Rational and Brand Analysis

Rational

I chose a New Zealand fur seal/kekeno to represent Tip Top trumpet is because I wanted an animal that is unique to New Zealand as their brand is so strongly ‘Kiwi” related also seals are often associated which the antarctic with represents the cold. The fur seals lives on the beach and rocky shore lines. I placed the seal on a beach because that is their natural habitat and all the advertising I found to do with trumpet was on related to beach activities. 

I used browns are creams as the colour of the seal to stay true to its natural colour and also to represent the caramel and chocolate colours that are in most trumpet. Each image has a prop that has the colours of the Tip Top brand to enhance the visual connection to it. Instead of just showing the back of the seal I decided to have it laying down in the sand, I felt this was more interesting and related to the series more. 

I used a mix of Illustrator and Photoshop to create my finals. I created my line work in illustrator and then placed it into photoshop to colour and draw the finer details. I wanted to create a cute character that family with young kids would love but also adult would remember. Making the features round and soft enhanced the cuteness. The seal is this fun and happy creature that all New Zealanders can connect to.

Tip Top brand analysis

Tip Top started off as a small Wellington Ice Cream Parlour on Manners St in 1936. These two guys created their own flavours and different type of ice cream. In 1962 they build the largest and most advanced ice cream factory in the Southern Hemisphere. Continually they create iconic products and push the boundaries of flavours and kinds of ice cream and ice blocks.

Although they are now owed by Australia the products that come out of Tip Top are strongly connection to New Zealand thought the looks and flavour and the advertising. Also employing over 400 New Zealand's to create the world wide known ice creams. Since the beginning they have used red, blue and yellow in their brand.

The Trumpet range come out in the 1960s, advertising from the 1980s onwards always associated this range with the kiwi summer and the day at the beach. A kiwi classic was ‘togs, togs, undies’ ad. The ads were always short and very funny.

  

Final

Designing Final

The final body poses. I wanted to put the seals onto a beach setting and I wanted to create props that you associate with that activity and have them in the colour of the Tip Top logo. So I created three different things an umbrella, cooler and a beach ball. I did thing my placing a image into illustrator and either tracing by hand or using the tracing option. Then like the seal I put them into photoshop, created masks and coloured. 

Designing Final

My four face expressions in the order I drew them in. The first one is my favourite and the one I feels goes with the brand the most as it is full of happiness and fun. Each drawing a did a rough sketch and used that as a guide for the final. 

Designing Final

After finalising the hero pose I used it as a reference to draw the side and back pose. Using the vector outlines and mask like the first one. I  tried to keep colour coincident throughout all the drawings. Though for next time I will create a pallet for the main colours and sometimes I had trouble finding the right one especially when it came to doing things like the face shading and and whiskers.

After talking to the tutors and asking if my back pose didn't have to be of the back I decided to do one laying down. This was because I didn't feel I could do anything interesting with that pose and when thinking about another pose I thought having him laying in the sun would be awesome and link strongly to the trumpet branding and New Zealand beach lovers. This one was the hardest as I wasn't to sure about the shaping and where is should go but I love the way he turned out he looks happy and relaxed, as any sun bather should. 

Designing Final

First of I started with the front view, after creating a vector outline I put it into photoshop to paint and create the finer details. The fist picture are the reference images I used looking the the size and shape of the baby snow seal and the colour and flipper shape of the New Zealand fur seal.

I used lots if masks to paint with as I didn't have to worried about the colour going out side the lines. At first I created a base colour then slowly started adding lighter and darker colours on top of it. Then on a different mask I drew the face and and added the colouring to it on a layer below. I wanted to keep the character quite simple so he could go into most backgrounds and I felt it enhanced the cuteness of him.

Designing Final

After playing around with Illustrator I decided I wanted to create my vector outline of the character and then import it into photoshop. Here are all the out lines for the final designs. I traced photographs to get go silhouette of each view. 

For the side view I used two different images as alone they didn't have the shape I was looking for but overlaying them and turn the opacity down worked great and the shape turn out rounded as I was hoping it would.

Concept

Here is a vector out line that I created even though it is very simple it took awhile to figure out the pen tool and how to line up all the points. I love how the tail turned out representing the trumpet cone. I want to keep his colour simple like a vanilla ice cream add in other colours to represent the flavours.

Research/ tutorials

I have been watching tones of youtube videos on drawing in photoshop also watching proko.com and a few of his videos on the bean. Watching and studying the way other people have work with digital painting helps me, as I have only just started doing it for this paper and am still very new to it. I find it getting easier easy day and I'm getting faster using the Wacom. 

Design

Playing around with different ways to do the eyes.

Concepts

More drawings trying to get a cuter cartoon version. Then I tried to put it into a background of a New Zealand beach.

I also tried to draw in Illustrator this took me awhile trying to get all the points and curves right. It differently makes it softer and gets a very cute feel.

Here I was trying to make his coat look like chocolate and the other one boysenberry with the nuts on the top like a trumpet.

Concepts

Concept/Research

Thinking about a penguin for my brand I looked into other penguin design.
Knowing that Bluebird chips has a penguin for their design I do not know if it is such a great idea as their brand is so strong and well known it would be hard to bet their design.

Concepts

More ideas.