High Wizard

a new project I’m working on with some friends and the High Wizard Mailer #0.

For a year and a half, two of my best friends, Tucker Gorman and Phil Annand, have been working on a project called High Wizard. Phil and I met in 2008, when we both had blogs in college. We've stayed close since then, both pulling stints in NYC before both making our way west. For years, Phil and I have talked about doing something, but the stars never aligned. Tucker designed the tree houses and oversaw the build, and he has been a frequent collaborator when it comes to all things built.

Marketing and brands are all made up.  Why not have the core of the brand be a fictitious character and the products be relics of their made-up world? Products and media becoming increasingly accessible and consumable haven't made it any more enjoyable. For years, I've been trying to convince companies to be more imaginative with the media they use.  Phil has been fighting a similar fight, working on graphic design and creative direction.

From the start, High Wizard has been based around the idea that holding something physical in your hand and then engaging with a world that way is far more impactful than fighting for bandwidth on your pocket computer. High Wizard isn't meant to be infinitely accessible.  The products we make will never be sold on the open internet.  Our shirts are all made and printed in America and are limited to a few dozen shirts per design. Many of the products we sell are one-offs. The media we make will largely only be accessible through buying a mailer. Buy the mailer, scratch off the code, and take the ride. 

A year ago, I got a box of shirts and started handing them out to friends and family, taking photos along the way. Work started at Movie Mountain building Merc, the High Wizard puppet, miniature clothes, and sets, and we are now a few weeks away from starting to shoot the first short. The mailers are now up on the website for $5 and come with a bumper sticker. Inside the mailer, you'll find the first bit of lore around Merc as well as the scratch-off code for the first batch of shirts. 

Here’s the High Wizard website and Instagram. Here’s where to buy High Wizard Mailer #0. There will be more. Buy the mailer, scratch off the code, and take the ride.