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.

Thank you for your support! 
~ Sabrina