Tiki mug carving process

When I make a tiki mug I start with a sketch of what I want to do. (The hardest part of the process!)

The sketch then gets transformed to an actual size sketch, taking shrinkage into consideration.

I throw a cylinder, not pictured, on the wheel leaving it solid, in the size I need, sans design. (The design adds .125 to .24 more width to the mug sculpture.)

The actual size sketch is then laid over a slab of clay that was previously rolled out to fit the design. Then I cut the pieces out of the slab to then applique to the cylinder scoring it and using slip to attach.

I cheated and just rolled the heavy cylinder over the design (carefully) to attach it. (It came out better than expected. Usually I just pick up the pieces and attach them one by one.)

So I get a beginning design like this. Latter I'll post pictures and  a step by step carving for mold making.

Thanks for checking out my blog! :)

Why a logo

Being a graphic designer I probably went a little over kill on my business cards, hang tags...etc.

I spent days messing with letters, icons and design crap! (I mean, really, I should get a life!)  A friend who had a letter press help me print them. So this is really just to have a package design for a product in my portfolio. And this blog is just so I learn to write...yeah, like it's gonna help.

Below is the final (highly unusable) logo in all of it's (unusable) glory on a hang tag.

I say unusable because the "bat A" REALLY does not translate into wet clay as a marking stamp. You live, you design, you learn.