-6- Shipwreck
Zhao Jinghuan's double life of being a social animal during the day and a rider at night began in this way. During the first week of work, Zhao Jinghuan basically familiarized himself with the company's business situation. The company's most important IP is "Little Freckles", the ex-boyfriend killer who Zhao Jinghuan has high hopes for. "Little Freckles" is a typical blind box doll, about 10 cm in height, with a head-to-body ratio of 1 to 1.5, and a trendy girl style of a sweet girl. The most important feature is the pink-gray freckles on the tip of the nose and cheeks, which not only add a lot of sweetness to it, but also give it its own unique recognition in the converging blind box market. The trendy toy market fluctuates greatly. Several head IPs of large manufacturers are exceptions. Apart from these, the sales of most independent IPs are unstable, even if they cooperate with large manufacturers or are handed over to large manufacturers for agency. Speckled Spots is no exception. Fortunately, every Speckled Spots product has been at least profitable to date, and the studio has maintained a fairly steady pace, releasing a blind box series for Speckled Spots every eight months or so, typically consisting of six items and one hidden item. This is a very good achievement for a small, independent studio. Although Zhao Jinghuan has yet to meet Speckled Spots' designer, Dorasi, the thought of using Speckled Spots to deliver the decisive blow against Qian Na'eryou makes her feel like she's secretly established a kind of alliance, even a connection, with Dorasi. As for the company's other two designers, Tomato and Evening Breeze, their achievements are far from comparable to Dorasi's, and they even seem to be lagging behind. Tomato's independently created doll IP, called Dragon Palace Elementary School Student, depicts a dragon princess attending school in an underwater world, carrying a small backpack and playing soccer. The doll's theme is a fusion of ancient mythology and modern life, but it has yet to gain market recognition. The studio once produced a set of four blind box dolls for Dragon Palace Primary School students, but of the initial run of 3,000 x 4, only one-tenth sold. In the end, they were sold to livestreamers offering blind box draws for 2 yuan per pound. Even after losing money, Tomato didn't give up on Dragon Palace Primary School. He promoted the dolls online and traveled to various exhibitions. After nearly a year of hard work, he finally created a Dragon Palace Primary School fan group of over 400 members. He solicited requests from fans and created custom models that didn't sell in large quantities but were slightly more expensive, selling dozens or even hundreds of each. Coupled with the recent popularity of large dolls measuring 30 to 40 centimeters, the profits from personalized customization have increased. Tomato has been able to barely make ends meet by developing his own private domain this year. Lu Kai's college roommate, Wanfeng, he...
Zhao Jinghuan's dual life as a social animal during the day and a rider at night began like this.
During the first week of work, Zhao Jinghuan basically familiarized himself with the company's business situation.
The company's most prominent IP is "Little Freckles," Zhao Jinghuan's highly anticipated ex-boyfriend killer. "Little Freckles" is a typical blind box doll, around 10 centimeters tall, with a 1:1.5 head-to-body ratio, and a sweet, trendy, girlish style. Its defining features are the finger-width pink-gray freckles on the tip of its nose and cheeks, which not only add a touch of sweetness but also give it a unique identity in the increasingly crowded blind box market.
The trendy toy market is highly volatile. A few top IPs from major companies are exceptions. Beyond that, sales for most independent IPs are unstable, even when partnered with or represented by major companies. Little Sparrow is no exception. Fortunately, every Little Sparrow product has been at least profitable to date, and the studio has maintained a fairly consistent release schedule, releasing a blind box series for Little Sparrow approximately every eight months. This typically consists of six items (six regular items and one hidden item). For a small, independent studio, this is a very good achievement.
Although Zhao Jinghuan has not met Dorasi, the designer of Little Freckles, yet when she thinks about how she will use Little Freckles to deliver a fatal blow to Qian Nayou, she feels that she has secretly established some kind of alliance or even a connection with Dorasi.
As for the company's other two designers, Fanqie and Wanfeng, their achievements are far from comparable to Dorasi's, and they even seem to be lagging behind.
The doll IP independently created by Tomato is called Dragon Palace Primary School Student. It is a dragon princess who goes to school in the underwater world, carrying a small schoolbag and kicking a small football. The main theme is the fusion and opposition of ancient mythology and modern life, but it has not been recognized by the market.
The studio once produced a set of 4 blind box dolls for the primary school students of Longgong, but out of the initial quantity of 3000×4, not even one tenth was sold. In the end, they were sold to the live broadcast room where the blind boxes were drawn at 2 yuan per pound.
However, after losing money, Fanqie did not give up on Longgong Primary School Students. He promoted it online and visited exhibitions in various places. After nearly a year of hard work, he finally created a Longgong Primary School Students fan group of more than 400 people. In the group, he collected fans' requests and made some customized models that were not sold in large quantities but were slightly more expensive. Each model sold dozens or hundreds of pieces. In addition, the 30-40 cm tall baby has become popular recently, and the profit of personalized customization has increased. Fanqie has been working in the private domain this year and can barely earn his salary.
Lu Kai's college roommate Wanfeng is in a slightly worse condition. He seems to have never had his own independent work. When Lu Kai mentioned Wanfeng, he only said that Wanfeng would participate in the product design of Little Freckles, and before the new models were launched, Wanfeng was responsible for making samples and communicating with the factory masters on production details.
"Some studios that are new to the industry and haven't suffered any setbacks will simply throw their 3D designs to the factory. If they do that, the final product is essentially left to chance. And that's usually a miserable outcome."
"Many times, even after you've given them the Pantone color number, the product still comes out with color differences, and color differences are considered minor issues. Some small factories simply design products at random. You might design a doll holding a tube of toothpaste, but when the finished product comes out, your toothpaste has turned into a brick. When you ask, they say the process doesn't allow it. You tell them they gave you a 3D drawing, but they say it's just a reference drawing and it might not be exactly the same when delivered.
"Even if you have the time to argue with him, do you have the money to pay for storage? Of course, many mature factories now have masters who are responsible for proofing and can even participate in the original design. But firstly, most of those masters are technicians who changed their careers halfway through. Secondly, their perspectives are different. You want excellence, while he wants to get the job done. He will get tired of it after a few adjustments. And when it comes to design, if you want to achieve perfection, you need to rely on the design drawings to guide the proofing, and you also need to rely on the proofing to adjust the design drawings."
Lu Kai kept emphasizing Wan Feng's importance, to which Wan Feng responded, "Ah, I'm not that important, actually."
Although they had only been together for a short time, Zhao Jinghuan could feel that Wanfeng was a gentle, kind, but cautious person, and that he even acted a little too humble most of the time.
Contrary to Wanfeng's expectations, this humble attitude made it difficult for people to get along with him comfortably. After all, it was only Zhao Jinghuan's first week on the job, and Wanfeng had repeated it six or seven times, intentionally or unintentionally, in different situations:
"As for me...I am the biggest burden in the company."
Every time, Zhao Jinghuan didn't know how to respond.
As for Lu Kai, who also calls himself a trendy toy designer, although he has never made a real product since the establishment of the company, he is the only one in the company who has achieved market success.
Shortly after graduating from university, Lu Kai designed a plush toy called "Jiji Dog." The so-called "Jiji Dog" is a small yellow chicken's head sewn between the hind legs of a husky.
Cock…dog.
Actually, this is a vulgar pun, but the chicken head is really cute. Zhao Jinghuan noticed the Jiji Dog on the figurine shelf on her first day at work. She picked up the Jiji Dog from the shelf in front of everyone, and the first subconscious action she made was to gently flick the Jiji Dog's ear.
After realizing that everyone in the room was looking at her, she couldn't help blushing. It was Sister Zou, who was usually taciturn, who came to her rescue.
"It's okay, this is the most basic human instinct." As she said this, she also flicked it hard.
"Jijigou" was a huge success as soon as it was launched on the market. Before pirated copies flooded the market, it sold hundreds of thousands of them. In this way, the fledgling Lu Kai earned his first pot of gold in life, and later founded the Waikiki Trendy Toy Design Studio with his good friend Wanfeng.
"Waikiki...it turns out there's a pun here..."
Of course, it didn't take a whole week to learn all of the above. In fact, by lunchtime the next day, when everyone was eating takeout and Lu Kai was using the microwave to heat up the food he brought from home, Zhao Jinghuan had already understood most of the basics.
For a potential micro-rich man who made a killing with Jijigou, Lu Kai was indeed exceedingly frugal. Not only did he bring his own lunch, he also shared the bus with everyone else to and from work. When Fanqie criticized his stinginess, he specifically mentioned how Lu Kai always found excuses to delay paying his property management fees. When asked why he waited until the last day, since he had to pay sooner or later, his response seemed to make some sense: "Interest on savings accounts is also a cost." But how much interest would you earn on a 400 yuan property management fee per quarter, even if you delayed it for a year?
These past few days, Zhao Jinghuan even thought that perhaps a salary of 2,500 was already considered high in Lu Kai's eyes...
However, Lu Kai's stinginess did have some positive effects. He strictly limited the studio members' working hours. The first rule of the company was that no one was allowed to stay in the office after 5 pm. Lu Kai said this was to enforce the labor law, but Tomato criticized him, saying that Lu Kai was just worried about the electricity bill.
However, for Zhao Jinghuan at this stage, the working hours from nine to five actually seem a bit "empty". After understanding the company's basic business, Zhao Jinghuan took the initiative to spend time looking up information everywhere, visiting physical stores, and analyzing the current market trends, but most of the time, she still seems a little idle.
As for Sister Zou, who was supposed to train Zhao Jinghuan, she only copied hundreds of GB of design documents and several contracts to her on Zhao Jinghuan's first day at work, and then sent her the phone numbers of several factories and channel dealers, and considered the handover completed.
In the days that followed, Sister Zou's whereabouts became erratic, appearing in the company for only ten to twenty minutes a day on average, like some kind of randomly refreshed, difficult to capture, and rare Pokémon.
Zhao Jinghuan also tried to ask Sister Zou if she could take him to meet the cooperating channel partners or visit the factory during the brief window of time when she appeared.
Sister Zou's response was not only ruthless, but also made Zhao Jinghuan vaguely worried:
"I'm not obligated to help you, but I can give you a suggestion—"
Sister Zou said, "There's no need to stay on a boat that could sink at any moment."
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