LameToy Character Generator and other designer toys

LameToy™ Character Generator

Designer toys have gained increasing popularity over the last couple of years. Ultimate consumerism or postmodern art, the jury is still out. Toys aimed firmly at an adult audience with price tags to match, are a strange juxtaposition. Does it reflect a bunch of adults pining for the transformer or he-man figure they never got as a child, I'd say there isdefinitelyy an element of that; the desire to cling to childhood.

For most people childhood offered a lot of great things; freedom fromresponsibilityy and time to play. However as a designer the thing I'm really trying to recapture from my childhood is my imagination. The ability to find a plaything in everything, or more importantly in nothing.

I was an avid collector of things as a child, anything from stamps and badges to pencils and feathers. Thankfully I am now a little more pragmatic about what I collect and quite frankly I have better things to spend my money on than lumps of plastic,especiallyy when they can be hundreds of pounds. So when is a toy not a toy? When it's art.

Lots of artists have created designs for these toys, some creating their own toy range and some customising existing toys. These designers are usually illustrators who specialise in character design, so it seems a natural step to take these designs from 2D into 3D. Now I can afford a cool bit of their art for £10, rather than buying just a lump of plastic.

The thing that has captured my imagination is the subculture of customising these toys and creating your own toy. Templates are available online and then people create their own designs and show them off. Manufacturers have even created blank toys specifically to be customised. It's an interesting phenominum and one that despite my initial cynicsm has still managed to engage my interest.

Trexi
Kid Robot