The creation of Blaze dates back to February 2020, when my designs for 1025 were limited to the aesthetics of Halloween. I limited myself as a way to challenge my creativity and see how I can bring longevity to the Halloween spirit. Spring was around the corner, so my first step towards that challenge was changing the colors of the 1025 ghosts into spring-themed colors. From there, I began to design the ghosts as bees by drawing dotted lines behind them as trails, and then finally, came up with the idea to create a ghost flower.
The ghost flower was first created using my original ghost design, "The Ghosts of Brynn McIntosh." I felt like I had stumbled across something special, as I successfully combined elements of the fall and spring season. However, the time didn't feel right to go public with the design, because my ideas and vision for 1025 felt scattered and I realized that I was in the early stages of my journey in search of my unique touch.
Fast-forward to January 2021, I felt prepared enough to give this ghost flower another look. Particularly because I desired to add more characters to the 1025 family, outside of the Brynn-Bear and Kai. Also, the ghost flower was way too unique of a look to have as a one-time release. I knew I was going to create multiple 1025 releases using this flower, so I figured why not create this special flower as a character.
I simplified the ghost flower, and designed it more closely to the aesthetics of Kai. It just felt right. When thinking of a name, I thought of my favorite flower which are sun flowers. I then proceeded to search names that mean sun, and Blaze was the one that I connected with instantly, and the rest is history! I've already made some mock ups for future releases, and I genuinely can't wait for you guys to see how Blaze makes his first appearance!