The Art and Science Behind Every Micro Logo Stamp
Ever wondered about the magic behind creating those micro logo stamps? It’s like pushing the limits, again and again. Let’s dive into why it’s such a fascinating challenge.
The Edge of the Unknown
When we embark on a logo project, it’s like stepping into the unknown. We get a design and honestly, we’re not sure if it’ll work well in the requested size. It’s a game of time and trials. Our logo stamps, typically under 10mm, are composed of text and illustrations. So, when we discuss the size of a specific detail, we’re dealing with elements under 0.1mm and make changes as small as 0.01mm at the time. That’s less than half the diameter of a thin hair!
Let me give you a sneak peek into how we bring these stamps to life.
Our journey begins with an email chat about the design, potential outcomes, size, and so on. We kick off with the preferred design and size range.
When the first attempt doesn’t hit the mark, and let’s be real, it usually doesn’t, we start tweaking things.
The Game
Before we dive into physical changes, we play around with the many factors of printing.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the factors that keep us on our toes:
The Resin
Choosing the perfect material is crucial. It has to be durable, flexible, and incredibly precise. Finding a material that embodies all these qualities isn’t straightforward. That’s why we’ve developed our own unique blend of resin. The process of mixing resin is akin to an arcane art, almost like a form of “witchcraft”. The major players in this field guard their methods like life’s greatest secret.
We’ve got 6 different types of mix, and we choose depending on the design because different designs need different types of resin.
The Print Farm
Having the latest version of printers (though I’d love to say it's a Moji-Nano, it’s not the case here) helps us push the boundaries, but it doesn’t guarantee success. There are loads of factors we can tweak when we’re working on designs. The journey starts with selecting the appropriate slicing software, followed by determining the correct retraction, layer height, lifting speed, and so on, up to the exposure time. We have about 30 variables at our disposal that we can modify based on the type of resin, machine, or object shape.
We make tiny adjustments after every failure, which can eventually lead to victory. But printing these versions is a bit like playing the lottery - we need a bit of luck to find the best setup sooner rather than later.
The Design
Occasionally when technical experiments don’t yield results, we have to tweak the design. First, we try to isolate and work on the elements causing the problem by repositioning them by units.
Then we increase/reduce the size of the problematic elements only by units (we’re still talking about 0.01mm as a unit). Or, for example, we might modify only part of a problematic letter without changing the whole text’s font or size. These are all minor modifications that can be made without being perceptible to the naked eye. We only resort to increasing the size of the whole design as a last resort.
The Results
Even the simplest stamp (only text) can take around an hour from the conversation stage to packing, and that’s not even counting the printing time. We’ve had stamps that took literally days or even a week to make. Of course, it would be simpler to declare that for example a 7mm stamp is unachievable and hand you a 10mm one instead which can be done in 30 minutes. But that’s something a lot of folks could do. However, no one else can deliver it in 7mm, and that’s where we step in.
If you’re looking at the price tag and thinking it seems unbelievable to put in days of work for that kind of money, you’re absolutely right. And remember, we can only sell these stamps to a single customer. You’ve probably figured out by now that these stamps aren’t exactly making us millionaires.
But they’re still super important. Each one is like a new mountain to climb for my husband. He’s been perfecting this micro-sized printing gig for five years, and all of his projects, even the non-clay ones, involves dealing with teeny tiny sizes.
He’s one of a rare breed - maybe even the only one - who can print with this kind of precision at such a small scale with common printers, and that’s how he keeps leveling up his skills.
So, as long as he’s got the time, we’ll keep on making these stamps for clay artists all over the world.
The next time you come across a tiny logo stamp, perhaps you might see the effort that goes into it, and maybe even sense the magic of its creation and the happiness it brings.
If you ever feel like you might want a stamp made by us, there’s a form you could fill out. However, due to the number of logo projects we’re currently handling, we’re unable to start on new stamp projects for earlier than 4 weeks. We appreciate your understanding and patience.
Thank you for joining me on this journey, I hope it has offered you a unique insight into the art and science that goes into every tiny logo stamp.
If you find the information shared in my posts useful, a simple ‘like’ would be a wonderful way to acknowledge the time and effort put into creating it. And remember, your thoughts and feedback are always welcome in the comments section.
Take Care & Keep Creating!