Toys for OLIVIA™ and Pop On Pals™

If you're shopping for any little folks (or little folks at heart), perhaps you might want to check out the new toys that recently hit shelves for OLIVIA™ and Pop On Pals™!  I had the privilege of being part of the design team for these brands, while working at Spin Master in Los Angeles.

Spin Master's toys for OLIVIA™ are based off of the TV show airing on Nick Jr. – which, of course, is based off of Ian Falconer's award-winning children's books.  You can find these OLIVIA™ plush dolls, figurines, and playsets in the small-doll aisle for girls, at a local Target or Toys "R" Us.

From Spin Master's Magic Ladder™ comes Pop On Pals™ – a new original preschool line that makes mixing & matching accessories fun and easy for a preschooler.  Simply "pop" a Pal into an accessory ring – and the ring slides onto the body!  Wacky combinations abound.  My good friend Linda Hong designed the overall look of the characters and the line.  I was fortunate to be involved in later design & development.  You can find Pop On Pals™ in the preschool aisle at a nearby Target or Toys "R" Us – among other major retailers. Visit www.poponpals.com for more info!

Please also take a moment to view the wide array of other cool toys at Spin Master's official website:  www.spinmaster.com

Thanks & best wishes to my friends at Spin Master for a great working experience & continuing collaborations.

"Camille Lyon" - Form Explorations (in progress)

Hello!  I thought I'd share an update on my project for David Colman's character design class.  I've been working on some designs for my story concept "Camille Lyon" this summer.

For the first half of the class assignment, we had to focus mainly on graphic, stylized shapes for the characters.  These explorations, along with character descriptions, can be viewed in a previous post.

For the second half, the challenge is to offer new and different design interpretations based more on form – while maintaining the basic integrity & essence of the character.  Below are some of my form explorations...I chose the ones I thought may work best for the bottom lineup.   These are still in progress and pending instructor/class feedback, so the designs will most likely change again :)

Thanks for visiting!

Interview on "Karin Won't Stop Talking" Blog

© Karin Cameron / "Karin Won't Stop Talking" 

One of the great things about Facebook is being able to network & meet some genuinely nice and talented people.  On that note, I've had the pleasure of recently connecting with writer Karin Cameron, who was so kind to invite me for an interview on her blog "Karin Won't Stop Talking".  You can read the full interview here.

Additionally, this interview has motivated me to create an archived section for my Little Do They Know comic strip – which you can find on the right sidebar of my blog, or by clicking here.

I've also updated my regular website a bit more, by adding some recent work and letting go of some of the old (still need to be better at this):  www.viviandesigns.com

Please be sure to check out the rest of Karin's blog as well (which includes beautiful short stories, relatable musings on daily life, and other interviews).  Not only does she have a fun, witty, and approachable writing style – she's a wonderful person as well.

http://karinwontstoptalking.wordpress.com/

Thank you, Karin, for this sweet opportunity & for your support!  Cheers :)

28th World Wide SketchCrawl

Here are my sketches for the 28th World Wide SketchCrawl.  The Los Angeles group met at Hollywood & Highland...so good to draw & hang out with everyone!

I stuck mostly with quick people sketches to coincide with some class homework.  I'm trying to get more used to sketching with pen (I usually sketch in pencil), so that I can improve my confidence & commitment to laying these marks down.  My friend & fellow artist Kendra Melton has been encouraging me in this area :)

Unfortunately, I had some trouble with color washes...I didn't realize that the ink in a Tombo brush pen is NOT waterproof :(  So the colors came out really muddy, and I stopped after a few tries.  Boo...ah well...I'll remember this for next time.

Please visit www.sketchcrawl.com to view works by other artists and to learn more about this world-wide drawing marathon!  Thanks so much for visiting.