In collaboration with Zebra Hero agency, we’ve developed a brand character for the MTS app of the same name. With his help, parents can teach their children how to manage their finances and set goals through routine tasks. Meet Tododo.
About the app
Learn and earn
In the app, the family can work together to create a list of things to do for the child and agree on the motivation — it can be both monetary and non-monetary. For example, by completing tasks, the child can save up for headphones or convert coins into a walk or pizza with parents. In this way, the child learns both financial literacy and planning skills.
Sketches and backstory
Who’s Tododo?
Under the first stage of work on the character, the guys from Zebra Hero worked on his backstory and character, answering the questions of who exactly is Tododo: a rebel or an inventor, a big brother or a young scientist? At the same time, our team worked on sketches, finding the right shape for the appealing look of the gum.
Tododo is a gum, but he acts just as a typical teenager: his speech is full of slang; he skateboards, draws graffiti and wears trendy accessories.
3D Development
Stretchy guy
After running focus-groups and having the 2D-design and backstory approved, we started working on a 3D model. As part of this stage, the focus was to create an appealing 3D model and its rig. Since Tododo is basically a chewing-gum, he had to be able to stretch and squash, and still meet the basic character design principles.
“We’ve come a long way in creating Tododo: the initial concepts are vastly different from the final product. It’s a common story – the simpler the character seems at the start, the harder it is to bring to life.”
Guidebook
Sharing knowledge
While we were working on the 3D process, we started to create a guidebook in which we described all the knowledge we had acquired while working on the character: its backstory, characteristics and personality; design and animation principles; lighting and texture settings, and so on.
Hero’s World
Basketball fan
An additional challenge for the project was to develop an intro video to reveal the character’s backstory: Tododo was a playground graffiti that came to life to play some basketball.
“The most important thing in Tododo’s animation in the video is the expressive poses that preserve the design and convey the character’s personality, along with quick and energetic transitions between them. Tudodo may be chewing gum, but he quickly returns to form, doesn’t lose elasticity, and doesn’t stretch too much or “wiggle” excessively outside of extreme poses. He is far from being a spaghetti, if you know what I mean.”
