Fabricating Night Owl

Alana Robinson // Daniya Ulgen

In the discussion of the exterior design of our product, we debated over which type of animal would be our story telling comfort, the traditional "teddy" was first to our minds. We wanted to steer away from the teddy bear, not only because the form wasn't conducive to our electronic components we needed to make room for in the belly, but also because we wanted to create a more independent concept. We decided upon an Owl form because of his wise personality, as well as his round, squeezable shape, perfect for our electronics to fit inside. He was inspired by Owl from Winnie the Pooh, as a slightly younger version with glasses. Owls already carry an authoritative connotation. Ideal for part of our goal of our product to relinquish the nighttime responsibility of the parent for easing the child back into sleep, the Night Owl has a lovable and trustable face, with wise glasses, to display his passion for literature and story telling. We chose the color blue to light up, because it is found to be the most conducive to healthy sleep cycles. The fading of color will ease the child into a deeper, more pleasant sleep.

We wanted to completely make him from scratch so we could form him to our specific necessities. 

Here are a few of our shots from his fabrication.

Cutting out his face, we wanted him to have a sincere, genuine expression. We debated over the necessity of eyebrows, eventually leaving them out.

Trying on glasses, we wanted to find a form that would give the wisest, most authoritative feel. Eventually we came on a square, black form for the glasses. His white belly allows for the light to show through and easily shows a fade.