Kaiju•Co was a project that someone first approached me with. Their idea began small and focused primarily on creating monster or kaiju themed statues. I was approached to bring these creations and this concept together and turn them into a marketable force to be put online.
The first step in approaching this project was to start out creating creatures for fun as an exercise to get the ball moving. We came back together, presented our pieces and talked about our creations.
Our Ideation phase was lead by starting a brainstorm of words; we worked with 30. Once we had a large enough list we created creatures based on the words prompted. We came up with 30 each giving us a lot to work with including the original ones that were created. We then came together to critique our creations and work towards creating a concept that would encompass the idea we were trying to push forward. Below are some of my ideations.
During this phase our biggest goal was to create a marketable entity, something that would represent the idea of a monster themed toy company. We worked on a bunch of names for the company and set out to create the identity of the brand. The names were conceptualized during a call and unfortunately none of the names tossed around were ever written down until KAIJU-COMPANY jumped out at us.
The name officially settled on was "KAIJU•CO" and from there we set out to create graphics that were representative of the brand. Below are some of the ideas I brought to the table and the one that was chosen to move forward with by the design team.
Beyond the creation of the brand more of the company came together from there and we worked on the creation of monsters and mascots. These designs would then be printed as the catalogue for series one of the KAIJU•CO Minis project. This would be the beginning of a vinyl product that was then to be sold within blind boxes. Prints and T-shirts would also become part of the conversation which would all be centered around the monsters in the series.
The company took significant steps into working its way online within its final phase. The team is currently working on procuring finances to continue their venture on becoming on online retailer, with hopes of moving into the brick and mortar sector one day.
Below are some of the graphics that were created to showcase the style guides and brand guidelines for future projects. This page will continually be updated with more information about this project as it continues to unravel.
The creatives behind the vinyl minis at Kaiju•Co were able to secure some funds and make way on the creation of the minis. What was set out to be achieved was the proof of concept or a prototype of a Kaiju•Co product.
I was in charge of conceptualizing the figure and creating a character turn around for the 3D artist to work with.
This is the render that the artist sent back for the project manager to approve. This is based on the creature I created in our brainstorming sessions. The Crustacean King was not only selected to be the first model to be printed but also the one that will be the brand mascot as well.
Creating and printing the 3D model along with alternative colours for different variations would be the next step for this project to move forward. The next step would also include printing and designing at least 8 more monsters to have a series completed.
This project will continue to be updated with new information once it is available.
For more information regarding the conceptualization of the product
reach out to the email provided at the bottom of the page.
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
ffernandez.designs@gmail.com