Project 01: Group Research – 5%
Due: Wednesday, February 10
Readings:
- Play Makes Us Human I: A Ludic Theory of Human Nature
- Toys as Culture: The idealization of Play (pages 228-237)
- Homo ludens: a study of the play-element in culture Chapter 1: Nature and Significance of Play as Cultural Phenomenon(pages 1-27)
Find the most important concepts from the readings with your group.
Select a type of toy from the book The First Book of Toys. Research deeper about these type of toys (history, users, etc) and find a toy from this category (it doesn’t need to be one in the book). Each member of the group will present one different toy.
Finally you will present your individual and group research. Each group will finish their presentation with two questions from their group discussion.
For example:
Do adults need more play?
Do you think our pets can be considered toys?
How do you think the way we have to play now will impact on future generations?
Have toys been gendered in every culture?
Grading Rubric
Team Work and Preparation: 1pt
Presentation of Research: 2pt
Documentation and Reflection: 2pt
Project 02: Personalized Toy – 20%
Due: Wednesday, March 17
Create a toy for someone you know; a friend, a member of your family, a neighbor, etc.
Do your research!
Ask questions to your user such as what does he/she likes?, what animal/object does he/she like?, what does he/she do for living?, what are his/her hobbies?, etc…
Choose a category of toy accordingly, and use soft toy techniques to create a toy for that person.
The toy should have their own identity and match the user’s personality.
Deliverables:
– Soft Toy using any of the techniques you learned so far.
– Complementary hand made A3 poster(s). Make sure you include the name of the toy. Optionally, include a short description of less than 15 words. Use your drawing skills to display graphic content of the toy as a final product.
* TBD: You will work with a Chinese community* who will manufacture your toy. In order to do that, you will give them all the information for them to knit or sew your toy or parts of your toy. Below you can see examples of the information you can give them:
Knitting Example
Sewing Example
* The Makers:
Check the community of knitters.
Check the community of sewers.
Grading Rubric
Concept: 5pt
Technique: 5pt
Presentation of Work: 5pt
Documentation and Reflection: 5pt
Project 03: Storytelling – 15%
Due: Wednesday, April 14
Tell a short story by creating an automata toy using simple materials. You can use mechanisms from the resources below, but don’t copy an existing toy, be creative!
The automata must include a crank you can turn to power the mechanism. Prototype with paper, wires, fabric or any element you consider helpful to design your toy, however your final toy must involve some laser cut work.
Tips: start your project prototyping with paper, this is not going to be finished with only one iteration!
Deliverables:
– Mechanical Toy.
– A short video of the story your toy will tell.
Resources:
Grading Rubric
Concept: 3pt
Technique: 3pt
Presentation of Work: 6pt
Documentation and Reflection: 3pt
Project 04: Isolation Toy – 30%
Due:Wednesday, May 12
The concept for the final project is “Isolation”.
Design a toy using any of the techniques we have seen during the semester, but be sure you use digital and analog (knitting/sewing)techniques. You will define a specific user or users, and create a design concept while keeping in mind that this should have “isolation” as the main concept to produce a playful experience.
Give your toy a name and present it as a product. In order to do that create renders, packaging, logo, comics or any resource you think could be helpful to present it the most completed you can.
Deliverables:
– Physical toy and anything else you consider appropriated to show it as a product.
– Complementary printed A3 poster(s) displaying more information about your toy and utilizing the digital design skills you got during the semester. Make sure you include name, description (50 – 100 words max), as well as graphic content such as sketches, drawings, and renders of the toy as a final product.
Grading Rubric
Concept: 7.5pt
Technique: 7.5pt
Presentation of Work: 9pt
Documentation and Reflection: 6pt