Making of the HYFN Mask: Phase 2 Prototyping

We're skipping over Phase 1, which is Ideation, but we'll come back to that in a later post. For now let's dive into the process:

The HYFN Mask was designed by NAM, the designer of Coat of Arms, and we prototyped the first version of it at our studio here in Brooklyn.

This is our favorite part of the process. It's the first moment in which an idea that lives in your head starts to take shape IRL right in front of you. This phase is full of trail and error, challenges and aha moments. It's like thinking out loud with physical objects and materials. There are no bad ideas during prototyping, it's when we allow our imaginations to run free. 

During this process it's important that you don't get too attached and are able to understand if an idea or design isn't working. In that case you must move on to the next. This exploration is what helps us grow and be better at the work that we do. Ideas are like muscles and need to be exercised constantly in order to be strong. Strokes of genius are far and few between. Most great ideas happen because you work on them.

With our primary business, HAPPYMONDAY, we work with the intangible and what we create lives only in the digital world. It's a completely different experience to be able to touch and feel what we are creating. These objects have texture and smell. We can wear them on our bodies. It's incredibly satisfying to create a new type of tactile connection with our audience. Opening the door into a new creative space is thrilling and it's part of what keeps us going.