: AtomicAxe - Viewing Profile

Just make your own. There are tons of ways, easiest being a litho process.

Chris Campbell, on 22 May 2013 - 04:19 PM, said:

It's all about the design of the piece not the functionality ... A while back I made a series of robot tiki mugs that I made molds of and subsequently a nice line of cabana ware that did great when I was still in florida. that design and sculpting work was what copyright protected. I'm currently working on another series of them, they to will be protected, documented and over all be copyrighted. Just like any other creative work that someone will do (drawing, painting, illustration, logos, poetry, etc etc etc etc ETC) ... all protected. With pottery it's harder since how many people throw the same darn thrown bowls, cups and mugs? That is literally the same issue that other designers have that do anything functional (clothing, jewelry, furniture, etc.) they depend on design and branding, and even then they can't stop knock offs only constantly change and innovate their designs. In our line we aren't inventing anything new so patents are out ... and if someone does create something new it won't be a potter, but a ceramic chemist who does something crazy like make an argon kiln to fire pure carbon into crystalline ceramic polymers that can be made wafer thin but be strong enough to be withstand a sledge hammer strike. which really only leaves us copyright and original creative ideas.

Generally if you have a design that you think is going to be 'the next big thing' documentation is everything. Enforcing it ... difficult especially in a medium that has been around since pre-history. As my real job is graphic design, illustration and murals/fine art ... I always need to document. Had to send a few cease and desists too. I normally use http://myows.com/ to be my copyright archive ... since anything original you create is protected by an intellectual property copyright. Many things aren't really worth fretting about since as others have said ... just knock offs, you can change and improve ... they still copy. Really if you wanted a 'product' that is all you ... find your voice ... find the one thing that is all you that even when done well by others, is never going to be you. OR find something to trademark, like your name as a logo and just brand the snot out of your work like it was a purse ... after all ... that is what designers have to do in order to protect their sometimes generic clothing, purses, accessories, whatever.

And really ... any working artist worth their salt doesn't rely on one gimmick to get sales ... make it so it's hard for others to copy you by being prolific in your work ... while they spend their time trying to deconstruct dozens of ideas ... you can still be evolving to the next work making them play catch up only to fall behind and to the side.

It's simple things that come with skill and experience that will always add to the perceived value to work ... proper glazing with interesting effects, clean refined clay work, proper display of work and of course finding your own voice in the medium you work in.

Oh, and knowing your market ... seems like half of what I make that is functional needs to be blue to blue-green and anywhere inbetween.

When I color my clay, one of the easiest ways I usually do it is just to add the mason stains to my slip in my scrap buckets and blend in with a jiffy mixer. simple. When you reclaim as normal ... you have an easier time wedging.