As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. This is especially true when it comes to package design for toy brands, which can play a crucial role in whether or not parents will even pick up and consider a particular … Read More
If you’ve been in the toy industry for as long as I have, you have fond memories of the glory days of NY Toy Fair… the incomparable human traffic jam at the front doors of 200 5th Avenue (aka the International Toy Center, which we lovingly referred … Read More
It’s been very long and difficult couple of years for all of us since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. During that time, we, as a global society, have had to endure a magnitude of challenges, from annoying inconveniences to heart-wrenching … Read More
Packaging for toy and entertainment brands, whether licensed or non-licensed, can't be successfully developed without first considering its context at retail. After all, it won't exist in a vacuum in the retail environment, so it shouldn't be designed in one either. Gain insight by conducting a retail audit The … Read More
Let’s face it: most of humanity can say that 2020 was one of the most difficult years of our lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of us wince at the mere mention of the number. But, as is the case with almost every crisis that we’ve … Read More
This past weekend, while digging through a storage unit filled with toy packaging that our company has designed over the past three decades, I came across the package I designed for the original Super Soaker water gun while employed as Art Director for Larami toys back in … Read More
Back in 2019, Hasbro led the charge towards eliminating plastic from their toy packaging, with the goal of becoming completely plastic-free by 2022. And, they’re well on their way to meeting their goal. With other toy manufacturers following suit in the effort to reduce the impact of … Read More
As many of you already know, I have a penchant for innovative structure design. At Design Force, Inc., we view package structure as a powerful brand differentiator – yet another opportunity to build visual brand equity. As brand marketers and package designers, this opportunity should never be … Read More
Whenever I see toys packaged in blind box packaging, it always reminds me of collecting trading cards as a kid and that feeling of wanting the entire set, but knowing the likelihood of that happening was directly tied to how much allowance money I was willing to … Read More
I decided to put our typical thought leadership aside for this month's newsletter to focus on something absolutely wonderful that's happening during this time of crisis. While we're all staying at home nurturing our families, practicing social distancing, thoroughly and frequently washing our hands and doing our … Read More
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