Thinkbutton Blog

Hanging Mobiles: USA Hand-Crafted Kinetic Art at an Affordable Price

Team Thinkbutton is pleased to announce that our Warm and Cool Curves Hanging Mobiles are now available for purchase, exclusively, on the Thinkbutton site.  We are very excited about this product and expect the design and price-point to be very appealing to our current and future customers.

 

Product design and development has always been the ultimate goal for everyone at Thinkbutton; and, we are finally on our way.  We wanted our first product to be an item that is hand crafted in the USA, appealing to all ages, and reasonable in price.  Although these parameters are tough to meet we are confident we have found the perfect product type. 

Hanging mobiles certainly appeal to all ages.  They are great for adding interest, movement and color to a infant's nursery, classroom, kids' room, dorm room, board room, home office or anywhere else a blank space may be turned into a place for beautiful, hand-crafted kinetic art. Team Thinkbutton is constantly striving to bring awareness to the significance and inspiration art brings to our world; and, now we have a chance to fulfill that vision. Although many people share the perception that hand-crafted art only belongs to museums and the very wealthy, we hope to put and end to that idea.

Our hanging mobiles are a collaborative Team Thinkbutton design effort which we have comissioned Matt Richards and his team in their Portland, Oregon Ekko Mobile studios to create. Constructed from painted steel shapes and stainless-steel rods, the mobiles' components gently pass each other in 360 degree turns while giving the piece dimensional and relative variations. The Cool Curves Hanging Mobile offers subtle monochromatic scheme of cool blues and grays while the Warm Curves Hanging Mobile celebrates deep colors of purple, orange, green, and warm grays. We view both palettes as sophisticated with just a touch of whimsy.  Again, we want to offer colors that will appeal to all ages and compliment any space.

Even though the mobiles are hand crafted in a US studio we are quite proud that the price point does not reflect these qualities.  We are able to offer these mobiles for under $90 each.  That's a steal for what you are getting.  Because we are having a limited amount produced and they are being sold exclusivly on the Thinkbutton site, you can be confident that you are purchasing a unique piece.  You only have a short time to purchase one as we will retire this mobile design at the beginning of October 2009.  Hand-crafted art designed and created by US artists at an affordable price.  How can you go wrong? 

Product Videos

Over the past few months Team Thinkbutton has been working hard to create videos for many of the products we offer.  Unlike photographs, we feel video offers a better view of content, scale and material.  Although some products are fairly self-explanatory, watching a person(s) interact with the product seems to help consumers make a more informed decision about their purchase.

The product types we have been creating videos for tend to be building / construction sets, puppets and  objects.  We have created a few videos for books but the jury is still out on whether or not our format is working. Click on the following image to view a book video currently available.  Although we want our videos to be entertaining and informative, we realize that the average on-line buyer is typically in a hurry and wants their shopping experience to be as efficient as possible.  In other words, shoppers want to be able to obtain in the most amount of information, regarding a product, in the most concise format. 

We could make our videos longer and more dramatic;  but, we wonder if this is what our customer is looking for. We are sure there is a fine line between providing enough information and over embellishing.  Although we appreciate the vast amount of videos, both informative and entertaining, that a website like Youtube has to offer, we know we do not want to clutter our site with that much information.  We just want to provide an extra dimension to the products for those who visit and purchase from Thinkbutton.

If you feel the videos are effective - let us know.  If you want to see more - let us know.  If they are not providing a positive shopping experience but only slowing the page load time down - please let us know.  If there is any way to improve the videos we would greatly appreciate your input.  If you do not want to respond to the blog you are welcome to email us at mail@thinkbuton.com.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Puppet Play

What child doesn't have a plush friend to share adventures with, confide in, and snuggle during dark, thunder-clapped nights?  For many adults, their plush, childhood pal often adorns their dorm room bunk and eventually shares a shelf in the nursery of their own children. Let's face it, plush friends provide countless hours of comfort and companionship.  Which is why they make the classic learning tool.

At Thinkbutton we are always searching for ways to meld traditional learning with  modern concepts. Like stuffed animals, puppet shows and puppets have been around for years.  Puppets are similar to our plush pals but with the potential for much more expression and interaction. They are great to engage and reinforce messages to a young audience during story time, entertain and interact during puppet shows and become ambassadors for environmental, creative, and social causes.   Therefore, we have expanded our puppet line to include a diverse selection of animals and characters in all shapes and sizes.  We have also added a sleek, collapsible, tabletop puppet theater that is easy for young children to set up and stores in a flat, protective sleeve.   

Our puppet offering includes finger puppets that are small enough for tiny hands, stage puppets for more formal theater productions, and full-body puppets that are great for theater or snuggle time.  The finger puppets enable small hands to act out stories and aid in reinforcing comprehension and imagination.  Our stage puppets provide impressive details and ease of movement for optimum expression.  The full-body puppets look like stuffed animals, but, with hand access and movable mouths and arms, they take having a plush friend to a whole new level.

Our latest additions include Webwilds that come with corresponding websites containing information and activities regarding conservation of the animal purchased.  This option helps connect our plush pals with the struggle and reality of the real animals they represent; and, reminds us that it is up to us to ensure these animals have a future on Planet Earth.  As a matter of fact, all the animals in our collection represent actual creatures found in nature.  With so much beauty and diversity within our own animal kingdom, we find no reason to introduce fantasy creatures.

 All the puppets we offer add a unique quality and drama to formal and informal theater, as well as, the simple pleasure they bring during quiet, comforting moments. So, whether your puppet play includes one-on-one snuggle time or elaborate productions, you will find that all of the puppets we offer make a great addition to any place children gather to learn and play.