Well, it’s been over a year since I first posted the Are You Happy? design on Typcut and here on Blog.H34. Since then, the design has been linked, tweeted, tumbled, blogged, requested, commented on, and discussed by people all over the world. However, until now, only about 100 people had the pleasure of hanging a print of the design in their home or place of work. During the first run, I ordered a small, limited number of prints, and packed, shipped, and serviced them each by hand. By the end of it all, however, I was exhausted, and felt like I wasted a lot of time (and quality) trying to do what could be better done by a larger professional organization. And so, in the last year, while a steady stream of comments rolled in requesting to be updated when a new run of prints becomes available, I worked to try and find a solution where the prints could be produced, shipped, and serviced under one roof.

Now, thanks to Moodgadget and Merchline, a renewed non-limited run of 18×24-inch prints is now available for purchase on The Moodgadget Store. Moodgadget, if you do not know, is an independent electronic record label dedicated to “exposing the diversity in electronically made music,” and has been my creative HQ for the last couple years. The Are You Happy? design first came about over a weekend in Ann Arbor for the art/music festival Forth From Its Hinges, in which numerous Moodgadget and parent-label Ghostly International artists were involved. So when Moodgadget opened a new storefront with Merchline, a company that provides top-quality printed and wearable merchandise to a premiere list of excellent design and music talents, the opportunity to make these prints available once again for those who wanted one (or two, or however many) finally became a reality. For those familiar with my work for Moodgadget, I have a few tee shirt designs already for sale on The Moodgadget Store.

So, the newest run of Are You Happy? prints is different from the first run in a few ways. First, while still printed on choicest quality 100% recycled French Speckletone paper using the same carefully selected eco-friendly water-based inks, it is a larger print at 18″x24″ (versus the previous run’s 12″x18″) on a lighter 100lb (vs. 140lb) stock, using a screen that was burnt using a singular method, versus the hyrbid method employed before. The lighter weight stock makes the print tube-friendly for more convenient shipping (although you should use care when unrolling!) Second, while the first run was a limited one of only 100 regular and 25 hand-tea-stained, each one signed, this new run is not limited, so you can buy as many as you would like, but these prints are not signed. Third, the price for the new run isn’t terribly higher at all– for the rest of this year (read: holiday season) a print will cost $25.00 USD (plus tax and shipping), and I am fairly confident will ship internationally. In 2011, they will go up to $30.00 USD. Finally, and most importantly, as I was handling everything in the first run, Merchline is now the handler for this renewed run, that means that any issues or questions regarding your personal order should be handled through Merchline’s support center, I cannot help with those kinds of matters (and I’m glad, Merchline is much more well-equipped to help if something comes up).

I’d like to say thanks to all of you who are viewing the design, for supporting independent design & artistry, and for realizing the simple secret to keeping things in perspective when it comes to happiness. Feel free to comment here if you have any stories you’d like to share, general questions about the project, or to leave your support. Specific questions regarding use of the design in other projects or websites, etc., can be directed as always, to info at h34dup dot com.

Posted in Design Posted by on Nov 16 2010 03:42 pm

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