Thames Water
Otis the Otter
We were tasked with designing and building a new Otter character for Thames Water's latest commercial.
We worked with the brilliant directors DOM&NIC to develop the character. Starting with initial 2D sketches, we put together many variations of what Otis could look like. It was important to get his character just right . After several rounds of sketches we arrived at the starting point for the build.
We selected a film quality, custom 4-way-stretch fur fibre for his furry skin. Before this could be stitched on, our team first sculpted a foam understructure with jointing in the arms to allow them to be puppeteered. The mouth was formed from a flexible rubber for a range of expressions and we custom moulded and cast his nose and bottom lip in latex. Additionally, our team gave him a brow movement, allowing the puppet to react to different emotions.
The final campaign came together in the form of a TV commercial, which was directed by award winning duo DOM&NIC and producer by John Madsen. Further photography was used on social media platforms.
