Bensen – The Yeti
Meet Bensen. Our very own cartoon creation for our Easter Egg Hunt campaign we ran in April of 2019.
Quick Stats
Name: Bensen – The Yeti
Height: 3.5″
Hobbies:
- Enjoys watching sunsets on the beach, drinking his martini
- Likes to play in the snow
- Loves a hot cup of chocolate with two marsh mellows
First Step: The Creation
I first started out with some rough design concepts of how I want Bensen to look like and what his behavior and demeanor will be. Because we had already establish that a Yeti was going to match up with our Easter Egg Giveaway, it made sense to create a character that reflects a Yeti. So, as I began drawing other variations of Bensen, he didn’t truly take form until I designed his facial features. I wanted to incorporate this fun, charismatic and happy Yeti that goes against all of the Yeti stereotypes. So, after drawing a few more variations of Bensen, I was able to fully put together a front, back and side view that allowed me to animate him.
First Initial Sketch 
Illustrating in Adobe Illustrator 
Front View Look 
Side View Look 
Back View Look
Second Step: Bringing Bensen to Life
Using an animator tool called SVGator, I imported the vector files to the software and animated certain parts of his body. With each layer having their own set of keyframes and effects, it allows Bensen to come that much closer to life. With the amount of time that this project allowed, I was only able to add a few minor movements such as blinking and head tilting.
Final Outcome
After all the tweaking and keyframing of each layer, Bensen finally came to life with subtle movements. Check him out!
Next Steps?
There’s so much potential for growth and add a level of complexity to my creation with Bensen. Perhaps in the near future, it can evolve into a character with mobility and pizzazz that can do more than moving an arm or winking at his visitors.