Reply To: Merchandise Ideas
There's certainly something to be said for focusing on a select few iconic images/notions and hitting them as hard as possible.
There are definitely 'images' from the songs that resonate extremely well (These probably correspond very much with the lyric fragments that seem to stick in our heads). There are certainly more than three of these, though I think the reason for sticking to a 'top 3' is largely a branding concern – and a valid one, as having a smaller number of relatively consistent images is going to make it easier to create a simple mental association between the imagery deriving from JoCo songs and Jonathan Coulton, the musician.
I wouldn't stick exclusively to imagery deriving from 2 or 3 songs, but merchandise should definitely most strongly focus on 2 or 3 core images that tie strongly to the more 'resonant' lyrics and songs.
One thing that might need to be figured out is whether the merchandise is more a means to monetize the success of the music, or whether the merchandise is functioning more as advertising (Of course, in our culture, it's become a mark of pride to pay to advertise an artist/concept that you like, so they're not necessarily mutually exclusive)
*Take everything I write with a grain of salt. I'm technically a consultant (More Code Monkey in a consultant suit, really. Except we don't wear suits.), and therefore am trained to speak at length on topics I don't actually understand at all. Except I think I understand this.