Unfortunately we did not quite reach the funding goal for this project. Wump-wump. : (
I really appreciate that you were ready jump in and back this project at this early stage. That means a lot, so thank you!
This is much earlier in its product cycle than our other projects we previously put into crowdfunding. Partly because of that I aimed to this project low-key, without big ad spending or lots of add-ons. I thought I had set a low enough goal to reach while keeping things so simple but we did fall a little short.
Still, I've gained a little experience now with backerkit and a window into the pin & plushie community here, which has already been a source of inspiration and information that will continue to pay dividends I'm sure.
I hope to be back with our more developed plushie at a point in the future. I will be sure to update here when that happens. 💌
If you want to follow along with our creations in the meantime, a few other ways to do that are @ludoliminal on instagram or joining our mailing list.
We’re down to the final couple of days of this project, and I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who’s backed. I really appreciate your support!
We’re not funded yet, and to make it across the line, it’s going to be a real nail-biter 😬. That said, we are only about 20 plushie backers short. That’s close enough that every pledge of support genuinely makes a difference. If you’ve been on the fence, now is a moment where backing or sharing the project can actually change the outcome. Even small nudges can help.
Thanks again for being here and for reading along 💜🐉
We’re one week into Pintopia and just over half funded! I've been a little quiet over here as it's been a heavy week in the U.S. plus a week of snow days for our family here in Pittsburgh. I am SO impatient to be able to share with you the first deliverables for our second round of plush samples. I don't have that update just yet but I wanted to pop in to say hello again and share about another piece of the plushie journey - color selection!
Color is a particular challenge for translating this character into plush form. This is a dragon character from one of our future game releases and for the in-game character art, we are going for a very painterly, watercolor style where colors blend into one another. I love how the colors in the illustration feel almost like an shifting aurora as they blend across the dragon's body.
When translating that into a plush form though, we have to anchor on a set of solid fabric and thread colors for the dragon's body and various details. Here is the palette we are exploring during the current prototyping phase:
Diagram showing proposed colors for embroidery and fur on dragon plushie.
What do you think about greenish-blue color we have selected for the dragon's body? Is it the color you would have chosen from the source character art? What about the side frills on the face or the fair along the back spine or tail? I'm sure we'll be iterating on these colors a bit before we settle, so feel free to chime in!
Backers- I am so thankful that you have joined this little project so early and that we'll have you along throughout the whole process. If there's anything you'd like to know more about, don't hesitate to ask!
Hello folks! Thank you to everyone who's pledge to this little dragon project so far! My intent is that this will be a "ride along"-style journey, where I share active development iterations as we go. I'm kicking off the sharing with this update on sample round #2.
When do our work on our board games, we usually take physical component prototypes pretty far in-house because we have the skillset and resources to do so. That means we often have very finalized look-and-feel prototypes before we start the sample process with a manufacturer. But with plush, the fabrication is much more outside our capabilities to prototype ourselves. So getting our first sample last year was a very big step!
With the first sample, we were able to get good feel for the overall size, softness, and weight of the plush but we hadn't yet hit the visual look we were aiming for. Recently we kicked off a second sample round with a goal of nailing down the visual look, in particular capturing the cuteness of the original illustration. To help with this, we needed to clarify how the 2D illustration might translate into 3D.
Generating a 3d model is outside our in-house skill set, so we enlisted the help of a local digital team to make it happen. Yesterday we handed over the digital model you see above to the manufacturer to start the sample production!
Now, this model won't translate 100% literally into fabric form- but it offers a much stronger reference for the plush design engineers to use as they work on bringing sample #2 to life!
I can't wait to see and share with you the results of the second round of prototyping. The planned schedule has us receiving sample #2 in about two weeks, just before the start of the Lunar New Year.
What do you think about this 3D model? Is it giving off an appealing, cute vibe for you? Do you think it captures the dragon illustration? Feel free to share your feedback.
