Meeting with Jim

I spoke with jim today about the characters i am designing for him and he spoke to me about an idea of a short story he had been thinking of. A story of tan old hoover that is not strong enough to pick up the tiny colony of dust mites emerged in the carpet how ever the dust mites know they have to keep a low profile and not to give away the fact that the hoover isn't working or the owner could be a new dyson model which will destroy their colony with in seconds.

What Jim as asked me to design the characters for this story:

- Old Hoover
- New Hoover/Dyson
- Dust Mites

The characters designed for this story will count as one of the five characters asked to design.

Below is a short film by Pixar referenced from Jim and in his words his ides for the short story.



JIM: "Short film from Pixar, gives me an idea for a short film. Red is an old obsolete unicycle, marginalized by the other bikes in the shop and devalued by its modest price tag. The film explores the Reds consciousness to reveal he/she has aspirations of performance and entertainment. The films basically about repression, and how a stereotype can reinforce the manner in which the individual (in this case the unicycle) can be oppressed. The other bikes in the shops are two wheelers, and designed with a function in mind. The unicycle however is less practical; a novelty item not intended as a serious mode of transport, but shows he can out perform when assigned to his designated task (and there's 100 two wheelers for every red).

My idea is vaguely similar in theme; i've got a really old hoover vacuum cleaner at home - the kind Reeves and Mortimer sang about (see the "i've got a new hoover" song from the bang bang series). As with all sorts of old fashioned machinery, the vac is rich with nuanced facets that would allow plenty of opportunity for developing its character. This is the hoover that has a landing light on the front of it (for some reason) and was popular throughout the 60's/70's - somebody has actually made a demo of it hoovering a rug and stuck it on youtube (don't worry - i will post it up).

This classic old school hoover has been rendered obsolete by it's younger bag-less rival the "Dyson DC25". All aspects of character has been removed and replaced with shivering functionality. Slick, modern, powerful and absolute - it takes no prisoners and captures everything! Until the Dysons introduction the Hoover enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with the dust mites. The Hoover's poor suction performance allowed to the mites to colonise the carpet pile - but they are very aware it could be game over should the housekeeper upgrade to a better model; so they keep a low profile. Their worst fears are realised when the new all powerful Dyson is introduced - it will rip through their culture in seco