Tou-Tou the toucan is a concept made for a previous job application. The goal of the brief was to translate one of four given animals into an educational toy for toddlers, while keeping the cartoony style of these sketches.

After I was given the task, I went to Baby Sam (stores selling equipment and toys for toddlers). I made a benchmark of products and ask an employee about current trends in toys. It helped me picking the toucan among the four animals.

What also helped me in choosing the toucan were the many colorful variants of this bird species, inspiring me in using lots of bright colors.

Below is the original sketch given as the base of the animal. I made a brainstorm of everything I can work with and explore different directions for the concept. I also chose to focus a lot on keeping the cartoony eyes and simple proportions/ shapes of the drawing.

After the brainstorm, I starting sketching a LOT of different interpretations of the toucan. From music to rocking toys, I finally settled on a simple stacking toy which would involve the beak of the toucan as the main build feature.

Before starting 3D modeling the concept, I decided to craft a fast prototype out of foam to gain a first impression on the size, beak orientation and stability. Then, I went to work on Rhino.

In the brief, the company asked to make 3D renders as the final step. Yet, I wanted to do more, much more.

With the renders done, I went ahead and made a 3D printing version of the model to make in real scale and finish. The original concept is intended to be made out of beech wood with all the colors painted on top of it. 

Therefore, I printed each color as its own piece and not spray paint it with chemicals. 

I made this decision as I wanted to eventually test it with children before the interview, but time was running short and I was already exceeding the requirements.

The colors between the renders and physical prototype changed because of filament availability.

The assembly of the printed model was simple, except of the eyes needing to hammered into the head (being also 3D printed).

In the end, the design worked out quite well.