Buttonhead

On January 1st 2007, I accepted a challenge: Take a self-portrait picture every day for an entire year. Rain or shine, good days and bad, the goal was to compile photo diary. By July, I had bought my very first button machine and started casually making pins for my friends who were also participating in the ‘Photo 365’ project on Flickr. Little by little, my button-making expanded. I adopted the name ‘Buttonhead’ and began to develop a shop on Etsy. On day 316 of 365, I took the photo that would become synonymous with my business for the next 3 years… and it was completely unrelated to buttons! Inspired by Elvis Costello singing, ‘Tear off your own head. It’s a Doll Revolution!’, the picture was supposed to look like a life-like doll. At the time, I didn’t think it quite accomplished what I intended, so I quickly disregarded it. A few months later, I made a deal with talented illustrator and fellow Flickr friend, Ben Rollman. I traded a few of my buttons for a custom-drawn robot portrait of me based on a photo of his choosing. Guess what? He chose the Doll Revolution photo! The robot portrait was so unique that it made me begin looking at the original photo in a whole new way. So, with branding on my mind, I turned to poptoon dreamer genius, Jelene Morris, to help me create a set of graphics and banners based around the photo. Within days, the Buttonhead girl was born! 

Today, Buttonhead has sold and shipped over 50,000 button-based items worldwide. In 3 years, I’ve grown from offering just 1” pinback buttons to making 3 sizes of buttons, magnets, mirrors, and more! Now, as my studio has grown, so have my graphic design skills. I’m able to accomplish so much more with digital and web media than the girl who just wanted to dress up as a doll and take photos. For 2011, I decided to create an illustration of the Buttonhead logo and give all of my graphics a much-needed facelift. Enter Buttonhead version 2.0! I think the new artwork is fun, fresh, colorful, and most importantly, it’s representative of who I am… and how I started. 

See the new Buttonhead artwork in action:
The Etsy shop
Buttonhead.org
All New Packaging

Have feedback about the Buttonhead makeover? Leave a comment!

Hi everyone!  Today, I am excited to announce a brand new line of Buttonhead apparel, including limited editing tees, totes, and extra-long scarves!  I’ve wanted to create wearable goodies for quite some time now, so this is a wonderful new experience for me.  Each item is 100% American handmade with love.  With manufacturing in downtown LA, American Apparel is my exclusive textile supplier.  I am also hand-dyeing these garments in California procion pigments and heat pressing original decals onto each one using Minnesota-made vinyl.  Each one feels to me like a thoughtful personal expression — and oh yeah, they look really cool, too!

Cloud Coverage Tee by Buttonhead

Ali takes a moment to reflect on 3 years as an indepdendent business owner.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you:  Miss Taralee! 

She is the creator of StarryEyed Bowtique, and she is one talented babe.  She makes giant gorgeous hair bows that will blow your mind.  Plus, she is an incredibly talented graphic designer, with a line of adorable pocket mirrors, buttons, magnets, cards, and art prints.  Best of all:  I am so lucky that she has agreed to be my Web Assistant.  Yay!  This girl is getting my shiz together!  So, let’s get to know her, shall we?

An Interview with Miss Taralee

3 words that best describe you:
That’s a tough one. I’d have to say bubbly, fun-loving and creative.

Who inspires you most?
I am inspired by many people, but above all I’d have to choose Raquel Reed. She’s a fiercely talented, strong woman. She breaks boundaries with her style choices and I really love that. She always looks like a bright package of crayons; never without colour. I admire her versatility, from modeling, to make-up artistry and now, singing, she does it all, and it’s always so easy to tell when her stamp of creativity has been left on something. I recently was given the opportunity to add some of my hair bows into one of her shoots and I am just so thrilled by the photos I received in return.

Favorite movie?
Sleepaway Camp, hands down. One of the most overlooked and underrated horror films of the 80′s. I’ve yet to see a movie that has topped this one, the plot twists were so unexpected!

What is the first thing you do when you wake up for the day?
Oh my, this may sound bad, but the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning, is reach for my phone and check my e-mail. xD

If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
If I were an animal I’d be a lion. Not because I’d be queen of the jungle or have this amazing roar, or even because I’d live in some awesome cave in the African safari, no. I’d have one awesomely large main of hair and I think that’s pretty rad.

And finally…
On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love Buttonhead?
Awe, come one! Just a scale of 1-10? I was gonna say 100… Okay, I’ll go with 10 then. ^_^

 * You can also connect with Miss Taralee on her very cool website (which she created!) at http://starryeyed.starlitfury.com

Download button, magnet, and pocket mirror templates; Learn more about Buttonhead artwork submission; Get button design tips from a pro:

Design and Submit