Bloblins is a collection of whimsical, goblin-like creatures with strangely human faces!

This brand was started in 2022 as part of my graduating project at Maine College of Art & Design. 

My time at MECA coincided with the height of the pandemic, and I (like so many people) was feeling pretty lonely. During this period I also happened to be in a petless home for the first time in my life, which was a stark reminder of how much comfort and value animal companionships bring to our lives.

This greatly influenced my decision to make toys — which can provide a similar sense of company (pack bonding is a beautiful thing) — for my final project. My goal with bloblins was to create characters that were both comforting as well as oddly endearing. Some examples of toys that exhibit this same silly strangeness I strive for include Worm On A String, knock-off, or augmented Furbys, Djungelskog, Peepy, Sucklet, and Ping Pong Mam.

My characters were also inspired by medieval animal illustrations, which were often disproportionate, or at times entirely unrecognizable as the creature they were meant to depict.  Sometimes this was due to the fact that the artists had never seen the animal for themselves and were drawing based on second-hand accounts, almost like a game of telephone.

Other times animals were intentionally depicted oddly due to religious associations. For example, cats were often painted with unsettlingly humanoid features because they were associated with the devil, and thus were represented in a demonic way.

The brand's name is a reference to this, combining the words blob — a nod to the vague, animal-ish-ness of the characters — and goblin, as a (less malicious, more mischievous sounding) way to include an element of fantasy.

Creatures (whether they be monsters of the imagination or the commonplace critters we interact with every day) have always been a major theme within my work, bringing me great joy. However, until recently, these characters had only ever existed (with the exception of Frank) as illustrations I made for myself. Creating bloblins finally gave me a way to bring my little friends to their full potential, and it is my hope that by sharing them I might spread a little bit of that same joy to you as well!