I’ve recovered from Doujin Con (just about!), so I wanted to write a review about how the weekend went. As this was the first time this event was run, it was a bit of an unknown as to what it’d be like. However it was amazing, and I really enjoyed myself!
What is Doujin?
It might be worth explaining a little about what Doujin is. Doujin is a shared passion for something e.g. Adventure Time (adventure time forever!). But as a Doujin artist, you take that a step further by actually illustrating things yourself. This can be through fan art of existing series or through your own original characters, as is mostly the case in my work. The main thing is that it’s self published which tends to mean smaller creators.
Atmosphere
The first thing I’ll say is that the atmosphere felt very relaxed, which the attendees commented on too. The venue was spacious with plenty of room to traverse up and down the aisles. There was good footfall especially on the Saturday, but it was never uncomfortably busy. The nice small size meant I got chance to get to know and chat to other artists, including some Japanese ones which was super cool! The temperature was comfortable – not freezing like the last con I tabled at!
In terms of attendees everybody was so lovely. You could tell that they were there specifically for the art, rather than the autograph signings or merchandise that you find at other cons. It was a proper arty con, and the first I’ve attended of that type! I met some great people, and I’d say people felt more comfortable to come up and have a chat which was nice. There’s nothing worse at an event than people just passing you by.
Stall Set Up
Our stall looked really good, in my opinion anyway! I’m enjoying our new table runner and being able to have my prints out on display. Michael made and stuck a Bertie the beaver on top of the grids for extra pizazz. His aim is to put some characters all across the top.
I was happy I could bring my clothes rail to show off the designs and t-shirts we’ve made. Most venues don’t allow this for artists unless you pay about three times the price for a trader table. It was great to see some love for my Bob the frog shirt and chinchilla t-shirt. You can get your own Bob shirt in my shop!
Food
The food wasn’t great. This wasn’t the cons fault as the venue had a strange rule. You could either buy food from the venue, or fill out a form to bring in your own food. If you brought in your own then you had to eat it in an office, not behind your stall. I still have no idea where the office was. I feel like this rule was in place to try and force you to buy from the venue, if you were tabling alone you would have had to leave your stall behind. It was £5.50 for a sandwich with one veggie option, which is frankly a rip off. Sunday’s sandwich was frozen so I couldn’t even eat it!
Entertainment
One of the biggest draws for me in a convention is the amount of things included in your ticket without having to pay extra. At Doujin Con there was a stage which held events during the day. I loved the live drawing, it’s always cool to see how other artists work. There was also a DJ set which was wacky and fun! I was bopping around in my seat. I heard that it was too loud for some artists close to the stage, but thankfully I was farther away so it wasn’t so much of an issue.
There was also a large collaborate picture that everyone could add to. I’m really looking forward to seeing the end result when it goes up on social media. Padilly and I both added to it so I’ll have to look for ours. There were also workshops where you could create your own comics, and a competition for the best one.
Issues
The only problem really, is that it was very cramped behind the tables. Our chairs were literally back to back with the other row, so there wasn’t much room to move around. It also meant I had to squeeze past people every time I wanted to get out, which I felt guilty about, and I was worried about damaging their displays.
Conclusion
Overall I really enjoyed Doujin Con. I love that it was art focused, and it would be great to see more of these type of cons pop up in the future. It often feels like artist alley is tacked on to other cons, tucked away in a corner, with the exception of MCM. I liked that it wasn’t overcrowded, and that people felt more relaxed and able to chat. I really hope it runs again next year, and if so I’d like to be part of it.