For Project 3, I currently have 2 different ideas that I am debating between.
Proposal 1: Alex The Ghost
I created the character, Alex, during our trial and error session with Project 2, in which we were told to design a character with both Adobe Illustrator and Cinema 4D. In the end, I chose to design a brand new toy for Project 2, since Alex did not fit my requirements for the toy I wished to create for my brother. I was quite disappointed to not be able to bring my design into fruition, which is why I thought that I could use this opportunity to feature him again. For this proposal, I would utilize mechanisms of Crank A. Crank A allows a rod to sway endlessly in a circular motion, almost in an arc formation. I would then create my Alex figurine and mount it upon the aforementioned rod. On the rod, the figurine would then move as if it is flying in the air, I could even make him ‘fly’ in a superman position. Furthermore, I could perhaps make the arms flexible so that they can be moved in any direction and thus, any position. I chose to use Crank A for this specific toy as I wanted to emphasize Alex’s ghost persona. As we all know, due to a lack of legs, ghosts are not bounded to the earth by means of walking and running, instead they can easily fly around as they wish. For the remaining areas surrounding the rod and Alex, I would leave a blue background to represent the sky. Then, I would create fluffy little clouds that, if I can learn how to, perhaps make them move along with the main mechanisms of the rod. If pulled off correctly, it would hopefully tie together the entire toy and make everything seem much more fluid and active.
Proposal 2: Carl The Curious
For my second proposal, I wanted to also try creating something new. I was inspired by the up and done movement of Cam A and was really intrigued by the “Guard Dog” toy created by Rob Ives, despite it using a different — push rod/cam follower — mechanism from Cam A. I admired how the rod moved the mouth of the dog very quickly with just a few cranks. With these two inspirations, I propose the idea of Carl the Curious (Name Yet To Be Confirmed). Carl likes to observe, he likes to view things in a sneaky way, meaning that he doesn’t like to get caught by others, especially his mother who’s always pestering him to do his homework. Carl likes to use his very own periscope to do all that, and he has had a knack with staying clear of his mother’s attention. The periscope would thread down through the protruding rod, in which the moving section of the periscope — movement of Carl— would work as a separate object from the rest. This top portion, would then act as the moving part of the toy, the part that is impacted by the cam. It will be drawn in with two eyes to represent those of Carl’s. In the surrounding area, I am still debating if I would like to paint it as a watery background or a greenery one. I am leaning more towards the latter. In which, I will create a backyard atmosphere that includes grass and dirt. Perhaps, I could somehow make the grass sway in some form of motion as well.