UV Gels have been in use for at least a decade now. More commonly used in Asia, it is just making an appearance in the U.S. during the past few years. UV gels are commonly used as manicure products – yes, on fingernails – because they are almost odorless, more porous than acrylic (allowing surfaces underneath to breathe and flex) and cure crystal clear under a UV lamp. UV gel however can be applied on other surfaces to create custom designs on toys, models or any roughened plastic surface. They make really cute designs on any plastic makeup holder like eyeshadow boxes or trinket boxes. 🙂
For example, here is what a very basic UV gel application on my nails look:
Contrary to popular opinion, UV gel can be applied at home and is a totally doable DIY project. You just need to understand the system, have a little patience and use the right materials 🙂 I will outline the basic process using the IBD gel system, Other systems have their own products and unique application procedure but IBD has a more general application procedure so if you buy other gel brands, you can still follow a similar process to some degree.
You will need:
- a 35 watt UV lamp (can be purchased on amazon)
- a bonder
- a clear coat
- gel color or glitter color
- builder gel (usually comes in clear or clear pink to give nail applications a more natural look)
- a top coat sealer
- gel cleanser or 90%+ isopropyl alcohol (NOT acetone because acetone will take the varnish quality off of gel)
- lint free wipes
- emerald nail file (for nails) or small grit sandpaper (for other surfaces)
Application is as follows:
- lightly roughen the surface which you plan to design on with a file (for nails) or small grit sandpaper (other surfaces)
- apply bonder sparingly and cure under the UV lamp for 30 seconds
- use a lint free wipe to blot the surface with bonder but don’t wipe anything off. you just want to create a tacky surface as a base for the clear gel layer. be careful to avoid cuticles if applying on nails or else the latter gel layers will cure on top of the cuticle and cause lifting.
- apply a layer of clear gel with a brush and cure for one minute
- apply your gel color, glitter color gel design with a brush. To create layering, gradation effects and 3D effects, cure for 2 min. before applying another design element so the gels don’t blend into one another. You can use builder gel in a color of your choice with a brush for nails to preserve a smile line on the nail (i suggest watching a few youtube tutorials first because builder gel is thick and viscous). Application of this color and builder gel layer is the art part of using UV gel. you need a lot of patience and time. If applying on nails, don’t get anything on the cuticles because even though thick, the gel can run. cure this layer for 2 minutes.
- use 90% isopropyl alcohol to wipe off tacky surface after curing.
- you can file the nail around and down if doing a manicure. be sure to wipe off any dust and debris.
- apply top coat sealer with a brush to seal your nail or custom design. cure for 3 minutes. other top coat sealers have different curing times so be sure to check the product’s label.
That’s it! Note that if you are applying UV gel as a manicure, the resulting manicure will be thicker than regular nailpolish. It will resemble more of an acrylic nail art kind of manicure. You can always file down the gel (refer to step 7 above) before applying the final top coat sealer so the look isn’t as thick.
There are other UV gel nail products that are applied and cure more like nailpolish (for instance, Gelish) but I would not recommend using those products to customize toys or other surfaces other than on nails. The most time consuming part of using UV gel is applying the color/builder gel layer and curing. But with a little patience, reference a few youtube videos on technique, customizing UV gels can be very fun!
Mint Purple Studio successfully registered our trademark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) a few months ago. The process was long, as is most experiences that deal with the government. However, it was also challenging and a great learning experience. Yes, I am an attorney and practiced corporate law for two years but I never dealt with trademark registration as that falls under its own special category of IP Law. My legal training and experience helped, having Esq. at the end of my name also helped…. But I would say that any clever layman/woman can start the process on their own too by educating themselves (the Internet is a great resource), finishing up by procuring an attorney to review and sign off on the application.
I will outline the general process I went through here; however NOTE : none of this should be taken as legal advice. Plus everyone’s needs are different so each application in detail will be different as well.
1. Research, download and review the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) application form to get an overview of what the requirements are for filing the studio’s trademark.
2. Familiarize self with the different classes that the studio’s services can fall under for trademark filing. This is probably the most important and arduous step because I found that although I knew exactly that I wanted to register the studio’s many design services and design products, the issue is there are many many many! Each class costs $275 to register if using the online TEAS form so I had to choose wisely even if I wanted to register that many.
3. Login to the USPTO and complete the TEAS application online. I needed to get the application done in one day because the system exits on its own if idle for more than an hour and I couldn’t risk losing all my data after spending a lot of time filling out so much detail in the application. I had to provide examples of the studio’s product, evidence that the products were in commerce on or before the date of filing and compile a lot of photographic support to show my products and design services had the studio’s mark at the time I was doing business.
4. After submitting the completed application online, I signed off as owner and attorney of record because the USPTO will only correspond with attorneys on applications. It took me a few months to get everything together, one day to submit the application.
5. The USPTO replied to my application by issuing an office action which is also viewable online. The office action detailed issues that the USPTO examiner had with my application and I was given 6 months to address the issues in order to proceed forward. In the studio’s case, the biggest challenge was again classification. Fortunately, I had the pleasure of working with a very experienced and kind USPTO examiner who was willing to give me some guidance. Thank you Patty! She went above and beyond her call of duty and I was definitely blessed to have such a nice attorney work on the case.
6. Each time I addressed an office action, I used the TEAS system response form on the USPTO website. This process took the longest (about a year). The toll was in part due to my being pregnant and having a crazy pregnancy. I was working on a reply up until the day I delivered and a month after my baby was born!
7. Once the USPTO examiner felt I fully addressed all of the issues on the application, she approved the mark for publication in the USPTO Official Gazette. The mark then needs to pass a defense period of thirty days to see if anyone challenges it.
8. After the mark passes the defense period, an official registration certificate is issued and mailed to the address on file. The moment I received the certificate, I wanted to jump up and down with excitement 🙂
And that is it for my experience with trademark registration. 🙂 Maintenance paperwork needs to be filed in a few years but now the studio’s trademark is considered officially registered! This PDF file is a great explanatory overview of the process.
So designers and artists, you can begin this process yourself too. If you want legal consultation, feel free to email me at trademark@mintpurplestudio.com. Good luck!
It seems like everyone has a mobile app now, why shouldn’t we? Being somewhat tech savvy and a total dork in these things, I did some research as to what would be the fastest way to publish an app while allowing for maximum customization and minimal coding hassle. I came across Conduit Mobile – they’re the ones that make funky toolbars for your web browser. We were able to build the app online but we still had to open separate developer accounts at apple, Googleplay and pay some fees to allow us to publish our app into their app stores. It took about a day and a half with an all-nighter in between. Now we’re waiting for Conduit Mobile to fix some bugs in the submitted app, review the app and then complete the submission process. We’re so excited!
Here are some screenshots of the app so far!
iPhone simulation
iPad simulation
android phone simulation
windows phone simulation
Hello everyone, it’s been awhile! The studio’s been busy with some projects for clients that must remain confidential so no blog posts or photos…. but it’s all been good. We recently got commissioned by a startup toy store in California to create a logo for their new business. The requirements were that the logo be colorful, creative (of course), educational with a focus on non-technology as a theme. The owner of the store I found adopted a few guide dogs and have a loving, big heart. So I used that as my inspiration to create a new character named Mr. Delle. He is named after one of the owner’s late guide dogs Mistel who was a beautiful and protective puppy.
Mr. Delle is of course a guide dog, a half golden retriever and half labrador puppy. His favorite pastime is playing with his big toy bone and sleeping in the sun. Mr. Delle also likes to play with cats and on one occasion happened to meet Doraemon, aka ドラえもん in Japanese, the famous gadget cat from the future. Mr. Delle and Doraemon became instant buddies. Doraemon even gave Mr. Delle a little clear sounding bell collar as a gift. If you ever hear a tinkling bell down the street, it could be Mr. Delle helping someone who can not see very well. <3
If anyone is in California, feel free to stop by the new toy shop located at 12202 Garvey Avenue, Suite 101 EL Monte, CA 91732. You may run into Mr. Delle himself!
Happy Lunar New Year of the Dragon! A little belated but better late than never… Ha! There’s been a whole hype about this year of the dragon, mainly because the dragon is considered probably the most auspicious of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. So while I was brainstorming on what to design as a cute birth announcement for our expectant little bundle of joy, I decided to design it around the dragon. =) The end result was the birth of a new character named Dragon B.
Dragon B’s favorite food is milk and he tells his story here:
The template for this dragon birth announcement will be on sale eventually as a vector download on our Etsy shop or feel free to contact us for the template! We’re super excited to introduce more about Dragon B as his birthday comes up. Hope everyone is having a prosperous year of the Dragon so far and Dragon B sends a big welcome to all the new babies born this year! <3
