Takeaway Art

Takeaway Art is a very unique subscription box that delivers original works of art straight to your doorstep. By purchasing a Takeway Art box, you are directly supporting an independent artist and receiving an exclusive piece (or pieces!) of art. The art comes from local Norfolk artists, many of whom are young, full of motivation and want their voices to be heard in the ever saturated artistic industry.

The box I received was made by Toby Rampton. As soon as you open the box, you are transported back to your childhood with bright colours, animals and adventure. Toby’s art is fun, energetic and reflects his passion for picture books and cartoons from the 40s and 50s. His aims of this box and all his art, is to make people happy, nostalgic and even laugh – which I do think he definitely lived up to with this box!

Toby’s artwork is very ‘hands-on’ and varied – he experiments with collaged scrap paper and screen printing as well as using the more traditional paint brushes, pens, pencils and crayons.

So, what did we get in the box? We got two hands on pieces of art – an elephant and lion that have been hand cut and painted, ready for you to put together to create your very own 3D piece of art. Whilst I can appreciate that these are home made and a very fun and quick way of incorporating art into your life, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed with these – once I’d put them together, I wasn’t sure what to do with them. They don’t fit in with my bedroom décor, and if I gave them to a younger family member they would just get put together and then thrown in the bin. I’ve tucked them away in a drawer for now until I can decide what to do with them – if you have any ideas, please do send them my way as I don’t want the pieces to go to waste!

There was also a screen printed tea towel in the box which, cleverly, can either be used as a ‘backdrop’ for the animals or utilised in your home. I personally much prefer something that is functional and able to be used every day rather than just put in a frame or such, so the tea towel is a really lovely way of Toby being able to get his artwork into people’s homes. I’ve actually tucked the tea towel away in the back of a drawer ready for when I one day move out of my parents’ house – it’ll be great when I pull it back out to put it to use in a few years’ time, and I’m selfish and want to keep the tea towel all to myself – it’s too pretty!

Like many subscription box services, Takeaway Art has multiple payment options depending on how long you want to sign up for – choose a monthly subscription for £28.50 per month, or buy a twelve month subscription for £22 per month. Personally, seeing as the only part of this box that I will actually use and enjoy on an ongoing basis is the tea towel, I do think £28.50 is a little steep. I appreciate it is a unique piece of artwork, but I think it is just slightly too high a price point for me. Whilst this price point might be fine for someone a little older with more disposable income, I would love to see the company consider making a cheaper version of the box, maybe targeted towards younger people or those who cannot really afford to part with £28.50 a month on something they could possibly not even utilise or enjoy. A cheaper box could have smaller items such as badges, magnets, stationery or prints.

I cannot deny that Toby’s box sparked joy in me – it was fun and simple and I love his artistic style!