Those of you who follow me on my Playthings “Out of the Toy Box” blog may have seen a posting I did on great toy design. In that piece I wrote about my chancing upon a wonderful book with the simple yet evocative title of “Toy Design.” Housed in a bright orange and blue corrugated slip case, it demanded my attention and it is a good thing it did. Housed inside was a wonderful portfolio of toys chosen by Dutch author, Christian van Uffelen , designed for their high aesthetic values and the renown of their designers.
The book is out of print and hard to find so I decided to begin sharing these designs with you. As I do so, please let me know about toys that you feel embody great design and why you feel that.
So, take a look at Rocking Rabbit. I love the contours, the colors, the elegant ears and of course those wonderful, big, white buck teeth. Designed by Swedish designers, Ulf Hanses & Bjorn Dahlstrom they are made of wood and distributed by a company named Playsam.
Also consider this great Saab Roadster by the same designers and also produced by Playsam. Let us know what you think of these designs and what toys you consider to embody great design.
It appears that they are made of leather.
Wonder what those spear-shaped rabbit ears are made of!