Saturday, January 9, 2010

Button Brainstorm!

Do you like winning? I do! Great! So now's the time to throw on your thinking cap and help me brainstorm some fantastic new pinback button designs! Best of all? If your design idea is chosen you'll receive the adorable new set free of charge! Woohoo!

Let's start off our thinking process by taking a quick trip back down button memory lane and gain some knowledge on what sort of designs I'm most interested in! And since I now possess the wonderful editing abilities of photoshop (thanks neal), I've been able to touch up my old designs (with some help from fraser) and compile them in one massive jpeg for you to ogle! Hooray!


Overload of cuteness! And super geeky cuteness at that!! But even though I love all my designs equally - the public certainly does not, and I pretty much stink at guessing which designs will sell the best (just like I mentioned here). I've tallied up my latest buttons sales and of the 170 sets I've set loose on the world this is how they rank:

1) hot sellers: mustache kitties, microbes, and dinosaurs! Yay!

2) medium sellers: love robots (quickly rising on the charts with valentine's days), and scientists (which might also be rising...if I wasn't sold out of them...)

3) mild sellers: woodland creatures, thumbs up yetis, and sea creatures. *I still love you guys!*

(Oh, I've also got my little pink promo pin in the corner up there - but I don't sell him. He's just a bonus for special buyers.)

So what have I learned from all this? Not much. I still have no clue what designs are best but I certainly have fun creating and selling them anyways! And as an added bonus (for you and me) you have the opportunity to suggest ideas for button sets! Not that the opportunity wasn't there before... now I'm just offering extra encouragement with free pins to design winners! Woo! Plus I'll even give you a list of what I'm sort of looking for to increase your chances!

I like button designs that:
  • are geeky! The geekier the better even!
  • I'm actually able to draw (I have a degree in science...not fine art...)
  • look good in 1" button form (not too overly complicated - and can fit in a circle)
  • have an underlying science theme. I am "scientific culture" after all - keep that in mind.
  • are ascetically pleasing and awesome
  • will keep up with the sweet etsy trends for spring/summer/2010
  • can be anthropomorphic and adorable! (Not actually that difficult - tutorial here)
  • are great in a set of three (I'd love to know what each of the pins in the set would be too!)
  • make you want to buy and wear them!!! (that is the plan after all...)
So I know trying to hit all of those list points is a little over achiever-y (not to discourage or anything) but just keep them in mind when you're submitting button set design ideas. So get brainstorming and commenting!!! Good luck!

27 comments:

  1. I'm thinking! Ouch, it hurts! Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh boy! Things I think would rock:
    Another set of female scientists, in particular! Maybe Rosalinde Franklin, Jane Goodall,

    Weird Bugs! Oh man, I love insects and creepy crawlies. You could get some double-headed caterpillars, some spiders, maybe a millipede? Sooo many possibilities! I would buy an all-beetles button set, I would!

    Indulgent Chemical Compounds! You could swipe, say, caffeine, alcohol, sucrose! Mmmm, the ingredients of a good life!;)

    Whatever you pick, it will of course be adorable. And honestly, more cats would probably be your best bet. I don't know, people always buy catstuff. I'm just trying to strike a blow for those who love the uncuddlies, too.

    carapacenator(at)gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thats so surprising that the yeti pack doesn't sell more, he is my absolute favorite!!!! I am going to buy his magnet set as soon as I go through my move and have a fridge to put them on!! (I hope I am not imagining that you have a magnet set...) :P

    ReplyDelete
  4. I dont have anything new to imput because I was going to say the same thing as Carapace!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the yeti!

    How about mustache dogs, or jungle safari creatures?

    ReplyDelete
  6. How about dino bones?
    or something space-y? stars, planets, etc. I would love to see some of those :)

    ps: the yeti is my fav too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. the yeti is definitely my favorite, but...how about mythical monsters? medusa...cyclops...minotaur? :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. geek wear: bowtie, pocket protector & whatever else I said last night that I can't remember -- perhaps in argyle?

    veggies!

    cute calculator!

    vampire woodland creatures with moustaches and wearing plaid!

    spring plantsL tuplip, daffodil & crocus

    gingko leaf

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh yeah! Tea stuff! Pot, cup & cosy!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Way to cover your bases there Les. And it was a calculator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. How about a rainbow, raincloud, and umbrella?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Or yummy treats? Or Bret and Jemaine? (and Mel?)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well on the plus side I'm now able to make all my buttons into magnets so when I have my million new designs up and ready there will be so many options on what to do with them!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like Murray much better than Mel...red heads stick together after all.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yeah. Murray's rad. Plus he drives the same car as you!

    I can't believe I forgot LAB EQUIPMENT!

    Bunsen, micropipette, and glasswear!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. How about great human inventions. Like the wheel, levers, and the printing press?

    ReplyDelete
  17. OOOH! How about symbols for ideas! Like a lightbulb, and bolt of lightning, and, uh, something else!

    ReplyDelete
  18. LAB ANIMALS!!! Rabbit, mouse, and rhesus monkey?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Leslie has gone wild! She included everything except the kitchen sink. Hey, a kitchen sink, a bathtub..... oh, never mind. Mom

    ReplyDelete
  20. How about molecular structures relating to food (for fridge magnets, at any rate)? Is that even possible?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks so much for all your input everyone! I've been sketching out a few designs but I'm still not too sure which ones to go with (after all my drawing skills aren't exactly perfected)! Keep the design ideas coming if you've got them!!!

    ps. I'll be sure to tell yeti he's loved (he has been a little mopey lately).

    ReplyDelete
  22. aww we can't have a mopey yeti can we :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. A cello, a drum, and a trumpet.

    The evolution of human, in 3 cute steps.

    How about things that sort of connect if you put them in a row. Like, a really loong cat.

    Fruit. Maybe Blueberries, strawberries, Ice, (Bonus could be a BELNDER ! :D)

    Chocolate chip cookie (with a smiley), Peanut butter cookie (with a smiley), Raison cookie (with an unhappy face)

    This is lame, but I'd buy it: The 3-types of rock.
    Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedementary xD

    ....which somehow leads me to Dinosaurs.....

    I could go on...maybe I will.. :D

    ReplyDelete
  24. I had another idea! What about an owl wearing GLASSES! Like Archimedes from the cartoon of The Sword in the Stone. You could make cute/geeky animals with the names of ancient Greek smarties!

    I REALLY REALLY want an owl wearing glasses. And maybe a bookworm and some other geeky animal. Like a sexy librarian!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I liked Leslie's idea: bowtie, pocket protector and calculator (or bunsen burner!)

    very cute suggestion

    ReplyDelete
  26. I like that one too Mary! You should see the adorable calculator I drew out the other day. He's super cute!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ok, maybe these aren't super sciencey (but then I'm not). But was looking at my travel wet naps (the ones with the people in the mini van). I think you need characters that have adventerous lives. A geeky family and the chubby kid that follows them around.

    I forgot my list at home but I feel like I need to contribute...Oh, and I was at work thinking about Busy Town I would pay to have a little button of that worm dude.

    Maybe countries? Mopy Iceland, angry France, cute Japan??

    ReplyDelete