Small Business Saturday

Here in the US we celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. I've always viewed it as a great time to come together as family and friends, sit down over a great meal, and have no further expectations or actions associated with it.

In short, it's my favorite holiday of the year. Simple, warm, and full of friends.

The day after (or, more increasingly, the day of) Thanksgiving is the most commercial of the year - Black Friday. This is the day of the "big box stores" who deeply discount a handful of items (typically televisions) in order draw in the shopping crowds. In recent years there have been efforts to remind people of the small businesses out there that serve their communities in various ways. Businesses that rely on the custom of families and friends to stay open. Small Business Saturday.

Well, this year I thought Small Business Saturday would be the ideal time this for this small business to start planning out work for the following year. So, I urge anyone who needs some work in the tabletop wargaming and miniatures world to contact me to book some of my time. I'm taking bookings from March 2018 onwards, so if there's something that needs doing, let's talk about it.

Dave Taylor Miniatures provides a wide array of services:

Marketing and Promotions 
From planning to execution, I've worked with quite a few companies to build there presence in the marketplace, and target those customers who are most likely to be interested in their offering. Marketing and promotional planning offer an opportunity for me to flex my knowledge of the industry, the community, and the avenues to bring them both together.

Design and Layout
Over the last four years I've worked on various rulebook layout projects including: This Is Not A Test for World's End Publishing, Disposable Heroes II for Sinister Laboratories, Exiles for Mindworm Games, and Heroic for Winged Hussar Publishing. I have also put together a lot of articles and adverts for Wargames Illustrated and other magazines and online sources to help promote various games and miniatures ranges.

Photography
I've really enjoyed doing photography for rulebooks and other promotional needs, so I am always ready to do some more. My miniatures photography is featured in This Is Not A Test for World's End Publishing, Disposable Heroes II for Sinister Laboratories, and numerous Wargames Illustrated event coverage articles.

Hobby Content and Painting Commissions
I have built terrain and painted miniatures for both companies and private collectors. Where appropriate, I have also turned those projects into hobby content for websites. The prime examples of this are the work I have done for Ninja Division's Relic Knights, and the painting guides I created for Bolt Action from Warlord Games.

And a lot more...
In addition to all these things, I have also co-ordinated events, run retail booths at conventions, initiated licensing conversations, developed Kickstarter plans and supporting graphics, and created exciting touchstone items to excite communities.

When it comes down to it, my small business is all about helping other companies bring new product to market, or helping them sell more of their existing product. If you think your business could use my help, I'm happy to chat about the possibilities! Contact me here (in the comments below), via my Facebook page, or via email - tanithtaylor@gmail.com

Let's make 2018 a great year!

Happy New Year! and what has Dave Taylor Miniatures been up to?

Happy 2016, everyone!

It occurred to me, as I was thinking back over the last two years of what I'd call a successful start to a business, that I hadn't really given you all a rundown of what Dave Taylor Miniatures (my business) had been doing over that time to "keep the lights on" as it were.

Well, I figured it would be a good idea to give you a quick overview of what I've been able to do in my mission to help various companies bring new product to market, as well as selling more of their existing products. In alphabetical order, here's a list of the companies I've worked with and the things I've done for them:

Brigade Games - Sculpting, Painting, Photography
Broken Toad - Marketing and Promotional Planning
Cool Mini or Not - Marketing and Promotional Planning (more on this soon)
Dragon Forge Design - Sculpting, Painting, Photography
Geek Nation Tours - Writing, Painting, Photography
Grindhouse Games - Graphic Design, Painting, Photography
Infamy Miniatures - Graphic Design, Terrain building (more on this soon)
Ironheart Artisans - Photography
Mindworm Games - Marketing and Promotional Planning
Ninja Division - Hobby Content, Painting, Photography, Terrain Building
Riot Games - Graphic Design
Secret Weapon Miniatures - Sculpting, Community Management
Turbo Tape Games - Painting, Photography
Victoria Miniatures - Graphic Design, Product Consulting
Wargames Illustrated - Graphic Design, Painting, Terrain Building, Photography, Event Coverage, Writing
Warlord Games - Hobby Content, Painting, Photography
Winged Hussar Publishing - Graphic Design
World's End Publishing - Graphic Design, Photography, Promotional Consulting

I've also done a few non-miniatures related jobs, and worked on commissions for 14 other customers.

I'm really excited to see what the next two years might bring for Dave Taylor Miniatures. I'm really lucky to be able to work with so many wonderful people on such cool projects. Thank you all for your support!

Hope your outlook for 2016 is just as exciting : )

Cheers
Dave

This Is Not a Test! Launch code activated!

It has finally become a reality! Joey McGuire has been working on his own set of post-apocalypse skirmish rules (This Is Not a Test) for more than three years now. He has been diligently gaming and correcting, testing and tweaking his rules and slowly building up a nice set of miniatures to go along with them. Around this time last year I sat down with Joey and we chatted about the project, with me passing on some advice from my time in the gaming industry.

Shortly after, I was invited to take the photographs for his rulebook. Joey has amassed an incredible collection of miniatures and terrain over the years, so the photography was a delight. In one long day last June, we shot close to 300 photos ranging from individual miniature shots to complete table set-ups. That was a fun day - processing all those shots, not so much, but the results were well worth it.

At the beginning of this year, Joey invited me to do the layout for This Is Not a Test. He already had a lot of great artwork from various artists, the hundreds of photos from our shoot, and the rules completed. It was a simple thing to say yes, and after a couple of months work, going back and forth tightening and tweaking the look, Joey has finally been able to launch his 170-page set of rules and miniatures range.

The rules themselves owe a lot to the skirmish games of GW and others, but the have their own flavor too, so players can feel immediately familiar with certain mechanics, giving them the opportunity to explore the setting much more. With six different warbands to choose from (each with more than 10 different member types) there's something for everyone who loves the possibilities presented by a post-nuclear apocalyptic setting.

Check it all out at the World's End Publishing website, and keep up to date with all the latest news on his This Is Not a Test Facebook page. I hope you enjoy what you see. I know I've had a lot of fun helping Joey see his dream realized!

Cheers
Dave

Infamy!

Tesla in his workshop.

I'm very excited : )

I just wrapped up a great chat with an excellent guy who has a clear vision and a passion for quality. Via the wonders of modern technology, I was able to sit down at my desk in my basement in Baltimore, Maryland, sip on a coffee and talk with James Griffiths (of Infamy Miniatures) in his flat in Nottingham, England. 

What were we talking about? Well, secret stuff of course, but suffice to say that Dave Taylor Miniatures will be working on some fun stuff with Infamy Miniatures over the next few months. 

I recently interviewed James for a Wargames Illustrated article that will appear in the July issue, and it was during this interview that I really locked on to what it is about James' range of steampunk miniatures that I love. For many, the steampunk aesthetic is about the stylish inclusion of a cog (or seven) into a Victorian costume. For James it's a much more practical aesthetic where function is just important as form (if not more so). If the cog serves no purpose, it is unnecessary. If it's and integral part of an important, or even indulgent, functional mechanism (a cigar-rolling mechanism inside a top hat may have been discussed) then by all means include the mechanism.

Anyway, the real purpose of this post is to encourage you all to head on over to the Infamy Miniatures' Facebook page and click on the 'Like' button (should you be into Facebook and cool miniatures, that is). Do it soon too, as this Saturday James will be selecting a winner from among the many folks who like his page. Not only could you win a great selection of Infamy miniatures, but the person who recommended you like the page will win the Uberprize. In this case, of course, that would be me! This Uberprize has been growing over the last few weeks, and contains lots of fun models, excellent artwork prints, and special bits and pieces. 

So, if you'd like to help me out, and possibly win some goodies of your own, get on over to FB and 'Like' Infamy Miniatures.

Here are some other cool images I managed to wrestle away from James. Enjoy!

 The concept drawing for one of Tesla's technological marvels.

 Crimelord of the Docklands, The Toad, painted by John Keys.

 Big Ben, under construction. I just love the visual feel of Infamy's London!