Like most living creatures, dogs came to be out of an evolutionary process. They were born from wolves, and slowly domesticated to be man’s best friend. The key to designing dogs is to pinpoint where each dog sits in that evolution: from the packs of mighty beasts that ruled the wild… to the teacup-sized lap dogs we see today. Once we get the basic form down, the real fun begins; it’s all a matter of customizing models to how each client’s dog is unique.
Ask yourself, “What makes your dog, YOUR dog?”
In terms of design alone, it’s important to capture all of the little standard anatomical things. For example, perfecting things such as the length of ears and tail, shape of the face, placement of the fur pattern, etc. are the first steps of the process. But to make sure each customer opens up the box to find his or her own fur baby looking back… it takes much, much more.
It’s my job to capture the energy, body language, and emotional expression of each dog; Does the emotion portrayed in the model fit with the pose? Does it match the photographs? Does it all fit into the pet’s personality profile? This is where artistry comes into play.
Getting the model to look like your dog’s breed is the easy part. For popular breeds, like labs, we are able to follow basic principles and geometry “Standards” that help us get some of the way. The bulk of the works is tweaking minor subtle details that often the owners would not even notice themselves.
Let’s take Jackie, for example. When designing Jackie, it was vital to remember that she is more than a golden retriever-mix. She’s fluffy and furry right around the head, but she’s also an old soul with a beautiful spirit.
We have to remember throughout the design process of Jackie that we are also designing Meesha and Miya. Though they all share visual similarities, and similar breeds, they are all very different dogs with very different personalities, and each individual model has to be sculpted accordingly.
The first thing you feel when you get that model is “that’s MY dog!” If you don’t, then I haven’t done my job. When I’m finished, I feel like I know the dog I’ve worked with on an extremely personal level. You could say, in a way, that I become the dog each time I design one.
Photo Credit: PetPrints 3D Designer Ryan our guest post
Liz
As a life-long dog parent and enthusiast, I can’t get enough of all things doggie! My love of dogs and passion to educate and share solutions with other dog owners, is essentially how this site came to be. With the help of my three dogs I will provide engaging ‘tails’ and real life-lessons learned on dog ownership.
