I was obsessed with this Printing technique a few years ago! I even produced a range of jewellery based on the technique and I had always wanted to incorporate it into a lesson plan. I finally had my opportunity this semester with my Year 8 Visual Communication class.
Polymer clay printing is a fairly simple technique which can have some great results. My Year 8s were blown away with the ‘magic’ of it!
We started with a Design Brief where everyone was asked to brainstorm and develop ideas for 2 badges that were based on the theme of food. The designs needed to complement each other and would be sold as a set.
The whole project took about 4 weeks to complete and the kids loved it! They learnt about the importance of following a design brief when beginning to brainstorm a design and they also learnt how to develop and evaluate their ideas.
The initial hand rendered drawings were imported into Adobe Illustrator where students then created digital versions of their designs.
The designs were then transferred onto the Polymer clay (I used Sculpey – I find it’s softer than Fimo and much easier to roll out flat) and then baked. (I bought a little toaster oven for the Visual Communication room. $40. Thanks Kmart.)
Did you glue a pin to the back of these? What type of paint did you use and did you use a sealer/clear coat on top of the finished projects? I love this lesson. Thanks
Yep! we glued pins to the back with SuperTac (My fave glue)
There’s no paint involved with this lesson. The pictures were photocopies and transferred onto the clay.
There is a clear coat of polymer clay varnish on top.
Good luck! It’s a super fun lesson and the kids love it!