Definitely a lot to consider here, which is good. The whole character license thing was something that came up for this project because it was a finalist for a regional business concept design competition here, and there was a lot of emphasis put on that end of marketing strategy and opportunity. However, as you guys have pointed out, my goal was to not just simply slap on character logos and such…but look more at the subtle design cues such as texture changes, color schemes, character development, etc.
In terms of me actually developing my own character line…it’s something that has crossed my mind, but at this point it’s more of a time issue more than anything, especially with the deadline drawing near. If I were to go down that route, I would definitely want to do it right and spend a good amount of time on it with the whole branding and image.
Another option that I’ve been thinking about is maybe creating a product line that is inspired by animals and nature in general…not branded items like Ninja Turtles or Sesame Street. So, for example, one shoe could be simply turtle inspired, another could be a frog, a lion, a fish, a dinosaur, etc. Each unique source of inspiration can provide those design cues like textures, materials, and colors like I mentioned earlier, to bring the design to that next level. Also, you can begin to create “themes” within the footwear where maybe a summertime launch could be the sea creatures and stuff like that. It also begins to hit on a slight “learning experience” through the footwear for the child too, by introducing them to these different animals over time. Just a thought.
Overall, I really think all these options add to the depth of the project. In the final presentation, I think it’ll be good to show these different routes and say yea, this product can be character licensed, or it could be theme-based, and even developed into it’s own character line, and so on…I think it shows a good variety of options for one product.
I’ll be updating with more progress soon too…