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Dear backers, we want to thank you for your support along the way. We have end our Indiegogo Campaign. But we still have some pins that you can purchase over our online store. And please stay tuned, new project is coming in 2023.

The Story behind DrainArt

DrainArt: enamel pins is a passion project by us. We are Mary and Philip, a couple living in Hong Kong and we love traveling to Japan. We love Japanese aesthetics. You can find surprises in every street corner. Fascinated by the beautiful manhole cover designs there, we think turning them into something wearable and collectible is a great idea. 

So we have selected 16 designs that we like best (with the generous help from our social media followers, thank you all!). We will turn them into enamel pins you can wear. We have also designed a wall scroll in the style of Ukiyo-e print to display all the pins on the wall.

Design Overview

All 16 pins will be 2 inches (5.08cm) in diameter, just big enough to recreate all the intricate details on the manhole covers. They are all soft enamel pins, the bases are finished with antique silver plating or black nickel plating. There will be two rubber clutches at the back on each pin.

A wall scroll to display all your pins

.A wall scroll in the style of Ukiyo-e print showcases the locations of the covers. The size is approximately 34x 82cm (13.4 x 32 inches) . It is a nice way to hang all the pins on the wall. It is a great decoration piece for your home. It will be printed on a high quality sturdy textured paper with a fine printing surface.

 A hand-drawn map of Japan indicates where the manholes are located

Add-on mini pins

To make things more exciting, we have turned 6 of the pins into mini ones you can add-on to your perks. They are adorable and is perfect to carry around. 

Tsuruoka ,is a city in Yamagata Prefecture. This manhole design depicts the beautiful building in Tsuruoka Park which is also famous for its Sakura trees.

Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture. Ojiya was the birthplace of Nishikigoi (special Koi fish). You can visit Nishikikoi no Sato, a museum for Nishikiigoi there.

Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. The cover depicts the colorful design of Temari, balls made from embroidery that are used in handball games

Shirakawa is a village located in, Gifu Prefecture. Famous for its historic house built in the style of gasshō-zukuri, Shirakawa is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. 

Himeji is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture. Himeji is famous for its white castle. The white egret orchid depicted on the design is a symbol of the city.

Miyoshi is a city located in Hiroshima Prefecture. The design depicts two cranes. The crane is the symbol of fidelity, welfare, beauty, sake, profusion, longevity in Japan.

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture. This design depicts senbazuru, a thousand origami cranes strung together. it is said that if someone folds a thousand cranes, they are granted one wish.

Tokyo Metropolis. This design is one of the most commonly found in Tokyo the capital of Japan. The design depicts a sakura flower surrounded by ginkgo leaves.

Atami is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture. This design depicts a scene from the story of “Konjiki-yasha”, one of the best stories of Ozaki Koyo where the lovers say goodbye in front of a famous pine tree in Atami.

Fuji is a city in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture. This design depicts the beautiful Mount Fuji with billowing clouds and sea waves.

Another design from Fuji City. Fuji City has many places that bear a connection to the tale of the Princess Kaguya-hime, a princess that was discovered by a bamboo cutter inside a bamboo shoot. In this pin, you can the princess with the beautiful Mt. Fuji in the background.

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture. The design depicts the beautiful Osaka Castle.

Takamatsu is a city in Kagawa Prefecture. In this design, Nasu no Yoichi, who particularly famous for his actions at the Battle of Yashima in 1184 was engraved on a manhole cover.

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture. This design depicts beautiful maple leaves which is a common sight in Hiroshima.

Yamaguchi is the capital city of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. The words on the design are an excerpt from a famous Haiku Poem by Santoka Taneda who was born in Yamaguchi Prefecture. His statue is now shown in front of Yamaguchi Train Station

The Rewards

We are trying to keep the rewards tier relatively simple. We encourage you to get more pins by offering a better price per pins when you get more. 

All prices do not include shipping. When you back the reward, you will be able to see how much shipping costs.  We will use airmail with tracking from the post office. So it won't cost too much. 

The prices are based on Hong Kong dollars,  changes in the exchange rates on the day you back may affect the amount in US dollars.

Production

Although this is our first project as a couple. I (Philip) have expereiences in different kinds of product as I work as a advertising creative before where I gained connection to a network of printers. I am also an owner of a toy brand Classicbot. Classicbot's product line includes enamel pins. You can check them out here. My customers have been happy with the quality of the pins.I will be using the same pin manufacturer for DrainArt's pins. As you can see from the video below, the test sample from the factory is quite good already.

 For the wall scroll. We have been sourcing some sturdy textured paper with a good thickness. Below is a few paper samples. And we have done some test to see how well the paper is holding the weight of the pins. So we are confident that we should have no difficulty going to production.