Scaredy Monster Project book Kate Williams
CONTENTS Research Concept development Development of final design Development of blanket Final design Story Board Health and safety Regulations Prototypes Label generation Manufacture Final Prototype Final Label Prototype
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Initial mindmapping What does friendly mean how could I make something unfriendly friendly. Through mindmapping I started to look at fears and who are scared of certain things. One example that came acroos was children were afraid of the dark. I wish to look further into this and research comforting aids.
Research articles of mothers concerns and children sicologists responces I found out through researching the problem there is a wide age range of children who become afraid of the dark. There was several points that were repeated in different articles: -make being in the dark comfortable -show there is nothing to fear -give the child something so if they wake up in the night they can hold and reassure them.
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“ My 3-year-old is terrified of the “monsters” under her bed -- it’s gotten to the point where she wakes up screaming a couple nights a week. It’s exhausting for everyone in the house, and I feel terrible for my child. What can I do to help her get over this fear? Does she need to see a child psychologist?”
Interview with Dr Sears Nighttime can be a scary time for children! Your daughter is at the age when her vivid imagination is developing, and nightmares can be frequent: Preschoolers often distort reality during sleep and in their dreams. For example, a funny cartoon character your child saw during the day may be morphed into a monster during a dream. Acknowledge the fear. Don’t ignore, devalue, or try to extinguish her fear with phrases like “Big girls don’t get scared” or “Don’t be a baby.” Insensitive putdowns like these will only teach your daughter that something is wrong with her. Draw out his fears. Encourage her to talk about the imaginary monster and ask her to draw a picture of what she thinks the monster looks like. This way you respect her feelings and convey that you empathize with her. Track the trigger. Minimize scary stories, scary TV (even the evening news can provoke nightmares), and certain cartoons if the monster your child draws looks suspiciously like a kids’ show character. Tell the truth. Emphasize to your child that monsters are only pretend characters on TV or in storybooks. It’s a parent’s job to help her child separate real from imaginary characters. Make nighttime a less scary environment. If she’s really fearful, perhaps it’s too much to expect her to handle sleeping alone in a dark, scary room during this phase.
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Detailing the Brief - Why are children scared at night?
I am going to design a product that makes monsters a night more friendly. I am going to look at methods of soothing children and combine the fear of the monster into something friendly and comforting. I want to create something that is safe for a childno choking or suffication hazards, nothing they could damage or hurt themselves with, something portable and easy to use. I want to create something that is comforting to the child at night in particular- something that makes them feel safe and elliminates the fear from the child.
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Primary research I went to a family to see if Zakkary aged 3 was aware of monsters at night and what scared him at night. He replied that he was aware of monster and that he did not like going to sleep as it was ‘scary’.
Researching what children see as monsters I have researched what children see as monster through looking at how they perceive them through drawings they draw them as scary ugly looking monsters which could affect them emotionally when trying to sleep.
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Researching existing product and what sort of thing children are scare of really helped me understand the problem and what was already existing for this problem which was nothing much. I went to ‘Toysrus’, ‘mamas &papas’ and ‘Ikea’ to look at the range of product they had on sale and whether anything would fit the need of a child that was afraid of monster at night. Sadly i found nothing to help this problem which for me means there is a gap in the market for that sort of product.
Concept generation
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Concept 1
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Concept 1 is a story book with laminate insert that can be removed and used to create an interactive story by placing the laminate in front of a light or torch to cast a shadow of the monster in a fun game.
Concept 1 Bedtime book Concept 1 is a story book with additional laminate pieces to use with a torch to shine upon a wall to make the story more interactive and fin.
Concept 2
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Concept 2- comfort blanket toy
Concept 2 is a way of combing something comforting like a blanket with a toy to create something that well h
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This would fit on the child’s head as a hat and the blanket would become a cape around them. Potentially the blanket could be folded away in the hat and be used as a cuddly toy.
This is based on the idea of a hand puppet that could be used by child or parent to make stories ect.
help the child feel more comfortable at night.
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15 Different monster sttorage boxes
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Friendly monster is in the cupboard not any nasty monsters
Concept 3- Storage system
Looking at ways of using the stereotype of ‘a monster under my bed’ and ‘there’s a monster in my cupboar tended use of this product is to make the child feel calm and protected at night
Sticker set
Make your own friendly monster
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rd’ to create something friendly and fun that can be used in play time as well as a storage device. The in-
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1
“I really like this idea as it makes a night time fear into something fun and a game” “This story book idea would be fun to a range of ages and would help with night time monsters if they associate fun with them”
2
“ I like that the child would have something to hold to feel more protected and the use of the pull out blanket to wrap around them when scared wrks well” “This looks like something fun and friendly that the child could hav with them day and night”
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“ I like the idea of creating a hand puppet from a soft toy/ blanket it would be fun to have a bedtime to clam the child down” “This would be good at story time and it gives the child something to hold on to when scared”
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3
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safe for the child to use
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4 3
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works well to comfort
Adam Devoy with Fliss Devoy ( Age 4)
Gemma Dean with baby Oliva Dean (8 months old)
I have generated a comparison chart on the different concepts and ideas within the concepts I have used two people with two different aged children to evaluate the ideas using my brief as a comparison point. The ideas that were the most appropriate were 2, 1 and 4. On second review the one that was a particular favourite to both parents was number 2.
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Development of soft toy
The toy that I will be design has an age range of between the ages of 2- 5 years of age as this is particularly when imagination at night effects sleeping patterns. Children also start to become emotional attached to items such as cuddly toys.
Age 2
Age 5
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Idea Ideation
Developing a monster which looks friendly to a child. I have picked out 3 sketches which I think look friendly and the ones I particularly look interesting. I have picked out 3 sketches that are particularly unfriendly . The eyes are really important to make the toy look appealing to the child.
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Development of final cuddly toy
Through iteration I was able to generate a friendly looking monster. I developed the overall shape the ears and
Final concept
Material choices will be essential in making the m ster look friendly and an acceptable toy for a child
Creating a basic shape with a big friendly face and some fur to be attached to tail, feet and ears.
d feet to make sure the toy looked like a monster and friendly.
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Development of comfort blanket
£22.00
$19.99 and at 32” by 42”
Further research into kids blankets
Looking at existing blankets for kids, the one that really appeal to me are the embroidered soft animals onto the soft material of the blanket. The added animals onto the blanket I think would over power my toy and would be hard to tuck away inside the monster.
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Development of blanket
Final ideas I particularly like the image of the monster coming up from the left hand corner of the blanket. I have also chosen the rectangular shape as it fit easier and neatly into the toy.
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Voice recorder -Two RECORD Buttons provide message protection -Press the PLAY button to hear your message -Message can be rerecorded - reuse time and time again -This version has a LOCK feature to protect your recorded messages -Recording time: 40 seconds Size: 79mm Diameter x 22mm
Comfort blanket goes inside of the monster and is held in place with a toggle so when ‘monster’ is travelling the blanket wont fall out and potentially be lost.
Toggle to keep the blanket in place. - The blanket can be taken out to wash
Glow in the dark stitching so in the dark the child will feel comforted be some light.
“I’m scared, there is a monster under my bed!”
“No monsters can get you if you have your own scaredy monster”
“Mummy there is a monster under my bed I dont want to go to sleep”
Happy and comfortable in the dark
“No daddy I dont want to go back to sleep”
A good night sleep for both parents and child
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Health and safetychildren’s toys
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Children like to put toys into their mouth which means that the components on the toy need to be well secured to prevent a choking hazard.
The child will be sleeping with the toy so there is a possibility of strangulation if the toy somehow raps itself around the child as they sleep.
This electrical part will have to be secured in or on elastic as no way for the piece to put into the child’s mouth . The speaker has been specially design for children’s toys so has passed all regulation tests.
This material could have to potential to come apart if tampered with however it has past safety test. But if of small bobble were to be broken off it could have to potential of being a choking hazard.
The blanket could cause a strangulation problem however the age group that this toy is for this should not be an issue. Part of the toy could be caught in storage boxes which could cause the toy to break or rip. The could mean that small parts of the toy could be swallowed or cause a problem to the child.
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Prototype 1 1:1 scale Using the technical drawing I was able to create a quick 1:1 scale model of what the monster would look like. I am happy with the over all size of the toy and the size of the face. There is easily enough room inside of the prototype for a blanket.
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100% polyester microfibre machine washable
100% polyester machine washable
80% modacrylic 20% polyester hand wash White cotton -76% cotton 21% polyester 3% elastane Machine washable Black cotton- 76% cotton 21% polyester 3% elastane Machine washable
100% cotton Machine washable
100% polyester machine washable
In the light
Looking into glow in the dark stitching to be used on the blanket. I was experimenting with stitch type and double stitches, I realised to be able to see the stitches in the dark the stitches had to be doubled up to be able to see it in the dark.
In the dark
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Prototype 2 1:2 scale I have created a 1:1 scale prototype of a friendly monster. This was to work out the size in which the toy needed to be in relation to the child and blanket. It also helped me work out how to sow the different sections together.
“ The size of this monster is perfect size as it can be taken with us if we go out in the car or to a super market. I like the feature of having the blanket attached as Zakkary is always dropping things and often resulting in loosing them when we are out. The voice recorder could be fun addition to the blanket and toy but it might be uncomfortable to cuddle.”
“The materials on this are nice as they are very touchy feely. Will these materials be able to wash? I am also not sure about the materials chosen for the eyes and mouth as it make the product look slightly cheap. I like the green bobbly material on the back that works really well.”
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Without
Gaining insight into the views of the mother and child
Featured liked: -Size was appropriate -Attached blanket -Able to remove blanket to be washed- voice recorder would sooth child -Voice recorder makes toy more personal and fun -- materials are well chosen -The textures of materials are nice and comfortable no choking hazards either. Features to be improved: - material choices for the eyes and mouth look cheap and need to be changed - wash label needs to be added showing that the materials can be washed -make sure the voice recorder is positioned so the toy is comfortable to hold
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100% polyester microfibre machine washable
100% polyester machine washable
80% modacrylic 20% polyester hand wash White cotton -76% cotton 21% polyester 3% elastane Machine washable Black cotton- 76% cotton 21% polyester 3% elastane Machine washable
100% cotton Machine washable
100% polyester machine washable
Generation of Label
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Resea packag labe
arch on ging and elling
I have researched several different forms of packaging for kids toys I am particularly interested in the tags that are often attached to the toy as I want to parent and child to be able to see the product without the packaging covering anything up.
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Concept 1
my myname name is ismax max
Scaredy Scaredy Monster Monster IIlove love nightime nightime
IIwill willlook look after afteryou you
Development of Tag
Concept 2
Final Tag
Developing a story with in the tag helps the child understand what the toy is for. The parents will be able to understand that the toy is there to help the child sleep.
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