If you have watched me for a longer period of time, I am sure you have noticed a bit of a slowdown in posting pictures, streams, etc etc etc etc......

I am sort of killing two birds with one stone here. This is both a rundown of what is happening right now, and a non-conventional job posting for the greater Orlando area.

Overview:

a little backstory here. I am not sure if you had heard, but  cyrilwolf is no longer an active part of The Critter Factory. Much love goes out to my brother from another mother. I am sure he will pop in from time to time.

This has left only one full time person to handle all aspects of production, ordering, repairs, edits, shipping, design, social media, web presence, and development. The caveat being  ripner handling general inquires, but leaving all other communication to me.

The truth is this job can be hard, really hard.
Think about it.
When you can sink or swim depending on how quickly, competently, uniquely, and creatively you can make something that has never been made before. At the same time taking criticism, edit on request, and maintain a smile. This, no matter how hard you have worked, or how messed up the criticism.
Add that to a level of social isolation that is not intuitive relative to your observable popularity. So, no, this job is not for everybody.
As the old saying goes, "it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it"
Not that I am complaining.....

Anyway, here is part update/job posting.

General issues to address:

The majority of the issues below can be addressed fairly easily by distributing the responsibilities among two people as opposed to one. Some of the issues represent an opportunity for re-organization from the ground up, something much easier to do with new people. In both cases I wanted to lay out what an applicant would expect to be helping with. Right this moment fursuit production itself has not slowed that much, all of the other aspects listed below are really what I would want a partner to address first.

Let's get social.
While I am happy when a suit goes off to it's new home, I think you can understand why not having it seen by anyone else can be problem in the visual medium business. My last count leaves 12... yes TWELVE, undocumented suits that where never posted. On this aspect alone, many newer makers have blown us out of the water. It seems they do this crazy new thing called posting their finished work. In a way this is reassuring, as the problem is not a technical, or creative one, but rather a social one. Any individual that is able to update a twitter more than once a month would be an improvement, but I want to make sure we are present in social media. The Critter Factory Website suffered an apparent hacker attack. The site was more of a glorified link to our email, and the hacker was either not particularly competent, or not particularly malicious. In any case, the site will be back up soon and will need content. Just taking pictures and making sure things are moving forward would be very helpful.

Keep folks in the loop.
Currently communication is slow. Like most creative types, I do tend to get into a "work groove". Projects often come together quickly when certain creative elements align. For me, this means working as many as 48 hours straight with music blasting, materials flying, machines at full throttle, while even forgetting to eat. Nobody minds this level of eccentricity if all other aspects are maintained. Currently, what has been problematic is breaking away from production, spending what can be as long as 6+ hours of emails if I include quotes, then try to regain my initial productive momentum. With only myself to keep up production, I often opt to keep focused on production if production is going smoothly. Of course when you send out emails, you get responses, and the process repeats. This is not an excuse, or whining, just pointing out a problem that can be solved with additional hands on deck.  ripner does a fantastic job, but is not elbow deep in the projects themselves. Being intimately aware of where each project stands is hard to do by proxy. Helping provide information to Ripner, or customers directly would be an incredible help.

Be excited.
Morale is important, as creativity does not occur in a vacuum. Getting excited about a project is often a feedback loop. You cannot do this job if you treat it as you would a production line, or administrative duty. It does require a certain "je ne sais quoi" quality. Being really really really into fursuits helps.. a lot. Working alone, you can loose this. All of your morale boosting comes from external praise, either from the commissioner, or places like FA, and almost always after the project is near finished, or done. Lacking someone of whom is excited just to be making fursuits can make the low points where the project is just getting off the ground much more exciting, and helps to carry a good attitude through the process. There is an added perk of having a full fursuit making shop at your disposal in your free time. Yes, that does mean we can make you a fursuit, if not for free close to it. Persona projects can help motivate you to be creative. For me, seeing first hand excitement to make something is contagious.

Let's show people what we can do.
Broad appeal is something I never have ventured to obtain, but rethinking what projects I take on may help define the unique style I have to offer. I have always tried to take on any project with almost no input filter. Stick to the ref, stay objective, don't make it the way you want to but the way the commissioner wants it, and no matter what it is, I can make it. You can see yourself as a medium to materialize the vision of another individual, to differ to your expert opinion only when necessary. While I absolutely will maintain this philosophy for many projects, I recognize that you cannot do this for every commission, or even the majority of them. Even attempting to remain competitively priced against the stylistic normalcy other makers offer can lead to problems. For instance, not to name drop; I rather like  wild-life 's style, and ability to establish what I consider a brand. This example shows an inverse in approach that I find compelling. There is a wide range of diversity occurring within stylistic constancy that I personally find laudable. Yet, our pricing on fursuits is fairly comparable. Trying to stay style neutral can leave me with less tools at my disposal. As opposed to a tried and true method of universally recognized character stylization to work within, I often start from a blank slate. This means more edits, more time, more materials, and more capitol invested. In one or two rare occasions I have under-charged for a lofty project, and when all costs where considered the cost of production had cost close to, or more than total amount charged. At the same time, I think there is a market for an "objective vessel" to recreate a well defined character on paper in a three-dimensional medium. It's the duplicity of my style to also be offered to a greater market that I seem to be missing. This leaves an exciting new canvas to fill. Any fresh perspectives would undoubtedly help galvanize stylistic consistency.

Understand that being bored is universal.
Sewing takes time. Lots of time. Hours and hours of time. Working alone you are not only bored you are lonely. Even having a person to talk to when sewing is a huge help. Obviously, I would ask that a partner do more than just talk while I sew. Being able to sew, watch old movies on VHS tapes, and not go crazy would be a major help.

What to expect:

As I mentioned before, this can be a rough business. Some days are going to suck. The following is what you can expect on those rare days.
You will be asked to re-make something you feel is perfectly fine. You will be subject to critique. You will be burned by a glue gun. You will cut yourself with a razor. You will step on a pin. You will ruin something bad enough where you will have to start from scratch. You will stain your clothing. You will work 20 hours straight to keep a deadline. You will have to see your idea thrown out over another. You will become addicted to caffeine. You will waste $70.00 in silicone. You will get angry at me.

I didn't write this with the explicit intention of scaring off prospective applicants, but I don't want to portray this as if it where all sunshine and lollipops.

Really, there are 2 positions available.think of it as part-time, and full-time.

Part-time is really more of a sub-commission gig. You would essentially be a sub-contractor. Paid for each part you make on an ala carte' pay schedule. roughly, you get $50.00 for a pair of paws, $400.00 to make a body suit, etc etc.. The advantage is you would be trained, do not have to supply materials, and can use superior commercial grade equipment. You simply come in, pattern, cut, and sew. You can set your own work times, but must complete tasks within a given time frame.
Compensation would be via paypal. You provide transportation. You do your own 1099

That would be helpful, but temporary. A partner is what I am looking for long term.

Full-time, or really, limited partnership would be a lot more of a commitment. Your responsibilities would reflect that. While I can offer training, ideally you should have some prior experience in making costumes, or other artistic medium. Everything from communicating with customers, using advanced materials, keeping your work-space clean, preparing shipments, working a table at the dealers den, handling large sums of money and anything else that is part of running TCF will eventually be handled by you to an extent. While we would have to work out the details, as a partner you would potentially be entitled to as much as 50% of overall profit. The caveat being you would hold 50% of the responsibility. Of course, this would be quite a lofty commitment not to be taken lightly. "The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step."

If you are interested, let's start a dialogue and see if our ideals are compatible.

I want to keep my email inbox free of job/partnership inquiries. I do not want risk missing commissioner emails if there is a large response.

Feel free to get a hold of me via twitter critterfactory
https://twitter.com/CritterFactory

Tweet at me, then we can start a chat with private messages.

Some other things to keep in mind.
-Be realistic. If you.... live in Argentina; are finishing up your doctorate; don't work well with others; have never seen a sewing machine in person; need a full-time job to satisfy the terms of your probation; this may not be a good fit for you.
-Honesty is the best policy. No need to pad your achievements. If you have limited experience, say so. Sometimes that's better.
-Understand that chemistry is important to a business relationship. Friction is common in creative collaboration, and I could potentially be spending more time with a business partner than significant other. If it does not "click" I wouldn't take it personally.