When you finally get comfortable with your apartment, you can start to have fun. It's sort of like dating.
Blik Surface Graphics is one of those companies that spring up when no one is looking. Starting with a desire to fill a blank wall with a poem (a la fridge magnets, but bigger). After a lot of trial and error, stencils and paint were used, and, after more trial, adhesive letters were created that were easily removable. Since then, Blik has branched out into colors, shapes, Eames designs and, most recently, Keith Haring and Matthew Hagget designs.
For my new apartment, I bought a set of their "Fly" (bird-silhouette) graphics to decorate a 12' windowless wall in my bedroom. They are even better than they look on the website -- the material is a wonderfully sharp-edged, soft glossy vinyl that almost looks painted-on when applied to the wall. I wish they were reusable (they'll come off with no residue but won't re-stick), but at $50 a pack, I guess I can live with buying a new set when/if I move.
Zack, do you have perfectly smooth walls? These wouldn't work on a pebbly surface, would they?
Zach, do you have perfectly smooth walls? These wouldn't work on a pebbly surface, would they?
Whoops! I saw I misspelled your name and thought I changed it in time before it went through. Sorry for the double post.
Hey, Zach, I blik-ed the same blik.
I did, "Fly" in the kid's room and everybody thinks I painted them on. I don't correct them because that's just the kind of glory hog I am.
click on my name for a photo.
PS. Our walls are not extremely smooth.
For those of you who're literary types, there's also Wonderful Graffiti (www.wonderfulgraffiti.com). I have been contemplating one or the other for our bedroom, but we expect to move soon, so am postponing a decision. Over at Modern Seed (www.modernseed.com), they also carry the Wall Candy brand (the DottiLicious design), which you can remove and re-stick.
My husband and I ordered an Emily Dickinson quote from Wonderful Graffiti. It was easy to stick on the wall; although, since it was rather large, it was definitely not a one-person job. We've had it up for several months now, with no problems. In addition to having a great product, their customer service is excellent.
I wrote about Wonderful Graffiti and Wallwords in my design blog...they're both great companies. The owner of Wonderful Graffiti has her entire home featured in this months "Home Companion" magazine. She has typography mania! Every road has words. I think it's a little over the top for my taste. But, in moderation, writing on the wall is actually really nice. Wallwords.com is the only company I've had personal experience with. My client needed a few quotes for her home and I was able to order "Eat Ice Cream and Run Naked" in French, for her. Everyone always asks her to tell them what the quote says (since it's in French). Cute. Wallwords has quotes in German, Italian, Spanish, French, and I think a few other languages. I really dig that.
www.wallwords.com
Holly
By the way, TARGET sells wall decals online, too. Wasn't sure if you guys knew about that.
Here are some wall decal resources I researched for you all. Enjoy!
http://wallcandyarts.com/
http://www.whatisblik.com/
http://www.target.com/gp/browse.html/ref=in_se_pagelist/601-4343930-0881762?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=13753351&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=13753351&rank=%2Bpmrank&size=16&page=1
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/6425/
http://www.veer.com/products/merchdetail.aspx?image=VPR0005000
http://www.fredflare.com/customer/product.php?productid=1348&cat=103
http://www.velocityartanddesign.com/blik_main.html
I have softer feelings towards Wallwords and WonderfulGraffiti than towards Blik. phrases really are difficult to stencil correctly, esp in the variety of typefaces that these companies offer.
My feeling about Blik is that designs are cool, but really just for people intimidated by stenciling (esp the part with the Xacto knife!) or who simply don't have time. They can be cost-effective (vs painting) if you only want to do a few motifs; they aren't if you want more, or if you want to be very specific about colors. Blik got themselves noticed a few years ago when they came out with Space Invaders... before that, when they had mostly circles and dots, people seemed to think, "Cool, but not earthshattering."
Ppl have commented that since Blik art comes off without residue, it's good for apartments with lease clauses about painting. But stencils aren't that hard to make, and any landlord traumatized about painting is probably going to be traumatized about decals too, maybe to the point of demanding demonstration of the fact that they really do lift off, honest to pete.
I guess what I'm saying is that, while I can see why there might be a market for Blik, I'm personally more inclined to stick to the strict DIY approach - so *I* can control the size, *I* can control the color, *I* always have the base pattern available to me, *I* can reuse it whenever I want.
miranda,
what kind of adhesive do you use?
I think these are fabulous! A lot of groovy retail places in my neighborhood have been using bird silhouettes and other landscapes and they look fresh.
blik is fantastic, so fantasic that i decided to start distributing it in the UK. Just won an award for most on trend product and it is going into some great stores and gaining popularity fast!!!
Lou
I'm sorry to be off-topic, but can anyone identify that yellow chair in the top photo? i like it a lot! thanks!
Diane - My walls are plaster and not really even and with a little extra rubbing, I had no problems getting the decals to stick.
I have the Flok decals in my bedroom and actually did a paint/sponge-but-better technique OVER the decals (you can see the decals through the paint). It softens the crispness and looks kinda aged.
Also got the Bird in the mini size (I think it was 2 inches) and have them "flying" across a glass & wood armoire - so they stick to more than just walls.
I have post-it notes on my large windows in an attempt to keep birds from flying into them. I wonder if these things work on glass and could save birds from hitting it?
I just made my first venture into wall decals (not blik), and they rule.
Diane, you don't need a smooth surface, but the smoother, the easier it is to stick.
I also would like to know where the yellow chair is from.
These French companies also have wonderful decals:
http://www.fleurdekookyse.com/kitsdestickers.html
http://www.leslouisettes.com/
http://www.domestic.fr/
http://www.rbernier.com/produits_stickers.shtml
as appealing as the Bratz are, I wonder if Target is selling decals that are non-kid/non-sports
Just a little graphic something, for a midwinter pick-up . . .
who is selling the Blik et al ones, downtown NYC or Bklyn?
blik is getting boring, but take a look at these
http://www.etsy.com/your_shop.php
they are soo cool! different from anything i have seen.. also try
www.shenanigansawesomestuff.com
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