Leona Gallen started her business, as a way of helping people with dementia document their lives and memories in a relaxed setting. The business evolved into helping people, young and old, by promoting positive mental health through creative workshops.
In a new project Leona partnered with Lisa Coyle and Siobhan Doherty to create a range of Croga characters to help children with anxiety issues but the group wasn’t sure how to create 3D character models using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop software.
In order to overcome this obstacle, Leona made contact with North West Regional College’s (NWRC) Business Support Centre (BSC) who supported her through the InnovateUs programme, funded by the Department for the Economy (DfE)
This provided 60 hours of 1:1 mentoring support from NWRC Creative and Digital Media Consultant, Aaron McKeever, who trained Leona in Adobe Illustrator, 3D modelling of characters using Photoshop, creating textures, UV mapping and adding textures and materials to 3D models. NWRC Product Design Centre Manager, Philip Devlin, also trained Leona in 3D printing and laser cutting.
On completion of the project, Leona has successfully created her own range of Croga characters and wishes to engage in further innovation activity by continuing to develop new characters and physical prototypes.
Testimonial from Leona Gallen discussing the benefits of working with NWRC Business Support Centre team: ‘’I believe the project was good value for money because the upskilling I received in areas of 3D modelling and using open source software has allowed me to continue to create my own designs and characters to bespoke specification. The business is now in a position to scale up as we now have a solid foundation to start manufacturing our bespoke products.’’
