By Ellen Ryan 

One October, Sage Sutton-Hall ’18 spotted a Nightmare Before Christmas wreath while visiting a friend at home. “It took me a second,” she says. “I thought, ‘That looks really familiar … .’ ” Sage, an employee of The Walt Disney Company in Orlando, Florida, had worked on the 3D model that led that wreath from paper sketch to full-color, factory-ready creation. 

“It’s fun to see your work become tangible,” says the Ringling College of Art and Design graduate, leafing through samples of her work in Disney stores: figurines, home décor, toys, even life-size sculptures of instantly known characters. 

“Essentially, it’s digital sculpture,” she explains. “I take flat sketches and turn them into fully realized 3D models, building out what the product designers are looking for.” Sage and the 3D experts need to master many ever-evolving software programs and technical tools, mainly ZBrush, Autodesk Maya, Cinema 4D, and Substance 3D.

The favorite piece she’s had a hand in is a six-foot abstract sculpture of Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in a multicolor metal grid. She learned only later that the work was auctioned for $60,000 to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

More often, she’s thinking through how a conversation along the lines of “We need more Stitch product and more ornaments” followed by a sketch might become a holiday hanging faithful to the character from every angle, correct in colors and costuming, and not inclined to break in a box. Questions and suggestions might include how to shape it to reduce risk and how to appear most accurate to the character (especially a human, like Han Solo). 

The modelers also collaborate with Disney teams from legal to finance to marketing. “Before applying here, I had no idea how many different considerations go into a simple item,” she says. For instance, teams determine a final price and where it might go on a shelf.

Once Sage and her own group are done with a project — a process that takes an average of a week of computer work — they quickly 3D-print it to check for correct sizing. Product designers weigh in again, and a final file with measurements and images from every angle is sent to the factory for mold-making.

 “The feedback is really cool,” she says. “I got lucky with this position.”

A lot of work went into that luck. From an early summer job designing murals for Canton’s Parks and Recreation Department to key internships and related part-time jobs, Sage has worked on a direct path toward a role in creating colorful, joyful Disney-
themed mementos for kids and adults. 

That is, once she figured out just what that path would be. Originally aiming to be a storyboard artist, she asked several Ringling alumni for their thoughts. They loved the field but “found it incredibly unstable,” she reports. One had done an internship in 3D modeling, on the team she ended up working with.

Sage mentors art and animation students at local colleges, critiquing portfolios and answering questions. “Events like these are a great opportunity to connect students with industry professionals and support their career development,” she says, remembering how this experience helped her as a student. She also volunteers at Lazarus Volunteerism in Sarasota.

At Loomis Sage dove into art classes of her own, though of course they weren’t this intricate. “At that age, you’re learning how to learn,” she notes, citing the guidance of art teachers Mark Zunino and christian.ryan. The latter’s senior project assignment, “a little animated film, helped me develop confidence and an ability to see something all the way through in the arts.”

So using all she’s absorbed since, what might be next? She laughs. No idea, she says. “When I went to college, I didn’t know I’d be going into product,” she points out. “That’s the way I’m approaching it. … Never stop learning, always keep your eyes open.”