CERAMIC TRANSFER
I love seeing illustration on ceramic-ware, plates, teapots etc. There are a number of methods used to make it possible, the most effective being to have the transfer work done professionally and in bulk - however, as this experiment is about trying to produce products in a home environment, I've done research into the many methods there are for a DIY method.
First: I bought some lovely simple products from Ikea which I thought would really suit my designs.
I love seeing illustration on ceramic-ware, plates, teapots etc. There are a number of methods used to make it possible, the most effective being to have the transfer work done professionally and in bulk - however, as this experiment is about trying to produce products in a home environment, I've done research into the many methods there are for a DIY method.
First: I bought some lovely simple products from Ikea which I thought would really suit my designs.
I'm a big fan of blue and white china and I thought it would be a great idea to create my own range from the Menagerie drawings - first I had a look at what else was out there and what I could draw inspiration from:
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| Rob Ryan |
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| Magico by RUBENIMICHI http://www.rubenimichi.com/index.php/ceramica/ |
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| Sawed Off Shotgun plate / Trevor Jackson |
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| French artist Maxime Ansiau turned the look of old dutch plates into something new and made these fantastic, printed plates with skyscrapers and townhouses. Via ThisIsColossal. |
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| Etsy shop: Foldedpigs |
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| Etsy shop: Foldedpigs |
I love seeing images you don't expect to see as a decorative design on a plate. I'm hoping my illustrations will have an effect somewhere between Rob Ryan and Trevor Jackson. So my first task was to make all my images blue and simplified. I had to try and work out whether they would sit within backgrounds or just be the drawings by themselves. In the end I went for a bit of a compromise - although I couldn't use all the images, some of them really didn't lend themselves well to this particular project, I'm pretty happy with the results:
To start you print your image (reversed) onto a special glossy sheet of paper then carefully stick a laminating sheet over the top (making sure there are no air bubbles). This all then gets laminated (or ironed if, like me, you don't have a laminating machine). Next you cut out the image and apply it to the ceramic as a transfer. The clever thing about this particular paper is that you then 'fire' the ceramic item in the oven on a super hot heat which seals the whole thing making it more durable.
I went for one of the larger ceramic pieces I'd bought, a large, round tray/plate, to start with. In hindsight this may have been my first mistake (better to start small!). After hopping round the kitchen waiting for the 'firing' to do its magic - here are the tragic results:
Terribly disappointing! But if at first you don't succeed...
The next attempt was using 'Inkjet Water-Slide Decal Paper'. This kind isn't fired but you seal it with an acrylic spray (much like a varnish) before starting the transfer process. I won't be able to use these ones as anything other than decoration but I still thought it was worth seeing how this slightly different process would work:
I'm pretty pleased with the results - although it is frustrating not being able to eat off them or put them in the dishwasher etc. In the end I decided it was worth seeing how to go about getting the ceramics transferred professionally - I approached a couple of companies and found that to get one plate done it's around the £16 mark and to get them done in a bulk order of say 40 would take the price per plate down to around £7. I had a go at photoshopping the images onto a plate to see how they could look as a set. I then put these images up on my Facebook page to gauge reaction and I asked for feedback. It was interesting to discover that the off-centre circles that work so well as paper prints, just really don't work well here - the overwhelming feedback was to either make the blue circles central or to get rid of the circles altogether.
I think, through this process I've decided that I'd really like to get these made up and to sell them and I've also realised that, to maintain a reputation of quality, I have to give in and get them printed professionally.
CERAMICS CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
Having posted the images online on my professional Facebook page, I've had a good deal of feedback and although there are some tweaks that need to be seen to, the response was enormously positive with a number of people messaging me asking me how/when/where they could buy them. Facebook has proven, so far, to be an excellent tool for gauging public opinion.
I do think that the plates are more likely to appeal to the consciously cool buyer - those who like to fill their home with unusual design pieces (I am one of these people - unashamedly).
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
I initially see myself selling these online, either in my etsy shop or from my own big cartel shop, but I could see it being possible to take these to a Fair/craft show environment. The weight and fragility may limit the amount I could take however. The answer might also depend on whether I was selling the water decal plates or the ones I want to have done professionally - unless I stated clearly that the water decal plates were for decoration only.
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
I think, happily, that my illustration has worked very well in this medium - I like the contrast of traditional blue and white pottery with the peculiarity of anthropomorphism.
What about packaging and sending the product out?
This would need some further investigation - I will need to source box packaging per item but I don't think that at this stage the box would need to be anything other than a custom-sized brown box (when I have a bit more money coming in it would be nice to have the boxes printed with my logo/identity on them).
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
The water decal version has been very easy to make and as long as the customer is happy not to use the plate for anything other than decoration it shouldn't be a problem making these as per required.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
All the ceramic ware came from Ikea which wasn't too expensive and the water decal paper wasn't too expensive if I can print enough designs per sheet to make it worth it. I'm not sure I can re-sell the Ikea ceramic ware and so I'd need to do some further investigation into buying plates etc. in bulk - which, in the long run, should end up being cheaper.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
As long as it's stated in my listing or on my stall that the product is decoration only then the pieces are extremely good quality.
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
This would depend on how many 'lots' would be. I could make quite a few but if it got to be too many I would definitely have to look into getting them made professionally.
PAPER DOLL
My intention, when I first started my Menagerie series, was always to try and engineer paper dolls from the characters:
However, when I came to have a go, I realised that really only one of them is suitable to have it's limbs manipulated and that's the Pop Kit image (1st image). The series all came about when a previous drawing that I'd done sparked a long held interest in anthropomorphism. I realise now that the whole paper doll idea really sprang from that original image:
To really make paperdolls from the characters I'd have to redraw them all in a stationery, standing pose (or similar). I thought it was worth having a go with the Pop Kit image however, and it's actually been fairly successful:
PAPER DOLL CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
I would say judging by the array and volume of paper dolls being made and sold on Etsy there is definitely room for more. My issue would only be that I'd need to create new drawings to make them really work.
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
These would be easy to sell online or a craft fair/zine show.
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
This time only just. If I wanted to use the same characters as I've already used for Menagerie I would have to completely re-draw them standing in a pose that could allow for movement of limbs/head/hips etc.
What about packaging and sending the product out?
Having bought a few paper dolls online myself I've seen that as long as the packaging is pretty and there's a good bit of hard cardboard to stop it from bending, this would be easy to package and mail.
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
I had to completely re-jig the image to make it work as a doll and of the 9 images, this was the only one that I could do that to. Once the images have been re-drawn it will be fairly easy to make. The only real draw-back is the cutting out - it can make something look pretty tatty if it's been cut out badly - I could solve that by leaving the doll in it's uncut-out state and include the brads and instructions on how to assemble the doll for the customer to do themselves.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
This, thankfully was pretty inexpensive to make and even with packaging it wouldn't be too bad.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
Depending on how good I get at cutting out, the quality could definitely be good enough to sell.
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
This is a tricky one - it's not that practical to make lots unless I was only selling them in their uncut-out state - in which case - it would only be the printing out and packaging up that would take all the time and I think that would be manageable.
BADGES
Badges have always been a fun thing to make, so I thought it would be worth trying to make something using the Menagerie images and a trusty badge-making machine. Sadly the machine only makes very small badges (approximately the size of a £1 coin) - so my 'canvas' was very limited. I quickly realised that the whole image is just too small to fit on the badge - although I had a go:
The only solution was to just use the animal heads. I wanted to incorporate the colouring and the circles as they've been so much part of the overall image but it proved almost impossible to centre the image within such small confines and all the badges with circles were printed skew-whiff.
So I resorted to simplifying the images even more and I think they work as far as solving the printing and size issues - but I don't think they are particularly exciting as an image:
BADGES CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
I would say there is certainly an audience for badges if they're presented in attractive packaging etc. I don't think these particular badges are ready - I think I would need to do more experimenting before I would be happy to put these on the market - I think perhaps it might be worth investing in larger badges.
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
Once I'd got them perfected I would approach shops to see if they wanted to stock them, I'd sell them in my etsy shop and at craft/zine fairs.
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
I'm going to say a resounding no!
What about packaging and sending the product out?
Once the badges have been perfected it would be easy to do this fairly cheaply with hand printed cardboard back and cello bags.
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
The physical making of the badges is very easy and enjoyable - the design however, as I said above, was not easy and needs quite a bit more work.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
Happily badge components and all the things needed for packaging are not too expensive.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
Once the design has been fixed the quality is great.
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
Given time and a lot of patience these could be made up in bulk - but after a certain number this would be another one that would have to be outsourced.
TEMPORARY TATTOOS
Another thing I loved as a child, but something we were definitely not able to make back then, are temporary tattoos. Things have moved on since then and it's now very possible to print your own images onto transfer paper that's safe enough and flexible enough to be used as a temporary tattoo.
I didn't want to have multi-coloured images, I wanted to see my images looking more traditional - so using the same blue version of the Menagerie images that I used for the plates I had a go:
I spent a long time getting the angle of this shot right so that it didn't look shiny - the paper I've used is unfortunately so plastic that the tattoo comes out pretty thick and very glossy (and actually you can just peel them straight off your skin). So I decided to also take a more honest photo to really give you an idea:
Really terrible! There are a lot of people on Etsy who sell temporary tattoos and I can't believe they'd be happy to sell something of this quality so I decided to get in touch with some of the people who's tattoos I like the most:
Pepper Baldwin at Etsy:
Her tattoos have come out beautifully matt, without any obvious wrinkling and no sign of the tell-tale plastic outline around the image. I emailed her and asked her what sort of paper she used - she was incredibly helpful and told me:
"We use really great paper that's produced here in Australia and is used in the film & tv industry, it's good quality and realistic. I also have 'Liquiskin' which takes the shine off and makes them look awesome-sauce. The best quality need to be printed with a laser printer- do you have one? Otherwise there is inkjet paper but it's not quite as good. You can order online at amazingraymond.com, or if you like I'd be happy to send you a few sheets myself at cost price (with Liquiskin if you like)- how many do you need?
talk soon :)Pepper"
So not only was she incredibly nice, she was also very forthcoming with her advice on making temporary tattoos. I'd been using my inkjet instead of a laser printer and just perhaps the paper I'd been using was sub-standard. I had a look at the amazingraymond.com website and it was quite an eye-opener - if not only for the Liquiskin product that they've developed. Once the tattoo is applied you paint Liquiskin over the top and it blends the tattoo into your skin - this is why they are the go-to people in Australia for all TV/Film fake tattoos. Unfortunately they don't ship to the UK but fortunately I have a friend who lives in Melbourne! I'll get her to send some over and do some further experimenting. Pepper has also offered, in another email, to print and package my tattoos for me - but I'll have to look into costs and compare the cost of doing that and making them myself. I can't believe I can't find suitable paper in the UK!
I also spoke to an Illustrator called Kelly Mitchell Gazdowicz who has the Etsy shop Burrowing Home:
I think in the 2nd image you can see that the tattoo has a bit of wrinkle to it - but nothing like the one I did. I contacted her and asked her advice on paper and printing - this is what she had to say:
What I can suggest is this brand:
The other option I would suggest if you didn't want to go through the hassle of applying the adhesive and cutting them all out by hand is to go to a company that actually manufactures temporary tattoos. Such as http://24hourtattoos.com/ The results would be good, the only thing with companies like this is that I think you have to order large quantities at a time. I could be wrong though and it's still worth checking out.
I also spoke to an Illustrator called Kelly Mitchell Gazdowicz who has the Etsy shop Burrowing Home:
I think in the 2nd image you can see that the tattoo has a bit of wrinkle to it - but nothing like the one I did. I contacted her and asked her advice on paper and printing - this is what she had to say:
"I did a ton of experimenting with tattoo papers before I settled on the brand I use so I know exactly what you're talking about. Most of them are basically plastic stickers and not proper temporary tattoos. Unfortunately the paper I use is only offered in bulk (500+ sheets at a time, plus the adhesive sheets which is separate) so that might not actually be the best solution for you.
The actual paper I use does have a bit of a sheen- what I do myself and inform my customers to do is apply a very light dusting of powder to the tattoo once it has set. This can be baby powder, or pressed facial powder, etc. Unfortunately I have yet to find a brand that is 100% matt.
What I can suggest is this brand:
This is what I first started off using-and would still be using if I could buy it in bulk at a reasonable price. It's great because you can print at home on either laser or inkjet and if you don't need a large quantity it's not too expensive. It's not too shiny at all and moves well with the skin. The only issues I had with it was applying the adhesive layer which can be tricky, but most brands are like that anyway.
The other option I would suggest if you didn't want to go through the hassle of applying the adhesive and cutting them all out by hand is to go to a company that actually manufactures temporary tattoos. Such as http://24hourtattoos.com/ The results would be good, the only thing with companies like this is that I think you have to order large quantities at a time. I could be wrong though and it's still worth checking out.
I hope this helped and best of luck on your show!"
Another incredibly kind person and very generous with her advice! The main problem with her advice is that both links were for American suppliers - I've been able to locate the paper she recommends but will have to find the UK equivalent of the Company who makes the tattoos in bulk. This may end up being my best option in the end.
Finally I spoke to another Illustrator who was also enormously helpful:
Laura Hickman who has the Etsy shop Cymraes:
My conversation with Laura ended up being over several emails and we ended up covering a lot of different topics so it makes no sense to put up her response. She did, however, very kindly recommend a type of paper which I've ordered and just need to compare it to the other one that Kelly recommended. Sadly neither have arrived yet and so I am unable to post my findings...
I think, much like the paper doll idea, that the calendars will need new images. As a make at home project however, I could definitely print and cut these at home and the cases are very inexpensive so it was a good experiment.
CARD BOARD CUT-OUTS
Because I've lived in a flat for many years and haven't ever been able to have a pet, a friend bought me this 'Flat Pet' as a joke and to keep me company. I absolutely love it and it struck me that it might be possible to make something similar using some of the images from The Menagerie series.
SOFT TOY/BEAN BAG
I thought it might worth seeing what my image looks like printed on fabric. I chose one of the ones that would work well as a bean bag toy and again it was the Pop Kit image that worked the best. I think it's something to do with having a long flat base.
Finally I spoke to another Illustrator who was also enormously helpful:
Laura Hickman who has the Etsy shop Cymraes:
My conversation with Laura ended up being over several emails and we ended up covering a lot of different topics so it makes no sense to put up her response. She did, however, very kindly recommend a type of paper which I've ordered and just need to compare it to the other one that Kelly recommended. Sadly neither have arrived yet and so I am unable to post my findings...
TEMPORARY TATTOO CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
Yes. These prove to be pretty popular - it is usually the kind of person who would shop on Etsy and buy things from small gallery type shops - but also, as they could be sold inexpensively they are the kind of things people buy for hen parties, children's parties etc. or just for one off gifts, stocking fillers etc.
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
These are perfect for all three of my usual routes: etsy/my own website shop, placement in a shop or at craft/zine fairs.
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
I really think it has, I love the blue - it reminds me of the traditional old one-colour tattoos. I also really like the circles framing the images. I need to work on getting the right materials but as an image I'm pretty excited about this one.
What about packaging and sending the product out?
As with the badges this is a pretty inexpensive item to make up and send off.
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
As long as I get the right paper this is extremely easy to make.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
This is by far one of the most inexpensive of all the products I tried. If I have to import the paper that might push the price up quite a bit - but I'm still hopeful I can find the right paper here in the UK.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
At the moment the quality is no way near good enough to sell but after the investigations I've already carried out and the investigations I plan to carry out, this should be a very sellable product.
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
The only time and energy consuming thing with this product would be the cutting out and the packaging - all of which would be manageable. If not, again, I would have to outsource.
DESK CALENDAR
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| Desk Calendar by Etsy shop Papersparrow |
Having looked into how much the plastic cases are and finding them inexpensive I thought this could be another great product to try and make at home. One of the obvious flaws in the plan to create a desk calendar using the Menagerie images is that there are only 9 in the series and, of course, 12 months in a year. When I was creating the series I did a lot of experimenting with colour and consequently a number of the images have alternative colour schemes - I think for the sake of this project I'm going to use some of them for the extra 3 images but with future projects it may be worth considering 12 images per series.
Seeing the full set some obvious flaws stand out to me - mostly that the images would be better if they were 'season-appropriate' - it's not a requirement with a calendar - but it makes the difference between something that's been bunged together and something that's been considered and made especially.
Thankfully there were a couple of happy accidents that happened whilst I was playing around with the images on Photoshop that will lead to a better product in the long run I think:
I really like the buff colour and the introduction of the rainbow. It would be even better if the paper was actually a rougher texture:
DESK CALENDAR CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
I think that as long as there are people interested in illustration then there will be an audience for a product like this. As I said above, I don't think I've got it right, it needs a lot of re-designing but in the end I'm confident that people will want to buy them. The only problem is that these are only really relevant at the end/beginning of the year - so they may be only popular at around Christmas.
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
Because these are only really worth buying in time for the start of a new year, I imagine these would sell best at Christmas markets but I would sell them all year round on my etsy account and print them out as and when requested (instead of keeping them in stock and wasting them when the year changes!).
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
It works but it's not spectacular. I really would like to have another good look at the whole design and choice of images.
What about packaging and sending the product out?
The calendar cases are cheap but they are a bit brittle - but bubble wrap and a jiffy bag should be enough.
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
Once the design is finalised these are VERY easy to make.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
This is also one of the most inexpensive of all the products I've experimented with.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
As before, once the design is right, the quality is certainly good enough to sell.
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
Each card would be cut by hand but that would be the only time consuming thing - it would take a little while but it would be manageable to make these in bulk.
CARD BOARD CUT-OUTS
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| www.garudiostudiage.com |
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| www.garudiostudiage.com |
So I selected a couple of my images that would work the best and had a go:
I think they're fun - the backing was tricky, the one I have has obviously been machine cut - cutting a circular shape without it looking ragged was hard. This one needs a bit of practice but I think I could end up making it a pretty successful item once I'd mastered it. This is another one, however, that would need new images as really there were only the two that I used that could really work.
CARDBOARD CUT-OUT CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
This one is a bit tricky - I'm not convinced there's a large audience for a product like this, I don't know if people would know what to do with them / where to put them. I think this is one of the products I'll need to try out and see what the public reaction is.
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
I'd put them in my etsy online shop but I'd prefer to see people's reaction to them, so I'd sell them mostly at craft/zine fairs.
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
Only two of the images really worked in this medium - but I think the ones that did work, worked really well. I like the way they sit. This is another one though, where I'd like to try out a few new images to get a better sense of its success.
What about packaging and sending the product out?
Cheap and easy.
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
It's a fairly thing to make - you have to use pretty stiff cardboard for the backing and that's fairly arduous to cut out.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
It's definitely not expensive to make.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
This is one of the things that would need to be worked on. I think it would just take a bit of practice to get these looking professional.
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
Sadly it's really not practical to make lots of these - the cutting out bit is fairly time-consuming.
I thought it might worth seeing what my image looks like printed on fabric. I chose one of the ones that would work well as a bean bag toy and again it was the Pop Kit image that worked the best. I think it's something to do with having a long flat base.
I think using a bit of colour would help and perhaps making it more of a stuffed toy as opposed to the bean bag type. The way the beans sit at the bottom and leave the top empty does nothing for the image and on the whole I think this was a pretty unsuccessful experiment.
BEAN BAG CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
This one is out of my comfort zone and I think that when you look at people like Jess Quinn (http://www.etsy.com/people/quinnknits) who make a living out of this kind of product (and feeds and clothes her children) then there clearly is a market for this kind of thing - but my version of it? Not in this current incarnation.
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
If it had been successful I would have tried it on my etsy online store but would most likely had more luck at the craft fairs.
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
I think it might if I incorporate more colour and stuff it with pillow stuffing instead of beans.
What about packaging and sending the product out?
As it wouldn't be in danger of getting bent - this should be pretty inexpensive.
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
Once the design is better then I think it's a fairly easy product to make.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
The expense is really just cotton and wadding which can be picked up fairly inexpensively.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
Not at the moment!
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
With the cutting out, sewing and stuffing this is a fairly time consuming product so it's definitely not practical to try and meet a big demand.
PLAYING CARDS
I've been toying with designing a pack of playing cards for years so I thought it would be fun to see if any of the images from Menagerie would work in the context of playing card royalty and I was happy to discover that, unlike a lot of the other projects, a few of the images worked pretty well. I decided I wanted some of the colour scheme to be relevant to the cards as well as the images so I messed around with the traditional black and red. I also wanted the drawings themselves to be in their original graphite state - I've really enjoyed all the colour tricks I've learnt on Photoshop but I'm pleased to have an opportunity to present the drawings as they were first drawn.
This first set has the images mirrored above each other which is not the traditional format:
This first set has the images mirrored above each other which is not the traditional format:
However, when I tried out the more traditional look of having the figures opposing as well as mirrored I found it actually worked a lot better - sometimes 'if it aint broke, don't fix it' is worth paying attention to!
I then wanted to have a go at designing a simple back for the cards and the obvious think to go for was something using the four colours of the suits:
Once I'd decided on the back I felt like there was something else that needed tweaking - something to make them a bit more different from the norm, after a play around I realised that it might be nice to have the colour of the lettering and shapes as different from each other and I'm pretty happy with the results:
Once I'd tried that out I wanted to see what the numbered cards might look like - it's all very well that the picture cards work but if the numbered ones look wrong that's no good at all. As it turns out I really like the colour combinations and am pretty excited about the whole pack of cards as a project.
I thought I really ought to see what they might look like if they had the traditional black and red colouring - I was surprised to find that it actually made me question my more quirky colouring in that I think they look pretty good!
I'm really happy with this experiment, I love the colour schemes and how the images work within the format. I don't think it's successful however within the confines of my Research experiment - I will need to draw 3 more characters for each suit and I can't see me making the packs at home once the design is finalised.
I had a look into having playing cards made up and found a few companies in the UK that do it - the cheapest quote I had was: £7 per pack (if I order 100). This is something I need to do some further investigation into and quite a bit more on the design front but it's definitely something I want to pursue.
PLAYING CARDS CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
YES! This is another one that when I posted the pictures on Facebook I got a strong and positive response.
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
These would sell online, in shop or at craft/zine fairs.
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
Really well, better than I'd expected actually. I'm very pleased with how they look in their original graphite form and as a mirrored image of itself.
What about packaging and sending the product out?
It's not a perishable item so I could send them out easily and cheaply.
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
This one is a cheat really because, although I could make it at home, it would take so long and be so tatty looking I don't think I could bear it.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
As I'm going to have to get these printed professionally, they are a bit expensive to make but hopefully will be popular enough to make some money back.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
It will be if they are printed professionally.
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
I'd say it will end up being more practical to make lots of them.
SHRINKY-DINKS/BROOCHES/KEY-RINGS
Growing up, encouraged by Blue Peter, I and my brother used to regularly put empty packets of crisps into the oven to shrink them, then make them into badges and key-rings etc. Then came the brilliant 'kits' you could buy, called Shrinky Dinks, where you could draw and colour on bits of plastic and shrink those down to make trinkets. Both methods were a lot of fun and relatively easy. I've noticed recently a few people have been reviving the practice - only with a great deal more finesse - and I thought I might give it a go.
Here, out of the hundreds who are having a go, are a few people whose efforts I like:
Here, out of the hundreds who are having a go, are a few people whose efforts I like:
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| Made by Allison (only name given), featured on her Blog: Dream A Little Bigger (.com) |
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| Made by Allison (only name given), featured on her Blog: Dream A Little Bigger (.com) |
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| Made by Allison (only name given), featured on her Blog: Dream A Little Bigger (.com) |
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| Shrink Plastic Brooch by Viktorijas Illustration, etsy |
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| Shrink Plastic Brooch by Viktorijas Illustration, etsy |
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| Shrink Plastic Brooch by Viktorijas Illustration, etsy |
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| Shrink Plastic Brooch by Carla Rojas, etsy |
I decided to have a go myself - the instructions are very clear that the image will shrink down to a third of it's original size and that also the colours will become very intense, so it's wise to lighten the colours before printing the images out. The instructions were, however, very vague when it came to what temperature the oven should be set at. So the first batch went into an unwarmed oven at a low to medium heat and this is what happened:
As I watched through the oven door, the pieces curled up so violently that I just completely lost my nerve and snatched them out - I then tried to flatten them down with a wooden spoon whilst they were still warm but this was the best I could do (see above).
Feeling a bit despondent, I went online and asked the question: "Why do my shrinky dinks keep curling?" It transpires there are hundreds of crafty people who give this method of badge-making a go all the time and through all the forums etc. I learnt that I hadn't left them in long enough. First they wildly curl then they settle back down.
I thought I'd have another go and put the last batch back in to see if a second go would settle them down and this was the result:
Pretty exciting - the 'pink' fox image is starting to look a bit yellow but on the whole not terrible. I can now see that you have to be super careful when cutting the images out - any angular cutting is magnified when the images are shrunk. Anyway, I was pleased, so I stuck a badge back on the Cycling Deer:
Feeling a bit more confident I thought I might have a go at making some key-rings. This time I put them in the oven and walked away...
What an error! The instructions advise you to place a piece of copier paper over the top of the images (to stop them from burning I guess) - when I looked in the oven door, to my horror the piece of paper was completely brown (and seconds away from catching light). I whipped them out but they were all so overheated that they'd gone gooey and had stuck the piece of paper - absolute disaster:
Note to self: a pre-heated oven is a no-no and don't walk away whilst they're shrinking! I can see that they can be done and also that they can look great. I clearly need a bit more practice but I think I will be giving it another go in the future.
SHRINKY DINK CONCLUSION:
Is there an audience for it?
People do buy them on etsy - but the etsy sellers have really mastered it - it would take a bit more practice from me before I think there would be an audience for my efforts.
How would I sell it to the audience i.e. craft fair/online etc.?
If they were successful I would sell them on my etsy online store and most likely at the craft fairs.
Has my illustration worked within this medium?
I actually really like seeing my illustrations compressed in this way - I think they work but I need to keep an eye on the colour.
What about packaging and sending the product out?
This would be easy and inexpensive.
Has it been easy enough to make if not how could I fix this in the future?
I think I've proven that it's not that easy to make these - but I think with practice and a bit of confidence these would become very easy to make.
Has it been expensive to make, if yes, how could I make it cheaper in the future?
The sheets of plastic are a bit expensive but if you can print enough sellable images on one page then it's worth it.
Is the quality good enough to sell, if not, how could I fix this in future?
Not at the moment!
Is it practical to make lots of them to make a big demand, if not how would you resolve this?
At this stage I would say it's just not practical.
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