The Blue Nose Friends plush toys were an instant success, so to build on their backstory and inspire new characters I began illustrating the world they inhabited. This started out with Tatty Teddy’s old house full of vintage furniture - all painted in cool, muted hues which reflected his shy, melancholy nature. But once you step through his magical wardrobe a whole variety of new and colourful worlds await, ranging from cozy cabins in the snow, rainbow lit forests and sunsets in the clouds. All designed to be the home of as many animals as possible.
These images could then be used to inspire new products, such as toy play sets, or have characters added to them for use on promotional materials.
Environment design was a relatively new venture for me, but I learned so much about light and colour it led to a huge jump in the quality of my work, and has resulted in some of my best professional pieces to date, such as the forest world panorama below.
