I concur. These guys are enormously iconical so they lend themselves well to "merchandising" of this variety. Telltale should buy your patterns, make you filthy rich, and start mass-producing.
I realised I never posted the answer to the "what's this I'm knitting?" contest. Considering Telltale has had it for like a month and a half by now, I should show you pics!
First, reminder of the pic from the thread:
Aaaaand... Here is what it was:
Mr Feaherly! Number of correct guesses: zero.
I had also finished the Hidden Person... But I had run out of white for the beard and hair and used a different one... Then the day I was leaving for Vancouver (where I met Sean and gave him the plushes) I found more of the original yarn... So I decided I'd undo the beard that's in the wrong white and use the right one instead... Got all OCD about it.
Then of course I haven't worked on it since! I'll get to it, I promise.
Some of these are pretty cool. You might even be able to make money off this talent.
You know, usually I just shrug at the idea of making less than a cent per hour of work and I tell myself the stress and fear of disappointing would make it not worth it.
But as it's looking like at least another six months of zero cent per hour, I'm starting to think maybe if I sold some stuff, I'd have some "income".
I'm not sure how to go at it, though. How much should I charge? How would I decide what to accept or reject? Should I agree to make something that's copyrighted since it would be one of a kind, or is it still wrong to do so?
If I find answers to all of that and decide it might be worth it in the end, then I'll consider it.
Should I agree to make something that's copyrighted since it would be one of a kind, or is it still wrong to do so?
This is a bit of a grey area, much like fanart and fanfic. As I understand it, it is illegal to make something that's based on a copyrighted design/character if you're going to sell it. The BBC sent a cease and desist letter to a woman who had posted knitting patterns for a Dalek, not because she was selling them herself, but apparently because other people were making them and selling them on eBay. Eventually, after a lot of wrangling she got permission to post them again, but she still wasn't making any money on them.
However - people ignore this all the time. Lots of people sell custom dolls and toys based on copyrighted characters on eBay, because most IP owners won't bother chasing things like that unless it's being done on a large scale or for a large amount of money. This is just my understanding of it though, I'm not a copyright lawyer so it's entirely possible that I have no idea what I'm talking about.
You know, usually I just shrug at the idea of making less than a cent per hour of work and I tell myself the stress and fear of disappointing would make it not worth it.
But as it's looking like at least another six months of zero cent per hour, I'm starting to think maybe if I sold some stuff, I'd have some "income".
I'm not sure how to go at it, though. How much should I charge? How would I decide what to accept or reject? Should I agree to make something that's copyrighted since it would be one of a kind, or is it still wrong to do so?
If I find answers to all of that and decide it might be worth it in the end, then I'll consider it.
I have a painting I'm working on for some one. He paid me for the cost of my supplies plus a little more for a personal profit and for my time. At the least that is what I can charge him. Paintings go for far more though.
But from a fair and simple perspective. He covers the cost of my supplies, gives me a little more so I make a profit.
I don't think you need to always make fan art. You should just make what people want, heck, maybe that's a sock puppet of their boyfriend or girlfriend. I might even pay you for one of these if I have a graphic design project that sported it well. When you have a talent like this, and its innovative and you're as efficient as you are you can really just let others answer those questions you have for you.
I wanted to charge like 20 dollars for the painting but the "client" said that wasn't enough so I'd end up charging him even more...,
But, he's already covered the cost of materials and I'm already close to making a profit.
This is a bit of a grey area, much like fanart and fanfic. As I understand it, it is illegal to make something that's based on a copyrighted design/character if you're going to sell it. [...] However - people ignore this all the time [...] because most IP owners won't bother chasing things like that unless it's being done on a large scale or for a large amount of money.
This is also my understanding.
I have also heard that copyright issues are much different in Japan and that they encourage fan stuff there, in which case I might just specialise in Japanese stuff.
I have thought before that I might be better off making patterns - to create a pattern, I probably would only need to knit the entire thing 3-4 times to check it does what I want. Then I'd be able to sell them as many times as I want.
The problem there would be that people would need to be able to knit to use said patterns, so there would be less demand. I considered starting off with a book that taught you how to knit... But there are lots of these around, why would I do any better than them?
Speaking of patterns, we get to another point: if I sell something I made using an existing pattern, it's as much of a theft of IP as knitting a copyrighted character is. The pattern was created by someone else and I'm not allowed to make money off of it. Therefore, I might very well have to end up creating my own patterns anyways.
If I do that, I might as well sell them.
But then we go back to the first issue: if it's super popular and people would want to buy it, it's copyrighted. If it's not copyrighted, people probably won't want it.
... I wonder if I could make characters who are in the public domain, actually. Of course then a different problem arises: if they're from a novel, their appearance is going to be subjective to some extent. Are there public domain movies yet?
EDIT: seems to me whoever told me Japanese copyright law was loose and allowed for fans selling stuff had no clue what they were talking about. From what I can see, it's just the basic kind of stuff.
Okay, after discussing with my good friend Comrade Pants, I have a project in mind. The project is for freakish make-your-own monster/animal plushies.
Let me explain the idea: you pick the various body parts from patterns I show to you (I'll create a few body types, a bunch of limbs - legs, wings, claws, tentacles...- tails, differently shaped heads, ears, mouths...). Each body part would have its own cost, which I'll figure out at some point. For each, you can pick a colour (same as the rest or different, your pick). You can also request a body part to change colours or be striped for an extra cost. There is no "right" number of body parts: you can ask for just a head, or for some creature with limbs everywhere.
An extra service would be to use a differently coloured yarn for sewing parts to one another so they look like they were sewn to each other. Additional details such as stitches ON body parts, or even patches, would be made available too.
How would you like that idea? You could ask for a fairly normal, cute animal, or for a freakish monster... And it would be your own, and likely unique if you're specific enough.
I'll start working on various body parts and take pictures so people can have examples of what they'll look like. I'd love any feedback from you guys of what kind of part you'd like me to create (bearing in mind I'll have to create my own pattern for each one of them).
It's probably going to take a while before I have my catalogue of body parts... After that, I'm thinking of maybe making a program for people to build their own, and it would calculate the cost and send it to me. But until I have the skills to do that, that step would be done with a form.
I want a one legged Plushthulhu. It's like Cthulhu, but made from fabric. Also, I am exceptionally humbled to be mentioned in the above post. This project officially needs to succeed forever.
How would you like that idea? You could ask for a fairly normal, cute animal, or for a freakish monster... And it would be your own, and likely unique if you're specific enough.
That sounds awesome! Reminds me of 'Sid's Create-A-Toy' at DisneyQuest, which let you take parts from various toys and recombine them in new and disturbing ways.
You could maybe have the limbs/tentacles on snap-fastners instead of sewing them on on some of them, that way the owner could switch them around if they felt like it. (like Dr. Nick's old friend Mr Gregg, with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg...)
That a brilliant and unique idea Avistew! I would suggest you find a name and maybe a logo if you decide to make it a reality, so you can get word of mouth going.
That a brilliant and unique idea Avistew! I would suggest you find a name and maybe a logo if you decide to make it a reality, so you can get word of mouth going.
Sound awesome, I'm in!
It's a successful idea, but similar things have been done with teddy bear shops, etc. I wouldn't knock it but as a artist, graphic designer, concept designer, I have to admit it's not ubber unique. Though it's likely to make her money if she markets it right.
I'm loving the idea and can't wait to see her put it into effect. I might even buy one if she starts marketing herself. If not I still love the idea and look towards seeing her do it.
I've been working on Christmas gifts, and in particular a Mojave Rattler (the Deadlands creature, not the snake) for my boyfriend.
I started an imgur album with pics of the various steps, I thought I might as well link to it directly rather than post them all again.
Of course, if you have any comments or questions, feel free. I'll update the thread if I update the album.
I updated the album with the pictures of the Rattler. For those who don't care about the steps and only about the final product, here is a pic of what it looks like:
Thanks all It was a lot of fun to make, and my first project done entirely without any pattern at all! Until then, I always used something as a base and adapted it. It definitely feels very good being done, it took a while. Now I can go back to all of my other projects :P
Comments
As you should be - he's* lovely!
*Are all Hidden People "he"s? Or maybe the females have beards as well?
One of my favourite things about Avistew's plushies is that they're all special one-of-a-kind deals.
But I haven't even met your beard! What's her name and what does she look like?
The work in progress version looked really cool, you should mail it to Graham Annable!
Are those penises?
!??
First, reminder of the pic from the thread:
Aaaaand... Here is what it was:
Mr Feaherly! Number of correct guesses: zero.
I had also finished the Hidden Person... But I had run out of white for the beard and hair and used a different one... Then the day I was leaving for Vancouver (where I met Sean and gave him the plushes) I found more of the original yarn... So I decided I'd undo the beard that's in the wrong white and use the right one instead... Got all OCD about it.
Then of course I haven't worked on it since! I'll get to it, I promise.
You know, usually I just shrug at the idea of making less than a cent per hour of work and I tell myself the stress and fear of disappointing would make it not worth it.
But as it's looking like at least another six months of zero cent per hour, I'm starting to think maybe if I sold some stuff, I'd have some "income".
I'm not sure how to go at it, though. How much should I charge? How would I decide what to accept or reject? Should I agree to make something that's copyrighted since it would be one of a kind, or is it still wrong to do so?
If I find answers to all of that and decide it might be worth it in the end, then I'll consider it.
This is a bit of a grey area, much like fanart and fanfic. As I understand it, it is illegal to make something that's based on a copyrighted design/character if you're going to sell it. The BBC sent a cease and desist letter to a woman who had posted knitting patterns for a Dalek, not because she was selling them herself, but apparently because other people were making them and selling them on eBay. Eventually, after a lot of wrangling she got permission to post them again, but she still wasn't making any money on them.
However - people ignore this all the time. Lots of people sell custom dolls and toys based on copyrighted characters on eBay, because most IP owners won't bother chasing things like that unless it's being done on a large scale or for a large amount of money. This is just my understanding of it though, I'm not a copyright lawyer so it's entirely possible that I have no idea what I'm talking about.
I have a painting I'm working on for some one. He paid me for the cost of my supplies plus a little more for a personal profit and for my time. At the least that is what I can charge him. Paintings go for far more though.
But from a fair and simple perspective. He covers the cost of my supplies, gives me a little more so I make a profit.
I don't think you need to always make fan art. You should just make what people want, heck, maybe that's a sock puppet of their boyfriend or girlfriend. I might even pay you for one of these if I have a graphic design project that sported it well. When you have a talent like this, and its innovative and you're as efficient as you are you can really just let others answer those questions you have for you.
I wanted to charge like 20 dollars for the painting but the "client" said that wasn't enough so I'd end up charging him even more...,
But, he's already covered the cost of materials and I'm already close to making a profit.
Right. But "something popular" would probably need to be copyrighted.
This is also my understanding.
I have also heard that copyright issues are much different in Japan and that they encourage fan stuff there, in which case I might just specialise in Japanese stuff.
I have thought before that I might be better off making patterns - to create a pattern, I probably would only need to knit the entire thing 3-4 times to check it does what I want. Then I'd be able to sell them as many times as I want.
The problem there would be that people would need to be able to knit to use said patterns, so there would be less demand. I considered starting off with a book that taught you how to knit... But there are lots of these around, why would I do any better than them?
Speaking of patterns, we get to another point: if I sell something I made using an existing pattern, it's as much of a theft of IP as knitting a copyrighted character is. The pattern was created by someone else and I'm not allowed to make money off of it. Therefore, I might very well have to end up creating my own patterns anyways.
If I do that, I might as well sell them.
But then we go back to the first issue: if it's super popular and people would want to buy it, it's copyrighted. If it's not copyrighted, people probably won't want it.
... I wonder if I could make characters who are in the public domain, actually. Of course then a different problem arises: if they're from a novel, their appearance is going to be subjective to some extent. Are there public domain movies yet?
EDIT: seems to me whoever told me Japanese copyright law was loose and allowed for fans selling stuff had no clue what they were talking about. From what I can see, it's just the basic kind of stuff.
Okay, after discussing with my good friend Comrade Pants, I have a project in mind. The project is for freakish make-your-own monster/animal plushies.
Let me explain the idea: you pick the various body parts from patterns I show to you (I'll create a few body types, a bunch of limbs - legs, wings, claws, tentacles...- tails, differently shaped heads, ears, mouths...). Each body part would have its own cost, which I'll figure out at some point. For each, you can pick a colour (same as the rest or different, your pick). You can also request a body part to change colours or be striped for an extra cost. There is no "right" number of body parts: you can ask for just a head, or for some creature with limbs everywhere.
An extra service would be to use a differently coloured yarn for sewing parts to one another so they look like they were sewn to each other. Additional details such as stitches ON body parts, or even patches, would be made available too.
How would you like that idea? You could ask for a fairly normal, cute animal, or for a freakish monster... And it would be your own, and likely unique if you're specific enough.
I'll start working on various body parts and take pictures so people can have examples of what they'll look like. I'd love any feedback from you guys of what kind of part you'd like me to create (bearing in mind I'll have to create my own pattern for each one of them).
It's probably going to take a while before I have my catalogue of body parts... After that, I'm thinking of maybe making a program for people to build their own, and it would calculate the cost and send it to me. But until I have the skills to do that, that step would be done with a form.
Feedback and comments on that idea are welcome!
That sounds awesome! Reminds me of 'Sid's Create-A-Toy' at DisneyQuest, which let you take parts from various toys and recombine them in new and disturbing ways.
You could maybe have the limbs/tentacles on snap-fastners instead of sewing them on on some of them, that way the owner could switch them around if they felt like it. (like Dr. Nick's old friend Mr Gregg, with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg...)
Sound awesome, I'm in!
I hope to be a doctor like Dr Nick one day.
It's a successful idea, but similar things have been done with teddy bear shops, etc. I wouldn't knock it but as a artist, graphic designer, concept designer, I have to admit it's not ubber unique. Though it's likely to make her money if she markets it right.
I'm loving the idea and can't wait to see her put it into effect. I might even buy one if she starts marketing herself. If not I still love the idea and look towards seeing her do it.
I started an imgur album with pics of the various steps, I thought I might as well link to it directly rather than post them all again.
Of course, if you have any comments or questions, feel free. I'll update the thread if I update the album.