Friends, Readers, Kickstarter Backers, lend me your eyes and look at these ears! As you know, we raised enough money in our Kickstarter campaign to make 500 Frank N. Foode™ plushies, and 250 Hawai’ian Papaya plushies. I’m pleased to announce that the first drafts of these plant plushies are ready for the public eye, and we want to know what you think about them! Also, it is time to vote on which of our blogger supporters will win a Silver Bullet Frank plushie!
1st Draft of the New Frank N. Foode™
The original Frank design was challenging to reproduce. I know that from making it several times myself. Plus, the ear buttons and husk fabric are no longer available, and several other features would need to be translated into a new medium to be durable and still look good. So the task we set out for Gann Memorials was daunting. After some designing, comments, and redesign, I believe that we have a new Frank that is ready for your input. Behold!
There are a few things to note about the design. The facial features and glasses are mostly going to be made with embroidery, and we are planning to add eyebrows, and alter the shape of the glasses to make them more like the cartoon. Think about the buttons being used for the ears and nose, think about whether you like the classic googly-eyes of the original Frank – or if you would like some bright, cute embroidered eyes to look like our new cartoon artwork?
Perhaps the most difficult question that we would like to ask you, which will define Frank’s character for years to come, is: Should Frank have a mouth? He has been without a mouth since day one, which I think lets your imagination put any expression you want on him. But, perhaps a small, cute smile like on the image above o the right would be a good addition? (The eyebrows and mouth were added with photoshop.)
The husks have wire in them and will be pose-able. How do they look? Do you like the colors of the design? Feel free to discuss in the comments, but if you want us to really count your answers, please put them in the survey below. Complete the survey soon, so we can send our tweaks to the designer before next Friday!
1st Draft of the Hawai’ian Papaya
You are going to love this one. The plush designer at Gann Memorials has translated Celestia’s sketch of our Hawai’ian Papaya character, and some pictures of the trees and fruits themselves, into a very cute plush. Take a look!
Here are a few notes about the design. The face will be embroidered on, and there is one leaf “arm” that comes down on one side. The second leaf, representing a ringspot-virus-infected leaf, is small and stunted. There is a flat, white flower on the top, which can be difficult to see, and the two-toned coloration shows how the fruits ripen. What do you think?
How does the face look, should we ask for the freckles to be added in? Could it use eyebrows, or anything else? Let us know what you think in the survey! And once the design is finalized, the next step would be to vote on a name for this plush, so help us brainstorm in the comments!
Vote for the best plug!
Now that you are here, we would like you to help us recognize the support we got from other bloggers during our Kickstarter campaign. As I promised, the best blog post will get its author a Silver Bullet Frank N. Foode™ plushie – so please take a look at these contenders, and vote on the best, most enthusiastic, most compelling and generous Kickstarter plug!
Pharyngula: The cuddliest artificial genetic mutant ever
Celestia’s Caricature Blog: Putting My Art where my Heart Is
Skeptical Vegan: Help Bring Frank N. Foode to Life!
Sleuth 4 Health: GMOs Can be Fun!
Psiram: Frank N. Foode bei Kickstarter (english translation)
BIOtech NOW: Bring Biofortified’s Frank N. Foode™ to Life!
Genetic Literacy Project: Want your own Frank N. Foode? Kickstarter campaign brings GMO mascot to the masses
If I missed one, please let me know so I can add it in. Check them out, and thank them for helping us out by voting for your favorite! We will announce the winner next week after the survey closes.
Without any further ado, here is the survey!
I think we covered just about everything except George Wendt and Beans.
Biofortified 
Saw this come across in an email and thought of Frank N. Foode.
http://mashable.com/2014/04/26/knitted-food-photography/
First, as examples of cool food stuff, and second, it made me think about how this campaign could be a PR win to Mashable and science sites…
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All of the plug links were good, but let me note that I had a difficult time deciding between three that (I thought) were all superlative: Celestia’s (high schooler interview), Skeptical Vegan (Frank costume!), & Sleuth 4 Health (clear, concise & convincing!).
Looking forward to receiving my plushie!
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Oh, gosh, that was hard to vote on! I hope there’s a tie.
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You are not the only one! I can safely say that those three are the top contenders. All-around good stuff.
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Thank you, that was very interesting. That is some processes to make an embroidery pattern. Now I understand how it all works.
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