When it comes to my day job at Cemetery Dance Publications, I’m often tossing out random ideas for new projects, just to keep things interesting.

For example, I once suggested we put together a huge Limited Edition Artwork Portfolio featuring all of the artwork from the The 25th Anniversary Edition of It by Stephen King that we published in December, even though we had never really tried an artwork portfolio on that scale before.

Everyone agreed it seemed like a fine idea, so we made special arrangements with Glen Orbik, Alan M. Clark, and Erin Wells to collect all of their artwork from the book into an oversized portfolio. By oversized I mean the artwork alone is 11 inches by 14 inch. Obviously, the portfolio to hold the artwork would need to be even bigger. After the deals were made, we created a special signature sheet to be signed by all three artists. We publicly announced the project and we limited the portfolio to a one-time printing of just 500 sets.

But getting the actual portfolio to look and feel the way we wanted took almost three months and four prototypes. The first prototype was too flimsy and didn’t feel elegant enough. For the second prototype, we used a heavier material and we also tried an alternate closure for a different look, but the closure didn’t really keep the portfolio shut and we were concerned the artwork would just fly out if someone moved it too quickly. The third prototype nailed the material weight and closure just right, but they accidentally made it at 2/3s the final size, so we had a fourth prototype made just to be sure everything was perfect. These prototypes are constructed by hand, one at a time, so they’re not cheap, but they’re well worth the cost when you consider the alterative: producing a less than desirable collectible. The final prototype was everything we envisioned and we gave it the green light.

The finished portfolios will begin shipping in late March, but below are some photos of the final approve case they sent us today. For the first photo, keep in mind how large our special edition of It by Stephen King is and that’ll give you a good feel for how huge these portfolios are.

(PHOTOS LOST DURING WEBSITE TRANSFER)