Disney 100 Wooden Puzzles
Designer 方芊文 / 王詠心 / 黃宏凱
Project Highlights
This project was Hellofish’s 2023 Zeczec pre-order campaign for Disney’s 100th anniversary, and my first collaboration with a major IP like Disney. The collection includes two products: Disney 100 Character Puzzles, featuring 100 individually shaped character puzzles in each box, and 100-Shaped Puzzles, a series of five 100-piece puzzles combining special-shaped pieces with puzzle-in-puzzle design inspired by iconic scenes from Disney animations.
I mainly worked on the 100-Shaped Puzzles, including character design, puzzle shapes, and product development. I also contributed to the packaging, copywriting, and campaign gifts for the Disney 100 Character Puzzles. The campaign reached over NT$19 million in pre-orders, providing valuable experience in large-scale IP product development.
Design Feature
1 Mixed Materials: Wood & Acrylic
Die-cut construction combines wood and transparent acrylic, using wood for the characters and acrylic for the background. The layered materials create depth while adding a more premium collectible feel.
2 Special-Shaped Pieces
Character-themed pieces replace traditional square shapes. For example, the Winnie the Pooh puzzle includes shaped pieces of Tigger and Eeyore, adding more fun and discovery to the puzzle experience.
3 Puzzle-in-Puzzle Design
Hellofish’s patented puzzle-in-puzzle design brings iconic scenes from Disney animations into each puzzle. After completing the main puzzle, selected pieces can be taken out and reassembled to reveal a hidden scene.
● Mickey Mouse｜Steamboat Willie
Mickey at the helm, whistling on the boat in his first major screen appearance.
● Winnie the Pooh｜The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Pooh and Christopher Robin playing with sticks on the bridge before saying goodbye.
● Elsa｜Frozen
Young Elsa and Anna playing together in the castle, surrounded by Elsa’s magical snow.
● Stitch｜Lilo & Stitch
Stitch and Lilo playing ukulele together in a relaxed Hawaiian setting.
● Woody｜Toy Story
Woody and Buzz escaping Sid’s house and making their way home to Andy.
Design Process
Product Direction & Goals
To celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, Hellofish created a new collection of commemorative wooden puzzles featuring classic Disney characters. I was responsible for the design and development of the 100-Shaped Puzzles, exploring new possibilities for wooden puzzles through mixed materials, special-shaped pieces, and patented puzzle-in-puzzle design to create a more visual, interactive, and collectible experience.
Initial Concepts & Prototyping
Two material options were quickly prototyped: wood and acrylic backgrounds.
● Wood: Allowed more space for special-shaped pieces and storytelling, but looked similar to existing wooden puzzles.
● Acrylic: Created depth through transparency and gave the product a more distinctive look, but offered less space for engraving.
These prototypes helped define the final material direction.
Design Challenges
Several challenges emerged during development, requiring adjustments to balance visual quality and production feasibility.
● Mixed Materials
Wood and acrylic required careful die-cut and white-ink settings to create clean connections and clear depth.
● Special-Shaped Pieces
Long characters such as Woody had limited space for special pieces, requiring adjustments to their size, number, and placement.
● Puzzle-in-Puzzle
The original Woody scene showed Buzz carrying Woody over the road, but the limited space and simple background made the scene difficult to read, requiring a new composition.
Final Design & Refinements
After multiple rounds of testing and discussion, the final design direction was established with further refinements for visual quality and production feasibility.
● Design Choice: Mixed Materials
Acrylic was chosen as the background. White-ink density was adjusted to balance depth and character clarity, while smaller die-cut connectors reduced the visual impact of the joints.
● Design Trade-offs: Special-Shaped Pieces
Complex engraving lines and fragile details were simplified to improve durability, safety, and production stability.
● Design Refinement: Puzzle-in-Puzzle
Most of the five designs were finalized after initial prototyping. Woody’s design required more iterations, eventually using the scene of Woody escaping Sid’s house and jumping onto the car. The matching blue tones of the car and wallpaper helped create a clearer composition, with the laser-cut A113 license plate as a hidden detail.
Production & Final Validation
Worked closely with engineers throughout prototyping and production to ensure the design was suitable for mass production. Small-batch testing was used to identify production tolerances and define minimum acceptable dimensions for key details.
The design team also assembled finished products to better understand the production and packaging process, helping the production team refine the workflow and improve efficiency and consistency.