The LUCY Drawing Tool: Most Versatile Camera Lucida Ever
Created by Les Cookson & Ken Higginson
LUCY Drawing and Painting Tool Inspired by the Old Masters' Secret Techniques—Designed for Today's Artists! Now You Can Draw Anything!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
SHIPPING IS UNDERWAY!!!
almost 8 years ago
– Fri, Jul 22, 2016 at 08:50:12 PM
Hello Everyone!!!
SHIPPING IS UNDERWAY!!!
We started printing labels on Wednesday and have already filled up and sent off several mail trucks full to the brim with LUCYs. Some west coast backers might get there LUCY today or tomorrow! If your LUCY was shipped, you should have received a tracking number from BackerKit. The shipping process is going well, but takes time. Please be patient as it will probably take a week to get everything shipped out (from 7/20 to about 7/27).
At this moment 78 backers still have not filled out there surveys. This is not some random satisfaction survey, this is where you give me your shipping address. I cannot ship your LUCY until you fill out this survey. If you never got it or can't find it, please click on this link and enter the same email you used on Kickstarter, to have the survey resent: https://the-lucy-drawing-tool-most-versatile-camera-lucida.backerkit.com/
Time to start getting ready to make some awesome art with your LUCY!!!! I bought the domain www.LucyHelp.com, which you can see below is displayed on the cover of the LUCY User Manual. You can check out the instructional videos while you're waiting for your LUCY to arrive if you'd like to get started.
Thank you again for being a part of this project and making this all happen!!! Seeing these LUCYs ship out is kind of like watching my baby go out into the world—excited, little nervous, and hopeful that you will enjoy your LUCY.
Thank you so much!!
Les
Here are a couple more pictures of the boxing up and shipping process:
Survey Sent!
almost 8 years ago
– Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 07:30:49 PM
Hello Everyone!
We just sent an email with a special link to the BackerKit survey. Please look for the email in your inbox—check your junk mail if you don't see it. It is important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information for fulfilling your rewards. Please send me a message if you have any questions about the survey. BackerKit also has a FAQ section https://the-lucy-drawing-tool-most-versatile-camera-lucida.backerkit.com/faq which includes a contact button at the bottom if you need any help.
You do not need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey, just click on the survey link, fill it out, and you’re all good to go! You will be able to provide shipping information, and pledge for more “add-ons” and extra LUCYs if you'd like. If you didn't get a LUCY during the campaign, you can pledge for one now. I even added options to get some of the items from my past Kickstarter projects—including a limited number of camera obscuras.
Please fill-out this survey as soon as you can, we are hoping to start shipping next week. Production had been a roller coaster, but it's moving along. The boxes and foam, clamps and flex arms have all been delivered—and a little sooner then expected. But then a we got thrown a totally unexpected problem while having the LUCY heads assembled. We were having the injection mold company instal the mirrors into the LUCY head. I went over to their warehouse and made sure they were doing it right and got them all set up. I was very happy with the work they were doing and the competence of the people doing it. But after I left, they found out that the adhesive they were using to hold the internal mirror in place was eating through the mirror backing and causing the mirrors to get cloudy. Fortunately they noticed the problem and stopped before they got too far along. It turns out they were using the wrong kind of adhesive. They were supposed to use silicone adhesive, but they were using what was advertised as 'silicone-tough' latex adhesive. A subtle yet important difference that wasn't apparent immediately because it took a little time for the latex to eat through the mirror and cause the damage.
This shouldn't set us back more then a few days, we are going to have them replace the mirror in the ones that got messed up, while we take the rest and start assembling them in house at Practical Industries to make sure we have no more problems. I hope to get that finished this week, so we can start shipping next week. So please go find that backerKit survey I emailed and fill in your shipping info!
These aren't super cool pictures, but here are the pallets of clamps, flex arms, and custom cut box foam:
Clamps and flex arms
Foam
I'll have some more pictures for you next update.
Thanks,
Les
Time for another update...
almost 8 years ago
– Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 11:16:02 PM
Hello Everyone!
The original estimated delivery date posted on the Kickstarter page is July. I was hopeful we would actually start shipping early, towards the end of June, but it looks like we will start shipping in July as originally estimated. The survey, where I collect your shipping info, should be going out very soon. I'll keep you posted.
The LUCY heads have all been injection molded and are waiting for assembly, but we have had some trouble getting the optical mirrors as quickly as we expected. The supplier we used in the past told us it would take 3 to 4 weeks to get our mirror. We are used to problems with this supplier, but we could usually get the mirror within a couple weeks. We started looking around for a new mirror supplier and found one a little farther away, but they said they could get us the mirror a lot faster. They even said they were placing the order as I was on the phone with them, and it would be in in a week. But as it turned out, they ordered the wrong type of mirror and now 5 weeks later, we have only part of our mirror order with the rest (hopefully) being delivered later this week. We had hoped to start assembling the LUCY heads several weeks ago; instead we are starting this week. This is not a huge deal—we have time to get the LUCY head assembled (barring anything unexpected)—more of just an annoyance. And I'm not complaining with any of these updates, I just want to give you an inside look into the process.
The thing that really made me have to change the delivery estimate from early (late June) to on time (July) are the flex arms and clamps. They shipped out a week later than expected and the transit time on the boat went from 2-3 weeks to 4 weeks (should reach port on July 5th) with another 4 to 7 days to process at the port. Having done this before, I should have known it would take longer then they were originally telling me, but I assumed that the people shipping our parts knew what they were talking about—which turned out to NOT be a safe assumption. But what's a couple weeks between friends—right? These kind of delays and miscommunication happen all the time when getting products made but are still very annoying, and I am sorry for the delay.
So here is some fun news. The LUCY carrying bags came in on Friday...
And here is a sneak-peek at the LUCY packaging...
The LUCY is enclosed in custom die cut foam and screws together in a few seconds. We had them tighten up the fit on the foam slots, so the pieces fit better and won't move around during shipping. The box is a nice tap-locking white box, which can be reclosed.
That is all for now. I will keep you posted as things progress.
Thanks,
Les
Production Update
almost 8 years ago
– Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 08:50:17 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
WE DID IT!!!
about 8 years ago
– Thu, Apr 07, 2016 at 10:31:37 PM
Hello!
Wow, it has been a crazy ride over the past couple of days, and here we are at last! Kickstarter funding period has ended, and 795 awesome backers are along for the ride! Thank you so much for making this happen—I'm very excited and hope you are too! Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we get to work!
Here is what to expect next. Today your cards are being charged for your pledges. A few cards needed some information updated—if Kickstarter had any trouble running your card, they will be sending you an email asking for you to log-in and update your information. As we start the production process, I will post updates about our progress and try to give you an inside look at what we are doing.
We are using crowdfunding fulfillment pros BackerKit to help manage the rewards and shipping for this project. This will help streamline the logistic side of things to make sure you get what you ordered on time. They also make it easy for you to add on extra rewards and accessories and keep you updated on the process. When we get closer to shipping time, I will send you a survey from BackerKit to collect your shipping information, and to give you a chance to review your order.
We have a lot of work ahead, but it will be fun work. Thank you so much for being part of this and making this happen!!!
I would like to recommend to those of you who backed this project in the past week or so, that you check out our previous project updates. Some good information:
Tiny camera. Streaming. Encryption. Open source.
Though this tiny camera has a unique spy-like quality, we hope coin size camera is not intended for spy cam! Please use for the goodness!
