For the Fun of It - art branding part 2: packaging

the physical

Hi! My name is Ashlyn Anstee, and I tell stories with words and pictures. Sometimes, that’s picture books (like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Select “Hedgehog”), or graphic novels (my series “Shelby and Watts”), and sometimes it’s animation (I’ve directed at places like Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network).

This column, “For the Fun of It”, will also have words and pictures. Sometimes it will be stories, or how-tos, or thoughts. A little bit of everything. Hope you enjoy!

I’m continuing my brand creation journey! Last time, we talked about what was in a name. Now, I want to dive into packaging.

Packaging is something I haven’t given as much thought to before. I’ve most often sold art to my friends, or done pet commissions for a short time. Packaging has been utilitarian, and sparse. As I’m approaching Art&Fluff, I’ve taken stock of what I like about art. I realised how much I like wrapping and creating gifts for friends. This gentle care, and cohesiveness feels like something to strive for from the beginning of Art&Fluff!

Pixel paintings!

We’re going to be wrapping up some pixel paintings! I’ve been making this with gouache on Case for Making’s wonderful letterpressed grid paper. I love doing this illustrative, experimental type of fan art.

ya ha ha!!! you found me!

A logo!

My packaging started from my friend Brianne Drouhard telling me about a sale on rubber stamps on DiscountRubberStamps. I loved the idea of custom stickers and wrappings for my packaging. The nice thing about a big ol stamp is that you can stamp your own stickers! You can stamp paper envelopes to hold your art! You can stamp business cards to make your own!

I’ve used half-circle stickers to stick to the back of greeting cards… (and had space to write hand-made!)

For each original piece of art, I cut backing board down to size (used to keep the art stiff and wrinkle-free in transit), and stick it in a nice plastic sleeve (so it doesn’t get schmutz on it). Both the backing board and sleeve are from clearbags.com!

I signed each piece on the back (for pixel art, it looks nice to keep the front clean). I also wanted to include a little card with each piece that gives its dimensions for framing, and information about the medium. I made this patterned paper by watercolor and geometric stamps.

I got some nice big plain stickers and stamped them, and used them to seal the bags up. Because I work in odd sizes, I am keeping standard size boards and bags in stock, and cutting others down to size.

And here’s what they look like all wrapped up!

The nice thing about the sleeves is that you can add little price tags or other things to the front, and when you pack everything up, it’ll keep everything together, easy to either put out on a craft fair table, or pop in the mail!

oh wow it’s a new column!! I’m going to switch things out- maybe I’ll see if I can organize by tags or categories soon to make it easier to find things on this little blog.

What I’ve been up to this week! I am getting things for the 826LA Holiday market next weekend on the 9th of December! Please stop by if you’re in LA- we’re running from 1-3 pm.

I’ve been making greeting cards! Here’s one.

I’ve been playing with cutouts, and layers a lot lately- here are some little cities!

One thing that’s been helpful in my studio, especially when I’m photographing or taking video, is my Canvas lamp. You may have seen them on instagram- I saw them a bunch of times and tried to resist the influencing. But I finally gave in, and to be honest, it’s been super helpful.

Getting a nice stable top-down shooting experience is hard, and this lamp makes it really easy. You just slide your phone in, and there’s an adjustable ring light that illuminates your work. I know there are other options out there now, but this is definitely worth the spurge if you want to do more timelapses or other top down shots.

ok love you bye