EVOLUTION PROJECT

This all started one lazy Sunday at a coffee shop close to home. I was on a mission to create a cartoon character for the Ridiculously Creative redesign, which on a sidenote, has yet to be updated going on 5 years now. Sigh. So anyway, I began sketching in my moleskin with no real clear direction. I drew characters with oversized eyes, oversized heads and limbs...just getting my creative juices flowing. Then I saw some guy come in the coffee shop with a pair of wayfarers on. Firstly, it made me want to get a pair. My Second thought; 'wouldn't it be cool to draw a character with wayfarers?' So I started to sketch and came up with what you see on the left of your screen. Subconsciously I drew a character oddly resembling me. Yes, I did feel a bit narcissistic after the fact but it was clearly not my intention to draw myself...or was it?

So sketching turned into scanning turned into tracing the sketch in Illustrator, as you can see on the top right.

So you'd probably think I'd stop there. Nope. 'Why not create a 3D version of the character?' Why not! So I get a buddy of mine, Johnny Lay, 3D guru, to render out a 3D version of the sketch; as shown directly to the right.

Thanks Johnny, it really looked great. But somehow I wasn't fullfilled. What was I going to do with 3D renders? At this point, I knew I went a little too far with this whole thing. The character was never going to be used on the Ridiculously Creative site. I would have to go through this whole process three times over since there are 4 of us in the company. So now what?

In comes Richard, a coworker and good friend of mine who's a master artist. He collects vinyl figures and gave me the idea of producing one since I've already done all the leg work. Great idea! So that's what I did! With a lot of help from my contact in Hong Kong (my sis Amanda) and a factory in China, Mini Vince was born. He is now my official travelling gnome.

This project evolved from a day at the coffee shop to a whole new realm in design. I created a little mascot for myself! I can check that off my list of To Do's. Now If I can only get around to updating the Ridiculously Creative site...