Here’s an “egg” I created for the funny and bizarre Old Spice commercial, Cinema, starringVon Miller. I was asked to design a dry, cracked egg/ pod shape that Von would punch his way out of. Here is the final design that Legacy Effects referenced when they built the full size egg.
Here are a few more early versions of the egg-pod:
Surfrider Foundation-Milwaukee‘s 5th annual Surf @Water, held on August 5th 2017, was a huge success. I am happy to be a part of the small, but dedicated team that pulls off these events.
I had a chance to design the cheesy flea costumes for the Geico- Fleas Playing Badminton commercial. They were intentionally low-tech for comedic effect.
Here’s the final design:
Initially I was asked to explore a more realistic flea costume design, but then they were determined to be too scary. I don’t disagree, and this just isn’t as funny:
I helped design Little Wiser, the owl in the latest Trip Advisor ad campaign. He’s kind-of a mashup of a burrowing owl with horns. The Legacy Effects team did a fine job with the puppet.
This is a fish I designed for the Snapple- Carp Diem commercial that aired a while back. I explored a couple types of fish, but the director and agency decided on a wide-eyed, bewildered looking fish, which was definitely funnier. I digitally sculpted this fish, so Legacy Effects 3D printed my design and turned it into the puppet for the spot.
A while back I had the chance to help design the “RAPs” or “Hosts” from the USA tv series, Colony. I was never clued into what these things are, so I cranked out some various designs; some were more organic, some more “space suit” based. This design resonated with the production team, and they went for it. I was surprised how quickly the design process went, and before I know it, Legacy Effects was requesting the 3D files for print.
I designed the bobblehead and the robot for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise commercials: Helping Michael say Yes with Hybrid IT and Helping Brian say Yes with Hybrid IT. I started with a rough scan of the actor for the bobblehead and then changed the expressions and finessed the details. Legacy Effects 3D printed the designs for the bobblehead and the robot.
Toyota recently launched a new campaign: Toyota Safety Sense. It features a group of disgruntled crash test dummies who are no longer being utilized as often. I had the opportunity to help design these characters. Legacy Effects 3D printed my designs and puppeteered the dummies for the spots.
Arco recently launched a campaign with Hanna the Dashboard Hula Girl. As per the treatment, she needed to be fun, innocent and have a slight vintage feel. I was tasked out to design Hanna and her various outfits as she travels around the USA. Legacy Effects 3D printed my design, and rigged her to be a functioning hula bobble.
TurboTax launched a hilarious Super Bowl commercial starring Humpty Dumpty after his great fall. I had a chance to design this poor bastard in three stages: after he fell off the wall, when the king’s men tried to put him back together, and in the ICU.
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 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.
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.
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. 😉
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?!