Guest Speaker- Liz Kores

Our EPD class had the amazing opportunity of meeting Liz Kores, a publicist. She is such a joyful person and she gave us good insight and advice on marketing our Kickstarter projects. Liz stressed the importance of defining our story and what makes our product different from others.

A good strategy for having a successful Kickstarter and product is keeping good public relations. A new way of marketing is having a strong social media presence. By actively promoting products on platforms like Instagram can get people excited about a product. Another marketing tool is getting influencers with a large following to talk about a product. The risk with that is they could not like it, but feels more genuine when a product is promoted by an influencer. It is important to plan who and where the product is seen. Liz stated four questions a designer should be able to answer about their product: 

"What am I selling? What does it say? Who is it for?" and "Where are those people?" Answering these questions, getting the right people excited about your product, and active public relations can help promote a product and make it successful. 

I want to thank Liz Kores for taking the time and coming to our EPD class to talk about her profession and giving us advice on promoting and marketing our own projects for Kickstarter.

Talking with a Local Artist

As my design for my planter developed, I had to contact manufacturers to ensure it would be manufacturable in the real world. Most planters are created in ceramic because it is lightweight and durable enough to hold the plant and water. In the US in general, there aren't many manufacturing places, especially for ceramics. To have my piece made, I needed to talk to local artists that freelance. After talking with my EPD class, Ted gave me the contact information to a local artist in Chicago.

After many emails, I met up with David Kim, a ceramics freelancer in Chicago. and got to visit his studio where he works on all his pieces. He showed me his work process and explained what and how he would make my piece. Slip casting the ceramic would be the easiest way to make my planter.

Slip casting is a ceramic building method where it utilizes a plaster cast. A more liquid form of clay is poured into a plaster mold. After a couple of hours in the mold, a thin clay wall forms because the plaster soaks up the water from the clay. When the remainder of the clay is poured out, the piece is formed and can be taken out of the mold. Once multiple pieces are made, they are fired in a kiln at very high temperatures. After the first firing, the pieces are painted with a glaze. Glazes can range from a variety of colors. David Kim mixes his own glazes to make his own unique colors.

Talking with David Kim gave me good insight into the process of ceramic making. This also poses a unique opportunity to work with a local artist that handcrafts each individual piece that makes the slightest variations unique to the piece and makes it personal.