Pop Culture Paper Doll Project

Remember paper dolls? Well, if you’re a girl, you do. When I was young, they quickly became my favorite toy, as they were something to play with that I could make myself! I loved the idea that anything I could draw I could have, because so often the toys I wanted just didn’t exist at the store.

These days, paper dolls are a dying breed, made primarily for collectors, and are rarely played with by children or adults. And men? Forget about it! What tough guy has room for a paper doll in his life?

When I was in college, I started experimenting with collage as an illustration platform, and it wasn’t long before I started making paper dolls in my signature collage style. I made a doll of myself and tacked it to my studio wall. All of my art friends would come by and change my clothes, both the girls and the guys. I knew I was onto something. Soon I made more dolls of people as gifts, and added magnets to the dolls so that they could easily attach to the refrigerator where they would be seen and used often.

I have dabbled in making collage dolls for nearly 10 years now, and am ready to take it to the next level. I am selling some paper dolls in my store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MellyMo, but I want to take the budding paper doll beginnings I have started and make a strong foundation for my expanding paper doll empire!

With the Pop Culture Paper Doll Project, I want to take some well known iconic figures in pop culture and give them the paper doll treatment! I’m interested in bringing the paper doll medium back in a way that’s applicable to life as we live it now, with characters that interest us, and in a format that’s user friendly to the modern life. I’d like to try and make it appealing to women AND men, too!

My goal for this project is to make 12 sets of dolls. These dolls will be made in my collage style, then scanned into the computer and re-sized to be printed. I will print them on sheets of glossy magnet paper using an inkjet printer. The best part about the magnet paper is that it sticks to any smooth metal surface - so the dolls work really well on the refrigerator, on a locker or office filing cabinet, or on a magnetic bulletin board! All perfect places for these modern dolls to go! However, this goal takes a lot of time and money, and this is where Kickstarter backers come in!

The money from you backers will go to help cover the time and cost it takes to make and ship these dolls. As you donate more, you will be able to receive more sets of dolls. At the higher levels, you will also be given an option to choose from some of the original pieces of collage artwork or have a custom made doll of whoever you want!

Also, while I will decide the first 7 characters and people in the dozen sets, the remaining 5 sets will be voted on by my backers! Each week of the project, I will unveil a choice between two pop culture figures. Once you become a backer, you will get a chance to voice your opinion on which doll should become a part of the project!

As the project continues, I will also try to reveal as much of the artwork as possible as I make it. This way you know what the dolls are going to look like as I am making them and you can make a better choice about which sets you want. Feel free to comment on my work once you become a backer, and I may even take occasional suggestions on tweaking the art and accessories as long as the suggestions are constructive!

So, join me in creating this collection and help choose the pop culture icons that will grace your refrigerators, lockers, and offices! I can’t wait to work with you!