Interaction Design: design sketches
Posted: December 10, 2014 Filed under: Research, Second Year - Field - Interaction Design, Sketchbook | Tags: CSAD, digimon, interaction design, mameshiba, numeneko, plush, plushies, sketches Leave a commentLooking at the idea of creating an interactive object without a screen, I very much want to create a soft toy that is easily held and encourages the user to act affectionately towards it. In terms of size and shape I am very much influenced by mameshibas (of which I own many) as well as many other soft toys I have seen which follow the shape formula in terms of being handheld, and an inoffensive round shape
Using this principle as my starting point I began to create some sketches
I decided from the beginning that the object should not have a face, as I think it can be a very divisive point in terms of whether or not people find it appealing.
This is a more Westernised style cat face, which personally doesn’t interest me at all and I would never consider buying or interacting with
This, while being almost the same shape appeals to me much more, although not as much as the mameshibas
“numeneko”s, another brand that appeals to me, but for some reason less so on a small scale
a large scale numeneko, which I like an awful lot more than the smaller standard size
Because of this I feel that leaving the face blank is the safest bet, although it is important to frame the “face” with other features to that the user knows that it is a creature and interacts with it as such, rather than just a formless blob.
I also played with the idea of the creature having a tail. While I do like the idea of the main body having something loose that dangles freely, I decided against it in the end as I worried that if it wasn’t done correctly it would detract from the object rather than improve it.
I think this is probably subconsciously influenced through digimon and pokemon while I was growing up
Tai and Koromon from Digimon
fresh level digimon, all characteristically round and squishy
Joe and Gomamon from digimon
I like the idea of the weight and hanging of carrying a creature with limbs
Some combinations of ears and tails
