The COOLEST design we have made yet!
To celebrate pre-orders opening for The Magical Wind Dragon on the 10th of September, we are pulling back the curtain for a special behind-the-scenes look at our creative process.
Two Years in the Making...
That's right! From beginning to end this has been a labour of love. We have poured everything we have got into this design!
Dive deeper into our process...
Did you know that the day after Bonnie decided to put pen to paper and design The Dragon, she was walking down the street in Wellington and coincidentally bumped into a real-life Chinese Dragon...
It didn't stop there as the dancers invited Bonnie to join in and hold one of the poles! There could not have been a better introduction to the mechanics, magic and sheer beauty of The Dragon.
A magical coincidence...
Another fun fact is that the first ever prototype of The Dragon was made out of face masks... that's right!
We were stuck in quarantine after returning home to New Zealand from a trip to Peru. Todd used his ingenuity to find materials and started to experiment with how to make our newest design.
During the process of creating The Dragon, there were many obstacles and ideas that didn't end up working. In some of the photos below you can see ideas that didn't end up working.
This is the first design we have created where there has literally been blood, sweat and tears shed. It has taken over a year of hard work to get to this point.
On the corner of Bonnie's design, he saw a little note that read "turn page".
To his amazement, on the other side was The Dragon drawn not horizontally, but vertically - climbing up a pole!
Todd had managed to engineer an amazing horizontal dragon design however he didn't love the way it looked, as it didn't look natural. To have the dragon climbing up the pole solved this problem!
And this was the moment that the final solution was formed.
At this stage we started searching for the best suppliers around the world who could help us to bring the design to life on a large scale. We found two incredible companies; one to product the metal pole that the dragon spins on and one for the dragon.
We produced many iterations with the suppliers until we were 100% happy with the final design. We tested different materials and settled on the best options on the market. We used a metallic gold pole and fashioned a beautiful shaped lotus flower on the top.
To create a WOW factor and true shimmering effect we opted for a holographic red fabric on the body. A silky satin was chosen for the belly to create a soft a beautiful touch. We hand picked all the linings and trims to take it all to the next level - love truly is in the details and there is a lot of love in this piece.
The result is an incredible design that we cannot wait for you to hold it in your hands. You will be surprised by the beautiful touches we have incorporated! We are not giving away all the exciting touches in this blog!
This process has allowed us to grow as individuals and as a team. Our engineering, design and teamwork skills have been sharpened immensely.
Our ambition has also grown; we truly are on the way to having the coolest range of garden art that moves in the wind!
You can pre-order The Magical Wind Dragon from 3pm NZST, on the 10th of September.
Thank you for coming on this windy and beautiful journey with us!
With gratitude,
Todd and Bonnie