Brand world · Self-initiated
TRABEAR is my own vintage label in Toronto. Its mascots — Brix, the everyday amber bear, and Tannin, the rare wine bear — are soft toys with predators' grins. I designed the pair, wrote the rules that keep them consistent, and use them across films, posts and products.
3D · drag to turn
Models of both characters for figures, rigging and animation. Drag to turn them, pinch or scroll to zoom.
The look has three layers that all have to be present: a cute-but-unsettling concept, a hand-drawn ink line with gouache washes, and fine crackle across the fur so the bear reads as old, not new. Every colour is sampled from the master sheets and checked by number, not by eye.
The character and rendering descriptions are locked word for word; only the scene changes. The turnaround sheets are attached to every generation. And the guide records what the models can't do — turn a character around, walk toward camera — so shots are planned around it instead of fighting it.
The same characters carry a story series, product-drop teasers, Instagram posts and the label's own logo — so every piece of content looks like it came from the same place.