I started Living Dead Co. as a playground for experimentation. I had all kinds of ideas for horror projects... a search engine for horror films, a database of jack-o-lantern designs, Halloween music playlists, film edits, games, merch, etc. And I also wanted a brand where I could experiment with design ideas... namely responsive textured design. I want to experiment with skeuomorphism, but with modern site behaviors.

The retro, paper-textured theme is very apparent. It's combinations of VW-sized PNG assets, text-clipped backgrounds, & various print effects. The brand itself was envisioned with print in mind, to display on zines & merch.

The merch designs are the most fun, experimenting with what one can get away with in terms of intellectual property & small production runs.

A lot of it is a learning experience. I printed 100 coffee mugs with a Rated R graphic only to learn that dye sublimation isn't the ideal process for this type of graphic: it ends up crooked & blurry. And I spelled "grisly" incorrectly, anyhow. My girlfriend was the only one who ended up with one & the handle ended up breaking off in the microwave after a while. Back to the drawing board...

I've also used the brand to stretch the boundaries of what can be done with editorial blog article page layouts: sidebars, pull quotes, dividers, galleries, & more. And it's allowed me a form to write in depth about my interests & post obscure media.

Living Dead Co. houses my Halloween playlist, which I add 50 songs to each year. It's at 300 right now, so each year finding new tracks becomes both harder & more rewarding. I honestly wonder if I'll make it past 500, but of course I've got until 2028 to figure that out.

Living Dead Co. is also the parent brand for my horror-themed word game, Horrordle.

And what may be the first of many fan edits, The Munsters Recut.

There's no telling what this brand will evolve to become. But if it's only ever an outlet for my creative energies, that's enough for me.