First Glas Deliveries, Packaging And More
Glas deliveries have started!
This week has been super-busy. Three slipcases arrived - the “advance party” ahead of the main pallet that will come next week. The slipcases are the last component of the Glas “product”. This lets me measure up all the packaging accurately, which I assure you is not a simple thing. But I only need one slipcase to do this, so I have two spare. What should I do with them?
The obvious answer is to deliver two copies of Glas to Kickstarter backers here in Skye. I am extremely grateful to all my backers, who made Glas possible. I have a number of supporters in Skye, so it made sense to get two copies to local backers as soon as possible.
One delivery was simplicity itself, involving just walking up the road. The other resulted in a gorgeous drive through Skye during an epic sunset.
I really enjoyed chatting to Andy and Pete as I delivered the first copies. After seventeen years of work, being able to hand over the final result, the culmination of so much passion and effort, was just brilliant. I am very proud of Glas. The slipcase finishes off the whole “package”, containing the main Glas book and also the accompanying Photography Index book, all fitting perfectly.
I have had lots of sleepless nights worrying about packaging for postal deliveries. I have sent over 1,000 Skye At Night books to customers around the world. Two of them haunt me. They were copies that were damaged in transit. The corners are particularly vulnerable, and careless courier companies that chuck packages around the place are the problem. Despite being well packed, some damage still happened.
Glas is very different to Skye At Night. With only 75 numbered copies, each is extremely precious. I cannot afford to have a single copy damaged en route to its new owner. So I have spent a lot of time working on how to pack each book. I really want as much packaging to be recyclable as possible, however perfection sometimes isn’t possible. In particular, the edge protectors are made of foam. Following my experiences with Skye At Night, it is essential to keep the edges and corners well away from any bashes and bangs.
However, on the upside I am using recycled double-walled cardboard boxes. The padding is courtesy of rolls of Scottish sheep wool. Usually used for wall insulation, this stuff is great for keeping Glas snug inside its box. And it smells slightly sheepish which is lovely, with the additional plus point that it is fully biodegradable or you can just insulate your loft with it
I am now waiting for the pallet of slipcases to arrive in Skye. Once they are in, I will embark on a packing frenzy, prioritising my Kickstarter backers and getting everything ready for a big collection for our friendly Royal Mail postal engineer.
I will also be at the An Crubh Christmas Fair on the 22nd of November with a few copies of Glas and the remaining copies of Skye At Night, as well as some rather cool greeting cards and prints, so if you are local I hope to see you there.