Murf•Bot #13
This science bot proves Murphy's Law on a daily basis: Explosions, Infestation, Mutation, Contamination!
Hard enamel pins of scientific disasters.
Cute, funny, wearable proof that remind us, "Anything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong!"
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MURF•BOT: The PROB-O-MATIC Robot #13 · 61 following
I've been designing products and characters for many years. Name a major character from the last 80 years, and there's a good chance I've made a product or toy based on it. I also have a large collection of my own characters and stories — and sometimes, like for this project — squeeze out an all new character on the spot.
Many of you might know my brother Tom's, especially if you follow The Planetary Society or his company, Chop Shop Store. A few months ago, Tom mentioned he was running another Super League of Science for 2026 and suggested I give it a try.
The theme is science — and my work needs to be fun, unique, with a touch of weirdness. That took some time to nail down. Since these would be enamel pins, the character should be compact, cute, and humorous. The first ideas that came to mind were robot-related. I already had a few robot character designs, but this project needed more — it needed a science hook. I started thinking about an accident-prone robot, one whose entire existence was to prove Murphy's Law true.
Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Fun fact: it's named after aerospace engineer Edward A. Murphy Jr., who worked on U.S. Air Force rocket sled experiments in 1949. After a technician wired sensors backward, Murphy grumbled about it — and his colleagues turned the remark into the now-famous "law." Murphy himself reportedly hated the pessimistic spin it got. (Worth noting: it's not a real "law," scientifically speaking.)
So I asked myself: what could possibly go wrong in science? Turns out, plenty. I started a list of hazards and accidents scientists face all the time — contamination, mutation, explosions — and before I knew it, I had a dozen.
With the concept coming together, the next question was: what would the mascot actually look like? At first I thought it'd be a tiny bot with: • a bucket for a head • a pixel-faced monitor robot (too many of those already) • a used paint-bucket head (liked the body and arms) • a few more options
Character design sketches that whould eventually lead to the Murf•Bot Prob-O-Matic #13
I thought there were quite enough robot characters with a TV monitor or HD screens for heads or faces. A bucket head character seemed funny, but it didn’t quite work for this situation. I wanted something amusing, cute —especially with Murphy’s Law in the equation.
That’s when I thought of giving the character a toaster for a head. I’d seen toaster-headed characters before, but a toaster is such a simple electronic device that can become chaotic fast: forks, for instance, or those movies where someone tosses a plugged-in toaster into a bathtub—bwahaha! Yes, this was the chaotic mascot I needed, perfectly suited to embrace Murphy’s Law.
To complete the concept, I decided to make it a retro-style toaster with a bobblehead spring for a neck.
Below is a collection of sketches I made while creating the Murf•Bot character. As you can see, sketching a character is a great way to test changes—trimming away what doesn’t work, focusing on what does, and practicing how to draw the character from different angles.
Murf•Bot Pencil sketched working on the character design.
Combining all of this into one final turnaround reference, I convert the character into clean vector images. This is the image I’ll refer to whenever I feel I’m losing the character design from memory.
Murph•Bot's master turnaround vector image, (AKA the Hero Reference)
Now I have the challenge of updating all of the final artwork images to match this exact character. As you may have detected, the first few designs will need work in certain areas—like the bulkier lower-leg calves. (And I just gotta double-check that the toaster lever is always on Murf’s right side of its head. Can’t tell you how many times I screwed that up!)
Just finished the #5 pin design, Radioactivity! Had fun designing this one — even though it's probably the scariest scientific thing to go wrong that I can think of.
In the recent poll, most of you picked BLUE over the original green for Murf•Bot. But for you few who picked GREEN, I came up with an alternative. For Radioactivity, it just made sense that the whole little bot would turn neon green from the radioactive leak — neon green has always been the go-to for illustrators depicting glowing radiation. Just look at any radioactive items on The Simpsons, Superman constantly dealing with green glowing radiation from kryptonite, and let's not forget what happened to ol' Bruce Banner!
THE NEWEST ENAMEL PIN DESIGN #5 OF 6
So if voting GREEN made you sad that BLUE won by a strong majority — cheer up, there's at least one green enamel pin coming in the set. Why, just look how happy it's making Murf•Bot! Remember to follow this project in order to see the exclusive followers-only sketches, polls and extras to these updates.
(Continuing the Pre-Launch Intro + added exclusive image for all followers)
Below is a collection of sketches I made while creating the Murf•Bot character. As you can see, sketching a character is a great way to test changes—trimming away what doesn’t work, focusing on what does, and practicing how to draw the character from different angles.
Combining all of this into one final turnaround reference, I convert the finalized character into clean vector images. This is the image I’ll refer to whenever I feel I’m losing the character design from memory.
Now I have the challenge of updating all of the final artwork images to match this exact character. As you can see, the first few designs will need work in certain areas—like the bulkier lower-leg calves. (And I’ll double-check that the toaster lever is always on Murf’s right side of its head. Can’t tell you how many times I messed that up.)
Ahh, can't mention the hazards of the Sciences without showing a bit of an explosion! Be sure to follow my project in order to see 'exclusive to followers only' stuff: extra sketches, designs and behind-the-scenes information. Every person who 'follows' helps the project get more public awareness.
My Latest enamel pin design shows that Murf•Bot mixed one chemical too many — and now he's blasting off with beakers, bread, and questionable judgment. 🧪💥
FYI: All pin designs is subject to change, (especially this one with so many unsafe sharp points.)
I'll be updating each of the designs in the coming weeks, contacting the manufacture -- making sure the designs are good enough for making the quality enamel pins.
The next pin design should be available in a few more days, (before Murf•Bot tries "just one more experiment.")
Murf•Bot-EXPLOSION-Small.png 208.2 KB
Murf•Bot-EXPLOSION: cleaned up and colored into a black outline vector image for manufacturing the enamel pin.
50 followers, let's go! 🎉 Huge thanks for the support this early into my BackerKit journey. More Murf•Bot pin updates dropping in the coming weeks — sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes chaos, and progress toward launch. If you know any fellow nerds, mad scientists, or chaotic-robot enthusiasts, send them my way!
Please note: this is a work in progress — there will be changes, especially once I submit artwork to the enamel pin manufacturer. Below are the original pencil sketch, vector artwork, and a simulated enamel pin sampler. These are only being shown here to give some insight into the process and let those interested know what's being worked on next (+ hopefully have a little bit of fun.)
A few of the changes so far: The lower legs of Murf•Bot were thickened to better visual balance with the forearms. The scissors on top were relocated, since the two holes in the scissors would cause a problem with the enamel mold — and there's a better color balance now with the scissors planted in the "nether regions." Not shown here: I've also reduced the threading on the screws and enlarged several fill areas, making it easier for the manufacturer to fill them accurately.
I'll also mention that the bread in the top toaster slot might be an issue due to its 2-color demand and placement on a few designs. Once I talk to the manufacturer, the bread might be dropped from almost all the pins. We shall see, and I will let everyone know.
