To All NYC Gift Fair Buyers…

Here’s a shout-out to all buyers currently in town for the NYC Gift Fair: Team Tattly unfortunately does not have a booth *but* we would like to invite you to our “Tattly Showroom” in DUMBO if you’re interested in carrying Tattly.

We just started selling wholesale and are looking forward to being in many designy stores. For more info email us.

9 Comments leave a comment below

  1. woo. love the new pad!!!!

  2. they look soooo lovely all together! :D

  3. I’m so impressed at how Tattly has developed. Wonderful job, Tina & co.

  4. Tina,

    I’ve been reading your blog for a few years now and love your design findings as a whole. But your whole Tattly brand and your self-glorifying of it has finally pushed me to boldly comment on it.

    I love the designers series (specifically Jessica’s work), but I would never spend $5 for two temporary tattoos at a time where sustainability has been brought to the attention of every serious designer at some level. I feel like I have a pretty good pulse on the 30-something designer and no one I know would wear these for that price. I’m glad you’re able to make some money off of a product you’re clearly having fun with, but the packaging is more enticing that the actual product.

    If I felt like covering myself with temporary design images, I would spend the money buying some Sharpies and do it myself. And I encourage everyone to be creative themselves and embrace the DIY attitude rather than give their money over to allow someone else to have all the fun.

    Lastly, do you really think these would be selling as well as they probably are without your constant endorsements on Swissmiss? Mind posting the online sales before and after you post up a promotional post on them? You carry a good deal of weight in the design community on what you choose to share with us – Tattly, for me, chips away at your credibility which is really unfortunate at a time where comprehensive and respectable design blogs are few and far between. We all need to get paid, but we always have a choice how we make that happen. Please, feel free to lambast me as a bitter, hipster who is just jealous or however else you wish to categorize me.

    But please don’t categorize me as one of the mindless sheep who knows nothing about design and simply wants to rep it with a temporary tattoo. I think your readers are in the same level and deserve a similar respect as we respect you and your design blog posts and show that by continuing to come back.

  5. Erik

    Thank you for your thoughtful and constructive comment, I appreciate it. I am sad you feel the way you feel but am glad you shared it. The thought of many of my readers feeling the way you do is bumming me out, I admit that.

    It was never my intention to ‘glorify’ Tattly. I am having *so* much fun with the project and can’t help but share.

    I respect that you don’t think they’re worth $5 but I hope you do know that that includes packaging, shipping, handling AND a 30% cut for the designer. Given all that, the price is not all that crazy, is it?

    And I am sorry you don’t like them, period. I realize Tattly are not for everyone. There are a lot of designy-accessory-type-things out there that I don’t respond to either, and that is fine. I don’t need to bash it though. We all have different tastes and likes.

    Again, I really appreciate your honest and constructive feedback and might reconsider how often I post about Tattly.

    Just know, that I have the best of intentions with all my projects and especially my blog. I *DO* respect my readers, very much so. If I didn’t, my blog would be plastered with ads, so I could thoroughly cash in on my large traffic. Given your history of reading swissmiss for a few years now, I hope you respect that.

    Waving from Brooklyn!
    Tina

  6. Hi Tina,

    Unlike Erik, I find the Tattly project extremely cool and a lot of fun. If I still lived in the US, I would order some Tattlys for my design friends. I wish they had been around for my Brooklyn wedding party!

    However, much like Erik, I too have been frustrated by what feels like constant Tattly entries. I get the idea of the company, I don’t need to see every new design or theme that is developed on swiss-miss. I can go to the lovely Tattly website for that. If you dedicated as much blog space to any other company, I would feel the same.

    I feel really badly to rain on your parade, especially since I do feel you are genuinely excited. This is Your blog and you can post about anything you like, as often as you like. The Tattly posts are just different from what I grew to expect on swiss-miss: a wide variety of design/art products, ideas, and people.

  7. The biggest engine behind my blog is that I’m inspired by what I write about and I love what I write about. That’s it. If I suddenly grew tired of what I was writing about my blog would die instantly. Whether it’s your own project or someone else’s project, we have to continue writing about what inspires us because that’s our voice. I love seeing tattly posts on swiss-miss. Tina’s energy and enthusiasm really shines through in those posts, pushing me to try harder and do better.

    Oh, and I have a pretty simple remedy when I come across posts that don’t interest me: I keep scrolling.

  8. Heya Tina,

    To start, thanks for replying. It goes a long way and is very appreciated. I didn’t want to be the wet blanket with your tattoo fun – rather, I wanted to just let you know that your faithful followers might feel overwhelmed with your personal project and the exposure you’re giving it. Like any design project – know your audience. I might be in the minority, but I hope that my fellow designers would not hesitate to tell me if I was toeing a line. As Melania mentioned, if it was any other product being pushed with the same frequency on your blog, I would be equally frustrated.

    If you can get people to buy them for $5 each, then congrats. I simply feel that $5 could be better spent on my own personally expression as a designer vs. letting someone else have all the fun. I don’t feel like I am the only designer who feels this way.

    Just to clarify – I never said I don’t like them, period. Quite the opposite, actually. “I love the designers series (specifically Jessica’s work)”. I find many of them aimed at kids, yet advertised (which is how it feels with the frequency of the postings) on an adult graphic design blog. Do you market these anywhere else online?

    As Johnny mentioned, I also notice your enthusiasm and passion for this project and I probably had similar feelings to compete and push to be a better, more active designer myself. I just wanted to bring it to your attention how people in the online design community view your site – as a respectable, educational and enlightening blog amongst a sea of crap. Of all the content I have seen you comment on in the years I have been coming here, this is the only post that has even remotely ruffled my feathers.

    Honestly, if you felt the desire to put up a few banners that were design related, it wouldn’t bother me at all. Essentially, you’re giving away banner space for free with every write up that you love (which is most since you’re blog rarely attacks bad design and rather focuses on good design). I often travel away from Swissmiss in search of the products that you recommend! So, if you wanted to make a few dollars from some companies that you respect and wish to share, by all means. Again, we all need to get paid but we have choices to make in how we go about that. Your blog, your world. =)

    Cheers,
    Erik

  9. I still do not believe you have the print of that ideas stealing “designer” hanging at your place, it is sad that someone who is a designer is not aware of such things :-/