'Born' in 2006, Herb was created as a promotional character for The Oldham College, to help persuade children to continue into further education when they leave school.
 
Herb follows the same basic form as all my modern puppets. However, there are a few changes to the design to make him look like a bird. The first problem that I needed to overcome was that the traditional ping-pong ball eyes were no use in making an owl. They were simply far too small. Owls have very large eyes, so I had to find a white ball that was of the correct proportions. In the end I opted for a polystyrene ball from a craft shop, which did the job admirably. I cut this ball in half, and used one half for each eye. This time I gave him yellow coloured felt for his iris. Instead of a mouth, all birds have a beak. This was made in the usual manner using wire gauze, but it was covered in yellow fur fabric to obtain that beaky effect. The rest of his head was covered in brown fur fabric, with some grey fabric for the area around his face.

Of course, Herb has wings instead of arms and hands, which posed problems at first. I could not use coats or shirts as a template as I often did in the past, and the wings had to be flexible and bend in the correct place if the puppet was to be useable. After a few dead ends, I finally managed to build from fur fabric a design that looked convincing. If flapped, it actually looks like Herb could really fly.

Herb's legs are also a great deal shorter than normal, as most birds do not have long legs. I dressed him in a small pair of toddler's shorts, with his legs and feet (complete with yellow talons) sticking out of the bottom. Birds also have tails, and out of foam and brown fur fabric I moulded a fanned tail that stuck out through the back of the shorts to complete the illusion of a bird. A hoody and t-shirt with the arm holes cut off completed his look.
 
The only true way of locating clothes that fit a puppet correctly is to take the partly made body into a clothes shop and try things on. As you may gather, you can obtain some very strange looks from both customers and staff when you do this. Some people are curious, and others just think you are plain weird. This time I bought the clothes from Sainsbury's Supermarket and took Herb there for his fitting. Much to my surprise, nobody batted an eyelid. It was as if I was doing the most normal thing in the world, as I dressed up a puppet in a pair of children's shorts and hoody top. I must have been there for half an hour until I found the right gear for him, and no one cared. I'm not sure what this says about people when they are at the supermarket, but I think I'll buy my puppet clothes there from now on.