Saturday, December 22, 2007

Contest: Name that Crane

For the last few years, when I make a crane I start from scratch. I may make a cane that will create 3 or 6 or more cranes, but when that cane was done, so was that design. While there is some creative freedom in this approach, it can also be challenging when I have orders to get out the door. And there is anxiety as I package up an order. Will they like this one? I had a few variations that I could easily reproduce, such as a Skinner blend with a metal leaf crackle finish. But the patterned cranes were the ones that many people love.

After having to come up with a reproducible design for the catalog company I began to rethink my whole approach to making cranes. Maybe it would be easier to have several patterns that would be exclusive for one year. The next year, I would have a new set of designs. With that in mind, I have been working on several styles or designs to offer for 2008, and I have come up with a few that I like, and I know I can repeat....at least in pattern, if not in the exact colorway.

The group of cranes at right are called "I Love You" cranes. They were designed with Valentines' Day in mind. But I will only have this design for 2008. In 2009, there will be a new design with this theme.

The next picture is a group of cranes I call "Carpet Ride". When I am laying out the sheet of clay with the cane slices, I am using the idea of an oriental rug. I spent a year working part time selling rugs at an area furniture store. I loved the colors and patterns, and each night when I came to work, I would look through the rugs, to see the newest patterns and designs. Most rugs have a center field and a border. These cranes use that idea in how they are created. This pattern that will have more variety...depending on the canes I have to work with at the time.
Now, you come in. I have a few other designs that I need some help with naming. The right name can romance the work a bit. A story can be conjured up in just a few well selected words. Problem is, I have a nasty cold right now. My brain is in slow motion. Which can be great for getting tedious tasks done, but not so great for brainstorming. I need your brains and creativity. Two designs are wanting for a name.
Every idea I have come up with falls flat. The top group can be called group 1, and the lower picture, group 2. These are not the only colors that these cranes will come in, but they give you an idea of how the pattern can look in a variety of colorways. Submit your ideas in the comments, and specify which group you are naming. You are welcome to submit as many ideas as you can come up with. You have until next Friday, December 28th, at midnight(EST) to come up with an idea and post it in the comments. If your name is selected, in exchange for your permission to use the
name to promote that line, I will send you a crane in that pattern....hanging or sitting, you choose.

I hope your creative juices are flowing better than mine are right now. I look forward to seeing your ideas! And thank you for your creative energy....I need it right now. :-)






12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fair Ribbons for group 1. when I first saw it I saw the flowerette ribbons you get when you win something at the fair.

Group 2 hmmm this one is tougher, but what comes to my mind is "4 of a kind" because of the 4 triangles you see in each pattern sheet.

theres my poor attempt at naming :D

Anonymous said...

Hi Judy

I think I would call the first group "Eternal Cranes" because of the circle design - Circles have no beginning or ending therefore go on until infinity. I like the idea of someone giving a crane for Eternity.

The second could maybe be "Kaleidoscope Cranes" because the design is like a Kaleidoscope pattern and is also a play on Kaleidoscope Canes".

Not brilliant on my part but best I can come up with just before Christmas - my brain is too full of lists I think!

Happy Christmas to you and all your family

Pippa

dodo said...

I love the cranes and their designs :)

I think the Group 1 Cranes should be named Evening Sky because the blue and purple colors remind me of evening falling after the sunset. I also think Evening Star or Evening Blossom might be nice, because the circles on the cranes look like stars or blossoms.

I think the Group 2 cranes should be named Mosaic because their patterns remind me of those little mosaic tiles you put together to make beautiful pictures.

kitty said...

Guess my last post didn't come through.

Group 1 is Halo because of the halo of pattern around the circles.

Group 2 is Stained Glass because that's the first thing I thought of when I saw them.

Anonymous said...

Hi Judy,

I'd love to see the word "magic" added somewhere to the carpet ride cranes (like magic carpet ride or magic carpet crane).

My first impression of the next group is balloons & so I thought of "festooned balloons".

And next, "french lace crane" or simply "lace crane".

Sincerely,

Myra

Judy said...

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. This is great! Myra, I had been debating calling those cranes Magic Carpet Ride, but decided to shorten it.....maybe I need to rethink that decision. Thanks for your input.
I am sure there are lots more great ideas out there....You still have a few days to post your suggestions. Thanks everyone, and have a wonderful holiday week!

Unknown said...

Group 1: Starshine on Betelgeuse (it looks like stars thru a telescope)

Group 2: Alahambra (the designs remind me of Moorish tilework)

Sheikasaurus Rex said...

Group 1: Carnival Ride -- the stripes around the circles make me think of ferris wheels! :)

Group 2: Fragments of your Imagination (or Fragments for short) -- they look like bits and pieces of a dream to me.

Hope your cold gets better soon.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful as always Judy! My younger daughter thinks the first group should be "Moonlight Ponds"

My suggestion for the first group is "Inner Glow" or "The Glow Within" because the cane patterns seem to glow. (The skinner blend is a magic thing) The second also made me think of mosaics, so something like "Mosaic Mystique" or "Mystical Mosaics".

judy said...

Hi Judy
All I can see is #1 Sunshine
#2 Moonshadows
They're lovely, Judy M

Anonymous said...

the blue and white in group 1 is my favourite, I'm thinking they are to be called "blended bullseye" or maybe "ornamental ovid" as you can see I only have alliteration on the mind. For group 2 I keep coming up with biological terms but know they will not have mass appeal. what about "perfect prism" as they do have kaleidescope effect, and so many colours...whatever you name them they sure are beautiful, I love your work. Emma

Silly... 'Ma said...

The first group makes me think about the sun at different times of the day - the blue and white and bright noon time, the blue with the multicolored "rays" is more like a sunset in winter, with all of the clear colors, and the darker one, reminds me of a sunrise I saw recently in the Caribbean, with those intense reds and purples. SunTime.

The second set makes me think of jars of candies. The yellow is like butterscotch candies, and for some reason, the brown makes me think of candy corn, and that purple and white is so much like Good 'n' Plenty - Candy Jar!

Those are my humble ideas. :)

Beautiful work, Judy.

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