Calamityware

I’m a retired graphic designer who now has the freedom to squander my days on self-inflicted projects. I draw at least a little everyday and post the pages from my sketchbooks on Flickr.

The drawings I like best make me laugh. Sometimes it is obvious that a drawing could be the basis for a good product. To me, a “good product” is one that can be beautiful, useful, and funny.

I use the crowd-funding platform, Kickstarter, to discover if people like my idea enough to justify a production run. So far, I have had more than 20 successful Kickstarter projects and a few flops.

When a Kickstarter project ends, any surplus products that have been produced become available here on this site until they are sold out.

I have a long list of projects I’d like to complete before I kick the bucket. As long as the projects continue to be fun and people are willing to support them, I see no reason to stop.The Calamityware series started in 2011 when I inherited a traditional, Willow-pattern plate and decided to sketch it in my notebook. I couldn’t resist the temptation to add a pterodactyl in the sky. When people saw the drawing on Flickr, several urged me to figure out a way to reproduce the image on a physical plate. My first Kickstarter project sprang from that idea.
Blue-willow patterns have been going strong for 300 years. It’s great fun to take that heritage in a new direction.