Build Design Systems With Penpot Components
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Penpot's new component system for building scalable design systems, emphasizing designer-developer collaboration.
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Co-Creator & Chief Designer of Animoodles: Fun magnetic mix & make plushies that inspire little makers, now on Kickstarter. http://theanimoodles.com
Marissa Louie is a former Art Director from Apple, and Nak Yong Choi is a former Director and Story Artist from Disney. This post combines their insights, along with those of the rest of the Animoodles team. Previously, Marissa explained the design process behind Animoodles at length on the Noteworthy blog here.
In order to create Animoodles, our team had to rethink stuffed animal design from the ground up. We pulled the best learnings from our design careers and followed these 25 key design rules:
Character Design
1/ Make your characters appealing. This will help create feelings of empathy and familiarity.
Brady Lion is a vegetarian who loves nature
2/ Depth of character is essential for bringing stuffed animals to life. This is what bonds stuffed animals to children for life.
3/ Characters should be dynamic. They can grow over time as the audience gets to know them.
Partway into the Animoodles story, we learn that Hazel Sloth loves to teach yoga to others!
4/ Shapes dictate personalities. Circle = friendly. Rectangle = trustworthy, stable. Triangle = action. Inverted triangle = hero.
Story
5/ A good story structure includes Exposition (inciting incident), Conflict (Rising Action), Climax, and Resolution.
6/ Story must depict humanity through sincerity and truth. Show how characters face challenges through their unique personalities.
7/ Give the audience a reason to follow your product line’s evolution. Integrate the story line with how new products are introduced.
Iris Unicorn falls into the Wild Jungle, and meets new Animoodle friends there. They join her epic quest to find the Isle of Mythos! Where will the Animoodles travel to next, and which Animoodles will they meet there?
8/ Architect a story world that people can escape to. The most interesting characters live in a story world.
Where will the Wild Jungle Animoodles travel to next? There’s a whole world of possibilities!
Illustration
9/ Develop a style that honors and celebrates the integrity of your idea. It should reflect your brand, product, character personalities.
Animoodles Illustration Concept Art
10/ Evoke a human feeling. Crisp and clean lines convey a standard, while imperfect and jagged lines convey a unique point of view.
11/ Colors and textures help bring illustrations to life. Develop color palettes, textures, and brushes to make your work stand out.
Industrial Design
12/ Use as few materials as needed, without compromising aesthetics or functionality.
13/ Always use the materials that make your customers happy. They will notice and appreciate it.
Animoodles have buttery soft minky fur!
14/ Design custom parts and materials if you can’t find something to your standard.
All Animoodles have custom molded eyes. Iris Unicorn shown here.
Plush Design
15/ The best stuffed animals are designed to be great stuffed animals first, not for the animated movie screen.
Original character turnaround for Miguel Frog
16/ The eyes of stuffed animals are the windows to their souls. They should convey their rich inner life. Inspire the imagination.
Gaze deeply into Hazel Sloth’s eyes…
17/ Create stuffed animal prototypes that represent your artwork faithfully and follow the constraints of the materials you’re using.
Packaging Design
18/ Minimize the amount of packaging materials used. It will save you time and money, and will be better for the environment.
19/ Use colors that help your product stand out on a crowded shelf: whether bright, shocking, pastel, natural, muted, or pure white.
20/ Make the package so beautiful it becomes collectible. Create inclusions inside the package that make your customers happy.
Web and Mobile Design
21/ Bring designs to life. Use animated GIFs, stop motion, videos, and other interactive media.
22/ Design experiences that delight and inspire. Keep customers coming back for more.
Our backers helped us unlock the Surprise Animoodle!
23/ Develop an emotional bond with customers. Deliver what they want, along with a happy surprise or two that they didn’t expect.
We just announced a Surprise Animoodle that our Kickstarter backers can get free
House Rules
24/ Research before executing. See what’s out there, and develop an opinion about it. Then form your reaction to it.
After we did much research, former Mattel CEO Tom Kalinske helped us choose the name Animoodles!
25/ Test, iterate, repeat. Test the important aspects of your designs with your intended customers. Listen to them, iterate, repeat.
We did play testing with kids and their parents in Phoenix, Arizona and other major cities across America
Thanks for reading along, and happy designing!
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