Mimoco, home of the famed Mimobot USB drives, is a Boston-based design firm fusing contemporary urban art with the latest USB technology. Setting themselves apart from other technology outfits, Mimoco uniquely applies a designer toy aesthetic to electronics using the business model of a platform product. The platform toy, also known as a canvas toy, is defined by a blank template that can be decorated with different designs. Platform toys typically have a distinct urban style to their shape and structure, as seen in Medicom's Bearbricks or Hasbro's Mighty Muggs, and they have become a ubiquitous element in today's urban vinyl boutiques.
Mimobot creator Evan Blaustein and content director Scott Seraydarian wanted to take these popular toys (that they both have so long admired and collected) one step further by giving them functionality. "As adults, I think we forget how to play," says Blaustein. "Designer toys are targeted more towards adults, and it's the notion that adults can be kids too that inspired me to create the Mimobots. I wanted to give a little bit of play to adults who may not buy a toy, but may purchase a flash drive that has the same playful personality but with a real function."
Designer toys have also become a new media device to showcase the talent of urban underground artists, as can be seen from displays of urban vinyl Vaders and Bart Simpsons at any given Comic-Con, or even to a greater degree in the Vader Helmet Project showcased at Star Wars Celebration IV.
Mimoco's Artist Series features famous pop culture artists' take on the Mimobot canvas. The platform is one medium, and the digital content is the second. Seraydarian produces Mimoco's preloaded content, but when Mimoco works with known artists, he is happy to give these artists the opportunity to show off their creations. "A lot of the artists we work with are prolific in many different ways, whether they work as an illustrator, designer, or are more of a new media creator with animation and video games, we give them the digital platform to deliver their unique content."
Not only does Mimoco provide an outlet for these trendsetters, but they cultivate an artistic community where consumers can participate in the development process and even elevate themselves within the graphic design industry. "We just completed a design competition where artists submitted their original ideas and the overall community voted on their favorites, and we produced the best six as USB drives," says Seraydarian. Today's globalization has flattened the playing field by placing creative tools in the hands of enthusiasts who range from aspirants to entrepreneurs. "Only now, at the dawn of the digital age, are we able to see such an inspiring level of synergy." The series was so well received that Mimoco hopes to repeat its success within the Star Wars license, either on the platform template or as content.
Despite the hip artistic shell design, with design cues of little ears feeding off the designer toy world and a tail that flashes when you plug it into your USB port, it was function that was the primary driver to the original Mimobot shape. "We set out to design the best flash drive ever made," says Blaustein, "and we wanted it to be a very solid product, which is why we made the plastic durable ABS -- for durability and for decoration of the highest precision and detail."
The design of the Mimobot body has slowly morphed over the first few waves into the current streamlined shell. "Star Wars series two coincided with our new direction: Han with hair, Leia with buns, Boba Fett and Luke with removable helmets." Series three further capitalized on the stride and rounded out the classic trilogy with Emperor Palpatine, Royal Guard, Wicket, and C-3PO. Now, Mimoco proudly releases wave 4 with The Phantom Menace's Darth Maul, the animated Clone Wars' Captain Rex, and a newly-revised Darth Vader with removable helmet. Under the familiar mask of Vader, consumers will find either a prequel Hayden Christensen-as-Anakin face or a classic Sebastian Shaw-as-Anakin face. The Sebastian Shaw face will be a rare find, with only one out of six Vaders containing the secret variant - a collector strategy certain to send Star Wars fans in need of artistic data storage devices combing the shelves of their local electronics boutiques.
Read more of Chris Spitale's interview with Mimobot creators in Star Wars Insider #110 due out this month, and also make sure to check out the latest wave of Star Wars Mimobots at StarWarsShop!
