Author: BandOfOne

Band Of One Website Design

Posted on December 22, 2022 by BandOfOne

The Band Of One website has been long overdue a proper redesign. I finally found the time to put my plans into action to make this site into a proper home for my comics and animations.

One of the features of the new design I’m most excited about is if you visit the website on a desktop computer, you will see the comic strips presented in full page format as originally intended.

However if you choose to land here on your phone or tablet, you will find a mobile friendly vertical scroll format. In many ways I like this even better!

Certainly with some of the Warped comics the long vertical panels feel tailor-made for this infinite scrolling format. It makes for a very satisfying reading experience.

If you were in need of an excuse to catch up on what we’ve been producing at Band Of One inc recently, then now is a great time to do so.

Website design is a fluid concept, especially in my hands. I’m sure more changes will come, so if you happen to find anything broken or confusing please reach out and let me know. I can then work on making this site the best it can be. 

Anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of the new design may like to know I used WordPress and more specifically the Toocheke theme which is purpose built for webcomics

A doff of the cap to Brad and Dave at ComicLab Podcast for suggesting Toocheke as a CMS. I’ve been a long time fan of their podcasting pursuits from even before ComicLab and you can’t go too far wrong listening to their show for advice with the added bonus that they are always highly entertaining. 

Happy holidays!

Lawless Comic Con

Posted on June 16, 2022 by BandOfOne
Judge Dredd 2000AD

There I am, in the small press room at Lawless Comic Con. The main attractions of the event are drawing the crowds so it’s fairly quiet, but the steady trickle of folks coming by my table seem genuinely interested. Real comic fans looking for new comics. Marvellous.

Lawless is my second con and I feel a bit more relaxed. I’m able to have some real conversations with people, instead of trying to immediately sell them something.

An older gentleman walks up to my table and comments on one of the sketches I’ve got for sale. He compliments my art and asks a few questions, then he points at a Krazy Kat sketch and says he recognises it. “That’s an old one isn’t it?”, Oh boy, if you want to get me chatting about comics then here we go! I’ve just read the biography, “Krazy” about the creator George Herriman. As I’m getting warmed up on the topic, I notice a hush has gone around our little room and attention seems to have focused on my table. As I’m talking, I take in the gentleman’s lanyard which only exhibitors and guests at the show have on. He’s holding it subtly turned away so his name is not visible, and I realise that this is probably one of the big name guests – who I should know, yet am entirely ignorant of. The gentleman seems also to have noticed the change in vibe around the room, we exchange nice to have met you’s, and he moves on. As he approaches another table I hear someone say “Hi, Brian”, and my hunch is confirmed that I did in fact just meet Brian Bolland, whose name I’m aware of, but clearly not as aware as everyone else in this building. Brian WAS the main attraction drawing all the crowds which I mentioned earlier. People were queing for hours to meet him. Thoroughly nice chap, and anytime you’d like to continue a discussion of Krazy Kat Mr.Bolland, I’d be most happy.

Coming from an animation background – and not being a huge 2000AD fan – it was a weekend of admitting my ignorance to people. That moment was the coup de grâce.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the table either to chat or purchase something. It’s always lovely to meet some new folks and hopefully some of you will find your way here to see what else I have going on.

I’m off to read Batman: The Killing Joke and ease my ignorance for the next Lawless Comic Con.

See you at the next con in September.

Band Of One Table at Lawless Comic Con
Lawless Comic Con 2022. Main Room
The Krazy Kat Sketch
Cosplay at Lawless Comic Con
Cosplay at Lawless Comic Con
Cosplay at Lawless Comic Con
Classic Comic Art Gallery @ Lawless Comic Con 2022

The Beatles, Get Back: Deadlines

Posted on May 5, 2022 by BandOfOne

I’ve been watching the new Peter Jackson Beatles documentary, Get Back. Aside from feeling like you are actually there whilst they make the album which is pretty special, it’s also a tremendous opportunity to sit and watch their creative process at work. 

Both as individuals and as a group I think there are lessons to be found that stretch beyond music and apply to any creative endeavour. 

The first lesson that struck me was SET YOURSELF DEADLINES.

The whole documentary only covers about 21 days and when the group ‘come together’ at the start they have a handful of fairly vague song ideas and yet they confidently plan to record an album and perform a live concert of 14 brand new songs in about 2 and a half weeks time.

Obviously they are veterans at this point and they know what they are capable of, but it still feels like this is quite a stretch and I feel like the deadline is the only thing that forces creative decisions to be made. 

In my own experience a deadline fires synapses in the brain that would otherwise lie dormant. I can have half formed ideas in a notepad that go nowhere until I give myself a deadline and then suddenly I’m able to connect the dots to complete the picture.