Monsters at Play is independent study to explore the visual language and established imagery of Monster INC into contemporary outdoor and water play.
ROLE
Industrial Designer
COMPANY
Independent Study [Ongoing]
RESPONSIBILITIES
Concept Development, Toy Ideation, Form Exploration, Play Pattern Development, CMF, 3D Visualization, Mechanism & Interaction Design
CATEGORY
Outdoor & Water Play
VISUAL RESEARCH
Movie clips and existing themed products provided a good sense of how iconic objects from the movie is translated into real world products.
Furthermore, existing water-related toys provided a form foundation; ergonomy and mechanisms.
PLAY PATTERN
To answer a few questions:
1) How do kids interact with similar objects?
2) What are the common touchpoints?
3) How does the object/machine operate?
Some different play mechanisms were noticed (respectively).
- The classic hand-held mechanism
- A smaller water tank plugged into the toy
- Directly connected to the water source instead of a portable water tank
- The toy rested on a stand for ease of aim
How might the visual language of Monsters, Inc. be translated into an outdoor play experience that feels native to the IP rather than simply branded with character graphics?
FORM EXPLORATION
Ridiculous ideas were explored during this stage alongside conventional ones. Many problems were attempted to be solved:
1) Should Mike be spitting water at kids?
2) How generic can it look?
3) Can I adapt this existing form to the brand?
4) What iconography can I incorporate into the form?
5) Should Mike and Sulley be essentially "fused"?
6) How would a CDA weapon look as a water gun?
7) Would then a scream cannister make sense as the water tank?
REFINED FORM EXPLORATION
Pursued two distinct directions:
1) CDA-inspired
An attempt to steer away from the predictability of a Mike, Sulley, and Boo-themed merchandise
2) Scream Cannister-inspired
A more predictable form-inspiration for a water tank
I decided to pursue the second direction, and proceeded with working on the CMF for the products.
CMF + IP TRANSLATION
Rather than reproducing character imagery literally, the CMF direction translates each character's recognizable color and material cues into functional product zones.
SCREAM (& LAUGH) CANNISTER WATER TANK
Modeled on Fusion360, the water tank is 11.05 inches tall (not including the tubing). It has a dial to adjust the flow of water - LAUGH and SCREAM. And the scream meter becomes the window to gauge the water level.
Most of the components can be manufactured using injection molding. The black bands are overmolded instead of the grooves being painted black.
