Over the course of 2005-2008, I assisted Art Asylum, designing production control art for various projects, most notably their Minimates line. This involved turnaround views for every part of the figure that was to be included in the final product, along with any surface artwork that needed to be applied.
While I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the OMAC characters, I do take a lot of pride in its lil’ action figure, as it’s the first DC Minimate that I consider “100% me.” Well, from a control art perspective, that is… This was one of the projects I designed from start to finish. The upper legs proved to be a particularly interesting design challenge. While I’m not sure the sculpted pieces turned out quite as well as I’d hoped, they still work pretty well given the limitations of the form. My only real disappointment is the color of the clear blue plastic. We had originally envisioned a much lighter iridescent blue that would sparkle and really show off the panto work. Unfortunately the final result came in a bit too dark to really appreciate the design. Despite that, I’m still pretty proud of this feller.
While the photos shown here on the site represent the finished figure, it should be noted that I contributed the control art only. As with all of the Minimate projects, there were many talented people involved: production managers, sculptors, other designers… This figure was very much a team effort, and the finished product reflects the contributions of many individuals.
Released 2/28/2007
Featured in TOYFARE MAGAZINE, Issue #107, July 2006.
