Thursday, February 24, 2011

Taking a new design for a spin

In my constant search to improve my products, I've decided to try a new style of diaper cake. The "spiral" cake, often referred to as the "boutique style" diaper cake is quickly becoming the norm for diaper cakes. There are many ways to build them up, but the idea is that the diapers have a spiraled appearance which provides a number of benefits as a baby gift, the most obvious of which is an attractive appearance.

I decided to try my hand at this style cake and see how it worked out. For the most part, I'd consider it a success. Because I was simply trying to see how it would come together, I didn't decorate the cake, I simply assembled and stacked the tiers to get the basic idea. While I was at it, I decided to experiment with my photography to see if I could give a more professional appearance to my pictures.

So, here is a picture of the bare cake. I identified a few pros and cons when comparing this style of cake to the traditional rolled cakes I've made in the past. Obvious benefits of this cake include the overall look. While most the cakes I make are covered with blankets or similar baby items and the tiers aren't seen, this option is the likely choice for cakes that are made without the blankets if the customer chooses. Another wonderful benefit is the time it takes to build the cake. Because the diapers aren't individually rolled, building the layers is a bit less time consuming. The biggest positive difference between this cake and my traditional ones is the ease for the expectant mom. Because the diapers aren't rolled and individually secured, disassembling the cake is much quicker for the recipient. Both styles allow for complete function of all the diapers, so that is one benefit that both cakes have. There are also some negative aspects of this style cake. The overall cake appears smaller than others that I have made with the same number of diapers. This, of course refers mainly to the diameter of the tiers, but that may very well be related to the absence of decorations which slightly widen the cake. Rolled diapers create support for various baby items added to the cake. They can be attached to the tops of the layers or tucked into the diapers with little difficulty. Other baby items, if they are small bottles or similar in structure to the rolled diapers can be traded for diapers on the outside of the layers as well. These decoration choices are not possible with this style cake and other means would need to be employed. Another con I observed was the overall stability of the cake. The individual diapers do not have the firm structure that they possess when they are rolled. The layers are also less dense than when the diapers are rolled. This adds complications when it comes to assembling the tiers in a secure structure, as well as lessening confidence that the tiers can support the added decorations. Another concern is how well the cake will travel with the decreased stability.

While the cons seem a bit daunting, I'm leaning towards switching to building this style of cakes more frequently in the future. The popularity of this style diaper cake seems to be increasing and the overall look is more professional. The stability of the structure seems to be the largest hurdle to overcome, but hopefully in time and with additional practice, I can improve on that. Only time will tell. Please continue to check back for more updates and developments of our products!

No comments:

Post a Comment