Those who dabble in arts and crafts must have heard about the Cricut machine, even if they've not encountered one. But have you ever wondered about the history of the Cricut company and how it got all started? Cricut is an American-based company headquartered in Utah. The company was initially known as Provo Craft & Novelty. This blog will review the company's history, past products, software, and more.
Before launching the Original Cricut machine, the company launched a portable, hand-operated die-cutter machine called Cuttlebug. The cutting plotter used plastic dies to cut out letters and images for signs and bulletin boards. Before this machine, schools, businesses, and print shops relied on big industrial-strength die-cutters to do the same thing. Provo Craft successfully transformed expensive die-cutting technology into portable tabletop units with other features that could be sold in craft stores.
But the aftermarket sale of the plastic dies made them profitable. The dies didn’t cost much, but you would only get one or a handful of shapes with each purchase. For example, if you need a heart cutout for a great card, you must buy one; if you want a rose cutout, you must buy one. This corporate model was a hit, giving the company the confidence to take the next best step.
In 2003 Provo Craft launched Cricut Personal, incorporating another technology into tabletop craft machines. After its launch, Cricut Personal became an immediate hit. The company marketed it as a ‘die cutter,' but the machine used tiny blades instead of dies to cut out shapes. Cricut Personal was entirely different from the Cuttlebug. It was designed to function as a standalone machine with Cricut cartridges. Cricut Personal was a chunky device with many physical buttons controlled by Cricut's built-in programming.
If anyone wanted to lose the machine for cutting, they had to attach the material to the cutting mat 6’’x12" and select a cartridge with the image or font. Then, over the keyboard area, you had to lay a rubber "overlay." Slide the mat to the rubber rollers under the blade and hit the Load Paper button. You had to use the Shift key to determine whether you cut the big or little image.
And to adjust the size of the letters or images, you had to use the scrolling knob. The process is sure lengthy and sounds complicated. But it was fresh air for many crafters as they didn't have to rely solely on scissors or Xacto knives to cut out intricate designs. It was quite popular among scrapbookers, and most used the machine for only one or two projects, so the setup remained the same.
After the instant success of Cricut Personal, the company launched Cricut Create in the year 2005. It was the same size as Cricut Personal, but it was more precise and came with a 6’’x12" mat. Cricut Create was designed to function with the Cricut Personal cartridges. Later the company launched Cricut Expression with some significant changes. It could cut even larger images up to 12’’x24". It could also cut thicker materials such as vellum and poster board. Next came Cricut Cake and Cake Mini. Both the machines were calibrated for cutting fondant, frosting sheets, gun paste, and more.
The Cake series was part of the Cricut Martha Stewart Range, but it didn’t take off as many people find them too expensive. Cricut made a few other bad choices; Cricut Imagine is Cricut’s biggest failure to date, although it was a cool and one-of-a-kind project. For this project, Cricut collaborated with HP. Cricut Imagine was an amalgamation of a cutting plotter and an inkjet printer. But the product failed miserably due to the high price. Later, the company launched Cricut Mini, Cricut Expression 2, and Cricut Explore One.
All the Cricut machines are compatible with Cricut Design Space, but there was Cricut Craft Room before Design Space. Cricut Room came into the picture when the hard drive-based Design Studio software stopped getting updated. It was similar to Design Studio, but you will need internet access.
Craft Room was compatible with cartridge-based and newer machines like Explore series and Mini. Unfortunately, due to unresolved security issues, the Craft Room was discontinued. Later, Cricut launched Design Space as the successor of Craft Room with some additional features.
The concept of Cricut Imagine was good and unique but too expensive. Many crafters choose to stay from it. Cricut Imagine was neither compatible with Cricut cartridges nor Design Space. Cricut Imagine was only compatible with Craft Room software. However, with the launch of Design Space, Craft Room was discontinued.
The Cricut Craft Room was compatible with cartridge-based machines, whereas Design Space only worked with digital cartridges and links. Design Space was never designed to work with cartridge-based machines.
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Source: https://firstcricut.wordpress.com/2023/05/10/cricut-company-lineage-evolution/