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It was hard to miss the giant Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup balloons suspended from Cartoon Network’s Comic-Con booth.
Also prominent were the many people touting tote bags and T-shirts featuring characters that looked remarkably like them.
That was thanks to Cartoon Network’s interactive booth that offered an extension of its Powerpuff Yourself online avatar.
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“Because it was so popular we wanted to bring it back and let people take something home,” said Art Director Candice House. Fans could customize a character to their liking, and have it printed out on a T-shirt or tote bag for $10.
The tangible item is a way to help viewers connect with the series.
“It gives them a piece of the brand,” House said. “It makes them feel like they’ve been a part of it.”
And the items were flying off the shelves. With people ordering five, 10 shirts and totes at a time, staff had to start limiting sales to two per person.
“Every day we’ve been sold out,” said Art Director Candice House.
Indeed, by the end of the day Saturday, Cartoon Network staff were asking people to save their images, and to come back on Sunday for their swag.
House also was instrumental in the construction of the booth, which was a replica of the show’s Townsville. Working alongside agency Go and PD&E to built the booth, she and her team created nearly 200 Photoshop templates, incorporating different relief elements and gradients for visual appeal, and paying close attention to every detail.
“There’s always something that doesn’t go right,” House said.
In this case it was the clouds, which came in flat instead of curved. Before Comic-Con, they broke out heat guns and had fun rolling over the plastic to add bends to the design before suspending them from the ceiling above the booth.
House, who has worked on Cartoon Network’s Comic-Con booths for the past four years, said this one was the most challenging one so far.
“It was a lot of late nights,” she said.
Added Eric Nelson, creative group producer at Cartoon Network, “It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle.”
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