Design Pioneers Project Proposal
P A C K A G E D E S I G N / / L I C E N S I N G G U I D E
B A C K G R O U N D
I have illustrated and written a children’s book, Penny Olive. I planned on having the book be the introduction to this character, and for her to function in a multi-medium way. She is a character to promote and teach about PA Dutch culture and language. I want to expand her reach with a website, blog, doll, activity books and other merchandise. I feel that creating exciting, engaging and educational merchandise will help promote the book and the message.
R E S E A R C H
Having my own children, I have observed that when given a choice between a book that exists as a book only, and a book that is a character where they have a doll, paper dolls, stickers, website games, coloring books, etc; my children always go for the latter. I believe, as an art educator, that these merchandising opportunities are not just to exploit the characters and make money, but rather a learning opportunity for children to expand upon the story in the book through creative and imaginative play. My friend Whitney made a cloth doll version of Penny Olive for me for my birthday, not realizing that I had been working on a design myself, and my children and her children where absolutely enamored. My three and seven year old’s picked up where Penny Olive’s story ended in the book and created new and exciting adventures for her, with their creative intuition and imaginative insights. It was a beautiful thing to watch. They remembered the story from the book, and continued it with the doll, showing that supportive character merchandising actually elevates the creative process when reading is over and may also ignite an interest in writing subsequent tales of their own for Penny Olive.
P R O P O S A L
The focus of my artwork is connection to my PA Dutch roots. I have many folk art paintings that I would like to design soft dolls and 3-d soft sculpture out of. I need a cohesive licensing guide to use when displaying and selling my work. The line of products includes: a book/doll combination package, a small doll sewing kit, a soft doll head pincushion, Belsnickel primitive doll, Wassernix primitive doll, children’s aprons, bags and clothing.
D E L I V E R A B L E S
1. Package design for book/doll product
2. Licensing/style guide for other products
