How Color Options are Broken Down

Base Color

All the colors that tend to overpower other colors when mixed together. 

Think of it like Pepto Bismol (that gross pink stuff) or red cough syrup. The color you have is kind of the color you get. You can add glitter and some food coloring, but ultimately the main color of the stuff will be pink.

If you request it in the notes, I can mix any colors from the ‘base color’ dropdown together. Common examples are red + yellow to make a semi-transparent orange.

Glitter & Glow

Basically what it sounds like – this section is for colors you want added to one or all of your base colors. If you want them mixed into clear, make sure to select ‘clear’ as one of your base colors and then specify in the notes you want the shimmers/glow mixed into the clear. 

You can add as many different shimmers/glow to a given base color, though I recommend not mixing multiple glow powders into a single base color as they end up getting muddy looking. 

Any glow colors (with the exception of yellow) are white in normal light and can therefore be mixed into any base color, though very dark colors like black or brown tend to dull the glow effect. 

Tips to Get More Pronounced Patterning

Use contrasting values

This means that if you were to take a picture of the colors and make it black and white, some colors would be darker grey and others would be lighter grey.

There are certain shades of blue that are distinct when looking at them individually, but when swirled together are very hard to differentiate. Examples of this include syn blue, flourescent blue and matte blue. To my eyes at least, the colors are very hard to differentiate in the same toy.

Each of the examples below have at least 5 colors in them, some they’re just so similar they blend together a bit. 

Vary Color ‘Finish’

Add some metallics, some very matte colors (like white or mustard), add some colors with lots of shimmer (like aqua sparks or siren red).

By doing this, you help ensure that even if colors are similar, they catch the light differently and thus help break up the patterning in the toy.

Clear without any additives is also an interesting to throw in for depth.

Notice how the example below has a combination of matte white mixed with chameleons, metallics & shimmers.

Add Fluorescent Colors

And have a backlight. Seriously… Flouro colors make everything really crazy and pick up way more patterning than normal light.

Swipe the image below to see how the UV colors brought out parts of the design on this squid. 

Obviously this isn’t feasible for everyone, but it’s really cool if you’re able. 

Factors that Affect Patterning

Pigment Type

In general, matte pigments won’t blend/smear as well as micas/metallics which means that matte fades will often end up with a bit of ribboning in them and metallic ribbons may end up slightly blended together to be closer to a soft marble. Fades in metallic generally look smoother.

Silicone Firmness

Soft silicone is waaaaaaay runnier than firm silicone, so it’s easier to do things like fades and the details for things like ribboning tend to be smaller. 

The stiffer the silicone is, the harder it is to get totally smooth fades and things like ribboning & hard marbles will generally be larger.

Shape of the Toy

 If the toy is heavily curved, it’s normally the case that complex patterns like ribboning will blend towards the tip of the toy. This happens because the silicone can only be poured straight down and if the toy is curved enough, there’s physically no way for it to reach the tip without hitting a wall first. This effect is also noticible in the tentacles of Squids and the arms of the Angry Cactus. 

Flat toys (like the ravioli) tend to not show ribboning or marbles as well. 

If you’re looking for a toy to really show off ribboning, I personally find straight sides and less surface detail/texture very effective for that. The Pencil and Angry Cactus are particularly good candidates for ribboning. 

Glow Powder

It’s physically heavier than all the other pigments and has an unfortunate habit of sinking. To prevent this, avoid adding glow powder only at the bottom of toys (which is the top while pouring).

In my personal experience, lacing more glow powder throughout the toy also helps mitigate this effect. If at least 50% of the colors have glow powder, there tends to be less distortion. Even better, just make the whole darn thing glow 😛

Some Real-World Examples

Want something SUPER custom?

Just reach out to me with whatever you had in mind via the Contact Page!

I reached a point with some of the listings where adding more options would just make them extremely over complicated, so for now, I’ve decided that direct-contact is the easiest way to deal with super-custom toys