So I was supposed to have finished this blog a while ago. But things just kept coming, which led to me putting it to the side. I don’t want to keep pushing it and pushing it. So here I am, bringing you my NBLJ entry “Customise Airpods”.
One day, I was scrolling through YouTube as you do and I came across a creator I adore – Nerdecrafter. An incredible Canadian YouTuber who makes craft and review videos with a twist. Their work is incredible and I love watching each and every one of their videos. So when I scrolled through, one thumbnail stood out to me. A photo of Nerdecrafter, holding a spray can, and a half customised pair of Airpods. Now I know that during the lockdown, there was a crazy through YouTube and Tiktok of customising items. I think most had been inspired by a well-known YouTuber who goes by the name of ZHC. A YouTuber who customises an assortment of things most of the time with paint or Posca.
As I came across this video, I decided to take a look. And, well. I ended up watching through multiple and multiple of videos. You know, like one of those nights of I’m very quickly just going to look at one video and then end up looking up to the sunrise? Exactly. One of those. After hours and hours of engrossing myself in videos, I decided it was time to tackle a Not Bucket List Journey goal. In customising my own pair of AirPods. But I also didn’t want to customise just one thing. Why not customise some more? At work, we sell some Airtags. So with that, I decided to buy two to add to my video.
Now that I have my AirPods and two Airtags. I set to complete the next task. For if I am to customise my AirPods I will need either some acrylic paints or Posca pens myself. For anyone who does art, they will know that Posca pens aren’t cheap. And so, £56 and two days later I have myself a set of Posca pens. Costly but worth it. I had tried previously with some knock-off Posca pens. But trust me, they are nowhere near as good. That is one lesson I learnt during the customising process. With everything I needed, I then started working on the design. I wanted it to be something meaningful but also a funny joke. For you see, a lot of my friends from Twitch call me a fire starter. A joke which started amongst my friends after the first Covid-19 lockdown. Where in the space of a week, three fires broke out near my flat. That’s when an idea came to mind. At the time, I played a lot of Among Us with my friends. A game where you often shout “sus!” or “seems sus” when a friend tries to remove suspicion from them. So putting two and two together, I then drew the Among Us character with a trashcan on fire shouting “sus”.
I had attempted this challenge before on just my AirPods with a knock off of Posca pens. A lesson I learned where the price really, really does make a difference. The knock off brand that I used was runny, refused to mix with another colour and rubbed off the AirPods when dry – Even when they were supposed to be acrylic paint pens. That is why I decided to go ahead and spend the money on my Posca pens. With my design, I grabbed my pencil and began to sketch it upon the AirPods. It was a bit difficult at first. So I decided to pop into my hallway where I knew I had a bottle of white spirit. I carefully dipped some cotton buds and then rubbed the manufacturer gloss off the front of the AirPods. By doing this, it made drawing so much easier with my graphite pencil. I was then able to get my design sketched onto the AirPods case. I realised quite early on that due to the size, adding the trash can was quite difficult. So instead I took out the trashcan on fire and instead used that design later on my iPhone 11 Pro.
Finally, when comfortable with my sketched design on the case, I grabbed my Posca pen and started to colour. After thirty minutes, I had the base layer done and just needed to finish with an outline. Another ten minutes later, and making sure I had carefully drawn around the design, I set the AirPods down to admire what I had achieved. To take an idea from videos to then going and doing it myself felt like such an achievement. Finishing it off, I went over the design with a thin layer of clear coat nail polish.
On one of the Airtags, I repeated the design of the trashcan on fire with my Among Us character. But with the last Airtag, I wanted to do something different. So I mixed it up a bit. When starting up an Among Us game with your friends, you see an among us character with a finger to their mouth, and below the role you’ll be playing – Which gave me an idea. Using a yellow and orange design like a pie for the background, I then coloured on top the design of the Among Us character who reveals your role. Finishing up, I drew a black outline around the design followed by a lacquer of clear nail polish to seal the design.
Overall I am impressed with how the designs came out. It was nowhere near where I originally planned. But I’m certainly happy with the final piece. There had been challenges along the way, but it has been fun to make those mistakes and learn from them. I got a set of cool AirPods and Airtags, and a set of Posca pens that I know I will use for future projects in the future that I am excited to share with you all.
Have you ever tried to customise something? If no then I certainly recommend it. If you have, let me know what you’ve customised on Twitter by tagging me @Foxsleyadv or @Foxsley on Instagram, and share some photos of your piece. I would love to see what fellow creative people have made.
Thank you all once again for the love and support in me creating the content I enjoy. I hope to continue bringing you more exciting projects in the future.
Until next time.
Not Bucket List Journey 