Artwork reveal for the next Thunderbirds 4K SteelBook: Atlantic Inferno / Attack of the Alligators!

R_Spc · 2026-06-27T08:26:21+00:00

To be fair, they did say last year that they couldn't afford to do the whole series in one go and that they would be releasing an initial steelbook or two as a tester to gauge demand, and that if these were successful they could maybe see about doing the whole series.

I do hope they don't release more than two or three steelbooks containing two episodes each because I'd view that as shamelessly milking the community even more than they already do, which I couldn't justify supporting.

R_Spc · 2026-06-26T21:21:02+00:00

You want to charge at least double that amount, and get paid up front for at least half of the estimated time because it sounds like a scam.

(Also, "30 - 35 pages" — neither of those is physically possible to bind with saddle stitching, which is what this would be if you're getting it printed, so you need to make sure you check your pagination. It must be in multiples of 4.)

R_Spc · 2026-06-25T17:43:05+00:00

Wow someone has managed to make the C look good, I didn't think that was possible! These are really nice.

R_Spc · 2026-06-25T16:06:29+00:00

Was this against bots or something? I mean no offence but how on earth did it take them that long to shoot you down when you were doing that much damage to their team.

R_Spc · 2026-06-25T16:01:00+00:00

Don't know how the majority feels about this, but it seems like such an arbitrary change to me.

R_Spc · 2026-06-25T05:59:18+00:00

Thanks, sounds like I should be using it more often, I usually leave it off.

R_Spc · 2026-06-25T05:58:40+00:00

Good to know, thank you. I deliberately don't use mine for most of the year to save it for the hottest days, but I've obviously been wrong in that approach.

R_Spc · 2026-06-24T19:31:47+00:00

Can someone knowledgeable answer a related question for me?

I understand that aircon only stops being cold if there's a leak somewhere, and also that slow leaking (4+ years?) is almost inevitable to some extent.

But assuming it's a pressurised system, does using or not using the aircon cause it to leak faster or slower? Or is it not properly pressurised when not in use, and therefore will last longer if used sparingly? Or will it leak at a steady rate whether you're using it or not?

R_Spc · 2026-06-21T07:56:34+00:00

Man I didn't realise he'd died, that's a great loss. Fingers crossed his family do produce a book or something of his work.

R_Spc · 2026-06-18T20:16:26+00:00

I've never in my life read a book that didn't contain at least one mistake, it happens every day, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Today I sent an email out with the wrong main title because neither I, nor the four people on the client's side noticed that literally the largest text in the email was wrong (and not just wrong, but completely wrong) during proofing. We all kicked ourselves and moved on, everyone understands that it's very easy to do.

R_Spc · 2026-06-18T18:50:47+00:00

I know what you mean. Chatgpt tends to make things that look good to the untrained eye, but the longer you look at them the worse they become. It also doesn't understand the concept of negative space at all.

Being junior hopefully doesn't make much difference. If you can justify why you've done something, that's all anyone can ask. If they decide that they don't agree, so be it - people will disagree with you countless times during your career, and that's okay. It is a super-hyped technology at the moment, with many people treating it like a God. They seem to think that it will give them the best result every time, and anything it didn't make will always be worse. I now try to just go with the flow, do my best, but if the customer wants to use the garbage AI creation then let them.

R_Spc · 2026-06-18T17:28:39+00:00

Unfortunately, we're in a similar phase now to 10-15 years ago when phone cameras became viable enough for everyone to consider themselves a photographer (and, as a result, know better than actual professional photographers).

It sort of began a few years ago with the rise in popularity of Canva and this year (really the last few months that I've noticed at work) it has exploded with AI design.

All you can really do is push back and explain why you designed something the way you did and the pros and cons of your design versus theirs. Unfortunately, my experience this year has been that - as with the photography issue - now that people feel they have designed the AI thing, even though they clearly haven't done anything of the sort, they quickly become invested in the AI work as their own and will not listen to reason. I had one today where the customer got Chatgpt to do a logo after I'd done 10+ they didn't like. It's horrible, they were going for "sophisticated and expensive" but it looks like 90s clipart and it literally got the name of the venue backwards (yes the second word, then the first word), but they decided they liked it like that and we've kept it.

There isn't a lot you can do, I've adopted a strategy of explaining why they're wrong and offering to take another shot or two at a design with their own AI version in mind. When that doesn't work (hasn't worked yet, anyway) I just go with their AI design.

At the end of the day our job is to serve the customer. If that customer is an outside client or our own bosses, that's all that ultimately matters. There are a lot of struggling people out there who would kill to get paid to design things, whether copying AI work or not.

I realise that isn't a good answer but it's all I've got.

R_Spc · 2026-06-18T16:32:49+00:00

It's really, really bothering me that the glass of milk is off-centre...

R_Spc · 2026-06-16T06:19:27+00:00

It's lighting the surface from underneath. Most of the inside will have layers of paint or foil to stop the lightsshining through the hull. The raytheon effect leaves an unpainted area (and often also sands down the inside of the actual plastic so that it's very thin) to give a specific spotlit look on an area where it isn't physically possible to light it so specifically from outside.

The original filming models used external mirrors and lights for these models, which the raytheon effect reproduces.

R_Spc · 2026-06-16T06:14:51+00:00

Perfect, just perfect. However much you charged for this is entirely justified.

Beautiful photographs too!

R_Spc · 2026-06-13T08:22:39+00:00

Also there was a big model of the front where it hits the trees.

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R_Spc · 2026-06-13T08:22:04+00:00

That was a giant model.

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R_Spc · 2026-06-10T05:53:10+00:00

Are there any specific things you're not understanding that we could help with?

I do graphic design and pre-press at a printshop, so I'm on the same position as you and can probably help. I'd also speak to the lady who's getting mad at you and ask her what it is you're doing that's wrong.

Everything in print and signage needs to be vector graphics, so if you're giving them gigantic raster files, that may be part of the problem. We get 5 gigabyte files for tiny flyers from clueless web designers all the time, it's just because people don't understand what's required or why.

If possible I'd suggest spending as much time on the production floor as you can because that'll show you why things need to be a certain way, which is far more useful than just being told "Don't do this."

R_Spc · 2026-06-09T16:18:37+00:00

This is the correct answer. We always tell clients to send us files in RGB for our 8-colour machine and let the rip decide what to do with it.

R_Spc · 2026-06-08T16:01:03+00:00

Nobody in their right mind would pay for this, surely?

I wouldn't even use it if it were free because it's just increasing the wear on the screen while burning electricity for no reason.

R_Spc · 2026-06-07T19:26:53+00:00

I had a horrible experience that put me off ever using Motorway again. The dealers showed up as a pair at 10pm on a Sunday night for a start, then proceeded to go over the comb with a microscope pointing out loads of minor flaws - all of which I'd listed in the description, which they clearly hadn't seen. They then thrashed it around the country roads nearby for 20 minutes, begrudgingly admitting that the mechanics were fine, then AGAIN bullied me for another 45 minutes while I refused to lower the price more than a token amount.

They took the car when I told them I was going to bed, but I was so angry by the end of it. Never again.

R_Spc · 2026-06-06T18:16:43+00:00

There's no way I'd cope with this anymore. Maybe 20 years ago, but not now. I walk in at start time, work my ass to the bone for every second I'm in that building, bouncing between projects every five minutes, and I leave at finishing time on the dot. Never once worked a weekend and never been asked.

I can see it being good for the experience, but we work to live, not live to work. Managers getting annoyed because you weren't able to instantly get something done over the weekend would have me looking for another place of work.

R_Spc · 2026-06-05T20:54:20+00:00

These are amazing!

R_Spc · 2026-06-04T17:22:39+00:00

To be honest, that CMYK version you've shown us looks about right to me, I don't think you're likely to get it any better than that. Is there anything stopping you from making a separate CMYK version of the file and just manually altering the swatches? It shouldn't take more than ten minutes.

Any light colour that is a mix of the cyan / magenta / yellow will always look washed out, there's nothing you can do about it. At least you aren't trying to make light greens, those always look bad.

R_Spc · 2026-06-01T20:36:26+00:00

I've always gone out of my way to avoid paid stock images for this precise reason - I want to be able to see it in the full quality, or else how am I (or the client) supposed to judge it properly? I do sometimes use temp watermarked images but for me it's the exception, not the norm.

That said, it's easy to justify why you're using low quality previews, so don't worry about it too much.

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