Paper toys

Speakerdog:


Interview with Ben the illustrator:

SteveRack (SR):
When was Speakerdog born?

Ben:
I doodled him one day, while sitting in a design studio in my old job sometime in 2004. We were going to use him for a commission we were working on, but actually discarded him. He looked a little different, he didn’t have ears, more speaker, less dog. Speakerdog was drawn as a pet to another character I was playing around with, a barrel-shaped owner character who had speech bubbles full of question marks (?!?) the premise was that Speakerdog had all the answers! Then, separate to work, I started playing with him on canvasses and people started liking him and it rolled on from there. When I left that job to go solo as an illustrator, Speakerdog came with me!

SR:
What/Who is Speakerdog?

Ben:
Speakerdog is a mascot for the environment, a spokesperson for good times, a world lovin’ smile inducin’ bundle of fun on the run! Born in a land of optimism, he’s part speaker, part dog, all heart and soul. He cares about the world, and all he wants is for people to get on and be super! He does cross paths with other characters, smiley face flowers, cute and kitchy pine cones, birds, squirrels, deer and the occasional merry mountain! We’ve taken him all over and we all get to do hundreds of different things together. Nowadays, he is mostly the character on the posters, which we love producing, and the centre of one of the biggest paper toy projects in existence! His paper toy has now been customized by around 180 artists, with 200 designs available online. Speakerdog has become a real labour of love for the both of us, as fast as I can illustrate a new piece of artwork, Fi can be getting the posters printed up and sold on around the world. For every art project I submit a new Speakerdog creation for, Fi is bringing in a bunch of new artists to work on the paper toys, it all just keeps on rolling!



SR:
What is Speakerdog’s favourite past time?

Ben:
Traveling by any means necessary! Gliding and riding on the magic carpet ride of life!

SR:
What are Speakerdog’s hopes and ideals?

Ben:
Environmental care, nurturing nature, looking after the planet so it can look after us.

SR:
What is Speakerdog’s proudest moment thus far?

Ben:
Hmmmm, that’s a toughie! It’s either when the great Shin Tanaka first customized the paper toy, or having a Speakerdog illustration being featured in Matt Mattus’ “Beyond Trend” design book, or the ‘Greatest Hits’ Speakerdog paper toy exhibition in Tokyo… Yes, it’s all three of those!

SR:
What’s in the future for Speakerdog?

Ben:
Our biggie this year is our new ‘Make More Pictures’ range of Speakerdog stuff! We’ve just launched a super new poster, one of our favourites ever (now available on www.buybentheillustrator.com) and we’re about to go into production on a couple more secret products, all hush hush for now! One thing we can say is that the newies, along with the poster, spread the message of Make More Pictures! Get out there with your paints and your pencils, your mouse and your markers and go create! It’s the ‘Make Do And Mend’ of the 21st Century! He’s also off to a couple of London exhibitions this year, a super paper toy show in LA and he’ll be busy spreading a whole lot more messages of love, peace and cheeriness to all!

SR:
What do YOU think makes a great character design?

Simplicity, it’s being able to add moods, personality and heart with ease, with the stroke of a line, the splash of a paintbrush or the dot of a pen, from Charlie Brown to Bloo (Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends), pretty much all of our favourite characters retain simplicity and yet burst with heart.

SR:
Tom or Jerry?

Ben:
Jerry! (Because Toms a schmuck)

Links:
BenTheIllustrator.com
Speakerdog
BuyBentheIllustrator.com

Interview: I like characters.com