put that much work into it, tape would be out of place and boring! I almost just used one strip of leather and shut it with wax, but I didn’t have any red wax and I also thought that would be too fragile to ship. So I wrapped it up with leather straps and tied it shut. Simple loop to pull open and free it it quickly and easily:
After that I placed it inside a mailing box with some more packing materials and sent it off to the client. He received it quickly and he loved the presentation. He e-mailed me to let me know that he took photos of the package before opening it! I would call that a success.
So that’s my 2 cents on presentation. I really think it can be a useful tool in how the client sees you, but also a way to keep you excited in the work.
If you’d like to see how I made this prop, start here: Part 1
Josh Hagen 