Uni-corns! Some girlie collections (part 4)

So, we had some ponies products here…

Well, here’ some more. And in keeping with the “big hairy man making little girlie products theme”…

They’re even girlier!

Okay the cups aren’t THAT girlie.

But I’d be willing to bet you won’t see a leather-clad biker sipping Budweiser with his pinkie held up out of one

of these anytime soon…

I like the sparkly stars flying off Pegasus on the left there. And I kind of stole the design of the ponies cup from the purses you’ll see later in this post.

Nice!

This one’s different because on the right backpack I did something I haven’t done yet- I put patterns all over it! It’s usually only in the panel behind the character but

here I threw caution to the wind and I think it turned out nice.

I also really like the red hearts on the strap of the left one. Feels like strawberries to me somehow.

That and I really like the stars on the blue background strip on that one. They ‘pop’ nicely. That and I feel like the purple worked well on that one.

I was a little worried how it would look.

And now, as if designing clothes for 12 year olds wasn’t bad enough… here’s a few more purses!

First, let me tell you just how many stars there are in that purse on the right… a whole lot! All arranged and sized by hand.

Whoo!

Actually, there’s 206 stars! I know, right?

Good hour of my life, right there. Who says I don’t put myself into my work, huh?

I like the flow of them.  Peggy is all magical-like, ain’t she?

So who wants one? (or several?)

Uni-corns! Some girlie collections (part 3)

So, I showed some product mock-ups from this collection right about here…

Now for some more!

I rather like the one on the right! It’s real similar to the clothes I showed last time (duh, they’re a collection!)

I also like the pattern behind the Pegasus. And the side pattern on that one, too. Niiiiice.

I was worried the color scheme looked too much like ‘diaper bag’, but it seems okay to me now. All the pastels and yellows and blues and the white side.

Okay, now here’s the best part!

Big hairy man designing girlie purses!

I know, right? In my defense (or does this make it worse?) I’ve designed purses before.

Okay, I didn’t really design them, but I made 3D models of them for a much manlier enterprise- Harley Davidson!

Yeah, I worked at a place that did their online training, and we made models of all their products (shirts, pendants, belt buckles, underpants, etc) and yes even purses.

What do you think, eh?

Uni-corns! Some girlie collections (part 2)

Okay, so here I showed you some of the  “Purdy Ponies” collections and patterns…

Now, on to a few products!

Here’s the standard gift bags… I did something different here by putting stripes on the bag. Not bad, eh?

I also dig the wrap on the box- it’s ‘non-ponies’ but I think it ties in nicely.

On to some plates:

Well, plates and napkins that is! The stars and hearts make a fun background. These use to be much ‘busier’

(and not in a good way).  It was recommended by my licensing consultant J’net Smith that I simplify these a bit

- which I’ve done.

Good advice, I do say.

She’s the nice lady who’s been helping me to organize all this into cohesive groups. She knows her stuff!

And last but not least- yes ladies and gentlemen… I’ve now become a fashion designer for 12 year old girls!

You know you want one of these, right?

Or have a little girl who does- don’t lie! I think the pony on the shirt with some stars and rainbows and stuff looks nice.

Not bad for a big hairy oaf-ish man who just owns T-Shirts and wears the same cargo pants two days in a row, huh?

Uni-corns! Some girlie collections (part 1)

First off, let me say… I’ll be diving head first into a few more weeks of what we like to call “real work” today.

I know, designing cute li’l backpacks and stuff is fun. But I need to pay the bills until this pays off.

So I might be AWOL for a week or something.

Anyway, I showed you Dinosaurs and FireTrucks and all kinds of manly stuff (okay “boy-ly” stuff)

Now, to familiarize you a bit with my, ahem “feminine side”.

Brace yourselves- it’s gonna be rough and bumpy ride…

Can’t you just feel the higher levels of estrogen in the air all of the sudden?

Okay, it’s intended to be a BIT tongue in cheek. Sort of My Little Pony Overload, if you will.

But hey, I like it.

It’s called “Purdy Ponies”

Here’s a few patterns:

C’mon, like you don’t want those on your jammies! Male readers, it’s okay to like these, too.

Kind of peaceful, that one on the right… ahhh Pony bedsheets would be nice like that, huh? I like the pattern of stars around the hearts, too.

Last one and then I’m outta here:

This one has rainbows, too!!

I know, contain myself…

What fun-loving 12 year old girl (and maybe some grown-up ones too) wouldn’t want these for her birthday party?

Next time (whenever that is) hopefully some product mock-ups.

Ciao!

Lunchboxes AND backpacks! (Fire Rescue Force)

So… here I showed the Police and Rescue Force re-designing…

And here, I showed some product mock-ups…

Well, I’ve done a few more. This time for the Fire Rescue Force:

Kind of similar to these Police products… but different of course. I made to sure to accentuate the red more on these.

Even though the Police and Fire Rescue both have red, white and blue as their colors, I try to make the Police more blue and

white- with red as an accent. Whereas the Fire force is  more red and white with blue as an accent.

Subtle distinction, but an important one. Nobody thinks- hey! when I see blue I think fire trucks!

Not bad, eh?

Okay, here’s a backpack:

I usually make two- I’m just not done with the second yet. I like the big badges on the side and front as well as the CB’s on the straps.

And I like the amount of red versus white and blue.  Nice.

Lastly, here’s some gift bags and wrapping paper. Big deal with kiddie licensing, apparently.

Okay, so that one bag is more blue than red- sue me! In my defense… it’s got a lot of red vehicles in the pattern I chose to use.

I think they’re working nicely.

Who wants their birthday present wrapped in these, eh?

Backpacks! (Construction and Police Rescue Force)

So last time I showed you some lunchboxes for my

Construction and Police Rescue Force collections…

Now- on to the backpacks!

Huh? What do you think about them apples…?

As I mentioned in the last post with the lunchboxes… I started thinking, hey! I can put stuff in the pockets!!

Well, not really IN the pockets but I can make it look like they’re in the pockets by printing them on the backpack halfway out of the pocket…

like I do here.  It’s kinda cool, ain’t it?

I really like the designs on the straps, too. I have a hoodie that has cool stuff on the outside, but I also like the design on the inside even if no one sees it.

It’s interesting designing products. I have to think of coordinating colors and whether I need a little white trim here to separate things and what color should the low key design in the

background be on a particular color and so on. I like it!

Here’s the Police Rescue Force backpacks…

A few things I really liked about these… the Rescue badge on the straps of the right backpack worked nicely for me. It’s kind of Superman-y, which I like.

I also really like the badges on the red on the left one, and the CB’s curving around the backpack on it. And the red straps.

The right one is nice with the pattern and the white. And I dig the CB hanging out the pocket and the big badge on the top. Both different, but nice!

You can also see a little glitch in the background between the two packs where I left a big blue square over the circular shape. Hehe.

I have a few “quality control” things to finish up before I can finalize these. Actually, except for QC and writing all the descriptive product copy…

The Police Rescue Force and the Construction Dinos collections are just about done!

I need probably 8-12 collections to take these to an agent, so I’m gonna be a busy boy in the next few months!!

I saw something in a magazine that reminded me… I have a Railroad and trains collection I’m going to work on soon, too.

Should be fun- along the lines of these two collections, it’ll be curvy and blobby and fun-looking. Maybe with dogs and/or dinosaurs driving.

I also have a “Dogs on Wheels” collection I’m working on…in race cars, motorcycles, planes, trains, unicycles… you name it.

Bye for now!

Lunchboxes! (Construction and Police Rescue Force)

So… I showed you some Construction collection patterns here…

And I showed some Police Rescue Force product mock-ups here…

Now, I’ve got some soft cover lunchboxes for both collections!

I kinda dig the patterns in the background on the faces of both of these… (and those are little teeny ‘rescue’ badges on the red part of the one on the right too)

I also like the helicopters and stuff on the side of the right one. Looks fun! The right one is a little Superman-ish, but that’s not a bad thing.

The white on the left one is nice too. Really ties the colors together for me.

I went for an “Everything” design on the right, showing all the vehicles and the accessories on the side and lots of pattern.

For the left one, I wanted to showcase one vehicle and repeat it a lot of times. So a kid can pick the whole squad, or just one thing he likes best.

Versatile, eh?

Here’s the construction lunchboxes:

I wanted a similar thing on these two- showcasing one vehicle on the left and more on the right. Just for variety I did less pattern on the

right and more on the left. I also really like the interlocking pattern on the left one made by the hammer and the screwdriver on the side.

I like the screw driver curving around the side- looks kinda 3D. It got me thinking…

Maybe I should do things like a hammer on the handle itself so if looks like a you’re holding it.

Or even just the heads of tools right over the zipper so it looks like they’re sticking out of the pockets- stuff like that.

I might do that on the backpack (next product to mock-up)

See you next time!

Police and Fire Rescue…re-visited, too!

You may remember way back here…

I was also working on a collection of Police and Fire Rescue vehicles and accessories.

Well, I’m back to working on them.

So far, I’ve shown you collections and patterns. Well, there’s also “product mock-ups” to do.

This shows a manufacturer how your images could be utilized. Basically, you want dollar signs to pop up in their eyes and that “cha-ching!” noise to ring in their ears when they see your image on products.

So here’s a few product mock-ups for the Police Rescue force (I’ll be doing these for all the collections shortly, so stay tuned)…

I’m still working on these (you can see a little junk in the coloring and cutting out process) because I’m just starting to

get a feel for how I want to design some of these and/or what products to put them on.

But I like these so far! I created the Police Rescue Force with a red white and blue color scheme because the cars have white and the sirens are blue and red. Also, blue is a classic color associated with police, and police toys always go for a sort of heroic, patriotic, all- American feel  so I figure the colors of the flag are good there, too.

Dang, I sound all “marketing-y” don’t I?

On the technical side of things… these are just product photos  taken from websites  (usually places that print custom logos on things, etc) which I erase any brand names, etc from and then make them gray so I can color them however I’d like.

For example, I’ll use this same backpack for the construction collection later, but just color it safety orange or blue.

Right now, I’m kinda feeling my way through how to present these, etc. Not bad though, eh?

Here’s the logos on some party cups!

These are 3D cups I created, which I then just slapped the images and borders onto. I don’t usually show the borders here… they’re a bit dull just by themselves. They’re more as accents on plates, napkins, the tops of gift bags, etc.   All of these together (cups, backpacks, etc) give a one view idea of the color scheme and how they look together as a group.

What do you think, eh? Wouldn’t you like these for your birthday party…?

I’ll be re-using these cups for the construction collection, too.  And all the others! I’ve got a whiteboard here in the office with about 12 different collections on it that I’m working on.

You’ll be hearing alot about them in the near future! I’m planning to get all of it done by July 15th.

And now, on to one of my favorites- the jammies!

I think I had a pair of jammies as a young lad with trains on them that I reeeeeeaaaaalllly liked or something, because I get all warm and fuzzy looking at these.

Basically, a couple of the patterns from earlier outlined like a pair of jammies.

C’mon, like you don’t want a pair?

Oh yeah, and those patterns in the background on all of these are part of the page layout for presentation-when it’s done these will be a two page collection packet with little badges and sirens and stuff on them.

Construction Vehicles collections (re-visited!) part 5

So… I showed the ever so humble beginnings of my newly re-designed “Construction Vehicles” collection right about here…

Now, let’s look at some patterns for the collection!

This one features all 4 dinos and the roadblock. They don’t look too bad all together, huh?

I’d hire them to build my house.

This one has two guys with treads in one row, then a row with just the stegosaurus, then the same two guys, then a row

with just the triceratops.  It’s all patterny.

Something about variation and repetition is coming back from my “Fundamentals of

Design” class in college. Wow, maybe that was worth 20 years of loan debt!

Here’s another with a few more accessories:

For this one,  I tried a little size variation. Looks kinna like the big hammer is going to smash the little Triceratops,

but he’s perfectly safe, let me assure you.

Here’s on without any accessories:

I was working on this one and I went, huh, look at that- they fit together nicely without any filler in between!

I like the hexagon pattern around a particular critter. Kinna like tile.

Here’s the last one, with a few more tools:

The first pattern was all the vehicles, then just one and some tools… then two with no tools.  So now we have the other two

(both with treads, I might add) and two tools.

Whaddya think? Who wants to order some jammies with these guys on them?

Next time… borders!

(not the book store…I mean for things like bags, napkins, and uh, borders in your kids room)

Construction Vehicles collections (re-visited!) part 4

So, on to fixing up more of the finished art that I showed you in this post…

I showed you the bull dozer here. And mentioned that, um, I needed to fix up the crane that I showed you here as well.

Hmm. How should I do that?

Hey, I know! I’ll rip a few parts off the bulldozer and slap on a crane and cover a few things up and it’ll work perfect.

Uh, like this:

I really like this better than what I had before. The crane before had all these distracting things- what do they call them? Oh yeah… details!

Too many crissy crossing lines on the crane itself  and the treads weren’t cute enough and the cab was too “designed looking” and so on.

This one looks like a lot more fun!

Let’s go wreck some stuff!

Next time, I hope to have some of the patterns and maybe some of the items the patterns go on designed (plates, cups, jammies, etc)

Until then…