SKULLTROOPER was a pet project that started an idea to mod a vinyl toy. A number of companies produce “art toys” and with that comes a line of “blanks”, and there’s definitely been a culture of modding those variants. And for the longest time I wanted to mod one but could never think of what to do.
But as I thought about it, I realized that artists in that space often fell back to Stormtroopers or skeletons for inspiration in their mods, so I thought a mash-up of the two would be fun. With that, SKULLTROOPER was born.
As with any project, all starts with the planning. Started with tracing the initial blank figure and building the figure on top of it, with it, choosing PMS colors. As for the design, going with the Stormtrooper/skeleton mash-up, wanted to invoke the nostalgia of the Stormtrooper, but use the skeleton as an accent. The result was a lot of fun to come to.
Though like with most pet projects, free time is definitely a luxury. But in the past few years had been indulging the childhood memory & affection for enamel pins.
I don’t recall the inspiration to craft enamel pins, but I do remember in that initial research I was remembering family ski trips where my mom would always get me 1 enamel pin from the gift shop. They always ended up being Snoopy pins skiing. But definitely a fond memory for me, and something I carried with me in this process.
So, when it came to researching processes, options and vendors, I decided to adapt the Skulltrooper art for a pin:
Had so much fun during this process, definitely created a few more pins. You can find them on my Etsy store, The Button Depot and Other Sundries.
I include this project here because typically when one looks for a freelancer, it’s usually for a print or web need. But if you’re looking to create product of some kind, definitely have a knowledge base you can take advantage of. From production, sourcing and working with vendors, and more. So if you have a need for something a little outside the box, hope you’ll keep me in mind.