Deleted Post

After initially giving me permission to share my work, a client changed their mind and asked me to remove this project from my website due to legal confidentiality reasons. Sorry about that. You can view my other toy design, illustration, and cartooning work on my Portfolio page or my blog.

Plush Tortoises

Last year I was hired by a toy entrepreneur who had a vision to create plush tortoises that would be appealing but also scientifically accurate. He wanted toys that would help children learn to distinguish between breeds as well as explore various differences in body, pattern, and texture. The challenge was to create something that was cute and cuddly but also detailed and proportionally similar to a real tortoise.

So far the project is only at the prototype stage but he has given me permission  to share the work I did. Below are my sketches for three breeds of tortoise, along with photos of two of the finished prototypes. For more info you can follow the project on Facebook.

My Little Pony Playset Stickers for Hasbro

Over the years I’ve worked on dozens of projects for Hasbro. Most of what I do for them is “planning and production” so the artwork stays behind the scenes and will never be seen by the general public. The toy business is competitive and Hasbro is naturally very protective of their ideas, which I respect.

Every once in a while something I do for them makes it out into the world, usually in the form of packaging or stickers. Back in 2015 I illustrated some stickers for a My Little Pony Equestria Girls Pinkie Pie playset. These stickers were applied at the factory to give extra color and detail to furniture in the room. The playset was released last year and can be purchased from Amazon.

Hasbro has given me permission to show a couple of the stickers: a cork board and a board game. On the cork board two of the small character photos were pasted in from existing art but otherwise I created it all from scratch. Also, the lower corner of the game board was intentionally left blank to make room of a plastic spinner.

Here’s a silly, energetic video I found online of someone having fun reviewing the playset. Hope it gives you a smile:

Rubik’s Cube Toy Concepts

Recently I was approached by the Smiley Company. They wanted to pitch the Rubik’s Cube people with some ideas for expanding the Rubik’s brand into other toys and they needed a lot of artwork to help sell the concepts.

They gave me a giant list of really fun ideas. Most were fully formed but there were also a few I helped develop, all under the art direction of Smiley. There was so much work (over 65 illustrations) that I brought in some help on the final renderings from three other pro illustrators: Bob Ostrom, Justin Dial, and Carlo Lo Raso.

Here’s a small sampling of the final concepts I submitted (click images to enlarge):

Rubik's Cube-Twisty Math PuzzleSmiley Rubik's Cube Ceramic GardenSmiley Rubik's Cube RattleSmiley Rubik's Cube Build-A-Maze ConceptSmiley Rubik's Cube Origami Concept

Toy Designs for Smiley Kids

Recently I was approached by The Smiley Company, a lifestyle brand based in London. They create and sell a lot of licensed merchandise based on the world-famous smiley face symbol. They’ve been so successful that they’ve even developed those little yellow guys into an animated property called Smiley Kids.

Of course, what’s an animated property without a corresponding line of toys? Smiley wanted to pitch several toy ideas at a licensing show and needed some artwork to help with their pitch. Most of the toys were built around the theme of emotional growth within the context of farming and crafts. They gave me a list of ideas to start with and I brainstormed a few more. Together we explored over thirty possible concepts, of which over a dozen went to final art. Out of respect for my client’s proprietary ideas I don’t think it would be appropriate to show them all, but here are three samples they have given me permission to post.

Smiley-SeedPaper-800px Smiley-JewelryKit-800pxSmiley-HarvestGame-800px

All artwork is copyright © 2015 Smiley. All rights reserved.

I’m Featured On The Wacom Gallery

Cut The Rope sketch

The other day the nice folks at Wacom included one of my toy design concept drawings on their Behance  “Featured” gallery. Like most artists who work digitally, I’m a long-time user of Wacom’s products. They make quality hardware and they are the go-to brand for digital drawing equipment (tablets, Cintiqs, etc.). It’s a real honor to have them shine their massive spotlight in my direction.