John Hathaway.
Deal Toy Expert.

Where I started

Right out of college, I worked at a science and history museum producing exhibits. After that, I spent several years doing annual reports and other print design.

When I moved into deal toys, I brought that experience with me. I was interested in fonts, colors, shapes, sizes and how everything looked together. As I saw more of the pieces actually made, I started thinking more about composition in three dimensions and construction.

The factory experience was what really opened my eyes.

The company I worked for bought a Lucite factory, and I became the contact between our company and the people making our pieces. I spent time on the factory floor, in the casting room and working with the autoclave. I learned about casting and finishing from the people doing it.

That kind of access was unusual. These were specialized skills, and I was fortunate to be in a position to learn about them firsthand.

Understanding how a design becomes a piece

At first, I saw design as giving form to an idea. A client might have a fairly vague sense of what a deal marker should represent, and I could help turn that into something they could see.

Working with the factory gave me a much fuller understanding of what happened next. Production was the realization of the design, and the choices made along the way affected how well it turned out.

At each stage, something important could get lost. You could misunderstand the client’s intention. You could create artwork that didn’t account for how the piece would be made. Or something that worked in the design could lose its effect during production.

I began to understand those connections much better. It changed the way I worked and helped me have more useful conversations with the factory.

We did a lot of Lucite in those years. Owning a Lucite factory certainly influenced what the company sold, but it also gave me the opportunity to learn that material in depth.

Over time, I learned more about metal casting, resin casting and cutting crystal shapes with water jets. Printing worked differently across materials too. Every new process added possibilities, along with details I needed to understand.

There’s so much nuance in this work. That’s part of what keeps it interesting.

Looking at the job from the client’s side

I also learned about the deals themselves. Just the basics, but enough to understand more about what was appropriate for each project and what might matter to the people receiving the piece.

That helped me become a better designer. It also helped me make the process easier for clients.

They’ve already done the hard work of the deal. They’ve put their expertise to use, and now I can put mine to work for them. I want to help them make decisions without asking them to become experts in materials or manufacturing.

I care about each project. I want the design to be effective, the piece to be made well and the person ordering it to feel that someone is looking after the details.

Over the years, I heard the phrase “turn and burn” used to describe getting work out as quickly as possible and moving on. That approach never suited me.

There’s a practical business reason for giving a job more attention too. Repeat business matters. Good designs and competitive prices are important, and so is the experience of working with you. I want people to come back because they’re pleased with the piece and comfortable trusting me with another project.

What that experience brings to your project

I still spend plenty of time thinking about how a piece looks. But I’m also considering what it represents, how it will be produced and what the client needs from me to keep things moving.

Those concerns have become part of the same job for me. A recommendation about materials may affect the design. A better understanding of the deal may change which details deserve attention. A conversation early on may resolve something that would be much harder to address later.

If you’re planning a deal toy, you don’t need to arrive with a finished concept. Tell me what you’re commemorating, who it’s for and what you already know about the quantity, timing and budget. We can work through the design and production questions from there.