good elephant pottery
  • blog
  • recent work
  • where to buy
  • the potter
  • contact
  • mailing list
  • school

A Useful Education

1/12/2012

13 Comments

 
There are many reasons why I'm glad I studied graphic design in college. Even though I spent years dreaming of quitting my design work and making pots full-time. The fact is my education comes in handy, on a daily basis, for my pottery work too. 

The obvious advantage is my grasp of the term branding, which means I can choose how I want others to perceive my business (this might be the topic of a future blog post). But this post is about something more important ... a bedrock-level way of thinking that I learned in college and have been using everyday since ... the design process. The design process means that the first time you execute a new idea is just the first draft. A finished design requires cycles of revision and refinement. There are too many details and decisions to get them all right on the first draft. You must be willing to see the process through. Every successful potter I've met understands this. I've also met plenty of wannabes who don't. 

I always give credit for good ideas. Last year, my dinnerware design consisted of a square dinner plate, a round salad plate, and a flower-shaped dipping bowl. Phyllis Castells, owner of Heart of the Home in New Hope, PA, said that she'd rather have me offer two different sets ... all squares and all circles. I knew immediately that she was right. A year later, I finally finished the design of the all-squares set, which actually evolved into rectangles. I'm hoping to finish the all-circles set by next year. 
Picture
This is something I've never liked about my square plates. When I drape a square slab over a mold, the clay bunches up in the corners, and a protruding lobe develops. It doesn't bother me that much, just a little. Enough that I decided I wanted to eliminate the lobe. 

Picture
I thought the answer was to cut a slab with a rounded corner. Wrong. It still made a protruding lobe, only now it was shaped like a duck's bill. 

Picture
I realized I needed to shave clay off of the corners, but still maintain a point. Here comes another benefit from my design background ... I can use softwares like Adobe Illustrator to draw precise shapes and curves. The three orange lines represent my first three attempts to figure out the correct curves and angles. They were duds, resulting in weird lobes in other places. Ugh! Every time I turned them over from their molds, I felt defeated.  I thought "hey the lobes in the original design aren't so bad. I can live with them." But then I would wake up the next day realizing I was not satisfied, and I was ready to give it another shot.

Picture
On the fourth try (the black line in the above image), it worked. 

Picture
Here's another benefit I took from my design office ... the perfect material for making the final cutting templates. These have a glossy surface that can withstand getting a little wet. I have a stack of these that I haven't needed in a while. 

Picture
Now I'm satisfied.

13 Comments

    author

    Mea Rhee (mee-uh ree),
    ​the potter behind
    ​Good Elephant Pottery


    upcoming shows

    2023 show schedule is TBD.

    join the herd

    Receive email notices about upcoming shows/events.


    Follow me on
    ​Facebook and
    Instagram

    RSS Feed


    categories

    All
    Classes
    In The Studio
    Running A Business
    Shows
    The Art Festival Plan
    The Hourly Earnings Project

    archives

    December 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.