Product news: Milan company Looodus has designed a toy that allows children to learn about typography and the alphabet at the same time.
Looodus laser cut each of the 26 letters in the alphabet in the shape of a typeface that begins with that letter, so T is represented by Times New Roman and P is written in Playbill.
The letters slot into a wooden board with the names of the fonts inscribed under each.
Fonts were carefully selected for their shapes and sizes, and come in shades of green, blue or red.
The designers originally created the Font Alphabet Puzzle for their young daughter. “There are opportunities which arise every day to be creative and make quick fun toys for her, using the most rudimentary materials and sometimes these mini prototypes can become more refined products,” said Looodus co-founder Kurt Stapelfeldt.
Looodus was founded in Milan this year by Stapelfeldt and photographer Denise Bonenti.
Sponsored content: A recent voyage to El Segundo, California, brought us to the doors of the Mattel headquarters. Inside, we were given the chance to take a behind-the-scenes look at the Hot…
Twenty architects and designers including Zaha Hadid and David Adjaye have designed and constructed dolls’ houses, each integrating a feature that would make life easier for a disabled child (+ slideshow).
Referencing a dolls’ house that British architect Edwin Lutyens exhibited in 1922, the brief asked each team to present a unique design on a 750-millimetre square plinth, which could then be sold at auction.
FAT worked with artist Grayson Perry on its entry, which takes the iconic form of Erno Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower building and adds an assortment of colourful openings.
London studio Guy Hollaway Architects based its design on a jack-in-a-box toy, creating a simple house with an inflatable pavilion concealed inside.
A jigsaw puzzle provided the cues for houses by Studio Egret West and Make Architects, who created models that can be assembled in different configurations.
Coffey Architects created the heaviest structure, building a concrete house with rooms that can be removed like a classic shape-sorter toy.
Architectural modelmakers AModels and designers Morag Myerscough and Luke Morgan also took part. Their entries included a treehouse filled with models of Elvis and a house on stilts above a coral reef.
Here’s some more information from Cathedral Group:
Twenty of the world’s best architects and designers build a dolls’ house for kids
On the 11 November 2013, 20 of the world’s best contemporary architects and designers will present their version of a dolls’ house in an exhibition and auction at Bonhams in aid of KIDS.
The project has been curated by Cathedral Group Plc, an innovative and forward-thinking property developer and is inspired by the dolls’ house that Edwin Lutyens designed for The British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1922 – using a very traditional children’s toy to display the very best of modern British architecture, craftsmanship, art and interior design.
Participating architects and designers include: Adjaye Associates, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, AMODELS, Coffey Architects, Dexter Moren, DRDH Architects, dRMM, Duggan Morris Architects, FAT Architecture, Glenn Howells Architects, Guy Hollaway Architects, HLM Architects, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, mae, Make Architects, Morag Myerscough & Luke Morgan, James Ramsey RAAD Studio with Lara Apponyi, shedkm, Studio Egret West and Zaha Hadid Architects.
In the same spirit as the Edwin Lutyens dolls’ house, the architects and designers have been challenged to work with their own artist, designer and furniture-maker collaborations to make the end products even more special. Among other collaborations FAT will be working with Grayson Perry and Studio Egret West with Andrew Logan. Each dolls house – which will fit on a 750mm x 750mm plinth will also include a unique feature to make life easier for a child who is disabled.
Cathedral Group has pledged to raise £100,000 for KIDS to support their valuable work. KIDS is a UK charity supporting disabled children, young people and their families. They run home learning programmes, specialist nurseries and crèches, short-break programmes for disabled children and a series of inclusive adventure playgrounds. They offer a wide variety of services to parents of children with disabilities and programmes for siblings of disabled children and young carers.
A Dolls House has been kindly sponsored by Bonhams, Alno, Marley Eternit, Greenberg Traurig Maher, Realise Creative, Development Securities, Quatro PR, ING Media and Cadogan Tate.
We first came across Tangeez—colorful, interactive, light-up building blocks—at this year’s Maker Faire. A long-anticipated reinvention of the classic toy, these mesmerizing, palm-sized objects change color as they’re stacked….
by Sam Bovarnick In Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, on an unusually cloudy summer evening, CH visited Ken Mitchell’s creativity shop The Aviary. Stepping into The Aviary is a joyfully discombobulating experience. The shop is maybe 10×10 ft…
La fascination pour les jouets sous forme de kit de l’artiste suédois Michael Johansson ont influencés nombreux de ses projets. Il détourne des objets du quotidien qu’il démonte et donne à voir sous forme de kit à assembler. Une manière non conventionnelle et ludique de revisiter le quotidien à découvrir en images.
London film agency SHOWstudio has unveiled a 3D animation of Barbie’s new Dreamhouse, a concrete brutalist dystopia, designed by fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic (+ slideshow + movie).
SHOWstudio has collaborated with Roksanda Ilincic to create a new home for the toy doll, her tenth home since 1962. It features a cluster of brutalist structures, a forest of silver birch trees on the roof and a basement cinema. Unlike its plastic predecessors the house exists as a virtual environment.
“Working in 3D has allowed us to push the boundaries of reality – using impossible materials and defying gravity to create a striking and dynamic outcome fuelled by Roksanda’s imagination,” said SHOWstudio’s digital art director, Jon Emmony.
Inside Barbie’s new home there is a soundproofed sleeping chamber, a sunken lounge, flat screen TV, an elevator and a jacuzzi. The surrounding landscape appears as a “seemingly endless expanse of velvety black,” according to the designers.
The concrete buildings are lit in pink and blue hues and in SHOWstudio’s animation appear to grow from a bubbling liquid before taking shape as digital structures.
“A combination of light and dark, strength and fragility, elegance and hard edge form the framework behind Roksanda’s vision for Barbie’s new dreamhouse,” said toy manufacturer Mattel. “Large expanses coupled with intimate intricacies give the living spaces variety and depth. The modular nature of the furnishings and rooms lend themselves to multi-purposes.”
In 2009, Ilinic also designed a limited edition outfit to commemorate Barbie’s 50th birthday and the designer first worked with SHOWstudio in 2010 during London Fashion Week.
Barbie’s new Dreamhouse designed by Roksanda Ilincic in collaboration with SHOWstudio
Barbie’s new Dreamhouse launches on SHOWstudio. Having considered moving from her native Malibu earlier this year, Barbie looked to Roksanda Ilincic to create her 21st Century sanctuary. Together with SHOWstudio, Roksanda has designed a new abstract environment with a bold exterior featuring a roof forest of silver birch, and an interior that meanders through a basement movie theatre, soundproofed sleeping chamber, and sunken lounge.
Roksanda says: “It’s been exciting to see the external structure take shape in 3D, and the technicolour aspect of the roof forest come to life. I’m sure Barbie will be seduced by her new concrete residence.”
For the exterior, SHOWstudio wanted to create a hard and imposing structure that complimented Roksanda’s strong graphic aesthetic. The landscape features shards of material that sit in a seemingly endless expanse of velvety black.
The structure itself is bathed in hues of pink and blue; colours that reflect both the visual identity of Barbie herself and Roksanda’s Autumn/Winter 2013 palette. SHOWstudio wanted to merge the abstract and sublime with the strong and bold. In their animation, the house forms itself from the ground up, bubbling from liquid metal, concrete and glass. As the house takes shape, spikes and columns of digital matter form into solid concrete.
Upon the roof sits a rooftop forest of towering silver birch trees. The forest floor bathed below in the glow of digital flora. This reflection of nature contrasts with the digital and manmade feel throughout the rest of the house. A combination of light and dark, strength and fragility, elegance and hard edge form the framework behind Roksanda’s vision for Barbie’s new dreamhouse.
The interior offers a somewhat lightened view of the same aesthetic. Large expanses coupled with intimate intricacies give the living spaces variety and depth. The modular nature of the furnishings and rooms lend themselves to multi purposes. Projections and colour washes give mood and warmth to the starkness.
“Working in 3D has allowed us to push the boundaries of reality; using impossible materials and defying gravity to create a striking and dynamic outcome fuelled by Roksanda’s imagination.” Jon Emmony, Digital Art Director, SHOWstudio.
The Barbie Dreamhouse debuted in 1962, providing girls with the backdrop to play house with Barbie, truly bringing to life Ruth Handler’s vision that Barbie allows girls to role play real life scenarios, and over the past 50 years has been renovated and redesigned more than 10 times and transitioned from cardboard to plastic. Each Dreamhouse is representative of the era the house was built in and is a reflection of the time with unique architectural features and interior design details.
The original Dreamhouse was $8.00 USD, and made of cardboard with simple flat painted details, sleek furniture, a combination television/stereo console, and a Dream Closet with pink plastic hangers. The 1962 Dreamhouse reflected the aesthetic and design of the time.
In 1974 Barbie moved into a three-story Dreamhouse that included a ‘working’ elevator and is considered to be one of the most iconic houses. By 1979 Barbie had upgraded from a cardboard house to plastic with a new Dreamhouse that featured lots of details and accessories from planters and shutters to doors and windows – the symmetrical architecture and ‘A-frame’ roof was a reflection of architecture during the time.
The ’90s brought the Dreamhouse to a new level with the Magical Mansion that featured working sound and light electronics like a ringing telephone and doorbell, a lit fireplace and chandelier. The current Dreamhouse features modern day luxuries including a flat screen TV, an elevator and a whirlpool tub.
About Roksanda Ilincic
Belgrade-born Roksanda Ilincic has shown her womenswear collections on the London Fashion Week schedule since 2005. Her eponymous label has recently grown to include swimwear and childrenswear lines which reflect her signature modern, cool and bold use of colour and shape, for which she has gained global recognition.
Barbie ensemble by Roksanda Ilincic, 2009
Her international customer base and VIP following include appearances on: the Duchess of Cambridge, Michele Obama, Samantha Cameron, Jessica Chastain, Keira Knightley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rooney Mara, Penelope Cruz, Florence Welch, and Emma Stone, and her work has featured in the recent ‘Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950’ exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Roksanda has previously dressed a limited edition Barbie to commemorate Barbie’s 50th anniversary in 2009.
About SHOWstudio
Since its foundation in November 2000, SHOWstudio has been passionate about pioneering new technologies and exploring innovative mediums. From live streaming Nick Knight’s photo shoots, to 3D scanning Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, SHOWstudio’s team has constantly embraced new digital challenges.
Barbie Dreamhouse, 1962
SHOWstudio has worked with some of the most influential and acclaimed figures of contemporary fashion, including John Galliano, Kate Moss, Rick Owens, Comme des Garçons and Alexander McQueen.
Barbie Dreamhouse, 1974
Alongside these established names, SHOWstudio has also supported and nurtured emerging talent, including Giles Deacon, Gareth Pugh, Rodarte, J.W. Anderson and Mary Katrantzou, offering exciting new designers an important global showcase for creative expression. SHOWstudio has also worked with pop culture icons and creatives from the world of art, music and film including Tracey Emin, Björk, Brad Pitt and Lady Gaga.
Barbie Dreamhouse, 1979
As champions of fashion film and live media, SHOWstudio has worked with the world’s most sought-after filmmakers, writers and cultural figures to create visionary online content, exploring every facet of fashion through moving image, illustration, photography and written word.
About Barbie
Barbie Dreamhouse, 1983
Barbie has called Malibu her home since 1971, hitting the sand in her pastel blue bathing suit and sun-kissed tan. Building a long résumé of careers, reuniting with her boyfriend Ken, and filming her own reality show.
Barbie Dreamhouse, 1990
In the past 50 years, Barbie has established herself as one of the world’s leading fashion icons, and has been dressed by leading design talents including: Alaïa, Burberry, Comme des Garçons, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Louise Gray and Roksanda Ilincic.
Barbie Dreamhouse, 1998
Barbie first broke the plastic ceiling in the 60s when, as an astronaut, she went to space four years before man walked on the moon. In the 80s she took to the boardroom as ‘Day to Night’ CEO Barbie, just as women began to break into management. And in the 90s, she ran for President, before any female candidate ever made it onto the presidential ballot.
Barbie Dreamhouse, 2012
Barbie has even been a UNICEF Summit diplomat, an ambassador for world peace, a surgeon, and a computer engineer, amongst her myriad careers.
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