I had finished my other two toys!!

The Gorilla and the rhino are both made the same way the leopard was. They both were completely hand crafted by me. I molded and sculpted the faces, I made the wire armature and I designed the sewing pattern, cut, and sewed the fabric. As mentioned in the other blog post these creatures are based off of the endangered list of animals. In my last semester I had a research class and we were to create a project and write a grant out for it. My proposal was over cheetahs, I did not make a cheetah, I made a leopard with the fabric I had but I did follow the lines a little. The cheetah is rapidly becoming extinct as well as these other animals. The grant was to some how tell and inform the world about the cheetah species and to help them grow rather than dwindle in numbers.

These toys are for our beta toy design class and we will be selling our toys!

TOY SALE: Beta Toy Design Class

May 1, 11:00 – 2:00 pm Pittsburg State University Oval*

The Department of Art is pleased to present a Toy Sale from the toys produced in the Beta Toy Design Class developed by Associate Professor of Art, S. Portico Bowman along with Assistant Professor Norm Philipp, P. E. from the School of Construction. The sale will be held on May 1, 11:00 – 2:00 pm in the Pittsburg State University Oval.

Toys, books and games created by Amber Baumgartner, DJ Bush, Amanda Fitzpatrick, Jake Geither, Cat Jepson, Blane Siebert and Chris Vanderbeck will be available for viewing and purchase. Proceeds from the sale will be given to SafeHouse Crisis Center.

Throughout the semester students have studied the mechanics of toy making such as how to make things move, the philosophy and psychology of toys and the purpose of play, while looking at the toy industry to analyze trends and marketing strategies with an eye to pitfalls and toy making practices that could be challenged and changed.

Norm Philipp introduced many of the engineering concepts and aided in the development and production of components prepared on the 3D Printer. Emi Gennis provided insight into character development and Rhona Shand provided information on the practice of independent licensing. Plans for further Toy Design classes include internship liaisons with a variety of toy manufacturers, and participation in the Mystery Build Kit.

For more information contact:

S. Portico Bowman

sbowman@pittstate.edu

620-235-4305 or 620-235-4302

*In case of inclement weather sale will be held in Porter Hall.

My toys, however, are already sold but please come out and support my classmates and the class for all our hard work.