Before starting Totem Studio, we sent a questionnaire to parents to share their perspectives on the toys and received 57 responses. Here is one of the questions, along with the response.
More than 50% of the parents were concerned about two challenges with the toys.
- Quality
- Not getting worth of the toy as the interest of the child in a toy vanishes quickly
The third challenge of safety was also close to these two challenges.
These are the challenges that we are trying to address in our endeavor.
Our Craft and natural material based production process assures safe, non-toxic and high quality products. So we started the conversation around the challenge of `not getting worth of a toy` with a few enthusiastic and helpful parents who were kind enough to provide us with interesting insights. These are our inferences from these conversations.
- An average life span of a toy is 3 to 6 months. And retaining the interest of a kid in a toy is even less in this fast-moving world. Most toys are created for a specific age group. They do not grow with the kid. Thus, a short lifespan.
- We started wondering why toys always need to go to their box, and then that box needs to go on a shelf or a cupboard in a kid's corner. By definition, a toy is an object for a child to play with. The notion behind toys is always that they are supposed to only come out at the time of play, and for the rest of the day, they need to be in a kid's corner packed in the box.
- Why is a child more interested in products made for grown-ups - pens, utensils, brooms, and other products around the house? Because they would like to imitate us. They would like to act like a grown-up. They would like to be equal owners of our space.
All these conversations and further research led us to design playful products - as we call them - Totems. Each Totem has an element of play at it`s core. Supporting the core play element are subtle and abstract forms making them toys for kids as well as playful objects for grown-ups. Our Totems could easily be part of any space due to their abstract contemporary forms and functional elements - A form that you created out of Gola Dandi would easily go as a decor for your space, something that you are proud of making yourself. Pickoo is a pencil holder that is completed only when you keep your pencils in it, making you part of the creative process. Even when not played with, they remain part of the space, personifying it. Totems are not supposed to go inside a box, in fact, you would not like to put them inside a box.
Our creative Totems encourage humans to show their creativity - creating a form out of blocks, arranging the parts in a certain way, or organising them in a certain way. We design so that you can create your own Totems and place them around your space and be proud of your creation. We create `Playful Everyday` for All.
Playful Everyday
A child spends most of the time at home, making home the most important immediate environment to interact and explore. Toys should to be part of this surrounding rather than getting boxed up after the play is over. When the playful products are part of their surroundings, and more in sight, they provide opportunities for them to interact as per their choice, mood, and interest.
Play for All
`Play for All` is the core concept for our designs at Totem Studio. Play is not only a child's activity. Play makes grown-ups remain creative and enhances their creative thinking ability. We saw that a child loves to imitate adults and likes to use their products. Place these products around your home at some places that they like. Let them interact and explore these products when and how they want.
Moreover, the products double as accents for your space, making it bright, joyful, and playful.
