Plushies, pin badges, and carpal tunnel
Medway artist Ben Cameron on running a small creative business. Plus review of the Royal Cafe, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more
Ben Cameron is a Medway-born artist and pin badge creator who has successfully crowdfunded his own book. As he relocates to somewhere up north, we caught up with him to talk about how it all started, turning a hobby into a career and the impact of Brexit on his work. Further down, we have a review of the new Royal Cafe in Rochester, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more.
Plushies, pin badges, and carpal tunnel
Ben Cameron’s first artistic breakthrough was his Lonely Hearts Bear design, but he does not remember its specific creation. “I would doodle all sorts of stuff and then push the stuff people reacted well to. Cute animals with hearts were always popular.” As is often the case, Ben started promoting his doodles when social media was a positive environment in which to share artistic endeavours. Ben was working full-time at a “very boring job” but could often be found at coFWD, a former coworking space on Rochester High Street, where he would work on intricate A3 drawings. Ben saw them to be a good source of relaxation and mindfulness. “I could lose myself for hours in them.”
Ben became self-employed in 2012 and became more prominent when he started to share his ‘tragidoodles,’ which the Daily Mirror called ‘the most upsetting doodles in the world’. The term came from his artist friend, Moose Allain, after the dinosaur doodle above went viral. “I already had a decent following when I shared the dinosaur doodle,” says Ben, “but that really put things in motion for me.” An editor from Unbound followed Ben on Twitter and approached him about releasing a book. Unbound uses a crowdfunder model to kickstart authors, and Ben’s effort was successful. That said, he wasn’t quite ready for how much work went into the campaign, describing the experience as exhausting. Whilst Ben is happy that the book exists, he ultimately didn’t enjoy the process. This, combined with issues from carpal tunnel, a nerve issue in the wrist that causes pain and numbness, made doodling difficult, and a second book never materialised.
The other reason was that Ben was excited to pursue other creative projects, including pin badges. The first was based on a character Ben would doodle called Tiny Owl, and the range soon expanded, ultimately leading to the launch of his Pin Badge Club, a monthly subscription which provides new original pins and goodies. The club currently has over 300 subscribers who are very happy if online reviews are to be trusted. “So cute and so detailed. Even better in real life,” says one.
Since then, Ben has expanded his work into all kinds of interesting items, including washi tape, a Dungeons & Dragons D20 dice, where the number twenty has been replaced with a little happy face, and a plush axolotl. “I had been asked about them a few times over the years, and I thought it would be fun to expand. The axolotl is one of my most popular pin designs and lends itself very well to being turned into a 3D entity. They've had a great response, so I feel like I made the right choice.” The design was so popular he even found himself sending off orders in bulk to a museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico that wanted to stock them.
The carpal tunnel also led to the end of Ben’s popular pet doodles, a bespoke service he provided, of which this writer has a few, of both pet’s past and present. It became impossible to draw and paint by hand, and the time they were taking wasn’t making it economically viable without rising prices. All might not be lost, though, as Ben tells us that he is considering resurrecting the idea digitally.
Recently Ben rebranded ‘DoodlesByBen’ to Higglebees, as he moves into supplying his designs on a more wholesale basis. “I thought a broader and cheerful name might help more than DoodlesByBen, The response so far has been positive.” Ben can also be found on the convention trail selling his products, which comes with its own stresses. He enjoys it when it’s busy, and he gets to engage with attendees, but it always comes with the risk of being quiet and making a loss.
Ben’s business thrived online after years of developing a loyal fan base. It has faced its recent difficulties as most of the sales are done via Etsy. “They have absolutely dropped the ball,” says Ben. Previously home to individual artisans, the site is now overrun with drop shippers and bulk sellers. As a result, Ben’s appearance in search results on the site is low, and he is competing against pins that are half his price. “Buyers don't often realise they're choosing a mass-produced low-quality pin using stolen artwork over a pin made and designed by an independent artist,” he says. This has compounded issues that he has already faced due to Brexit, which caused Ben to lose a lot of EU business, “In real terms, I was down about £200-300 a month.” This was on top of the knock-on effect of higher costs for materials, packing supplies and printed goods.
Having settled after his relocation, Ben has reopened his Etsy store and is looking towards the future. He continues producing a new pin badge design every month, though he is shifting his focus towards wholesale and getting his work into gift shops. What’s next? He plans to spend time learning new skills like digital animation, so we can only wonder what cute and or tragic results will come from that.
In brief
🍲 Loungers are set to open an outlet at Chatham Dockside after they applied for an alcohol licence for the unit currently occupied by Choice. The bar and restaurant chain has grown rapidly in recent years, with their less Brexity version of Wetherspoons proving popular.
⚽ Paul Scally, the incredibly popular former owner of Gillingham Football Club, has been removed from the board of the club. 311 shareholders backed removing him, while 11 voted to keep him.
🌳 Medway Norse have apparently agreed to maintain the two trees at Luton Arches that they were trying to cut down following an online outcry over the plans. That said, the consultation on removing them has yet to be withdrawn.
📷 The northern lights were visible across Medway last night for the second time this year.
Out to Lunch: The Royal Cafe
In which Steven Keevil assesses the lunch options available in our towns. This week, he’s been down to The Royal Cafe in Rochester…
The Royal Cafe, located near the Rochester-Chatham border, is a new café opposite the old Featherstones building. It is welcoming, though the number of seats is not high and doesn’t seem to best use the space. Despite this, we could easily get seated, choosing the large armchairs near the front of the space. The cake area seemed desolate when we were there, and we had to hazard a guess that a toilet facility is available, though it is unsigned.
The menus are very large in size, but not in the scale of food on offer. I ordered an omelette with ham, cheese and mushrooms, a serving of fries and a Biscoff milkshake.
There was a little wait for the food and drink to be delivered, and when it arrived, it was the most rectangular omelette I have ever received. No side salad was served, meaning once the side of fries was added, it was a plate of dry beige food. The fries were standard café fries. The omelette either did not have cheese or so little that it might as well not. The milkshake was good.
If you are looking for lunch in the Intra area, there are other places to go. Unless it’s a Monday when everywhere else is closed, then you can get a reasonably priced lunch at the Royal Café.
Events this week
🧪 Nucleus Arts are back with their Fun Palace at the Pentagon Centre in Chatham tomorrow (Sat 12 Oct). Art and science activities for all ages. Free.
🛍️ Rochester City Vintage & Artisan Market is back on Rochester High Street tomorrow (Sat 12 Oct). Stalls along the street will sell unique gifts, products, and food. Free.
👗 Rochester Vintage Clothing Fair is tomorrow (Sat 12 Oct) at Rochester Baptist Church. Find stalls selling vintage clothing, accessories and bric-a-brac from the 1960's onwards. Free.
🗣️ If you want some socialism to go with your vintage finds, the William Cuffay Festival of Political & Industrial Education is also being held tomorrow (Sat 12 Oct) at Rochester Baptist Church. Music, poetry, debate, and exhibitions. Probably free, but the event listing doesn’t say.
📽️ Excellent British romcom Rye Lane is being screened at Cineworld in Strood on Tuesday (15 Oct) as part of their Celebrating Black Talent strand. Tickets £5.
🗣️ The year's final full Medway Council meeting is on Thursday (17 Oct). On the agenda this time around: School place planning, pavement licensing, constitutional reviews, and lots more. Free.
More Authority
For decades, Medway has inspired songwriters to put pen to paper and write about our songs. Stephen Morris has been collating these into a kind of musical tour of Medway, looking at the places that have turned up in songs about Medway, from Chatham Hill to Jezreels Tower to Darland Banks and more.
Around Medway by Song
Occasionally, I entertain the notion of getting myself an open-top bus, painting the Long Weekend lyric “Medway is the Difference Between My Town and Yours” on the side and inviting tourists aboard for a musical tour of Medway.
Remember that our Medwayish shop contains a wide range of Medway-related gifts and products designed by local creatives. We have books, mugs, t-shirts, prints, and other fun bits and pieces. Check it out!
Footnotes
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Lovely Ben ... Best known to me as my daughter's friend at Mid-Kent College many years ago. The two of them wore out my vinyl record of Bohemian Rhapsody. I have many Ben Cameron originals around the house, plus some of his pin badges