Garrett Sander on Monster High

[Listie]

Is anyone else aware of Garrett Sander's Instagram account? If you didn't already know, Garrett is the creator of Monster High. Well, he's started posting some of his favourite original doll designs, and mentioning a little backstory on them, every Monday. Here's DotD Clawdeen & NS Catty Noir.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYV-LDChcGu/


https://www.instagram.com/p/BYoBNvlBVKJ/

[DogMom]

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Oh! Thanks for sharing this, awesome!!

[Lhianneth]

His instagram is interesting. He shares some really cool products on there. I'm wondering whether he's still involved in all those lines or not, however (I know he's trying to get Mattel to de-shelve She-Ra, but he posts a lot of the WWE super star dolls, too).

These throw-backs to his original design concepts are neat, though. You can see where things wouldn't work for a doll and were simplified (Catty's belt pattern for example; printed ribbon would work, but is it cost effective and worth the effect?), and that's really quite interesting to learn from for the sake of customs.

[Carrehz]

Oooh, thanks for sharing! I love seeing production stuff like this .

[DogMom]

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Really excellent point, Lhia, about reading with an eye geared toward customs….

[mistic_imp]

interesting! I am totally following!


 so like, does anyone have th scoop on what happened with MH..I mean yeah the reboot, but it sounds like garrett isn't  involved anymore?  did he step down? get fired? 
 I know times change , but are there other reasons for the reboot that we don't really know about besides cut backs and $$

 i think when a designer leaves, it can really impact and change things, so curious.

 

[Listie]

interesting! I am totally following!


 so like, does anyone have th scoop on what happened with MH..I mean yeah the reboot, but it sounds like garrett isn't  involved anymore?  did he step down? get fired? 
 I know times change , but are there other reasons for the reboot that we don't really know about besides cut backs and $$

 i think when a designer leaves, it can really impact and change things, so curious.

I think he still works at Mattel, but he doesn't work on MH anymore. He did design last year's SDCC She-Ra action figure/doll & is hoping to make more characters from that universe. Unfortunately, sometimes what the designers want to do doesn't align with what the higher-up executives want.


On a lighter note, here's his original Ghoulia design; https://www.instagram.com/p/BY6EpXmhQVI/. It's sweet that she was named after a coworker. I know Kiyomi is, too. I wonder how many others are?

[Manster Guy]

Well Garret mentioned on his Instgram that he had fun designing the not SDCC Cleo and Ghoulia pack, so it does appear that he still does some work for MH. Maybe he does freelance work?

[Listie]

Well Garret mentioned on his Instgram that he had fun designing the not SDCC Cleo and Ghoulia pack, so it does appear that he still does some work for MH. Maybe he does freelance work?

Oh, I must've missed that. *fail*

[neon_jellyfish]

Well Garret mentioned on his Instgram that he had fun designing the not SDCC Cleo and Ghoulia pack, so it does appear that he still does some work for MH. Maybe he does freelance work?

Interesting - he's not mentioned in the box "credits"... At least not by his name (does anybody know who Darko is?). Also, I only found a post where he's giving kudos to Rebecca Shipman for designing the pack and another one where he states that he wasn't working on MH since spring 2016.

[Manster Guy]

Oooops, yeah I just reread his comments, my mistake. Seems like he is gone from MH then.

[Kara Zor-El]

On a lighter note, here's his original Ghoulia design; https://www.instagram.com/p/BY6EpXmhQVI/. It's sweet that she was named after a coworker. I know Kiyomi is, too. I wonder how many others are?

To my knowledge, Robecca Steam, Headmistress Bloodgood, and Justine Dancer are also all named in tribute to Mattel designers/developers.

[Carrehz]

At least not by his name (does anybody know who Darko is?).

I believe his full name is Darko Dordevic, he's done art for several of the MH dolls (I'm pretty sure he did the original art for the werecat twins, not sure about anything else off-hand).

On a lighter note, here's his original Ghoulia design; https://www.instagram.com/p/BY6EpXmhQVI/. It's sweet that she was named after a coworker. I know Kiyomi is, too. I wonder how many others are?

To my knowledge, Robecca Steam, Headmistress Bloodgood, and Justine Dancer are also all named in tribute to Mattel designers/developers.

Oooh, I didn't know that about Robecca and Justine :o

[Kara Zor-El]

Justine Dancer is the name of a developer who worked for both Mattel and Kenner in the 80s onward!  I was so surprised to read an article from the 90s and see that name pop up!

[MonsterHighChecklist]

Darko has done a large chunk of the art with Kellee Riley. Plus he's a sweetheart! He does a ton of Disney stuff too. His style is pretty unique to him. https://darkodordevic.tumblr.com/

[neon_jellyfish]

At least not by his name (does anybody know who Darko is?).

I believe his full name is Darko Dordevic, he's done art for several of the MH dolls (I'm pretty sure he did the original art for the werecat twins, not sure about anything else off-hand).

Darko has done a large chunk of the art with Kellee Riley. Plus he's a sweetheart! He does a ton of Disney stuff too. His style is pretty unique to him. https://darkodordevic.tumblr.com/

Thank you both!

[ReversedUser]

Turns out Garrett designed the MM 5 pack: https://www.instagram.com/p/BZMpYGsBd2q/?taken-by=garrett_sander





Honestly I love this little tidbit more than the concept art

Fun fact: this set was originally supposed to be a Fraidie Hawkins 5 pack with 2 couples: #HeathBurns & #AbbeyBominable and #InvisBilly & #ScarahSreams with #HeadmistressBloodgood as the chaperone!

Not gonna lie, even though this is one of my favorite MH releases ever, I would have taken a second release for Bloodgood in a heartbeat.

[Kara Zor-El]

He indicated that set made it to the prototype stage too; I would LOVE to see the Fraidy Hawkins prototypes SOOOOO MUCH!

[Wardah]

I still wonder what he's working on now.

[MonsterHighChecklist]

DC Super Hero Girls from my understanding.