Kreo Trolls was a construction line that … I acted as lead designer and manager.
The brief: the old Kreo strategy of mimicking Lego wasn’t working. We needed to differentiate with fun new features and extra value. But how?
I pitched the idea "Kreo Craft," which combined bricks + soft materials like felt and pom-poms.
When the project was green-lit for Trolls, I acted as both designer and manager. My role included devising the concepts for each set, collaborating with builders to refine models and features, designing new parts (some I 3D modeled, and others I outsourced), directing the fabric and character art, directing the packaging photography to show off the characters and play features, leading the project through the approval process with Dreamworks, and following up on every last detail to ensure a quality product.
The soft materials were a perfect fit with the Trolls IP. The sheets of felt allowed us to build bigger models, full of colorful graphics, and it gave a look all its own.
When we tested our prototypes with kids, we found they loved to mix and match the felt pieces to decorate their models.
And of course, they loved to play with the hair.
I was responsible for the design of about 40 new parts that were used throughout the line.