mel jacobson on mon 25 jul 05
it is amazing how some things take forever to make, some
things just whizzz along.
many of you have seen my pots before...they appear
on general mills food boxes.
i have done 5 now.
my most published was a total cereal box a few years back.
milllions
but,
it is amazing when a company art director calls:
`mel, can you make a white cereal bowl, 5.3 inches across,
2.7 inches deep. pure white...with wheaties orange glaze on the rim/?`
they are making a new box, pure white, with orange lettering.
breakthrough wheaties box.
`sure`.
six weeks later, about twenty bowls done...and the orange is totally
wrong.
so, i do the bowls white...mix acrylic paint..match wheaties orange.
bingo. just what they want.
i get 500 bucks.
the box is a disaster, and never published. they went back to orange.
no big deal. that is the common thing in industry.
whwwowoowo.. i lost money.
far too much time dinking around to get it right.
and that is often the case...we think....wow, 500 bucks for one
pot. but, then the time and dinking around begins.
day after day....a few hours here, a few hours there...then the firing
is not right. start over.
but, without question, doing the cereal boxes was a big hit with high
school kids. they would go crazy....call home and tell their mom...
`mom, mom...mel has his pot on a wheaties box....WOWOWOWOWO.`
it sure was not a big deal for me. too much work, too much time,
and the box did not have my name on it....commercial art work...period.
so whether you make mugs, big jugs, casseroles...it is still a time
management issue. it should be addressed. how long does it take.
how much do you get, can you sell it????
making pots for general mills for photo shoots is good for the ego,
bad for the check book. same for most commission work. how long
does it take, who judges the final work, how much do you get???
if it takes you three hours to make and decorate a mug...well, you are
in deep dodo. you just lost money. it takes me two minutes to throw, add
a handle...two minutes...and a quick dip in the glaze...10 seconds.
a brush mark with wax...a dash of iron...load in the empty spots in the
kiln. and if i can get my customers to fall in love with it...use it every
day...yes, they think of me when they want that wedding gift for
sarah. then i get the 100 dollar bill. over and over and over.
mel
i love it when a customer brings in a paper bag with a broken mug
at the bottom....`mel, can you make this mug again, just like this one?`
from mel/minnetonka.mn.usa
website: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
http://home.comcast.net/~figglywig/clayart.htm
for gail's year book.
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