SPOTLIGHT
Bringing Mascots to Life - Potatohead meets Rubix Cube: Designer Creates 3D Printable Toy
Sometime in the spring of 2022 our team became ever so slightly obsessed with our tiny little mascot, Blueby. One of our designers, Cory, inspired by two of the most iconic toys in history, Mr. Potatohead and Rubix Cube, has created a new 3D printable toy. The innovative toy is a combination of the two classics, with a twist of modern technology.
A Team Effort
Conceptualized by our Operations Manager, our in-house digital artist, Ni, took the rudimentary concept of Blueby and turned him into a mascot who appears on almost every roll of filament we sell. Then we fell into a rabbit hole encouraged by our Owner, Michael, and decided to make a mascot for almost every color and had a blast designing and defining each character's personality.
Bringing Blueby to the 3rd Dimension
And then we thought... could we bring this to life? So we looked at creating custom plushies and absolutely balked at the cost. So, in the fashion most favored by hobbyists, we said... "what if we just 3d printed it?"
Cory, one of our CAD designers, then used 2D art to create a canvas for each piece of Blueby. The pieces were then broken down into components such as arms, legs, eyes, and mouths. Each component was designed to be printable, with revisions made to make the parts easier to print and assemble.
The eyes were the most challenging part of the design, but Cory came up with a solution that not only made them easier to print but also easier to assemble. Instead of having the black eyepiece inserted into the faceplate, the designer created a new design that allowed the pupil to insert into the face and the black eyepiece to sit on top of the pupil piece.
Measure Twice, Cut Once...?
To test the toy, Cory used joints in Fusion 360 to check the relationship between components and ensure that parts did not intersect with each other. Revolute joints were used for the arms, while slider joints were used for all other components.
After testing, Cory packaged the models and passed them on to the manufacturing team to print. Once the printed parts were ready, our Operations Manager assembled them and created step-by-step instructions to guide future adventurers in the process. There were many failures along the way, but we all know best that failure leads to greater success later. Periodically, some of the pieces needed resizing for a better fit or to improve part strength, so then Cory would jump into Fusion and offset the faces to make them work better during the assembly process.
Success leads to more obsession
The result is a unique 3d printable experience that combines the nostalgia of Mr. Potatohead and the Rubix Cube with modern technology. And now we're designing the whole flock of mascots. We list them as we finish the design stages and the list is constantly growing. Check it out here: https://shop.zlabs3d.com/product/blueby-3d-printable-models-instructions/29?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false
Eventually, our company hopes to find these cute little buggers sitting in the backgrounds of influencers and scattered about on the internet.
