The marketing team came to me and wanted to collaborate on a project that would help retain our paying members longer and also increase brand loyalty. We went through a couple ideas and landed on the idea of a vinyl figurine of our Roger Mozbot mascot.
I started off by working with our other designer on a sculpted prototype which would guide the direction of the vinyl figure. We ended up partnering with a company out of Canada called Happy Worker Toys on the production. We worked together on initial pricing for a posable vinyl figurine and packaging. We compared the cost with the potential of retaining users for at least two more months on average and found that the cost of the vinyl figures would be paid off if the user stayed for at least one month longer on average.
My role as both a Creative Director and individual contributor was to guide the projects direction and provide support. We provided Happy Worker with the original prototype we produced in house as well as front, side and rear designs of what we envisioned the Roger figure would look like. We were provided with 3D mockups via email which we were able to sign off on in order to get the prototype completed. Our other designer was working on the packaging design while I was working with Happy Worker on the figurine. We ended up getting the prototype toy after a month of collaboration and it turned out fantastic!
The first challenge that we had was that Roger was such a strong icon in the community and we needed to make sure that the design captured the mascots essence.
Another challenge was integrating the Moz brand design, which was new at the time, into the design of the vinyl figure. We needed to be aligned with the brand redesign to make this a successful project.
The final challenge was my lack of knowledge in the toy making field. It was great to work with Happy Worker and the team there and we collaborated on a daily basiswhich helped usher the project along quickly.
The other designer and I collaborated heavily on the look and feel of the toy design. The creation of the in house prototype, sketches and illustrations like the one below helped get our vision across and speed up production.
I learned a fair amount about toy production from the project which was enlightening. We ended up having some hiccups early on in the production of the toy and we were able to pivot quickly and produce a high quality project at a fair price. Learning about the overseas production process was also interesting as well. I would gladly step up and do this again if given the opportunity.
