Spokes Characters...
...That's the topic for this latest Flash illustration lesson. As always the drawing basics, and not-so-basics are covered, but the framework for teaching this tutorial is creating a useable advertising character for whatever you're involved in. I think this is a particularly good topic for CartoonSmart students since the majority of ya are freelance artists and even though your product "packaging" isn't as tangible as a cereal box, it does exist: your website. And there's only a few billion other websites out there to compete with for sales, or even just attention. So the little extras, like spokes characters, are something to seriously consider adding to your page headers, footers, or just interspersed in key place (like "hey, I'm talented at _______")
For those interested in a little ad character history, below is a list of well-known's (most dating back a few decades) and also a list of more recent characters that are anywhere from 1-20 years old. Also PUHLLEASE consider buying this book.... Meet Mr. Product ...its about 5 by 7 inches (so it fits perfectly within your normal desk litter) and it contains HUNDREDS of illustrations of ad characters dating back to the early 1900's. Obviously a major help for this topic, but its an excellent go-to book for design inspiration. Too many of you "tighten" up design wise, and a book like this helps you realize how loose you can get and still create something corporate-related. Anyway, here's those lists...
Well knowns...
Michelin Man
Michelin Man (current 3D version)
Pillsbury DoughBoy
The "Quaker Oats" Quaker
Tony the Tiger
Aunt Jemima
Quisp
Cap'n Crunch
Mr. Bubble
Chester Cheetah
Spuds MacKenzie
The Burger King
California Raisins
Coppertone Girl
The Noid
Energizer Bunny
Frito Bandito
Jolly Green Giant
Punchy
Colonel Sanders
Alfred E. Neuman
Ronald McDonald
Morris the Cat
Mr. Peanut
Smokey The Bear
Snuggle Bear
Charlie The Tuna
Mr. Zip
Woodsy Owl
NBC peacock
Peanuts Characters (for Met Life)
Big Boy
Chuck E Cheese
Modern examples...
the SongBird bird
Luxo Jr.
Tux ( Linux )
Puffy (OpenBSD)
AOL guy
Sirius Dog
M&M guys
Bart Simpsons for Butterfinger
Aflac Duck
Looney Tunes (for Six Flags Parks)
Taco Bell Chihuahua
Erin Esurancel
Mozilla godzilla
Geico Gecko
Pets.com Sock Puppet
Clippit
Konqi Konqueror
More examples...
Mascots
Video Game Mascots
Advertising Characters
