Brings to mind this classic 60's Mad Magazine article "If kids designed their own Xmas toys." http://thatsmyskull.blogspot.com/2005/12/mad-magazine-if-kid...
This is great!
Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
31–40 of 78 posts
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
> My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it? Franchising perhaps? Quality control would be an issue once you start farming the job out like that, but it would be a good way to better cover international markets. They could keep the designing local to the current HQ, hiring designer types there to supply demand and farm out the physical work. Though I suspect a project like this might be a person…
Why would someone pay the franchise instead of just opening up their own competitor?
Franchise might have been the wrong word to use - maybe it would work better as a "co-operative" with the original people in general control rather than a directly paid franchise.
That way customers from any country go to the same place (saving each member of the co-op on advertising budget/time) but get the work done by someone more local to them so hopefully pay less due to local delivery and lack of customs charges.
You migth find many peopel who are capable of making something like that from a pattern but maybe no capable/comfortable making a good pattern from the kids' designs - there would be a value add" there having that stage done for you. I know a few people who make things (and make them well) as a hobby but who do not make their own designs - I could imagine one or two of them being interested in getting involved at that level just to make the hobby pay for some of itself.
Obviously any controlling company would have to give some quality assurance to the customer, which would be part of how they justify their cut (as well as providing the design stage if they are) though could be a bit of a nightmare. This assurance might be why people go to this hypothetical cooperative rather than one of the smaller groups (or individuals) that try under-cutting them.
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#33This is a cute idea. I'm wondering if they make any money since on their website it says: "Child's Own Studio has custom made over 200 personal softies". I'm thinking whether a redesign of their website and a more aggressive Facebook campaign (they only have 1000+ fans) would help them sell more. It probably would. No. It definitely would. They could also have a checkbox on the order form to allow other people to ord…
Very cute idea, but at 100$ a toy (thats what the giftcard is worth), this is not for the mass market. Tho if you are willing to take it down a notch (or two) on quality, china can probably produce them at >10$
Remember to add the cost of admin time to that though. Outsourcing like that is not going to be free and easy especially at smaller scales.
And most manufacturing operations are geared for bulk. Going this way you would lose the uniqueness of each item, which is sort of the whole point.
And with scares over the recent years with lead in paint and so forth, I'd be careful going to China for kids toys. Definitely don't go with the cheapest, and definitely have some strong QA provisions in your contract.
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#34Heartwarming :) Reminds me of My Machine, an organization that takes children drawings of machines and make them come to live. http://mymachine.be/en/node/20
Monster engine is of a similar vein, but they take kids' monster drawings instead: http://themonsterengine.com/
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
> My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it? Franchising perhaps? Quality control would be an issue once you start farming the job out like that, but it would be a good way to better cover international markets. They could keep the designing local to the current HQ, hiring designer types there to supply demand and farm out the physical work. Though I suspect a project like this might be a person…
Why would someone pay the franchise instead of just opening up their own competitor?
marketing and name recognition.
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#36My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it? There's such an individual toy-by-toy creative aspect to it. Also, the potential for building brands seems pretty spectacular. Stuffed toy is just one step, you could add stories, games, episodes...this could be to disney what 99designs is to graphic designers :)
Maybe this should and will not scale well. Most of the time the work of an artist does not scale well.
This would not scale at all.
The work is done on an individual basis by an artist who not only takes great pains to interpret what the child has drawn, but also above and beyond to transform it into a personalized, and near perfect, piece of art.
Just ask any offshore worker to reinterpret a set of well-documented requirements and you'll see what I mean.
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#37Anyone know of something similar but with a pull string capability?
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you read her blog you'll see that she's at capacity. If they really want to turn this into an enterprise (and I absolutely think they should!), they need to figure out how to handle more volume before getting more volume.
If they really want to turn this into an enterprise (and I absolutely think they should!) Why's that? What if she's happy doing what she's doing now (sewing, turning fabric and stuffing into something amazing for a kid), and doesn't want to be a business woman? In other words, if she wants a lifestyle company, why should she turn it into an enterprise?
Make money, create jobs, make more kids happy. She obviously doesn't have to, though.
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#39My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it? There's such an individual toy-by-toy creative aspect to it. Also, the potential for building brands seems pretty spectacular. Stuffed toy is just one step, you could add stories, games, episodes...this could be to disney what 99designs is to graphic designers :)
Partner with an established greeting card company to sell greeting cards that double as gifts: consumer pays $20 for the greeting card, the recipient child draws on the card then drops it in the mailbox, gets their stuffed toy sent back in the mail.
Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy
#40This reminds me of something the artisans working at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma did.
They got school kids to send in drawings of creatures and then these guys actually rendered them in colored glass in front of the kids. They had the pieces and the kids' drawings on display. Very cute and often hilarious.