Hey all! There’s recently been some discussion in IRC and around the space about ways we can start promoting ourselves to continue growing our user base. We need to market ourselves. With that in mind, I’ve taken the time to write up a small “What Is The Hive?” document. This could be printed on small brochures, pamphlets, or can even be added to or replace current documents. Please take a few minutes to read and write down your thoughts. If we decide a marketing push is something we’d be interested in, I propose a small marketing budget to be used for printing out a few pamphlets, brochures, stickers for cars, or anything else that we think could be used to promote the space. Thank you!
Since for some reason I decided that email addresses are dumb and don’t need to be written down anywhere, I’m placing links to my brochure concepts here. These would still need refinement.
That hexagon one is awesome! There are a few nitpicks I have (under cornerstone members it is 16 extra minutes, maybe adjust some of the things under the membership benefits so it doesn’t look like we are half hotel half workshop :), etc), but none of those are visual things. Very nice work!
Maybe we could clean up the space a bit and get some more up to date photos for the backgrounds?
I believe the hexagon one would be fairly expensive to print, but it looks cool as crap!
Totally agree with Jon’s awesome response! You put the merit in meritocracy! The Hexagon is great. If it was printed 2-sided on 11"x17", we could laser cut the hex-fold cuts and have a folding party to make a batch, or was that already your plan?
Thanks for the feedback! Honestly, the hex one still needs to be copy-edited since it was a straight copy-paste. Cutting print outs on the laser cutter would be great since it would use lasers and the laser would make a slightly wide cut gap and make folding a lot easier. And yup, we need some cleaner photos that aren’t a year or 2 old :B
THESE ARE ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Way more than what I could have ever imagined or anticipated! The Hexagon folding one blew me away!
I think two runs would be a great idea. Maybe the Hex folding ones as promotional ones that we take to events, and the tri-fold ones to have laying around the space. The pictures are a little dated, I agree. Jon, could you write up a better Membership Benefits section? As these sit right now, I think once Joseph feels comfortable with his final design and Jon writes up a less hotel-like benefits section, we should get these printed ASAP!
Do you guys think we could get these completed before the end of the month? Let’s say, March 28th?
Thanks for the feedback, guys! Already planned on visual refinement for this week, that and I’m experimenting with different fold orders after watching everyone I handed the prototype to unfold it in pretty much the manner opposite to how I did… That’s just rearrangement, though.
I think the only thing that really concerns me is possible edge burning on the laser cutter, and mostly because I’d like all the edges to be visually similar. Ah well, we can cross that bridge when we get to it.
Definitely agree with having 2 different brochures. The tri-fold could also serve to be a less intimidating form to leave around other places, too, while we take the hex one to makerfaires and such.
Firstly, that is AMAZING. Blows anything I was working on out of the water, so I’m not even going to finish what I was working on. I would LOVE to help with this project in any way possible, whether folding, helping to cut them, or doing refining graphic work for a uniform finished product, whatever is needed.
Secondly, regarding cutting it on the laser cutter. I have had a lot of experience cutting paper or cardstock on the laser cutter over the years. There are a few problems/unique issues just to be aware of:
You will get a very slight discoloration on the edges (not really burning) and not very noticeable at all, even on white paper. You basically only notice it if you were the one who cut it and are being over critical of your work; most people who don’t know it was laser cut, won’t notice.
You can only cut ONE piece at a time, so you cannot stack up a bunch of pages, or even TWO pages, on top of each other and cut them. This is for two reasons, the first being that the laser blows air the whole time, and the top pages of the paper will blow around, roll up, and just generally cause problems when the laser is cutting. The second reason, is that either the pages underneath the top one will actually catch fire and burn, OR they will be terribly discolored from absorbing the smoke not being able to escape the layers.
Although you can only cut ONE item, you can cut it at the maximum speed of the laser! WOO!
It is really really difficult to line up the laser with the printed piece. This is intensified by the lack of the red sighting laser. The only way to align printed images, is to have a dot or an “x” where the edges of the cut should be in one corner and then trying your best to line up the laser from sight, then clicking the laser button (actually firing the laser and burning part of the paper) to match the lines. Even then it is hard to line up for other reasons.
TL;DR - The laser is a fast way to cut paper without really noticeable burnt edges, however you can only cut ONE at a time, and it is virtually impossible to line up correctly (especially without the red sighting laser). Based on a couple years of experience cutting printed paper and carstock on the laser.
As far as the Silhouette, I have a feeling that alignment issues will be a problem there as well. Also, I personally have no idea how it works, or IF it works.
Regarding cutting out the hex fold: don’t underestimate the speed of a few perfectionists with sharp knives and straight edges. I’d think 4-5 people could knock out a ton of brochures in a night once they got their technique down. Way more than the laser, at least.
Our laser has a combiner so the spotting laser and infrared laser follow the same path. The problem with ours is that the mounting bracket is a horrible threaded rod that is next to impossible to tighten. As a result when people slam the lid it always knocks it loose. We just need to mill a block to make a more rigid mount, but the people who work on the space right now have been busy with other things.
If someone wants to tackle this I will happily show them in person!
Do we have a portable 3D example of what the Hive does?
e.g.,
a 15" x 24" square channel frame with 4 small diameter rods going top to bottom with 2 support legs that swing out (cut, welded and milled at the Hive),
with the Hive logo hexagons (laser cut) on the rods
that are spun by servos (run by an Arduino)
when a sensor (assembled and soldered at the hive) detects someone approaching.
With a plastic bumble bee from one of the 3D printers astride one of the logo hexes.
Probably the closest thing we have currently is the “Galileo’s Finger” sculpture, which is mostly thanks to Jim’s hard work. (http://wiki.hive13.org/index.php/Galileo%27s_Finger) I believe it’s been taken to a few maker faires but it’s not super portable.
I was just thinking it would be cool to have a 3D-printable Hive13 bee mascot, I’ll see if I can draft one tonight…if anyone wants to help/compete let me know.
I am not that versed in 3D modeling, but once you have one mocked up, I would love to make it 2D like a “traditional” mascot image. I’ve been wanting to make a hive mascot for awhile!!!
Elly, you should take a stab at the 2D version yourself first! Always nice to have a few versions to mull over and maybe blend together. Plus a a front and side view in 2D is always helpful in making a 3D version.
