This End Up

Cardboard*Con

The World’s Most Affordable Sci-Fi/Fantasy Cardboard Costuming Convention

The 5th Annual Cardboard*Con will be on March 1, 2014!!

Panels & Workshops

There are several divisions of cardboard costuming, all of which you can expect to be seen at this year's event. If you're new to the world of cardboard costuming you might want to attend one of the many panels† that will be held at one of our convention hotels. Skip down below to find out which type of cardboard costumes suits your style!

Panel on air holes

Continuing Educations

So popular were our panel discussion last year that we'll be reprising them and adding a few more!

New Panels

  • Sexism and Cardboard - making the most of what you've hidden under a box
  • Echolocation - learning to navigate with impaired vision
  • Gas Dispersal - effective techniques for dispersing trapped methane
  • Is Cardboard Becoming Too Popular? - a lively self-examination of cardboard culture
  • Cardboard 101 - learn to spot single wall, double wall, and Kleiner-wall cardboard (and more!)

Core Curriculum

  • Air Holes 101 - a perennial necessity at Cardboard*Con
  • Picking Cardboard - how to spot the best boxes (may include field trip)
  • Finding the Right Mate - even cardboard nerds need love (happy hour)
  • What Would Darth Do? - speculation about an all-cardboard Star Wars universe
  • Not Enough Tape - time to patch your costume and make new friends (Lido deck)
  • Cardboard Boobs in Fiction - adult discussion about the use of cardboard boobs in modern literature
  • Cardboard Wars - let fly the dogs of cardboard! (demonstration by Society for Creative Cardboard)
  • Cardboard Filking - folk music mashups devoted to the best costume material ever made!

Our Growing List of Construction Styles

construction style : dumpster

Dumpster Style

This is the classic "box robot" style of costuming used by well-adjusted children around the world and is strongly suggested as the place to begin for first-time costumers. This style frowns upon the use of paint, relying instead upon the natural coloration of "found" cardboard. Sculptural and ephemeral, this type of cardboard costume belies the level of effort involved in fabrication. It's a tradition amongst Dumpster Stylists to reattach lost parts haphazardly with duct tape, and not to mourn lost or mangled pieces.

construction style : dumpster

Engineered Pop-Art

This style of cardboard costuming has been a breakaway success at our rival convention, Dragon*Con. Using space age equipment, these suits are engineered with CAD software and painted using a special comic book color palette known as the “Larkworthy method”. A group known as The Box Hero Corps have made a terrific splash in the world of cardboard costuming and continue to add new characters every year.

construction style : dumpster

Giant Boxes

A phenomenon first documented in 2007 at Dragon*Con with the appearance of Chewboxxa and later with Boxatar at the very first Cardboard*Con, a local cardboard artist known simply as "the Boswell" has led the charge into the creation of complex costumes, some of which have exceeded 8 feet in height.

Always Be Prepared!

You're definitely going to want to bring some equipment with you in case your costume needs improving, or more likely, repairing. Unlike delicate cloth-based costumes, you won't be burdened with easily lost items like needles and thread. Your shopping list is easier! Just bring along these items:

  • Sharpie (black)
  • Duct tape (grey/silver)
  • Joe's Sticky Stuff
  • Extra cardboard (any variety)
  • Clear packing tape
  • Safety Scissors (don't bring craft knives, as security guards may not feel this is safe)
  • Camera
  • Drinking straws

Footnotes

† - by "panel" we mean conversation with the people wearing cardboard. There are no set times for these conversations, it's up to you to make them happen.

This End Down