Research and development for Netherworld Post Office began in the spring of 2020, and officially opened in 2024... lasting about a year or so before quietly pausing for several months again.
I have been building and selling graphic design services and artwork since the early 90s, so the mechanics of how to sell things and even make things were well known.
What I could never quite figure out what I wanted.
The mail? Yes, of course.
Monsters, ghosts? Mermaids, witches? Halloween? My absolute personal passions!
I love art.
I love making things, I love putting them into envelopes, I love mailing those envelopes to customers.
I love(d) small business. The back office, as I refer to the studio that pays for the research and development, was built as a fairly small business and most of my clients were similarly so.
The more I experimented with The Post, the less I became interested in the business of art business. Keep enough to keep the lights on, sure, but make more art as my driving force forward.
Month 01 of 12:
Organizing
The first thing you have to figure out is "what am I figuring out." The immediate paradox, (un?)fortunately is you can't know this until you're well on your way to beginning.
I am not a "have a hobby" person.
This would be the easiest, most sensible path forward, and one I entertained for quite some time during the initial research period, but I kept coming back to "I want more."
For awhile, I figured the answer would be a store expansion -- wholesale, customized work, an ever-growing catalog of product types and experiences, possibly brick-and-mortar or sesaonal pop-ups.
At first, I put Netherworld Post on pause in an attempt to tidy up the business aspects. Explore a larger expansion, reconsider supplies and printing, packing and mailing.
The impulse to pause allowed me to re-consider everything.
I want more... art. Not money, not industry power, not social fame, not luxury. I want to make more art.
Concept:
An expansive and ever building universe of monsters and witches, mermaids and ghosts.
In past projects, these revolved around small adventures and slice-of-life experiences.
Falling in love, battling in dungeons, grocery shopping, treasure hunting, really good coffee at a diner. I am collecting and editing what came before and re-shaping it into what comes next.
Production:
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Postcards. Inexpensive, broad subjects, one size.
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Not greeting cards. Postcards are significantly less expensive to produce, I can offer them at a lower retail price.
- Not art prints (per se). I want to focus on one size. Postcards can be framed, art prints can be mailed. Physcally, the only real difference between a postcard and an art print is an expectation of size, and the size I am choosing qualfiies for postcard postage, so anyone mailing them can save a few coins.
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Not greeting cards. Postcards are significantly less expensive to produce, I can offer them at a lower retail price.
- Zines. 8 pages, a bit smaller than the postcards in case someone wants to mail them together in an envelope.
- Stories and comics blog. Free to read online, no paywall.
There is an intense temptation to do all-the-things. Explore every aspect of everything: run a bake shop / bookstore / cafe / diner / dance hall / teaching studio / hot sauce / lighthouse vacation rental.
The frustrations of boundaries are the limits, but aside from creating much-needed focus, they build the space to become an audience. This both supports the arts that others make and continually enriches my life as a person.
