2. The Characters
3. The Animations
4. Consumer Interaction
5. The Merch
6. The Design Evolution
7. The Logo Evolution
8. Moving Onwards
What originally started out as a semester-long assignment quickly turned into an ambitious passion project of mine, as well as my college thesis. FIZZPOP! is an ongoing brand project that combines elements of character-focused brands like Sanrio and Tamagotchi, retro-inspired visuals and animations akin to early 2000s Cartoon Network, and all the warm and fuzzy feelings that came with watching the Saturday morning cartoons as a kid–but you’re grown up now and things just aren’t the same.
What is FIZZPOP!?
Inspired by late 90s to early 2000s cartoons, FIZZPOP! makes use of interactive social media content, animations, and physical products like posters and zines to piece together the stories of its ever-growing cast of characters, all set on a nearby planet not far from Earth.
The brand has plans of launching on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube with regular animated and non-animated content, including plans of an animated web series down the road starring the FIZZPOP! characters and their stories.
The Characters
FIZZPOP! starts off with a lineup of 8 main characters, with new additions added regularly. Viewers can interact with the characters' stories by viewing branded TikToks, Instagram Reels, and long-form YouTube content; voting on which character they'd like to see featured next; and buying merch from the FIZZPOP! site.
Every month, something new is added to the brand, whether that’s a new character, a new chapter in the FIZZPOP! story, or a merch drop, like prints, zines, or figurines.
Each character’s design is inspired by a different decade of nostalgia, ranging from 1920s rubber hose animation to 80s pop music to early 2000s Cartoon Network.
The Animations
With the goal of releasing one new long-form animation monthly that coincides with merch drops, FIZZPOP! centers around telling the stories of the fictional world of Pop Planet, and its alien inhabitants.The current focus is producing short-form content and animated loops to introduce viewers to the worldbuilding and characters.
The key theme tying each animation together is the element of early 2000s nostalgia, one of the core themes of the brand of FIZZPOP!.
Consumer Interaction
FIZZPOP! is meant to be an interactive brand. Aside from purchasing character merchandise and browsing the FIZZPOP! content on social media, consumers will be able to access the FIZZPOP! website where they can download merch freebies, buy merch, read up on character lore, and catch up on the latest updates. Much of the brand takes place here.The Merch
Every month, something new is added to the brand, whether that’s a new character, a new chapter in a character’s story, or a new merch drop, like character-themed apparel or figurines. The Design Evolution
When I initially came up with the idea for FIZZPOP!, I used a much more simplified, “scratchy” art style that reflected my newness to taking a more illustrative approach to graphic design. After I’d completed the semester-long assignment that was my first iteration of FIZZPOP!, I felt the original style was lacking and rebranded completely, and added four new characters to the main cast.The end result was something much more cohesive and faithful to the nostalgic cartoons I wanted the designs to take inspiration from, while allowing each character to still have their own distinct “look” adhering to whichever decade of nostalgia that I assigned to them.
The Logo Evolution
Before I decided on the finalized logo, FIZZPOP! has had several iterations and re-hashings of its logo. Initially, I was inspired by retro cartoon outro sequences that featured alternating concentric circles. But feeling that the first two logos were too convoluted, I went on to a much more simple third iteration.
I was quick to hash out another rebrand, with the bottom three logos to the right showcasing the final design and all its variants. The result was something distinctly retro-inspired and bubbly that pops.
Moving Onwards
FIZZPOP! is an ongoing project. While it was first assigned as a semester-long assignment, I aimed to continue it beyond the assignment, and now with continuing it as my thesis, I plan to keep going with it even further.
Recently, I showed FIZZPOP! at MICA’s annual ArtWalk, showcasing the website, characters, and merch. I’m excited to continue FIZZPOP! in its future brand launch!
Recently, I showed FIZZPOP! at MICA’s annual ArtWalk, showcasing the website, characters, and merch. I’m excited to continue FIZZPOP! in its future brand launch!