Thursday, 3 October 2024

Introducing the Cricut Venture - it's a large, fast cutting machine

Photo credit: Cricut

Cricut, a leading creative technology company - has added another robot to their line of precision cutters and plotters - it is the Cricut Venture.

I have had a few years play with some Cricut robots, beginning with the Cricut Joy and more recently investing in my very own Cricut Maker. I was also invited to witness the full splendor of the Cricut Venture via a  detailed demonstration.

Photo credit: Cricut
My thoughts about the Cricut Venture?

The Cricut Venture is the physically largest of the Cricut products. It's job is to cut, score and draw large sheets of cardstock, vinyl and fabric at high speed.

The Cricut Venture is a handy tool for small creative businesses looking to expand and produce their own in-house designs and branding. This can apply to graphic designers, clothing designers, event planners, and many other small  creative businesses that you can imagine.

At first glance I thought the Cricut Venture was overwhelmingly large (Coming from one who works in small in small quarters and generally has a preference for small things like Suzuki cars). So upon watching the demonstration I was happily surprised to find that even a small creative business operating in a domestic setting could find compatible storage means for the Cricut Venture. The cutting and plotting angle of the Cricut Venture, combined with the docking stand (optional accessory) means that it can be moved with ease. Also it takes up far less space than you would imagine for a robot producing high volume cuttings.

A little known fact about me - I like to collect and flat-pack interesting box designs. What can I say? Everyone's got to have a hobby. The purpose for my telling you this: during the Cricut Venture demonstration a novelty birthday box was produced. Let me tell you, the cardboard box connoiseur inside my head clamoured like a low functioning chocoholic at the door of Koco Black after closing time, wishing to be let at the Cricut Venture. What does this tell you? That the Cricut Venture isn't just about producing sticker labels. It can also precision cut box designs which can come in handy for presentation based scenarios.

Photo credit: Cricut
But, wait! That's not all. The Cricut Venture can cut fabric.The pattern maker in me also likes the sound of this. If you're reading this and happen to be a just starting out clothing designer I recommend looking into the Cricut Venture.

There are a wide variety of Cricut robots on the market today, and each offers something different for each creative. It's about understanding your own needs and wants before choosing the Cricut products that best suit you. In my case I have a Cricut Joy which is perfect for making small artistic cards and labels. I still use the Cricut Joy but have also advanced to Cricut Maker as I want to cut larger sheets of cardstock, and delve into cutting small fabric patterns, and balsa wood. If my creative business needs become more commercial and less sporadic then the Cricut Venture would be an ideal step up.

Ultimately, the Cricut Venture is a long term investment for the small scale business operation with fast, high volume turnover needs. It is a work of art that guides you beautifully through creating your own work of art. I highly recommend!

Photo credit: Cricut
FMI

With Cricut Venture, makers can create for occasions that require larger scale and sizes, from big custom wall decals to bulk quantities of custom t-shirts or tote bags. Cricut Venture is the largest cutting machine offered by Cricut, able to cut up to 22.8 metres of repeated images. It is also the company’s fastest machine with a cutting speed of up to 63.5 centimetres per second, allowing users to get more done in less time.

Cricut Venture is designed to be both beautiful and functional. The unique 45-degree angle for this cutting machine allows it to keep a small footprint with large impact. It’s designed to sit at the edge of a table so when cutting on a mat, you don’t need to have 91 cm behind and 91 cm in front of the machine to operate.  Cricut Venture is packed with functionality and is able to cut most popular materials in addition to drawing, scoring, foiling. It supports Print then Cut capability up to 61cm x 71 cm. It allows for cutting and making projects with more than 100 different types of materials to make things like large 3D paper projects, extra-large vinyl wall decals, huge paper flowers, and making bulk quantities of sweatshirts or other clothing items.

Photo credit: Cricut
The Cricut Venture can work with an assortment of materials and accessories that aids in making large products in bulk. The Venture can work with cutting posters, cardstock, and some other specialty materials. The angle and speed of Cricut Venture required mats that could withstand forces of this machine. These stronger, more durable performance machine mats come in the same three grips: Light Grip, Standard Grip, and Strong Grip. These mats are great for drawing on poster board, making bulk quantities of stickers, scoring with cardstock and even for using various scraps in one go!

Cricut Venture also works with a variety of Smart Materials (Cricut brand materials), just load material directly into the machine without mats and start cutting faster. Using Smart Materials means you can cut longer, larger designs without having to piecemeal parts together. They’re especially useful when making projects in bulk so you don’t have to load multiple mats after each other. 

Photo credit: Cricut
Key Features of the Cricut Venture

Works at commercial speeds – maintains incredible precision, even while cutting or drawing up to 61 cm/second.

Cuts with precision – make using popular materials like vinyl and iron-on to cardstock, plus tons of specialty materials like bonded fabric, leather, and poster boards.

Makes extra-long cuts – cuts single images up to 3.6 metres long and repeated images up to 22.8 metres.

Allows for wider cuts – adjustable for 33 cm and 63.5 cm width Smart Materials, or use any material size with compatible Cricut Performance Machine Mats for Cricut Venture (sold separately).

Writes, draws, foils & scores – embellishes with flawless text, detailed illustrations, or easy-to-fold creases for cards and 3D projects.

Space-saving design – unique, table-friendly, 45 degree angled design with built-in mat supports to use it almost anywhere, or try it with the new Docking Stand for Cricut Venture (sold separately) for even more flexibility.

Photo credit: Cricut
Availability and Pricing

Beginning 23rd August 2024 Cricut Venture will be available to purchase for RRP $1499.95 exclusively at Harvey Norman (online only) plus a full range of materials and accessories will be available online. To learn more about Cricut Venture visit Cricut.com