The problem with cute as a brief

Cute is easy and forgettable. A shelf of perfectly cute figurines reads as one soft blur. What makes a piece memorable is a small, specific flaw — a squint, a slouch, a facial expression that does not quite belong on a duck.

How we add the flaw

• We exaggerate one feature past the point of proportion. A beak that is too wide, a hat that is too tall.
• We give the piece an attitude rather than an expression: bored, unimpressed, mildly threatening.
• We let the pose be a little off-balance. A perfectly symmetrical figurine looks manufactured.

Why this matters commercially

A cute figurine is a gift. A funny figurine is a gift with a story attached, and the story is what makes someone buy a second one. Almost every repeat order we get is for a piece the buyer describes as, quote, a little cursed.

Nobody texts a photo of something cute. They text a photo of something that made them laugh.

So if a design comes off the plate and the first reaction is a slightly confused laugh, it goes into the catalog. If the reaction is a polite nod, it does not.