Trzymyszy - cardboard toys

And again I find myself sighing about a toy design...

Trzymyszy (from polish: three mice) is a designer duo that is designing and producing cardboard toys for children. Inspired by their own kids, two graduates of  Warsaw Art Academy decided to make DIY houses and planes from card that can be build and painted by children according to their own taste.
I believe this is a great idea which encourages kids to make their own toys. Besides, how many times did the packaging box become more entertaining toy than the actual content.

house and its creators

pilot and his aeroplane

this clock looks amazing - I wonder if the gears turn - how cool would that be if it was actually working

Irrational toys

Something I really appreciate about childhood is its irrationality - kids perceive the world according to what they see and experience. The rest is dictated by their imagination often stimulated by stories, tales and legends they hear or watch. As adults I don't think we can fully understand and appreciate the beauty of this imaginative and irrational thinking. Therefore I really value toys that are produced to satisfy children's abstract rationale.

One example of a irrational toy I have seen recently on Yankodesign.com and it's called Echo. It is a soft creature without face but with a big ears and a peculiar wooden trumpet instead of mouth. The ears are connected to the trumpet using the string-phone fashion so Echo responds when a child is whispering some secrets into its ear.

It was created by Emi Schenkelbach.

via Yankodesign

Another really nice design which stayed in my memory since I have first seen in in Mint Design shop in London a year ago. It is called Buba and it was produced by Alon Meron.

Buba is a guardian against dark matter and its magical power comes from children's fallen milk teeth. I think this is a beautiful story. And here again  Buba doesn't have face - he has two rows of sharp teeth that scare the ghosts and monsters of the night.

Cyberdog shop at Camden

Although I have been living in London for almost a month I don't really have time to explore it properly. So whenever I actually manage to go somewhere, I find those amazing, unique places I never expect to see.

This Saturday for instance, I went for a walk at the Camden market. The market itself, that spreads within the walls of the old stables makes a real impression - especially on the busy day like Saturday. But the highlight of the day was my visit to Cyberdog shop that occupies on of the humble old stable buildings. From outside it looks just like another shop but entering inside is like entering another world - something between Startrek space-shuttle and techno-love-parade. It is all lighten up by UV lights and full of cosmic clothing, glowy-robotic accessories that are presented on shiny-robot-mannequins that have LEDs which flash following the rhythm if loud electronic music. All the staff and dancers (yes!) are wearing abstract looking outfits and have coloured hair. Also the 3 stories underground interior is matching the space style entirely. And although I am not a fan of techno-music and science fiction movies I really enjoyed exploring the store and even trying on some peculiar outfits. It was a holistic cultural (shopping) experience that I must admit impressed me a lot.

I am in two minds actually, as on the one hand I know it is all commerce and the fact that Cyberdog is almost an amusement park/discotheque is purely to make more sales, but on the other is it really bad? It has presented me a culture - a world that is completely alien to me without being brazen or pushy. And as an aware consumer who digested Naomi Klein's 'No Logo' I still justify it.

Interviews

I have moved to London for summer to look for some job or internships. This means a lot of interviews where I am trying to 'sell' myself and impress people.

Design interviews are new to me and they surprise me to be honest. One was taking place on the rooftop and when it started to rain was moved to a ping-pong table. The other in children's library (I loved it!). Those weren't unofficial - informal chat with jeans and tee-shirt member of staff. This made me quite relaxed and confident, so when I went to Hasbro yesterday I was expecting similar... Well it wasn't. On the other hand it was very corporate and white-collar. Before I had to complete a personality test and the recruitment process is divided into 2 stages - interview and then one-week life project for selected five.

Japan - The Strange Country

I found this simple 10 minutes graphic video that presents a bit sarcastic (sometimes drastic) overview of present Japan. It has been created by Kenichi Tanaka.




Japan has been always puzzling me. On the one hand there is the traditional side - beautiful huts, cherry blossoms, geishas, kimonos and all that uncommon things that I would really love to see... but on the other hand Japanese culture scares me with manga, hello kitty, loud dance machines and streets like those from Lost in Translation... I mean I am far from judging a country that I have never been to and culture that i haven't experience but somewhat I agree with the author - Japan is a strange country.

When I was a child my grandparents brought me a present from their trip to Japan - it was a lollipop. It was a clear, see-through, sugar cube with a 2cm long, and fat, yellow worm inside. It was real. Strange country.

via spoon-tamago

Degree Show

 In the last week of May (20-27) at Duncan Jordanstone College of Art and Design we were hosting the annual degree show. For my product design group it was the last rehearsal before we exhibit in London at New Designers. We decided to call our stand '15 - hundred ideas, designers, products' which we thought is the best honest description of our group.


In my personal opinion what we managed to put together as a group - the stand and the projects, were really impressive and made me very proud to be a part of it. It was also a great experience to show my product to the wider audience and listen to their commentary.

Baika Dolls

For the last 8 months I have been working on my honours project for university. The process has been recorded on my other blog - http://zuzannastales.blogspot.com.

The project is finished now and what I have produced is a storytelling sound toy called Baika Dolls. More about it can be seen at http://zuzannabukala.com/dolls