doll

This doll was made for the Prop Design module at HKU. First we had to make 1 A4 worth of worldbuilding rules, and then we had to create an item which would fit into the worldbuilding.

Concept

My idea for this prop is to design a present that would be given to a newborn child. In my worldbuilding, this would be a common gift, made by someone in the village.

For my sketches I did research into old clay dolls, but also into stuffed animals and antique dolls.

One of my favorite finds was about the Ithaca Kitty. Another big source was Miller’s antiques encyclopedia, which has a lot of information about antique dolls and stuffed animals.

Worldbuilding Rules

Location:

A place in a world much like our own, with humanoid beings. The place we’re focussing on is a nice and cozy village, where everybody knows each other, and where everyone is very welcoming and open to each other.

Time:

Around the industrial revolution. People are learning more ways to craft, and to hone their skills, but a lot of things are also still done by hand.

Culture:

In this society, craftsmanship is honored above all else.

This is also a reason that not everyone is pleased with the industrial revolution, because they feel like machinery will take away from the craftsmanship.
Others feel like it will enhance their abilities to create, and give them more ways to revolutionize their processes of creation.

Gift giving is very popular. Children are taught different crafts from a young age, and it's very encouraged to hone those skills.
Repairing broken items is also an honored practice. If clothes have a lot of visible repaired seams, it means the clothes are loved and cherished. If a plate has been shattered, kintsugi-like methods are used to fix them, and make them prettier than they were before.

Economy:

Not as much a capitalist society like our own, but instead more trade-based.
Everyone does what they can, make what they can, and provide it for the community. Especially woodworkers, stoneworkers, glassworkers and smiths are high value jobs.

Religion:

There’s a pantheon of Gods for different disciplines, but most honored in this village is Artidir, God of craftsmanship. They have several children that are the Gods of specific crafts, which are often worshiped by the people who practice those crafts.

Technological Knowledge:

Again, around the industrial revolution
- People use a lot of manual machinery like looms, glassblowing devices, and forges etc. But not a lot of it is automated yet, especially in smaller villages. Someone somewhere is probably at the brink of figuring out steam-powered machinery though!

Available Materials:

More unprocessed things, fabrics that are more raw. Wool, silk (expensive), linen, hemp, lace. Around the same as at the start of our industrial revolution.

More research

Then I learned about ragdolls and that their history is much bigger, and made sketches inspired by that.

A rag doll is “a soft child's toy, made from cloth, in the shape of a person” according to the Cambridge Dictionary. Historically, they were usually made from scrap fabrics.

The oldest rag doll I could find information about is one from Egypt, from the 1st-5th century.

Design Choices

A few design choices I wanted to keep in mind while making these sketches:

I wanted to play around with non-human ragdolls, to see if I could make that work. For these, I wanted to look at animals who make things, like ants, beavers, spiders or bees, because these would be more honored and respected by the craftspeople.
I wanted to go for a fairly simple humanoid shape, but not too simple. I decided to not give the doll any clothes, because it would be made that way so the children could use the dolls to practice sewing and making clothes for them.
Somewhere on the doll, sometimes very visible, sometimes a little bit hidden, is a signature/mark of the creator, so in this way it can be identified who made it, and they can also be remembered after their death.

I also wanted to keep the feedback I got for my first attempt in mind.

I got the feedback that my worldbuilding was unclear, so I worked hard on making it clearer this time, with asking a lot of feedback from peers.
I also got the feedback that it was unclear how the prop I made fit into the world I created.
Besides those two, I got the comment that it looked too much like a big rusty cube, and that it gave the idea that I might struggle with working in 3d and sabotaged myself by picking a simpler shape. To show that I do want to challenge myself in this, I decided to go for more organic shapes & fabric.
All in all, most of the feedback I got had to do with the idea that my design wasn’t thought through enough, so this time around I asked my friends and classmates for a lot of feedback, and they really helped me to flesh out the design properly & work on the worldbuilding.

3D Process

Modeling

Blockout

Sculpt

Retopo

Rig

Rigged

Texturing

I did a bit of research about fabric dyes, and came across this infographic which shows a bunch of different colors that were possible to make with just plant dyes, and decided to use that as inspiration for the colors of the dolls!

Texturing (baked sculpt into low-poly model)

Extra props:

I decided to also make a spool of thread and a pincushion because I couldn't find any good 3d models of sewing supplies online. After that I also wanted to put more supporting models on the desk so I made an inkpot and a feather/quill to go along with it. After feeling like the desk in the 2nd scene was still a bit empty, I also made a little dress.

Put into a scene

In this scene I wanted to show the work desk of a seamstress making the doll for a child that is about to be born. She is working on it, with some fabrics in the background, and a lot of needles all over the place. The embroidery of the artist’s initials (LV) is also clearly visible in this scene.

In this second scene I wanted to show the doll in possession of a grown up child. They still have the doll which was given to them at birth, and it is cherished by them. They also keep sewing supplies in their dresser because this is a skill they’ve enjoyed learning as they’ve grown up, and in case they need to repair any clothes. There is also a little homemade dress next to it which they made for the doll.

Resources and credits

Models:

Carpentry Tools - 3D

Antique Vanity Desk Set | 3D Furniture | Unity Asset Store

Destructible Wooden Table | 3D Furniture | Unity Asset Store

Wooden Barricades | 3D Exterior | Unity Asset Store

Modular Medieval Lanterns | 3D Historic | Unity Asset Store

Stylized Wood Textures | 2D Wood | Unity Asset Store

Grimoire Style Book | 3D Props | Unity Asset Store

Sources:

Allibone, R. (2024, January 17). Tapestry of Time: unveiling the rich history and evolution of rag dolls.
Retrieved from https://www.thetoycentre.co.uk/tapestry-of-time-unveiling-the-rich-history-and-evolution-of-rag-dolls/

Collins, M. (2023, October 22). History of rag dolls: When was the rag doll invented? - Baba me.
Retrieved from https://babame.com/when-was-the-rag-doll-invented/

Journal, G. S. I. (2016, July 29). Ithaca Kitty was a success across America. ithacajournal.com.
Retrieved from https://eu.ithacajournal.com

Miller’s antiques encyclopedia : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (2005).
Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/millersantiquese0000unse/mode/2up

rag doll | British Museum. (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1905-1021-13

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). Button | History, Materials & fashion.
Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/button-clothing-accessory

Google Sites

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