From 2021 to 2022, I worked at Titmouse as a Design Supervisor on the Disney Jr TV show Pupstruction. I worked directly with the show creator Travis Braun, director Vic Cook, and supervising director Abigail Nesbitt and supervised a team of talented artists including Gideon Kendall, Marianne Khalil, Yves Menchikova, Gabriel Pinto, Eunice Chen, Karlen Tam, Meiyee Tan, Mike Scanlon and Garrett Daniels. As design supervisor, I guided the visual direction of the show, overseeing layout design, prop design and color design. I worked closely with the 3D vendor studio Rainbow and with our clients at Disney, to make sure the final product and adhered to Disney’s strict content guidelines. I also frequently provided detailed notes and redline feedback to the 3D studio to ensure their 3D designs matched our original vision.
Of course, I couldn’t let my artists have all the fun, and during my time as supervisor, I frequently designed and painted many assets myself, including props, vehicles, and background sets, which can all be found in the final iteration of the show.
Pupstruction can be watched on Disney Jr and Disney+
Vehicles Designs
One of my first projects as design supervisor on Pupstruction was re-designing the four primary vehicles driven by the main cast: Phinny’s crane, Roxy’s bulldozer, Luna’s excavator and Tank’s dump truck. My final designs were based, in part, on existing designs, some created by our prop designer Gabriel Pinto, some created by artists at ICON.
From left to right:
Roxy’s bulldozer (final design and color by me), Luna’s excavator (final design and color by me), Tank’s dump truck (design by Icon, with revisions to design and color by me), Phinny’s crane (final design and color by me).
Rough designs for Roxy and Luna’s vehicles that eventually became the final designs used in the show.
The Puptruck, which combines all four of the primary character vehicles. I created the final design for the Puptruck, showing the exploded truck in various states to show its component pieces, and orthographic front and side views. The final design was painted by Mike Scanlon, using the color palette from the individual vehicles.
An early vehicle design test for the Pupstruction Crew’s main antagonists, the Lickety Split crew, designed by me. This design was not used in the final show.
Background Paints
Background designs by Gideon Kendall, under my art direction. Paints by me.
Prop Paint
Various props, mostly designed by prop designer Gabe Pinto, under my art direction. Paint and color design by me. Often, these props required additonal notes and texture callouts for the 3D studio. I designed and painted the trees, which were translated beautifully into 3D designs by our partner studio Rainbow.
The Pupstruction Headquarters
One of the most ambitious projects we undertook on Pupstruction was the design of the Pupstruction HQ building. Shaped like an enormous construction helmet, the upper floors of the building served as the residential space for the Pupstruction family, the main floor served as a meeting space/play space, and the basement served as a garage to store the vehicles. The entire building is capable of rising out of the ground on hydraulic lifts, and had additional fun interactive elements such as a cherry picker platform in the top and a slide.
The headquarters were designed by Gideon Kendall, under supervision from myself and supervising director Abigail Nesbitt. Interior cutaways were painted by various artists including Marianne Khalil, Eunice Chen, Mike Scanlon, and Karlen Tam, under my art direction. I painted the detailed exterior structure and lift mechanism, as well as provided detailed orthographic views and diagrams to assist the 3D designers and animators.
Background Layout Designs
In addition to supervising the primary layout designer Gideon Kendall, I designed several important sets which were used in the show, including the Petsburg Beach set, the Petsburg Observatory Set, and the interior design of the pups’ Toolbox Shed, located on their HQ campus.
