Author: Bodin Sterba Design Blog

Once in a while I get to work on a project that has the potential to make a positive impact in our society. I was asked to design the (big, bad) wolf and pigs for the anti-smoking commercial, Straw City for The Real Cost campaign.

The spot is riffing off of the Three Little Pigs fairy tale, where the wolf, who is a chain smoker, can’t muster the lung power to even blow over a straw building. The direction for the wolf was to make him look sickly and gross, with ill-fitting, tattered clothes and big, worn-out boots- a real sketchy looking son-of-a-gun.

Here are a few of the pigs going about their business:

Since October, the YouTube video has had over 1.9 million views, so I can only hope the message is having some effect.

Here is the commercial:

Here are some characters I designed and sculpted in ZBrush for a recent Geico commercial, Cuckoo Clock: Take a Closer Look. Legacy Effects 3D printed these guys and turned them into puppets for the clock.

This was a fun challenge. My initial pass was a bit too smooth and detailed. The director wanted these to be more crude and vintage looking, so I took down the details and sculpted them to appear as though they were hand-carved out of wood.

Here are renders of the characters:

Here’s a screen shot from the spot:

And here’s the commercial:

Last year I was asked to help design the monster toy for the Bank of America commercial, Christmas Morning. Legacy Effects turned this into a full suit and a toy.

Here’s what I came up with:

Here’s the spot:

Just before the holidays last year, I was tasked out to design the singing snowman for Pizza Hut’s Singing Snowman commercial.

After designing the look of the snowman, we went through a few rounds of the melting stages. The client didn’t want it to look too gruesome or sad, so I tried to keep it light. 😉

Here’s the commercial:

A while back I was asked to do some designs for The Voice Season 11 promo: Arrival. The direction was to give Miley Cyrus translucent dragonfly-like wings, and also to turn Carson Daly into a grey alien… Hey why not?!

Here’s where I ended up:

Here is the (bizarre) promo:

I have been drawing monsters ever since I was a wee lad, so when I get a chance to make more monsters for a job, it’s always fun. I was tasked out to design the monster for the Foster Farms “Monster Appetites” commercial. Initially, I was asked to develop the monster in stages, starting with small and cute, and then transitioning into something a bit more menacing. The director and agency requested a few different directions, starting with a muppet-esque feel, then moving to something more hairy and realistic.

Here is the final design:

These guys led to the final design. Always inspired by Ludo 😉

Here are some preliminary designs:

And here’s the commercial:

I had the opportunity to create Timothy McTimber, a talking redwood plank puppet for the funny Humbolt Redwood commercials. I sculpted Timothy in Zbrush and Legacy Effects 3d printed and painted him to appear like redwood (shhhhhhhhh).

The spots are great: