Last night I was streaming on TikTok, telling anyone who would listen that I'm working on a toy design project purely for fun and for building on my portfolio. From concept sketches all the way to a final, real-life painted figure and packaging design mockup, I want to take this project through the entire process as I've learned it over the years.
I've been a toy and costume designer on and off for 5 years. So it's fun to put what I've learned so far into something purely for my own enjoyment!
The last time I designed and modeled a toy, I sculpted and 3D printed it from home. I had a small elegoo resin printer at the time - my habit of spending money on machines I barely had room for at the time was still going strong. And while I had all the tools I needed, I was so frustrated with the 3D printing process! I didn't like setting up the supports, I didn't like trimming them off and sanding the figure, gluing everything together and trying to figure out how to make silicone molds for a casting process.
I remember thinking - this is SO MUCH! I'm running a whole tiny factory from my art room and for why? haha, I had such a bad habit of biting off so much more than I could chew. I was so determined to have a self made toy in my hands that I figured I'd just do it all.
Fortunately, I've grown since then. While I don't have the funds to outsource ALL of the steps in a toy-making process, thankfully I've accumulated enough skills to get me most of the way there! These days I can do all the fun stuff myself. The art, the color design, the sculpting, the packaging and branding. I love the creative design side of it all. And when I'm ready, I can send all the 3D printing and painting nonsense to someone more equipt to do it than I. So I can focus on what really matters to me - designing cool shit and having fun with it.
Friendly reminder that an artist does not have to do it all to make something a reality. This year I'm determined to learn what it feels like to delegate and then truly complete a project like this as an independent artist.
For those of you that watched me on my TikTok live last night - thanks for the supportive words and all the excitement! It was fun giggling about which characters we liked best, and me writing down the suggestions for the next batch that yall shouted out. I appreciate yall!
For anyone who happens to still be here with me on Tumblr...heyyyyyyy. It's been 8 years since my last post lmao. I'm just going to start casually posting like I never left.
PS - thanks to SARAH for casually having me realize that tumblr is still going strong! I love it here! xD
-Byeeeee~
