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.
Superman was a fun project, though very little of my original design made it into the finished figure. I had originally developed more of a Christopher Reeve look in my earlier concept art, with more of a comic book styling to the muscles and a less-flat approach to the headsculpt. I had wanted to see if we could break free from the extremely simplified approach used on the C3 line that came before. In the end, fellow designer Uriel ultimately refined the look on the faces and muscles, helping maintain a consistent style for the overall Minimate brand.
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. Particularly with these early waves, I worked with another designer as I learned the ropes and to help cope with the volume of characters in development. While I have included some of my own pre-production designs, fellow designer Uriel ultimately refined the look on the faces and muscles, helping maintain a consistent style for the overall Minimate brand. Thanks again for the assist, Uriel!
Released 2/28/2007
Featured in TOYFARE MAGAZINE, Issue #107, July 2006.
