Conceptual challenges

For us as Designers the biggest challenge was to design the bunny out of the blue. Since we didn’t have a concept made by a dedicated 2D Artist, there was a lot of trying out to find its ultimate cuteness.

Design Process

The usual way of designing a 3D Model, is to create a 2D model first, usually by a concept artist. That model can either be a sketch or a detailed drawing. Subsequently, the model then goes through a feedback loop, is refined and approved. At that stage, the 3D artist then models it. Thus, dividing the whole process into three major steps.

Just like when we design web pages, our UX designers start by crafting mockup screens, followed by a frontend developer that assesses their feasibility and implements them afterwards. Professional 3D artists in big studios however, are generally given a concept drawing, that is detailed enough for them to simply “copy” or rather translate it into 3D.
Pedro Couto – our main 3D artist at Liip – however, was given free reign in creativity, doing the entire form-finding process directly in 3D. The challenging part was to build everything from his imagination, without a 2D model, but ultimately lead to a great result, we believe.

Decision to go straight into 3D

Practice over theory is one of our core principles at Liip. As such, we worked with compasses over maps or creativity over fully defined concept art this time. Starting to model in 3D directly led to several iterations of the bunny and allowed Pedro to further hone his modeling skills. Furthermore, it enabled him to explore new ways to efficiently draft objects in 3D.

Pedro and I as a UX designer and Illustrator worked closely together to further enhance Hazel’s cuteness factor and to align its visual appearance with Liip’s branding guidelines.

Evolution of the bunny

It takes a lot of effort to build things in 3D. Here you see some of the several stages Hazel went through.

Step 1: Sculpting the first draft

Step 2: Joining all the blocks, plus further sculpting. Hazel was in need for some arms too


Last but not least: Hazel received a proper Liip branding shower and a cute-effect facelift