Yippee! SO excited about this new segment on tractorgirl. What I’m going to do is pick a current trend in craft and design, review it, and pull it apart to see if it’s worth having as a trend. Whadya reckon?

Be warned, the vagaries of my personal taste are bound to peek through now and again…

OK, so let’s get started.

 

Foxes!

Do you love them or hate them? You know I live on farm, so I’m probably a bit predisposed to regard them as a blight on the landscape. Originally brought to Australia to provide hunting sport for the gentry, they spread rapidly and are now considered a feral pest throughout the country, with government programs in place in an attempt to eradicate them. They are a cruel destroyer of lambs (in a good season they hunt for fun, not food), which can be hard and expensive for farmers. But even more importantly, they have also devastated some populations of native animals and birds to the point of extinction.

Real ones aside, the pretend ones I am seeing in graphic and surface design and crafts are all a bit cutesy for my taste. Perhaps cute is OK when you’re designing for kids. What I’m REALLY not liking is seeing cute on things made for grownups. (And of course, I’m not fussed on the tendency for everyone under the sun to “whack a fox on it” in an ill-considered attempt to keep it “trendy”.)

Nonetheless, there are foxes and there are foxes. Here, I’ve chosen a few of the more interesting interpretations of this trend.

 

I quite like how the nose has been utilised as the closure here – it adds a nice three-dimensionality to the face. Not sure I’d like a knitted bag as a knitting bag though – I hope it’s lined so your needles don’t poke through. From owlprintpanda.etsy.com  .

 

These are sweet and naive, perfect for kids to play with. But if it weren’t for the colour, I’d think they’re not so fox-like as much as Max in his wolf suit. From gnomewerxPDX.etsy.com.

 

Why have one when you can have three? Perhaps one would have been more eloquent. On the side. From RabbitandEye.etsy.com.

Hipster foxes! Now that’s a double whammy of appeal. Might be cute on a kid’s bag? Or pyjamas? But please, not on your tote. From spoonflower.com/profiles/natitys.

 

Perfect for an almost-teenage girl, it’s succinct and sturdy. Big enough for lipgloss, camera and a book to read – perhaps the one about the fox and the crow? Because a girl’s got to learn how to be crafty, and get what she wants.

 

Overall, I don’t mind these examples of foxes on thngs. But if you’d just take two seconds to search through any online crafty-type marketplace, I can guarantee you’ll come up with HUNDREDS of items of not-so-fantastic Mr. Fox. Hahaha, you know you will, don’t deny it!

 

So what do YOU think? Hot or not? You’re welcome to tell me I’m a snob!

Cheers, Julie X