Makielab was a mobile games and e-commerce startup acquired by Disney in 2016. We created Makies, an award-winning customisable digital avatar, which could be ordered as a bespoke 3D printed toy.

Monetising mobile games is a difficult challenge, particularly when it comes to children. Makielab was founded to explore a new angle on the problem by enabling children to buy physical products based on their unique in-game content. To this end, the company focused equally on mobile games, toys and e-commerce.

I worked across teams as we developed Makies (below) and new toy experiences leveraging the underlying technology. One such project involved a partnership with Disney via the Disney / Techstars accelerator, where I demonstrated the possibility of personalised figures.

Makies

Creative dolls for creative kids and the world's first 3D printed toys.

Makies are toys with a digital twin. They're the child's personalised avatar for Makielab's mobile games but they're also a physical toy which encourages hands-on creativity, crafting, DIY making, modification and learning. Makies are designed to get children excited about technology and can be extended with Arduino. Each Makie is hand-assembled in the UK. Makies were designed in collaboration with Tia Pusok, Luke Tovee, Ed Sludden and Chris Catton.

Sprint

Before joining Makielab I was already exploring the possibility of toy manufacture with 3D printing. Colour and material detail are strictly limited by cost in toy design and manufacture. If these limitations were lifted, it could enable toys with the surface detail we're used to in on‑screen entertainment.

To demonstrate my findings I created Sprint - jetpack wielding athletes, drawing inspiration from sports brands and automotive design. I targeted the 3D Systems Projet-4500 which promised to match the colour detail of sandstone printers with the physical properties of SLS nylon. Results were promising but quality was unpredictable.