SRT developer and provider of video solutions Haivision came to Playwell Bricks in search of a custom character set to gift their employees as part of Haivision's 20th birthday celebrations. After Playwell Bricks’ success with the Google Mech and Proximus Superhero, the team was excited to design another custom character set.

Haivision explained that they wanted this character to feature some of their key technologies and that they had an unofficial shark mascot since “Hai” is the German word for shark. Haivision affectionately refers to their employees as sharks. They've even got a branded shark icon.

The lead designer for this character was Playwell Bricks designer Petrus Gartler. “We did some research on Haivision’s line of products to get insights on design and functionality. This way we were able to include some design details that are also found on their products,” says Petrus.

“The fun part was in creating a character that matched Haivision’s ‘emotion.’ It should be strong, but not aggressive, rugged but high tech, convey the feeling of safety, but not look old-school,” Petrus explains. “It should be a friendly, but serious character.”

It took a few attempts to get this emotion just right. The first few designs were discarded for being too friendly, too blocky, too massive. Petrus felt a quick and athletic shark was the best fit for Haivision. His gut proved correct when Haivision approved his design.

“We did extensive testing and mocking up to make sure the model was playable and had good stability in various poses,” adds Petrus. Loaded with Haivision tech, this shark certainly has his fins full!

Of course, “the color scheme was driven by Haivision’s own brand guide,” Petrus adds. Playwell Bricks always work with the clients’ branding to ensure their custom Playwell Bricks set fits seamlessly into their customer journey.

Upon delivery, Havision was delighted with their custom Playwell Bricks shark mechs, calling it a “premium product” by Dustin Bilthouse, Haivision’s Director of Control Room Alliances. But that wasn’t all he had to say. “Petrus was outstanding with setting timelines and incorporating feedback into the design. Each change to the project was validated with a visual rendering, which helped us clearly communicate through the design phase. Thank you for the excellent communication and guidance throughout the process. No stone was left unturned, making the project seamless from start to finish. 10 out of 10.”

If you’d like to create a custom character to represent your company, or even one of your products, contact Playwell Bricks today! Our designers will work with your ideas and goals to help you build your dreams.