hope mackey
hope mackey
doll line concept
click on the slides to enlarge :)
During my fall 2020 semester, my toy design class revolved around the idea of dolls and doll lines. I was taught all about the process of making and designing dolls, and it's shown in my presentation over to the left! I explored many different ideas, themes, and features for my dolls, but I'm super happy with what I ended up with. My doll line is called Galaxy a Go-Go, and it follows four little aliens that want to come to Earth to learn more about it. Over the course of 15 weeks, I sketched, 3D-modeled, rendered, storyboarded, and thought a whole lot about how these dolls would work, look, etc.
doll line concept
click on the slides to enlarge :)
For my Toy Design II class, we were tasked with the responsibility of creating an action figure line. This was so exciting to me; growing up, I was one of the kids that was obsessed with action figures, and to this day, I still collect them. Over the course of the semester, me and my fellow students had to create detailed storylines and characters, and then turn those characters and important plot elements into action figures with features. I, being a morbid little weirdo, decided to create an action figure line + story that revolved around a group of assassins that adopt a child; each character figure has a different feature and piece count, but they all have a similar play pattern: masks, customization, and pose-ability/articulation. My completed presentation (to the right) shows all this, as well as a storyboard, line architecture, and packaging concepts. But to see a little bit more of my process and some bonus art pieces, you can check out the slideshow below, my process book.
I love this line so much, and I'm very happy with how it turned out. In fact, I love it so much that I ended up focusing on this line for other projects in my classes; below is a B-sheet concept that I created for the main villain of my line. And in my ZBrush class, I modeled a fully articulated version of the villain, which can be found here, on my 3D Work page.
action figure line
action figure line
This was an unexpected passion project. For one of my lecture classes, we were tasked with coming up with a solution to a world problem. I teamed up with a couple of my friends in that class to solve the problem of gender inequality and the lack of acceptance regarding people who don't conform to gender norms. I spearheaded this project, and came up with the idea to create a nonbinary character + doll, who promotes sustainability and gender equity; their name is Rowan Greene, and they are a public figure/character that can teach kids about how to better the world around them. I partnered with graphic designer, Cher Lee, and fellow toy designer, Kendall Eckle, to put this all into motion. I spearheaded the character design and social media accounts that would be necessary for this project. My sketches, renders, and other work regarding Rowan is to the right :)
rowan greene
rowan greene
vehicle toy design
Currently, this is the toy design class I'm enrolled in; that being said, I'm nowhere close to finishing this project, but I still wanted to show off some of my work. For this class, I had to choose a license (or a few) to focus on and learn about, in order to create a vehicle toy that is for the characters of the license or is based around aspects of said license. I'm super indecisive, so I experimented with a few licenses, but I ended up choosing one of my favorites, The Muppets. Right now, I'm designing a set of vehicles based on the infamous band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Each of these cars are based on a different member of the band, and are actually RC cars....but with a twist. The twist is that you control these cars by playing instruments; the controllers look like the instruments each band member plays, and the cars play music from their speakers. I'm still in the development stage of this project, but I'm hoping to go far with these!
vehicle toy design
In fall 2019, I took my first official toy design class; the course was focused around plush toys. In that course, we learned how to sew...and I learned that it's super hard to sew! Nonetheless, I tried my best to design and sew plush prototypes. Over the the right is what I turned in for our final project; for this, I designed a line of plush toys, called Plague Pals. Plague Pals follows a group of neighborhood pets that believe the bubonic plague is coming back, so they have created protective gear for themselves. The final presentation follows said storyline, but also shows the plush prototype I made for one of the characters. This was my first time sewing anything, so it's a little crusty, but still cute.
plush toy design
plush toy design
wind-up animal toy
This was a one-off project for a toy-based drawing course I took, back in the spring of 2020. I had to create an animal character, and turn them into a wind-up toy, which had a minimum of 3 actions! I went in a strange route lol; I created a cowboy axolotl wind-up toy, named Axel the Fearsome. One can wind him up with his tail, and once that's done, he'll walk, his hat will fly up, he'll point his little gun and shoot bubbles from it, and then he'll get tired and sit down.
wind-up animal toy
spherical toy concept
This was another one-off toy design, from the same toy/drawing course. For this assignment, I had to create a toy based on a ball or spherical shape. I was super inspired by Bakugan: the toy that looks like a ball, but when you roll it, it turns into a little creature. I based Froot Babies off of that same feature. Each of the Froot Babies starts off as a little head-ball, but when you roll it, their little bodies will pop out, and parts of their head will explode outwards, like slices of fruit.
spherical toy concept
Back in the fall of 2019, I took a toy-based digital drawing class. For this class, I was tasked with having to create a funko pop and poster based on an existing character. I picked my favorite character, Yasuho Hirose, from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and turned her into a funko pop that had an acrylic stand. I created orthographic views for this pop design, as well as a promotional poster; currently, I'm working on a 3D-modeled version of her that I can print out and paint!
yasuho hirose funko pop
yasuho hirose funko pop
license-based playset
This was another one-off toy design, from the same toy/drawing course I've been mentioning! I love Pokemon; I've been playing the games and watching the series ever since I was a fetus; so for this assignment, I decided to make the playset of my dreams! I made a Team Rocket hideout-themed playset, which has lots of role-play elements. With this playset, kids can pretend that they're really a member of Team Rocket; they can use the desk to come up with plans, don uniforms and wigs, steal and catch Pokemon, have Pokemon battles with friends, and more!
license-based playset
compound-based toy
I created this toy in Fall 2020, and, honestly, I'd love to revisit this. The task I was given was to create a toy that revolves around a compound (Play-Doh, slime, etc.). Following this prompt, I decided to make a Play-Doh playset based on the Sanrio character, Pompompurin. Pompompurin loves pudding and dessert, so I knew I had to create a cafe/sweets shop for him! This playset allows the user to create a variety of "desserts"out of the many molds and decorative items located on/with the playset. I did this design completely by hand (pencil and marker), but I would love to do this digitally and make it way cuter than it already is!
garden/water toy
This was another one-off toy design, from the same toy/drawing course I've been referencing. For this assignment, garden and water toys, I was actually super stuck. I created a ton of different concepts, but I wasn't satisfied with any of them, but I am super happy with what I did! I decided to make a sustainable gardening kit, made from recycled cans and other materials. The toy part of this is the little figure that comes in the kit; they're actually a type of watering can. Kids can fill up their figure with water, and then squeeze it over the plant every day, in order to grow the plant they got from the kit. This is another one I'd like to revisit; I would love to develop the figures more and render these sketches with color!
compound-based toy
garden/water toy
I'm currently in a class that focuses on preschool toys, and I have a lot more work to do on this line, but here's what I have so far! We spent weeks brainstorming different concepts and ideas and stylings, but I ended up going with a bug - catching - themed game for my preschool toy!
preschool toy designs
preschool toy designs
