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Picture

SQUIDBEAR
urban toy

Picture of dunnys, on a shelf. Dunnys are small vinyl toys made by KidRobot.

Urban Toys

I was always fond of the whimsical contours and forms of the urban toys. They were a cross between art and design. Ever since I visited the "THIS IS NOT A TOY" exhibition at the DX in Toronto, I dreamed of designing and sculpting my very own toy. I stopped dilly-dallying and got on the task shortly after that. The result? Squidbear.

The Research

A few unknown designer toys.
​I did a little research before beginning the design process. First of all, I looked at existing indie designs to see how others have manufactured them. I looked at the actual toys as well as artist blog tutorials.

Now with a clear idea on the process, I looked at the trends of cute characters. These days, squids and bears are pretty popular. So it's decided. Squidbear it is.
Stylized squid concept art for Nintendo video game Splatoon.
Kumamon, a popular Japanese province mascot.

The Process

Sketches of squid-bear, in various forms and text on specific details.
I began by sketching out a few designs, and narrowed it down to which I wanted to see made. I made countless iterations to get the proportions to my liking.

Factory drawings of squid-bear in varieties of colour.
After getting the sketches done, I went ahead and traced it on Illustrator and adjusted the character to make a turn-around sheet for sculpting reference.

Now with a reference in hand, I pondered on what 3D software I should use. Since this project will probably require quite a bit of finishing, I decided to stick with Blender, for a quick and dirty model for printing.

3D print in progress.
After uploading the file to a 3D Printer, all I can do is wait and watch...

Original mother sculpt ready to be silicone moulded.
After printing, I finished the sculpt with Apoxie putty and sealed it with a layer of Clear Coat. Now it's ready for moulding. I made a 2-part silicone mould and used Clear Coat as a de-moulding spray alternative.

Finished roto-moulded resin squid-bear toys.
For casting, I used a simple 1:1 ratio opaque resin. I poured the two halves of the mould separately -- slush casting -- and poured more resin and closed the mould. This ensures that the mould thickness is relatively constant.

Hand painted squid-bear with eyes drawn in with markers.
Now with an army of Squidbears, next comes painting. If I had an air compressor handy, I would've spray painted it. The next best thing is hand painting it using gesso and acrylic. Finally, my resin toy is complete!

The Final Result

Three squid-bear toys in green, pink, and orange.
Three squid-bears, with focus on green squid-bear with pink and orange in the background.
Three squid-bears, with focus on the pink squid-bear with green and orange in the foreground.
Pink squid-bear with orange and green behind it.

Copyright ​© 2020 Ryo Yonekawa
  • products
    • teetle
    • cor
    • gungnir
    • tools
  • toys
    • river
    • space
    • squidbear
  • etc
    • dress
    • cooper
    • howlitzer
    • homeless
    • illustrations
  • dcoblog
  • about ☆ contact