The Hollowfolk.
The Hollowfolk is a set of three otherworldly, mystical forest creatures originating from a mythological canon. The set includes:
The Guardian, an ancient and overseeing spirit who is caretaker of the woods
The Adventurer, a self-determined intrepid explorer intent on carving their own way through the world
The Becoming, an innate contradiction of new life and natural anomaly, acting as a source of constant debate over what it represents
My driving inquiry was:
“Can I make a set of action figures tailored to unexpected audiences and aesthetics for the medium?”
To approach this, I wanted to create figures that felt purposely odd and unconventional with a slightly eerie tone. Where a more typical set of action figures is targeted towards kids or collectors, The Hollowfolk pulls influence from folklore and is targeted more towards inquisitive enjoyers of the strange, spooky, and macabre. Each figure features a high level of articulation achieved through the use of 8 to 9 ball joints to allow for dynamic posing and compelling story-rich play.
This project involved a lot of trial and error and learning new things.
I had never made any moving 3D printed objects before, and action figures require a lot of intricate moving parts that can withstand some abuse while maintaining the desired look. The balance between desired aesthetic and functionality within these figures took a lot of fine tuning.
I started by working backwards, reverse engineering an existing 3D printed dummy figure to see what the different joint styles looked like and how they worked. From there, it was all about developing my characters, their relationships with one another, and figuring out how to integrate the joints seamlessly within their look.