Max Steel package pose!

I used to collect the backboards to my action figure packages as a kid because the art was so kickass, so it was quite a treat to get a chance to design the pose for the Max Steel action figure packages.

 The third pose made the cut, and while the assignment was fairly cut and dry, it was much more challenging to create a good poses that fit than I would have though. You need something dynamic, that faces inwards (bringing your eye back into the center of the package), that fits between the logo and the corner, where Steel can fit separately and mimic Max's pose. Oh yeah, and don't cover up Max's face or chest, the two places where the "M" symbol appears and where it always seems Steel seems to fit compositionally.

I cleaned up the sketch, the talented animator Joel Fletcher posed the 3D model to match, and then the boys and girls at Mattel did a final paint over of the image to punch up the contrast and glowy parts. And that's the way the cookie crumbles.