Toy design is not something that usually comes to mind when you think of careers in art, however it is something that is important to our society. Toys have long been essential to the structures of our cultures and the people who deign toys in a way are designing future generations. In order to become a toy designer, skills in sculpting, sewing, and woodworking are helpful. There are also post graduate degrees that you can earn in toy/product design (Otis College of Art and Design offers programs like this) to fully understand the art of design. The elements of these curriculums can include the major categories of plush, preschool, dolls, action figures, toy vehicles, games, etc., so a variety of creative skills are good to have if you are interested in pursuing this career. People who go into toy design may also have degrees in industrial and commercial design. However, a college education is not mandatory for this career, as it is possible to get a job in this field with only a GED or a high school education (though further education makes achieving this career easier).
So what do toy designers actually do? Well, it's pretty self explanatory, but they are the brains behind the attractiveness, functionality, and marketability of the products that line the shelves of Target and Walmart. In fact, designing and creating toys is a major process. The first step is coming up with an idea, which first comes in the form of a thought and then gets put on paper. Once this is done, with appropriate materials, a prototype is created, which can be sold, along with the design on the paper, to a toy manufacturing company. As a toy designer, you usually will spend time creating specific genres of toys or working with specific materials that best fit your skill set. Sometimes, toy manufacturing will employ their own toy designers who create original designs along with working on a team to come up with designs that fit the theme/aesthetic of the company. One of the many factors that goes into the process is safety. Since toys are generally marketed more towards children, safety is a vital component to the design of a toy. Nowadays especially, the process of toy design is drawn out further because of the insurance of the safety of the customers, as once prototypes are made, they must be approves. There were times when these steps were not as emphasized (we all remember yard darts), which ended in lawsuits and the injury of people in their most fragile years, so this concern is a big part of the responsibilities that a toy designer would hold.
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AuthorHello! I am Isabel Martin and I am an art student at Maggie L. Walker Governor School. Archives
May 2021
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