It’s not often that I buy a product based on its packaging. I made the exception when I came across Ferris Wheel Press ink on the Desseres’ website in late 2021. Every detail was so thoughtfully crafted from the unique designs on each package to the shape of the bottles that look more like they contain perfume than writing ink.
My graphic designer brain was singing and my artist’s brain was desperately curious to create some art with the product. I figured that a company with this much attention to detail on presentation had to have a great product to back it up.
Their overall branding, website, and emails all echo the great design found in the product packaging. It’s no surprise that this Canadian company is award-winning for this very aspect. I’m happy to share that I’m now a creative ambassador for the company and proudly use their products in my mixed media illustrations and drawings. I thought I would take the time to feature their products and share exactly why I love them so much.
Disclaimer:
This is a sponsored blog post. Keep in mind that I partner with companies and their products because of their quality, and not because of any incentive that I receive. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
ABOUT FERRIS WHEEL PRESS
Located in Markham, Ontario Canada, Ferris Wheel Press is a premium design and stationery company that has one mission and mantra – Fall in Love with Writing Again™. Originally co-founded by Deborah Lau-Yu and Raymond Yu in Toronto, their love for printing and stationery products inspired Ferris Wheel Press with the intent to create “a lifestyle brand where the whimsical sights, sounds, and nostalgia of the carnival dances with the rat-tat-tat of a traditional print shop’’ – quote source nuvomagazine.com
They’ve been refining and innovating their products for well over ten years starting with fountain pens and nibs, They later expanded into inks and sketchbooks. The company now regularly launches limited edition products which keep its passionate following engaged in conjunction with the regular line of inks.
PRODUCT FEATURES
The two products I’m featuring in this post, are a great example of the quality, imagination, and innovation that are infused in their line of products. Aside from the beautiful design, the often poetic copywriting that goes into each product description is worth a feature on its own. For that reason, I have taken the product description excerpts from the website and included them here. I honestly didn’t think I could improve upon how they describe their own products and the element of storytelling and whimsey I feel is part of their brand experience.
Curious Collaborations | Special Edition Lunar New Year Purple Jade Rabbit Ink
“In another epic collaboration, we celebrate the Lunar New Year with Fête Chinoise (Fetechinoise.ca). We present The Purple Jade Rabbit, a celestial lavender ink that’s illuminated by shimmering silver sparkles. Inspired by the delicate hues of the rare purple jade stone, the story of this precious keepsake is told through the mythical oriental tale of the Moon Goddess and her rabbit.” (Excerpt from ferriswheelpress.ca)
Ink Tone: Purple Jade with a silver shimmer Characteristics: Delicate, celestial, etherea
- 38ml ink reservoir
- Rich and saturated tones
- Silver Shimmer
- Water-based and compatible with all fountain pens
- Signature brass cap
Curious Collaborations | Special Edition Lunar New Year Purple Jade Rabbit Ink
“In the quiet chambers of Princess Aurora, little miss Briar Rose awaits the kiss of her true love. Capture the feeling of infinite slumber in a bottle, and awaken the curse of Sleeping Beauty with the glimmer of red sheen.” (Excerpt from ferriswheelpress.ca)
Ink Tone: Purple Jade with a silver shimmer Characteristics: Delicate, celestial, etherea
- 20ml ink reservoir
- Rich and saturated tones
- Champagne Shimmer
- Red Sheen
- Water-based and compatible with all fountain pens
- Signature brass cap
PACKAGING
An absolute feast for the eyes, I truly believe their approach to packaging design was brilliant. Before I was ever a graphic designer, I used to hoard product packaging I thought was pretty. For what future reason who knows, but usually it was because it felt too nice throw out. Ferris Wheel Press product packaging is no exception. You could proudly display these bottles of ink in your studio with or without the packaging.
If you are familiar with packaging in Canada, typically it’s all bilingual showing both French and English in varying percentages. This packaging only provides French translations for the colour name, bottle size and “Designed and Made in Canada” call out. As a designer, I appreciate not making it fully bilingual since that can clutter up a great design fast. I have not seen if the products sold in Quebec and primary French-speaking markets are balanced differently, but it wouldn’t surprise me given their level of attention to detail.
Related: Faber-Castell Artist PITT Big Brush Pens Review
Notable design details: (source ferriswheelpress.ca)
- Jade Moon Rabbits work a mortar and pestle compounding medicine and tinctures for the moon Goddess Chang’e
- Chang’e’s Palace floats ethereally in the sky, the glow of the moon emanating from its walls.
- Rabbits hop around the palace gardens, tending to pots of various plants & shrubberies.
- The beautiful full moon glows in the sky, if you look closely you might be able to see the outline of the rabbit.
“Close your eyes as you fall into the embrace of a bed of a thousand Briar roses, their petals cradling your body gently as you surrender to an enchanted slumber. Dream untethered and drift through the wondrous lapis chambers of your imagination. Using a stroke of pure inspiration, breakthrough your enchanted spell with a mystical red sheen.” (Excerpt from ferriswheelpress.ca)
The two types of packaging shown here are typical for the company. The Purple Jade Rabbit for their 38 mL bottles and Lapis Lullabies for their 20 mL bottle. Both feature a complex series of interior stabilizing folds so that the bottle doesn’t bounce around in the packaging during transport. There is even a little peek-a-boo hexagonal cut detail on the top of each box to reveal the signature brass cap that tops each bottle.
Notable design details: (source ferriswheelpress.ca)
- Interior bottle opening: 10mm wide to fit a variety of writing instruments
- Briar Roses creep up the bed posts, shrouding the bed in mystery.
- Snuggle into the plush pillows, inspired by our iconic ink bottles, hopefully, they aren’t made of glass!
- Beautifully carved bed posts reminiscent of ink bottles hold the drapes in place.
- Small spinning wheel motifs can be found throughout the bed frame carvings.
- Nestled under the night sky, moonlight falls upon the princess’ crown.
- Is that Sleeping Beauty? It looks like she has been turned into a cat!
SWATCHES
Ferris Wheel Press provides a detailed swatch experience when you are shopping on their website. With many of their inks having multi-faceted or iridescent qualities, it’s nice to have that represented in a way that can help inform what it might look like when you can’t see it in person. I will say that most of these inks, especially the two I’m featuring are absolutely mesmerizing to the eye. They do an excellent job of their product photography but seeing the shimmering crystals swirl through the ink feels like magic might be contained within the bottle itself.
I’ve included photos of my own swatch samples as well so you can see how they appear “in real life.” It should be noted that with these multi-faceted inks depending on the mix when you dip your brush in you may get a different swatch result each time.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you know I feel strongly about the value of swatching your colours. Ferris Wheel Press clearly feels the same because they created a 40-page 100lb cardstock swatch booklet that you can purchase to keep track of all of your inks. The pages have a blank illustration of one the bottles for you to fill in and a gold foil-stamped logo and slogan on each page.
PERFORMANCE
The ink may come in small sizes but you don’t need a lot to make a big impact. It’s super saturated and vibrant. I find this ink dries fairly fast so you do need to work quickly if you are using this as an art medium to avoid undesired patches in coverage. One layer vs many layers in this ink will yield different results. This is especially true for their Ferritales series inks that contain multi-faceted colours and a shimmer element.
Being a water-based ink, it will wash up with water, but be warned it can also temporaily stain your hands and anything it is accidentally spilled on. Use extreme care when using this product. Like watercolour, it can be reactivated once dry.
Pro-tip: before using the iridescent inks shake gently or leave them upside down to redistribute the crystallization throughout the ink bottle.
ILLUSTRATION APPLICATION
I created a little illustration inspired by the Year of the Rabbit and the name of these inks to demonstrate how they perform as an artistic medium. While I’m still experimenting with all of the ways I can stretch the potential of this product, I love how each stroke can be a new discovery and challenge me to have more of an organic process with my art creation techniques. Needless to say, I think this is going to be a long a colourful love affair.
I hope that in sharing a little bit about this product you not only see why I am so passionate about it, and are maybe falling a little in love yourself. If you’re curious to give it a try yourself you can use my personal affiliate code to save 10% on your online orders!
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