Project Requirements
Create a useable Halloween mask with a die line. The project file and mockup are due in six hours and all pieces must fit on a single 11x17" sheet of paper.

Client Name and Description
Unnamed Halloween Company--this company produces Halloween products for children and young teens.

Client's Objective
To put together a "party pack" of different masks inside a tight deadline.

Target Audience
Children and young teens (and their parents, who would likely be the ones buying the product) of any economic background, who want to look good for Halloween but don't want to spend tons of money. The designs must therefore be "cool" enough to appeal to the younger part of the audience, but not so gruesome or offensive as to make the parents think twice about buying them.

How My Solution Works
...You know, this thing looks really GOOD considering that it was a six-hour rush job with no measurements (apart from a final paper size), no preliminary mockups (not enough time), no templates, and barely any thumbnailing. ^.^ I freely admit that my bleeds are pretty half-hearted throughout--I'm probably going to Designer Hell for that, but it still looks good all the same. :)

Dragons were the first thing that I thought of after I got the project, mostly because people of all ages can consider them cool. Plus, dragons are cool just on their own merit--they don't really require the loads of blood and gore that other Halloween monsters might, and so could be considered more "parent-friendly" than some of the other things that I could have chosen. This design is successful in that sense, as I think it would appeal to monster lovers of any age (including the younger audience that I was targeting) without relying on the cheap thrill of gruesome imagery.

The three-dimensional aspects of this piece add a great deal of visual interest to it--the horns and snout protrude realistically, while the long ears sweep back along the sides of the wearer's head to conceal the elastic strap from the front. The notches in the bottom of the actual mask section serve to allow a rigid area that will support the snout without strain, while allowing the rest of the mask to bend backwards to conform to the wearer's face. A "half-mask" design was chosen because it recalled elegant European masquerade balls, and also because it leaves the wearer's nose and mouth open to the air for ease of breathing, eating, etc. while still covering enough of the face to provide the necessary concealment.

One thing that I was never able to fix before the deadline was the Some Assembly Required issue...this thing demands copious Xacto blade and rubber cement use to get it into one piece. I'm sure that if I'd had a little more time, I could have developed a system that allowed all the tabs to stay in place without gluing, but it seems that the design firm wasn't getting paid enough for that. ;)

Programs Used
Illustrator 9.0.