Designing the Doll: From Concept to Construction

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I was so at home with Barbie that I just stayed, because I loved her so much, and I loved doing the work,” Spencer says of her time at the company. A graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Spencer began working for Mattel just four years after Barbie’s debut. She retired in 1998 after 35 years working at Mattel. To date, Barbie has had over 200 jobs, according to Mattel. Some of her career highlights include being an Olympic athlete, a wildlife conservationist, a United States Air Force pilot, a news anchor, and an astrophysicist. If the wallpaper in your dollhouse is in pretty good shape, you won’t need to strip it and can just paint over it instead! Find out the best way to do this in our blog Can You Paint Over Wallpaper In A Dollhouse? How to wallpaper a dollhouse Another important stage of this process is to conceptualize the desired response. What feelings do you want to evoke in the potential owner of the doll? Obviously, happiness and satisfaction are up there, but you can aim for something beyond this! Do you want the doll to evoke a sense of nostalgia for a bygone era? Do you want it to form part of a cultural exchange, showing the owner something about a culture they were previously unaware of? Dolls are a kind of art form in themselves, and thus can impart powerful emotions and information to those who receive them. As a designer, it is your task to guide this response.

You’ll need at least a couple of coats of paint to get even coverage and I recommend using a small decorating paint brush, although mini rollers are available too. I didn’t bother with a mini roller as I wanted to keep things cheap and didn’t want to invest in a paintbrush and a roller. Some paint samples come with mini rollers attached which are very handy and you can use a small brush to cover any areas where the roller won’t reach. Within the perspective settings, FOV is a very important parameter, to the impression of your image. So your feeling inspired, but before you put pen to paper or turn on your computer, it is a good idea to have a good long think about the kind of doll you would want to receive. You should try and fully conceptualise your design before you even start sketching! It’s important to have a fully realised piece of work with a cohesive and determinate identity. Answering some of the following questions will help you achieve this goal. So, far in 2023, Mattel has launched dolls representing Anna May Wong, Sasha Calle, Simu Liu and Bessie Coleman. A Barbie doll representing conservationist Jane Goodall was released in 2022. Mattel

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Because this number is so influential on the overall feel of your creation, it is recommended that you experiment with it. There are lots of talented doll dressmakers in the world and I wanted to introduce two of them, Joanna and Mieke. I asked them about their stories, how they got into making doll clothes and how they manage to make such beautiful, tiny works of art. They also shared some tips. I hope you’ll find their miniature creations as inspiring as I did! Kamelia Dolls

In 2016, Mattel introduced three new body type options for Barbie, marking the first-ever change in the doll’s plastic proportions. The new doll lineup featured curvy, petite, and tall Barbie dolls alongside the original model. The 2016 line of Barbie dolls included three new body type options. Mattel

A 2010 study of young girls in the Netherlands found that those who played with thinner dolls ate less food when offered than the girls who played with dolls with more average proportions. When you want to display the Camera View larger, choose “Large Screen Mode” from the “tool” menu, or hit the [Home] key. (In the event that you do not have the Camera View open, “Large Screen Mode” will expand the 3D View.) At her debut, Barbie was marketed as a fashion model doll, but the early 1970s marked a pivotal decision to give Barbie a series of careers.

We followed the trends,” Spencer continues. “Barbie was to change as we changed. So in that regard, we kept her up to the minute with whatever was happening, whatever was popular, that the children could have interest in.” In the '70s, Barbie became a working woman Mattel also came out with a line of Barbie dolls that represents people with disabilities. In 2020, Mattel created a Barbie who uses a wheelchair. A Barbie with hearing aids and a Barbie with a prosthetic leg arrived in 2022, and the first Barbie representing people with Down Syndrome debuted in April. Mattel created multiple Barbie dolls representing people with disabilities Mattel A new era of 'Barbie' in the 'Barbie' movie Mattel has created several new Barbie dolls modeled on actress Margot Robbie. This doll wears a small-scale version of an outfit Robbie wore in the film. Mattel Next, cover up anything you don’t want to get paint on with masking tape. I did a major error here as I didn’t do this at first as I thought I would have a steady enough hand to avoid getting paint on the ceiling. I made a total mess of it though and had to paint over the excess paint with white paint. Below I share what I did and what I learnt when I decorated my Exmouth dollhouse that I got from Freecycle. How to strip a dollhouse Spencer tells TODAY.com that Barbie began her professional life with the “Get Up and Go” line of fashions in 1972.Barbie dolls have also been designed to represent real-life celebrities and historical figures. The first celebrity Barbie was based on Twiggy, a model and actress whose style helped define the '60s. And something that is obvious to all dressmakers, but I had to figure it out myself – choosing the right needle. There are some fabrics you just can’t sew with universal needle. You just can’t. 😉 There is a book she uses, a Costume Guide with a lot of drawings and a good explanation on the costumes during time. Mieke has followed the groupings of the book, such as crinoline and Biedermeier, making reproductions from ancient Egypt all the way to 2015. There are still some holes in the time line, but so far Mieke has finished about 65 Barbie and Ken dolls. Until now she hasn’t sold any of them. Doll Hair and Make-up Spencer drew inspiration for Barbie’s wardrobe from her surroundings in Los Angeles. Her designs were influenced by the clothes she saw on people walking around Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and Melrose Avenue, as well the swimwear beachgoers wore in Malibu and Venice Beach.