Toys; Playset and More
Toys have been the staple of any childhood from any era. the earliest toys were made of wood and were simple. carved of wood and are usually simply painted. These types of toys include horses, hoops, dolls and playground games such as hola hoops and jacks. however toys have advanced upon simple blocks of wood.
Toys in modern times have taken a backseat in favour of technology so toy company's have to get creative. Now toys have impressive gimmicks and some have a diy appeal such as this nail polish creator set by num noms. This as well as the examples below are the best selling female centric toys of 2017 (sources: 1, 2, 3)
Playsets also go from simple to advanced. with small moving parts such as doors and swings, even lifts. helping children play with their toys more realistically. The barbie dream house is one of the most elaborate doll playlets with working doors, lifts and parts that can be added and removed with a snap. Playsets can also be fitted with pools for real water and small beds for lights. Shopkins have become famous in the toy scene for their wide appeal to all children, their cheap production fees and huge market success.
The Hopkins brand also released simple dolls with themed clothing, the iconic Shopkins faces. these have gained huge popularity due to their long soft hair and larger size for fans of the smaller Shopkins. (image from CookieSwirlC)
The Shopkins brand also released simple dolls with themed clothing, the iconic Shopkins faces. these have gained huge popularity due to their long soft hair and larger size for fans of the smaller Shopkins. For my playset I want to focus on bringing the old back into the future with a wooden playlet that is durable and bright with a circus theme. I hope to make a small set that can be carried around.
I went and did some primary research by going to Smyths toys superstore. I chose this store because it is always up to date with the latest toy trends. I can back this up directly as fidget spinners became popular in April 2017 and within that month smyths had stocked them. These were the toys I had found selling well in may 2018. as you can see most toys are small and often are presented in fun mystery style boxes. These entice the consumer to want to buy the product to figure out the mystery. This marketing tactic is extremely clever as it plays on the trait of natural human curiosity, and typically as they're cheap to produce and thus consumers are more likely to buy on a whim.
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The Construction
For the construction of the piece, I roughed out what I would like it to look like. I wanted it to be simple and easy to put away. The focus on the toy is imagination so I wanted to limit any fancy gimmicks used. The piece would be comprised of a main board and interchangeable centre boards. these will fit together by a slot in the centre of the baseboard.
I purchased some MDF as it was inexpensive, lightweight and sturdy.
I measured out the base rectangle to be 30 by 19cm with the slot at 15cm which is in the centre of the board. then the pieces were cut with a handsaw and placed together to ensure the pieces were measured correctly. After that, the centre was drilled at each end with a hand drill to allow a hacksaw blade to be passed through. This created the slot in the centre for the top piece to be placed into
The centre board was made in two pieces; the bottom square piece and triangular gable on top. The reason I wanted a gable is to emulate the shape of a classic circus tent pictured here by artist Christy Obalek. After I had the two pieces assembled I created colour studies of what I wanted the inside and outside to be. Though people responded well to the yellow and red I strayed away from that due to the association with mc donalds and went purple and white as it reminded me of the depiction of space being purple and blue which I found very beautiful. Galaxy has also become very popular in 2017/ 2018.
I taped the edges to give a clean look and removed directly after painting. It was given an open door look as if to invite the person 'inside' the illusion of being inside is made with the playset being turned around to reveal the inside with large red curtains and a blue background littered with the moon and stars. I chose a celestial theme as the American flag contains stars and I felt this link to be a subtle yet interesting one, as well as mentioned before space being very culturally relevant. The colours red white and blue with a hint of yellow were chosen to highlight this contextual design choice. The floor was painted to look like a stage floor with the logo in gold to give it a more fancy aesthetic.
After one coat of paint, I captured my progress. It took 3 more coats to become opaque and was later sealed with a matt sealant.
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After the piece was finished and they were slotted into each other I realised that the paint could often chip or be discoloured so they were coated in sealant. Even though they were sealed I still found they chipped so in the future I'd try a paint other than the soft white emulsion like acrylic. I really like the shape and style of of my playlet however I need to keep in mind sharp edges for younger audiences may not be appropriate. Also I think that it would be interesting to make a design of the box it will be in. I also think the logo could be more central to the board and the base could also be painted to be another flooring but overall I'm happy with the prototype.
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