Initial Ideas

I met with the tutors yesterday for the first FMP presentation. We agreed I can start my project about the wooden dolls. They’ve advised me to dig deeper to the meaning behind it, and do some research. 

So I’ve given some thought about the concept behind the game. For the moment, I’ve only represented girls, in my drawings and previous dolls. I think as I develop this project further, I’ll be able to make boys also, but for now, just so it’s consistent, I’ll focus on the girls. So I’ve always been quite inspired by those children’s books about famous female role models, to teach young kids about important women in history: Jane Austen, Marie Curie, Rosa Parks…  I think it so good to mention role models. But I think we don’t give enough credit to our everyday life role models. Our moms, grandmas, friends,… 

So I’m thinking my dolls could be personalised to the client’s role models. For the project I will do my personal role models: my mom, both my grandma’s, my godmother, my primary school teacher, my mother in-law…  I think I could create a sort of quiz people could answer to describe their own role model, what they admire most in them, what inspire them, … I can then create the dolls based on a photo (for the face) and paint the body depending on what the description inspire me! With each doll there could be a little explanation card, like a pokemon card, listing their strong points : “5 stars in baking”, “the best cuddles”, … I think that way, not only is it fun and refreshing for the kids to get to play with representation of their own family, but it’s also a nice gift for an adult, as a way to show someone we are grateful to have them in our life. 

Thinking

I presented my idea to the tutor and she really liked it! I’m happy to have the concept down now, so I can start working on it a bit more!

She told me to start thinking of a name/title, and that’s going to be a big thing so I need to take the time to assess my options! 

So this week I’ve worked on my dolls a bit, I have three of them now, that I started painting roughly just to have an idea of the look. I’m making my mom, grandma and godmother. 

I’ve also worked a bit on the fake website, where there will be the quiz to personalise your doll.

Moodboard

Progress

I showed my progress to Anna and she was happy about it. She suggested I put on more details on the website. So I’ve done some extra research on French Folk Art to get some inspiration on patterns and decorative elements I could add.  I’m still unsure on how to incorporate them into the website but I’ll find a way. I’ve also done some more painting, mainly focusing on the faces today, and I tried to add more details. Instead of having one skin colour I’ve added a slightly darker colour to create shadows on the face and make it more detailed. I think I’ll also add some little pink blush effect on the cheeks to make it even more interesting. 

I’m also working a bit more on the brand this week after the tutorial. I’m thinking of using a pair of closed eyes as my logo, as it is a recurring detail in my drawings (and my dolls). I’m still unsure about a name but after talking with a friend we came up with “YVETTE”, which is my grandma’s name. I’m not 100% set on it, I still want to discuss it with the tutors, but I believe it could work! 

Final thing that happened this week is that I ordered a wooden box with a sliding lid) that is the perfect dimensions to be a house for my doll. So until I receive that, I’ll keep on working on painting, the website and the cards!

Final Weeks

Everything is coming together nicely, I’ve received the wooden box, finished painting the dolls and finalised the “website”. I did a shoot of the dolls on white paper but it wasn’t working in my opinion so I re-shot everything again but on a pink background and I feel it looks a lot put together already! I’m going to be making the final presentation PDF now, I’ve got everything I need, and I’m happy with the outcome! I know it’s not perfect, but I quite like that it doesn’t look too polished, as it is just the conceptualisation of my idea! I would love to keep working on this further and maybe one day be able to sell them! I’ll keep working on them, create new shapes, maybe create the real website, but for now I’m happy with the work that I’ve done!