Bird Head
| A paper-mache costume helmet of a crow I created for Halloween. Yes, you can see out of it! A piece of fabric lets the wearer see out of the beak but hides their face from the outside. |
Designing to Freak People Out
I love Halloween and I love to entertain people, so sometimes I use human-centered design for applications like “what freaks people out, and how can I use that to design a Halloween costume that will be maximally unsettling?”
I drew inspiration from those creepy Victorian paper mache Halloween costumes as well as from monsters, cryptids, and how what scares us and says about us. Inspired by a friend who “doesn’t trust” birds, I decided to make myself into a giant raven.
Process
I started with a plastic costume helmet as a base, then built out the structure using slats thatI harvested from an old set of window blinds, duct tape, and twine.
This was my first helmet build, so there was a lot of trial and error. I learned that balancing the helmet is critical: because of the beak, this helmet would tilt downwards without weight added to the back.
The helmet pre-paint, once I’d sculpted the eyes with modeling clay and done the final layer of paper mache. The whole thing came together for less than ten bucks.
©Sam Rauch 2024