Thanks for the questions Joyride! There was no design brief for this project. This toy was brought to life by James Hugo & Chase Layman at Wheelhouse Creative in Oklahoma.
About Cog and Nautilus:
Welcome to the Lurk, the deepest of the deep seas. Altercations between the different races have been a problem for a hundred years. The people of The Cog, a race of steam-powered divers, have been trying to push their way in for nearly a century searching for the mineral resources to keep their civilization steaming along. The territory they desire is that of The Nautilus a race living in harmony with its surroundings…and they hate company.
It’s funny you say pirate because that was our initial direction with the toys. Only Pirates. We started working on the pirates and soon realized it might be a short lived concept. We wanted to created a brand that could grow into more than just the Cog and Nautilus Factions. Rivals could really be any two opposing characters which leaves a ton of room for creativity.
The concept is to do a series of the Cog and Nautilus. Always releasing two at a time. It’s fun because everyone has there favorite of the two which brings the concept of Rivals into the collector.
Why these Characters you say? Well Chase and James have always had a thing for Steampunk and Nautical themes. That became the centerpiece for the style direction.
The Process:
Concept: first Pirates then Rivals.
Sketching: We have piles of sketches that will probably become toys in the future.
Refining: We narrowed down ideas and combined elements we like into 2 characters.
Computer Illustration: For advertisement and promotion. Also a color guide for the manufacturer.
Prototypes: We have been working with the manufacturer to refine our prototypes. So far it’s been (3d computer model, 3d printed prototype, resin prototype, painted prototype)
There are also other elements to this project I will post later.
Branding
Package Design
How will we sell these?
They are being funded on Kickstarter as we speak. If the KS project is successful we will go into production. After that toys will be sold online and a in a few exclusive toy stores. Each set will be a limited addition.
Hope this answers your questions.
Thanks!