Hey readers—Connie here. A less sales-y, more information-giving update from East Fork.
Utah is no more.
At least for the foreseeable future. Before I get to the why, the need to know is simply that we've had to put a halt on the production of our pots in our Utah glaze (shown above!) and don't currently have plans to redevelop and relaunch it.
Due to the minimally processed nature of our glaze and clay materials, we're accustomed to seeing variety in the saturation, hue, and iron content of our pots. But earlier this year, Utah started seeing a pretty substantial mission drift, varying from kiln to kiln and shelf to shelf from a rosey, taupey peach to a streaky, rusty brick. Utah Mugs were coming out of the kiln with brown rings around the insides that looked like coffee stains. One recipient of a set of four Utah Mugs even thought that we'd sent her our dirty dishes! Oof.
As our Glaze Chemist, Kyle Crowder, points out, the materials in Utah make the glaze suspension really finnicky—it tends to run thin and, when it does, shows way too much of the dark clay body beneath it. We've been trying to stabilize Utah for the last several months and it's just not happening. It's coming out too pink or too dry. Too glossy or too streaky. Every minute Kyle spends getting Utah back on track is a minute they can't spend on developing new colors to introduce to the line. And so last week I made the hard call to pull the plug.
As the Chief Creative + Marketing Officer at East Fork, part of my job is to develop our color strategy. My dream for next year and years to come is have the ability to launch two seasonal colors in both April and October, while consistently stocking 4 to 5 Core Colors that everyone can rely on being available year-round. Right now those Core Colors are our old standbys—Eggshell, Morel, and Soapstone.
A question for you:
If we were to add two new "neutrals" to that Core Collection, what would you want to see? I'm not a gray/black person myself, but are you? Does a warm white and a rusty chestnut sound appealing as year-rounds? Respond to this email letting us know what you're dying to see come from the East Fork color universe in the future. I promise, we're listening.Apologies to all lovers of our Utah glaze. We'll miss the images of desert rocks, glowing bonfires, dusty sunsets it conjures up. But Utah looks good with so many colors, so if you're feeling stuck on how to expand on a collection you've been building with Utah in mind, Marissa and Savannah (our CX goddesses) would love to make suggestions. I personally LOVE Utah with Celery and Morel. There are still plates available in Celery, and Morel is our consistent golden child who plays well with most colors and hasn't given us any issues this year.
Yeesh, didn't expect this to be a novel. Thanks for reading and understanding.
xo,
Connie
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9 comments
I would like to see Egg Shell come back along with Big Sky
If celery and malibu had a baby, I would love to see it. Any blue or green hues would make me happy to grow my collection with.
I have to say I feel that Night Swim could have had a longer run and would even love to see it as one of your cornerstone colors. I feel it is vibrant, yet neutral and eminently easy to live with, and mix and match with. I am crazy about it….
I wish so so much that you would do another run with Malibu! When we first started our set there were only a few pieces left in that shade and I didn’t move fast enough, so we missed out!! If Malibu is off the table then something in the lighter blue family would be so nice to see. Thank you!
Have to agree with Trina. Malt was a really gorgeous neutral glaze that I would love to see added to the core collection!